"Fancy" Restaurants: San Diego
Casual restaurants like the eateries on Convoy or Souplantation are my favorite places to go in San Diego, but this trip afforded the opportunity to try out a couple fancy pants restaurants.
I've walked by Whisk n Ladle several times before, but finally we decided to give it a try. The numerous honors and recognitions that they posted by the front door helped draw us in. The menu is that class of "contemporary American" that's supposed to be artisanal and "market driven."
The only seating area for lunch was a pleasant covered outdoor patio filled with San Diego sunshine. Bread is on request, and it's served with some sort of compound butter, but no one could discern what the black flecks inside were.
I tried the duck confit salad, which I have fond memories of at JeanRo in Cincinnati. But whereas JeanRo has a traditional presentation with a whole duck leg complete with crispy skin, and a perfectly poached egg on top of frisee, the Whisk n Ladle version offers only shredded meat (with some fat pieces), dates, and fried shallots. It was okay, but didn't live up to the hype of all of those "best new restaurant" awards by the front door.
We also tried Il Fornaio, a chain of Italian restaurants. We went to the Del Mar location, and together with the garage parking and ocean view, I think this is a relaxed alternative to the ocean view restaurants of downtown La Jolla.
I tried the Piatto Smeralda, which inclued grilled scallops, calamari, and shrimp, with some sauteed spinach and cannellini beans underneath. Surprisingly spicy, all of the seafood was well cooked and well seasoned. ftentimes pasta with a lot of sauce weighs me down, I liked how this was sauce free and balanced between vegetables, protein, and carbs. At $14.99, I was surprised by the amount of seafood I got.
We ended with Tiramisu (would I get anything else?), and Zabaione alla Gritti, which was a cream with Triple sec mixed in, served with blueberries and raspberries (these were fresh and sweet, surprising for December) on top of bellini sorbet. Two great ways of ending the meal.
