Ahi Tostadas @ Bar Bodega
Best Things I Ate This Month: August 2017
Little Italy restaurants come rippled with hype these days, for good reason. It’s the epicenter of good food in San Diego. That’s why it’s refreshing to find a little hole in the wall that makes up for a lack of hype with personal charm. Bodega’s just that, a Spanish tapas bar with a good selection of Spanish cheeses and wine. The lamb chops are phenomenal, but the most surprisingly good dish is the ahi tostada (or tostadas, since there are six small ones in every order). A blue corn tortilla flat layered with avocado puree, fresh ahi (tuna), green onion, morita ash, radish, chive, and chili oil. The idea isn’t groundbreaking, especially in the Baja-friendly seafood haven of San Diego, but the execution is.
1980 Kettner Blvd, Little Italy
Halibut with Farro @ Provisional
Best Things I Ate This Month: August 2017
One of the better tastings I’ve had in a while came this month at the new Pendry Hotel in the Gaslamp. The property’s a stunner, and the kitchen at their all-day restaurant, Provisional, is really cooking. This halibut came perfectly cooked with red miso farro and baby bok choy—an Asian riff on ancient grains and one of the best white flatfish around.
425 Fifth Ave, Gaslamp
Breakfast Pot Pie @ Snooze
Best Things I Ate This Month: August 2017
This thing’s dirty. Snooze is almost always packed in Hillcrest, for good reason. The beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows let in the morning sun just right over the tall buildings across the street on Fifth Ave. Their pancakes (pineapple upside down, especially) are excellent. But this breakfast pot pie with light, flakey puff pastry, sausage gravy, and a sunny-side egg is gluttony on a plate. After posting it to Instagram, a friend suggested an even better addition to the dish—ask them to include corned beef hash underneath it all.
3940 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest
