Brick Frikin Toast

 Hello Sweet Tooth Aficionados!

 

For this gem I need to chalk up the credit to an acquaintance of mine named Amanda.  She used to always post about a place called UP2You Café and I finally had the privilege of trying this place with the Fam.  The Décor is great, that great home grown coffee house feel but not too pretentious.  Anyways below is what we ordered and it was one of the best decisions of my life next to buying a home when I did and I guess deciding to get married... (please don't hurt me Love!)

 

Brick Toast with Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream and Condensed Milk. 

 

Now most of my close friends and fam know I am more of a "why save room for dessert give me more meat" guy, but I still do appreciate well balanced desserts.  So lets start with the toast, a Japanese style egg bread and simple heaping of butter and sugar.  When they pop these in the oven the restaurant instantly picks up the aromas.  Topped with a balanced bitter sweet matcha green tea ice cream, sliced banana, and a drizzle of the mystical ingredient condensed milk to add a subtle sweetness.  Great dish,  I definitely had a foodgasm and I am so glad I decided to take the fam here.  Jake loved playing on all the vintage furniture.  It is tucked in a corner of clairmont mesa so keep an eye out for it!

Milwalky Trace

    So pretty excited to share this experience.  Big props to the cousin in law Jessi Gube for enlightening me about this place on our family vacay to Chicago.  So without further a due I give you... Milwalky Trace.  Apparently it was named after a major road or something like that?  I don't really remember because I was too busy stuffing my face holes.  You could just taste the experience and care that went into every dish.  Very simple food with a high level of technique and palette experience.  Scroll down and check out the dishes!  So good Ill even show you from the end to the beginning.

Dark Chocolate Ganache with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

The garanche was a very dark slightly bitter chocolate with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt.  A pinch of salt further extenuates the flavors that are already in the dish, hence why salted caramel is such a popular trend nowadays.  It comes with some grilled ciabatta which I thought was buttered and drizzled with sugar but it really didn't need it.  The bitter sweet chocolate had the perfect balance for a great ending dish without being overly sweet.

Ciabatta French Toast

Here is the sugar added on the ciabatta that I was missing from the ganache dish.  A pretty standard french toast using ciabatta which is super unique, macerated berries, and some pure maple.  I prefer the ganache over this but for you all with a sweet tooth this dish is simple but awesome.

Braised Pork Shoulder with Clams

Pork belly and clams is a pretty common pairing.  I like how they used a pretty low end cut like a pork shoulder and really re-purposed it to raise its appeal.  Fresh little neck clams and a delicious spanish style chorizo broth was perfect.  Fresh cilantro on the top rounded out the dish and I am glad that the garnish belonged on the dish as opposed to just a sprinkling of parsley on the rim of a plate which I hate.

1 Dollar Fresh Oysters

We bought this restaurant out of the western oysters.  They gave us a mix of east and west oysters.  I know I may be partial but I prefer the west oysters.  They taste more of the sea and have a pleasant brine to them than the eastern ones which are a bit saltier.  Some fresh lemon and mignionet, what more could you ask for?  O yea only a dollar on Tuesdays!!

Sweet Potato Gniocchi

Not a bad dish I do like the texture of gniocchi when it is finished on a plancha or a pan as it gives it a crisp texture to complement the pillowy insides.  The dish had great flavor but I did feel the pasta was a bit dense using the sweet potato.  Still great flavor though just wanted it to round of with great texture.

Sweet Onion Fritter

These were locally sourced onions just liked the rest of their ingredients.  Neat little swirl in the cup of chipotle aioli.  I do like the spanish flair on some of the dishes.  I like how he julienned the onions and made them into a little nest.  A bit over cooked but still very good appetizer.

Grilled Little Gem Salad

Great salad.  When I first started cooking grilling greens like this was something I loved to do.  Honestly havent had a grilled salad in like 5 years till this day.  Just a simple Caesar with super fresh produce.  SO GOOD!

Gruyere Dip with Bacon Lardons

Well melty bubbly gruyer and cubes of rendered crispy bacon with bread.  Dont really need to elaborate but you could tell this picture didnt look like this for more than a couple seconds.  I think a dish like a cheese dip is pretty essential to those with simpler palates.

Tartar

Of course I pushed us to order this one.  Very good tartar, you could taste the freshness in the beef and the seasoning really came through without overpowering the meat.  Dijon and fresh herbs all over the palate.

Heyyyyyyyyyyy.... The Bronze Fonze

The best thing about this place is the menu changes with the seasons and availability of products as a restaurant should be.  Next time I go back it'll be a whole new experience!  Thanks again fam for the treat!

Feeling good about the startup!

Hello friends!  

     So I know its been a while since I've blogged about my catering startup.  To refresh the past post it was pretty much saying how stupid the process was.  Here I am just trying to use my skills to provide for my family and the city telling me I cant do it because of zoning issues.  I still don't really get it since there is already a full working kitchen where I work currently and to tell me I cant use this fully functioning kitchen was pretty ludicrous to me.  But I guess things just are the way they are sometimes and nothing worth doing is ever easy.

     I am happy to report that this past week has been very productive to me finally achieving my goal and starting my own business!  I have another application in to the city of Poway but this time thanks to some of my vendors and their tips, I have secured another commercial kitchen that is already licensed by the city to operate.  I have had nothing but great encounters with the owner of the kitchen and it just leaves a great feeling that I am finally going to get this gig off the ground.

    I have had the privilege to do a couple tasting for a couple interested clients and one of them one of my long time friends.  I think I am more excited to finally be able to share what I feel is my calling with others.  I've gone through the treacherous journey of planning a wedding myself (Not that treacherous Mel!) and remember that some of the food that we had to chose from our caterer was so basic for lack of a better word.  I really want my company to be able to cater to what the bride and groom want rather than just choose from a set list of foods which to me sounds bland don't you think?  Custom catering is where I feel is more in demand, even on a budget.  I'm making sound like I have achieved so much already and I really haven't done anything at all really, but just the amount of thinking and formulating ways to start something on your own really takes it toll on you, and I haven't even done an event yet!  I plan on trying to get my name out there by doing some of the local farmers markets and really just relying on social media and word of mouth to establish myself.

     I feel all the waiting and being told no really does lend itself to something better in the end as long as you keep working at it.  I am so excited for what is to come and I just want to thank all my friends for supporting me and believing in what I do.  In food you are only as good as your last plate and through the hundreds of steps that it takes to make a single dish I feel if someone is making your food that is only in it for the money, that is what is going to be reflected in the flavor and plating of the food.  I'd really appreciate if everyone would get my name out there and take the time to share my blog and maybe I'll get the chance to share my passion with you all!