Oysters, lamb burger, lobster roll
Kumamoto Oysters at Addison
Recently had the meal of my life at Addison. I’ve had four-hour feasts in the past, lucky to be in the same room with some of the country’s best chefs—let alone eating their food. But this feast topped them all. No food hotter than the temperature of your mouth. Tastes so refined, such a throwback to the obsessive refinement of la grande cuisine, that I left floored. And these Kumamoto oysters were the first bite that just kind of unraveled any composure I comported to have. The legendary silky oysters, small yet big enough, swimming in chef William Bradley’s riff on cool, thin hollandaise. Unbelievably simple, good. That man, and that whole staff, is getting even better. Addison, Grand Del Mar, 5200 Grand Del Mar Way, 858.314.1900, addisondelmar.com.
Lamb Burger at Queenstown Public House
Queenstown is a charmer. An old house turned flight-of-fancy design emporium from the brain of local designer Michael Soriano (he also did Pearl Hotel, Vin Di Syrah, etc.). It’s grandma’s house meets colorful modernism. Sublime (sheep hang upside down from the kitchen) meets antiquity. And that lamb burger—with pickled beets, blue cheese, mint jelly and a tomato aioli—is a tasty beast. Queenstown Public House, 1557 Columbia St., 619.546.0444, barebackgrill.com/queenstown.
Lobster Roll at Herringbone (sort of)
This was from San Diego Magazine’s Best of North County party. If you missed it, shame. But there will be others. And this ditty from chef Amanda Baumgarten’s lunch menu is a pretty fantastic bite—Maine lobster with a bright, light lemon mayo on brioche. Go, sit among the gigantic indoor olive trees, eat like east coast royalty. Herringbone, 858.459.0221, herringboneeats.com.
