Shooting our Foodie-Selves in the Foot

Well, it looks like we've lost another one. Both Executive Chef Jason Schaeffer, and Sommelier Jared Seitzer have abandoned 1500 Ocean, in the Hotel Del Coronado. Jason has gone to Colorado to open his own place, while Jared has left for Quarter Kitchen, in the Ivy Hotel. This place is getting some buzz, mostly as the latest "see and be scene," but early reports on the food are less than stellar.

This piece of news came from a website that I just recently discovered called Foodbuzz SD. I actually stumbled across it through one of the links on Howie's map. It's written by food media insider Marcie Rothman, and has lots of tips on openings, chef changes, and events. One bit of news I was glad to see is that the Winter Fancy Food Show is coming to San Diego this January. According to Marcie, the attendees are wondering where they will eat. It may be true that San Diego doesn't exactly go out of it's way to reward chefs who serve an exceptional product, but that doesn't mean there aren't some good choices here - enough to keep these people busy for a few days at least.

There has been a lot of discussion lately on Chowhound and other sites about the quality of restaurants in San Diego. I hate to say it, but unfortunately I think for the most part we have no one to blame for this but ourselves. San Diegans aren't as style conscious as Los Angelenos, or as civic minded or adventurous as our brethren in the Bay Area. We are however, merciless critics, quick to label a restaurant "overpriced" or "overhyped" at the first disappointment. We also tend - on the whole - to be provincial, lazy and a bit cheap. (If you need further convincing, take a quick look at Open Table's "most requested" restaurants in San Diego. The top two choices are the two local outposts of the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse chain.)

It's hard to blame restauranteurs for putting out a mediocre product though, when no one seems to appreciate anything better. Restaurants that are doing something unique, like making their own charcuterie, or serving organic and humanely raised ingredients, can't seem to get a toe-hold among the hordes lining up at California Pizza Kitchen on a Tuesday night. Witness the demise of Cafe Cerise and Region compared to the relative success of the Cohn Restaurants. (I don't count myself among the "Cohn bashers" but I'm sorry - they are business people, not food people, and it shows.)

I imagine it would be very frustrating to feel that you are catering to a population that makes up maybe one-third of your diners, while the remainder complains about the size of the portions and the prices, and gives nary a thought to the perfect organic produce, the lessened environmental impact of the grassfed beef or the happier life of the heritage-bred pork. Like it or not - the vast majority of San Diegans would fall into that category. I'm hoping things will continue to improve as people learn more about the impact of their food choices and the benefits of supporting the local economy.

Naturally though, this query also got me thinking about what I would encourage the fancy food conventioneers to eat if I were sending them out to sample some of our best cuisine. As of right now, I think this would be my list:

1. Market in Del Mar
2. Bite in Hillcrest
3. Jayne's Gastropub in North Park
4. Cafe Chloe Downtown
5. Tapenade in La Jolla
6. JRDN in PB
7. Chive in the Gaslamp
8. The Guild in Barrio Logan
9. The Linkery
10. Las Cuatros Milpas or El Porvenir

How about you?

Agree? Disagree?

Where would you send fellow foodies for the best meals in San Diego, and what would you tell them to avoid?

San Pasqual Academy Farm Tour

This amazing strawberry came straight out of the field at the San Pasqual Academy Farm. Scott Murray, the President of our local chapter of Slow Food and director of their agriculture program escorted a group of us "slow foodies" on a tour yesterday.

Aside from a nasty little sunburn, it was a fantastic morning. I met several local farmers, someone who works for Chuao, and some nice people who are working with the local chapter of Slow Food, Donna Mc Loughlin and Dominick Fiume. They're bringing new energy to the chapter, and I'm excited to participate in the upcoming events, including a barbeque in Balboa Park with the Linkery on July 29th (more details T.B.A.), and the Taste of Slow Food on August 26th.

More pictures of the San Pasqual Academy farm can be viewed here.

P.S. - Good news for North Park - the North Park Farmers' Market will be returning on Thursday July 19 at the CVS Parking Lot at University and 32nd Street! It will be open 3 PM to Sunset in the Summer, and 2 PM to Dark in the Fall/Winter.

On the Map

A few little newsy bits:

First of all, I wanted to point out that Howie of Foodieview has made this fantastic map for me and several other local food bloggers, showing all of our reviewed restaurants. You can see the links to the others here. When you click on the little markers, a link comes up that goes to both the blog review and the Foodieview page. I will have to spend some time checking out Howie's site - I think he's done some work on it lately and it looks very interesting. I have also been wondering lately if I should link some of the "local favorites" on my list to my reviews rather than to the actual restaurant websites. If anyone has any thoughts or prefererences I'd be open to hearing them.

