Wisecracking Crabs

Dish

YOU BET YOU’D HAVE BEEN embarrassed. The situation recalled a movie gag in which an inexperienced diner catapults an escargot from one of those demonically complicated snail-hoisting devices. (It happens in real life; in the 1970s, this writer dodged an airborne snail at a fancy restaurant near Washington, D.C.)

A month or so ago, on an overcast and nearly nasty day, the gloom seemed to lift when thoughts of a sultry bowl of gumbo inspired a lunch-hour dash from downtown to Market Creek Center (Euclid Avenue near Market Street). Herbed, spiced, coddled and just about bewitched, this soup and other Creole specialties share top billing at Magnolia’s, the Southern eatery operated by longtime restaurateur Bessie Johnson and her family. Rich in crabmeat, spicy sausage and chicken, the gumbo arrived garnished with curvaceous crab legs, and doing it justice took more concentration than a plate of spaghetti. The messy work required clutching a soup-lubricated leg in one hand, using the other to break the tough shell with a metal cracker and finessing the sweet meat with a cocktail fork.

It pays to be up on your crab-cracking technique. The first leg, which dripped gumbo juices across the hand that clutched it, balefully resist ed the cracker. Finally, a more determined twist of the wrist broke off a large portion——which sailed high up in the air at a 45-degree angle, caromed off a window, bounced against the edge of the table and landed far off on the floor. Patrons around the room followed the aerobatics intently before turning their gazes to the red-faced diner, who busied himself buttering a corn muffin. The gumbo was superb to the bottom of the bowl, but the other crab legs were relegated, uncracked, to a side plate.

MAMMA MIA, THAT’S a speecy-spicy meat ball––and it may be rolled from shrimp, duck, boar or even rabbit. Monday nights now are “Meatball Mondays” at Jsix, the redoubtable East Village restaurant in Hotel Solamar (the special includes one glass of house wine and costs $12, placing it squarely in the “steal” category). Chef Christian Graves, ever the innovator, can be absolutely fearless in the kitchen, and while beef meatballs occasionally will crown the big bowls of pasta, he also will use ingredients that never went into Mamma’s meatballs, such as oxtail . . . George Hauer won’t row out to your boat, but if you otherwise live within an 8-mile radius of his Georges at the Cove complex (Del Mar and PB qualify), he’ll send a car to ferry you to and from dinner. The service requires a reservation but is free, although one supposes the driver will expect a tip . . . If Urban Solace does it, it must be hip, which makes it likely the April 8 “Urban Seder” planned by chef-partner Matt Gordon will be one of the hotter tickets in town this Passover. Scheduled to begin promptly at sundown——which will be at 7:14, in case you weren’t sure——the dinner includes readings from the Haggadah (the Passover prayer book) and a four-course meal that follows the holiday’s traditions but will not be kosher. “Passover to me always has been a celebration, a night where we take time to remember the tears of our ancestors,” says Gordon, who intends to serve such treats as chicken liver pâté, house-made gefilte fish and matzo ball soup made with Jidori chicken.

HOW GREEN ARE OUR TABLES: Kitchen 1540, the nicely revamped restaurant at L’Auberge Del Mar (1540 Camino del Mar), remains in the capable hands of chef Paul McCabe, whose farm-to-table concept provides fresh, vibrant flavors. He coaxes savory effects from veggies (pistachio brittle and caramelized yogurt glamorize the roasted-beet salad) and from meats, although highest marks may go to seafood offerings, like the sensational stew of monkfish, lobster and shrimp . . . Hopuluvgarlic.Inc is the fictitious business name of the new Pizzicato pizza-and-pasta joint opening on Fifth near Laurel . . . Monthly market-driven menus at Grant Grill will feature morels (yum!) in May, berries in July and, looking well ahead, game birds in November . . . The ongoing series of “Farmers, Foragers and Fishermen” dinners at Mistral, the fine-dining destination at Loews Coronado Bay Resort, is the tasty result of the hotel’s Adopt-A-Farmer program, which supports independent purveyors in the area. In effect, the meals bring a farmers’ market to the table.

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Side Dish

E Is for Extraordinary Excellence

CHOCOLATE MAY NOT BE HER MUSE, but Karen Krasne certainly understands the magic that can be wrought with this unique gift from nature. To celebrate 20 years of bringing San Diegans just about to joyful tears with the amazing pastries at her two Extraordinary Desserts locations, the maître patissiere created a quintet of chocolate bars that express her preference for “E” words: extravagant, expensive and, yes, extraordinary. Several are inspired by the cakes that have made Krasne famous, such as Gianduia (a “darkened” milk chocolate bar with caramelized hazelnuts) and the bittersweet Au Chocolat. The brilliant 20 Years Anniversary Bar fills bittersweet chocolate with salted caramel and will remain in your memory at least as long as it lingers on your hips.

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