In any case, I'v eaten some reeeeeeally good food the last five days starting with the Barona Indian Casino Buffet. I know what you're thinking. Buffet? Ew. I thought the same thing... buffets=diarrhea. You're just going to have to trust me that I won't steer you wrong here. We plan to go back soon and this time I won't be as distracted by the crepe, exotic cheese, and mongolian bbq stations as I was this time, so I'll have some pictures for you. Since I don't have any pictures, let's move on to Alexander's the next night (Saturday night, the day before AFC).
Observe our pre-pasta appetizer: Melty Brie with a whole clove of roasted garlic. (Also note I got so excited to squish the garlic out of the clove that I forgot to take a picture when it was still all pretty...oops.)
A word of caution about this dish: should you eat it and have a significant other that you plan on being around for the next two days, you need to do the following every hour: brush teeth, use mouthwash, chew gum, and spray perfume/cologne on self consistently. You will stink for at least two days as you leak garlic from every pore. But it's so worth it.Moving on to the next night (Monday) after the race. It was a friend's birthday, so he wanted to try a new restaurant that opened in Little Italy called Craft and Commerce. They're motto is, "Demandless." And while their menu is a single page with only 3 entrees, they don't seem to expect their patrons to demandless from the bar. (The drink menu is three pages.)
Quick background on the joint: There are two other trendy-hipstery-I'm-to-cool-for-my-own-self places downtown. One is called The Neighborhood and the other is El Dorado (I'll probably write about them at some point). Anyway, somehow these three places are connected through the owners and, as far as I can tell, Craft and Commerce is the hybrid-love-child of the first two. The food, for example, is like The Neighborhood, but instead of fancy PB & J or jalapeno mac & cheese, you get hot dogs that look like this:
And the drinks are like El Dorado with their "craftiness" and the New York-drink-mix-master-guru that was flown in to create avant garde cocktails for both these establishments. Observe the birthday boy finishing off what was Craft Drink #1: Mother's Ruin. (I picked it out for him...that's not in poor taste is it??)
Yes, that is a bowl of alcohol and yes I just about wet myself when I found out it is served in a tea cup. (I had an Alice in Wonderland party earlier this year and I served cocktails out of tea pots...so, I nearly bounced myself out of my chair and onto the floor when they brought out the bowl of booze and ladled it into tea cups for everyone.)
Mother's Ruin: gin, spiced black tea infused vermouth, lemon, grapefruit, champagne.Craft Drink #2: The Eulogy. The name says everything.
The Eulogy: gin, bianco vermouth creme de viollete, absinthe.I should also mention, that if you're a beer person, they serve craft beer from nearly all 30 of the local San Diego breweries. So the drinks are amazing and the food is too, but you might be wondering if I ordered and ate those hot dogs. Nope. Those weren't mine, I don't eat meat from restaurants (remember?). But I heard they were amazing, and supposedly Craft and Commerce buys from local farmers and butchers. I need to look a little more closely at this rumor...and I would have asked the owner last night... but, well, you saw those drinks...
I could go on and on about how we went to Extraordinary Desserts after and pigged out on french goodies, or how amazing the breakfast burrito I've been eating (in shifts) all day today has been, but I'll spare you. For now.
Until next time:
Alexander's is in North Park at 3391 30th Street. 619.281.2539
Craft and Commerce is in Little Italy at 675 W. Beech Street. 619.269.2202
Haha! I can see you "bouncing" out of your seat at the sight of the tea cup drinks! You are so funny! When can we go get cheese and garlic again?
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