As you may already be aware, Naomi Wise gave Azzura Point a glowing review in the Reader. I haven't eaten there in years, since Michael Stebner was the chef - but it was certainly excellent then - maybe one of the best meals I had eaten at that time. I recently received an email from the hotel letting me know that they have recently expanded their 3,800 foot organic garden, which includes such delicacies as lavender, artichokes, strawberries, lemon verbena, broccoli, thyme and basil. In addition to utilizing the garden in the restaurants' cooking, the chefs provide 30-minute tours where guests (and locals) learn about cultivating and sustaining herbs, and participate in a cooking demonstration and a cocktail lesson. Examples include Mint Pesto and Basil Caipirinhas. The tours are offered every Friday at 2 p.m. for $15 per person. I plan to attend as soon as I can wangle and afternoon off from work.

Unfortunately, Naomi wasn't so kind to Jayne's Gastropub in her recent review. I notice that she mentions it's a "favorite of food bloggers." The only two blogs I can think of that have talked about it are mine and Gil and Krista's, What We Dig. While it's flattering to be mentioned (even in such an oblique way) it seems to be a dubious distinction in this case. Things like the bad cup of coffee, etc. can happen anywhere and are easy to fix. I'm more concerned about her harsh assessment of the entrees. The review appears to have been written after one meal, which I think is unfortunate. Our experiences have varied slightly over time, but the overall quality has been good. (If pressed though, I guess I'd have to admit it was best on our first visit.) I think if she had visited at least a few more times it might have evened out a bit for her. It wasn't all bad though, she did like the starters - including the Gambas al Ajillo, and the butterscotch creme brulee. (**Update** - be sure to check out the little "foodfight" in the comments section between Naomi and her own critics!)

Slow Food is currently holding an auction to raise funds - you can view the offerings here, and specialized links and more information can be found here. Looks like they have some fun stuff on offer. I am planning to attend a local Slow Food event this Saturday, a tour of San Pasqual Academy farm, and self-catered picnic at Orfila. I might not stay for the picnic if I I go by myself, but I am definitely interested in the farm tour. You can read more about it here.

They have also announced the date of the 4th Annual Taste of Slow Food, August 26th. I thought last years's event was a bit disappointing - not because of anything Slow Food did - but because many of the chef participants packed up and left after only a couple of hours (I noticed this happening at a recent Jr. League event too.) Many didn't cook at all. Let's hope they step it up this year to give the folks, and Slow Food, their money's worth. Also, don't be like us last year, and forget to bring cash for beer and wine. It's not included in the ticket price, but all proceeds do go to the cause.

Whew, this turned into quite a post! I am looking forward to embarking on a couple of cooking projects this weekend, one of which is top secret, but the other one is no secret at all. In honor of David Lebovitz' visit to California, I'll be making at least one, and maybe two of his ice cream recipes. I am all over the malted vanilla. I also combed the book for the salted butter caramel ice cream I remembered reading about on the blog - but when I checked I saw that it isn't included! I am planning to try it as well, using this recipe.

Cheers and Happy Solstice!

La Boca Negra

I first tasted a cake by this name at A.R. Valentien during Restaurant Week, earlier this year. It was the hilight of an otherwise pretty mediocre meal, and the name stuck in my mind. "Boca Negra Cake" seems like a lovely poetic name for such a simple dessert. It means "black mouth" - or perhaps more accurately "black mouthful."

A few months later, I experimented with a flourless chocolate cake for a friend's birthday - using Lindsay Shere's recipe. It was good, but very fragile and delicate. This time I wanted something more sturdy. The cake needed to feed a lot of people, and I wanted it to fit in a sheet pan for easy transportation. Something super rich and dense seemed just the thing.

I finally settled on a recipe from "Cooking with Julia" by Dorie Greenspan. I doubled it, but one and a half times the recipe would have easily been enough - I had enough leftover after making this cake (which is about 1 inch thick) to do a whole 'nother 9 inch square about half an inch thick. Cut into squares, it was like the richest batch of brownies imaginable.

The recipe is unusual, in that it calls for chopping a LOT of chocolate, then melting it with a mixture of boiling booze and sugar. (The recipe called for bourbon, but I used brandy.) Small pieces of softened butter are blended in, and then the eggs are added. A tiny bit of flour is used to absorb some of the richness, and I added a dash of salt.

The hardest part of this whole process, by far - was the making of the chocolate plaque on top. It was my first time tempering chocolate of any kind, and white chocolate is especially delicate. I did finally get it right, after about three tries, but it was amazing how quickly the chocolate set up when tempered - and how it never set up when it wasn't. The process involves heating and cooling the chocolate between a fairly narrow range of around 80 to 115. The chocolate heated much faster than it cooled - since the ambient air temperature wasn't much lower than that. I also did a much better job of writing in class, but the properly tempered chocolate we used was a lot easier to work with - you can see the difference here.

I topped the cake with a white chocolate vanilla mousse and berries, which were a nice foil for the outrageously rich cake beneath. The cake itself sits somewhere between brownies and fudge. Small servings are perfectly adequate, and chocolate lovers will swoon. It improves with a couple of days of aging, and stores beautifully in the fridge.

Boca Negra Birthday Cake
adapted from Lora Brody's recipe in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used the Trader Joes 72% bittersweet from their Pound Plus bars - inexpensive and very good quality)
2 cups sugar - 1/2 cup separated out
3/4 cup good quality brandy (or bourbon)
3 sticks or cubes (12 ounces) soft unsalted butter, cut into half inch slices (cut and then allow to soften.)
7 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
dash fine sea salt

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x16 inch rectangular pan with parchment, pressing the corners into the pan. Butter or grease the paper. Put the cake pan in a shallow roasting pan and set aside until needed. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and keep close at hand.

In a 2-quart saucepan, mix 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the bourbon; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a full boil. Immediately pour the hot syrup over the chopped chocolate and quickly stir with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.

Piece by piece, stir the butter pieces into the chocolate mixture, making certain that each piece of butter is melted before you add another.

Put the eggs and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a medium bowl; whisk until the eggs thicken slightly. Beating with the whisk, add the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until well-blended. Gently whisk in the flour and salt.

Pour into the prepared pan, place both pans in the oven, and fill the outer pan with 1 inch of water. Bake for about thirty minutes, until a crust forms on the cake and it is firm to the touch.

White Chocolate Vanilla Mousse:
1 packet of gelatin (2 1/4 tsp)
3 Tablespoons of whipping cream
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 cup of whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
6 oz of white chocolate (by weight)
3/4 cup of chilled whipping cream

Put one inch of water in a shallow pan and bring to a simmer. Set up a double boiler (preferably using a bowl) and melt the white chocolate - keep the water simmering. Set up an ice bath, and put your whipped cream bowl and beater in the freezer.

Stir together the gelatin and three tablespoons of cream together in a small bowl, and set in the shallow pan of simmering water to dissolve. When it is liquified, Add the gelatin, egg yolks and cup of cream to the white chocolate all at once and whisk until slightly thickened. (It may have some lumps.) Whisk in the vanilla paste.

Sieve the mixture into a bowl (if necessary) and place in the ice bath. Stir until thickened to the texture of lemon curd. Transfer to a large shallow mixing bowl.

With a standing mixer, whip the 3/4 cup of cream to soft peaks. Gently fold the cream into the eggnog base -being careful not to overmix. It should be slightly foamy and creamy. Put the cream in a shallow bowl in the fridge, and chill until set before spreading on the cake. (You will have a lot left over. It can be used anywhere you would normally use pastry cream.)

To prepare the cake, spread the vanilla mousse evenly over the cake, spread with berries, and top with chocolate curls and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. This should be stored in the refrigerator, but served at room temperature.

Love at First "Bite"

Sorry - I couldn't resist! We had dinner at Chris Walsh's new restaurant Bite this past Saturday, and it really was that good.
We loved Cafe W, his old place in Hillcrest on 6th Avenue, but it never re-opened after the fire that destroyed the kitchen several years ago. Walsh surfaced at Confidential for a while, but having sort of aged out of the Gaslamp in the past few years, we never made it down there to try it. The reports I received also seemed to indicate it was not as good as Cafe W.

I found out about Bite a few months ago on a trip to Mama Testa next door, to meet Angie from Crazy Salad. The restaurant actually opened its doors in early May, and after reading the favorable mentions on Chowhound and Gil and Krista's blog, I couldn't wait to try it.

If you ever dined at Cafe W, you will remember that the menu was made up of small plates, something like the tapas side of the menu at Roppongi, or the Guild. Bite is much the same. The plates are composed with a a few different elements, but are smaller than entree portions. Each dish would feed one person comfortably as an entree, two with a small serving, and four with just a taste. We ordered several things for the table in order to get a good sampling, and shared everything among four people. (If you want more than just one or two bites, I'd recommend ordering one dish for every two people.)

We recognized a couple of dishes from the old menu - including the little grilled cheese sandwiches with shallots and mushrooms. They were just as good as we remembered. (We actually made these at home for a party once after trying them at Cafe W - using a baking sheet in the oven, and they came out great.) These came with a little tangle of mache salad that was especially good. Better than your average garnish.

I have mixed feelings about it, but in the spirit of "get it while you can" we ordered the Foie Gras with tropical fruits and pinenut brittle. The brittle was fantastic - light and crisp made with foamed eggwhites. The foie gras itself was cooked well, and the tropical fruits were sweet, but I think I prefer a richer port wine or cherry accompaniment to foie gras. It was good, but it wasn't my favorite dish.

One of my favorite things about this place was the attention to detail. Every piece of produce was perfect - every dressing, sauce and accent was spot on. This really showed up in the deconstructed Nicoise salad, which consisted of little rows of the typical ingredients. The dressing was the perfect foil for the slices of rare peppered tuna, tomato, egg, green beans and mache. I think Nicoise salad is just about the perfect meal, so this was right up my alley.

Probably the most unusual dish we ordered was the grilled japanese eggplant with shaved beets and boursin cheese. It sounds simple, and it was, but there was an interesting interplay among the ingredients. The boursin had been spiced a bit, and the beets were shaved super thin. Susan and Marc professed not to like beets, and James doesn't like eggplant -but they ate it up. James even pronounced it his favorite dish of the night.

We also ordered the short ribs, with mascarpone polenta, and the steak frites. I really liked the steak - it was seasoned well and perfectly cooked - and came with a perfect bearnaise sauce spiked with Tarragon. The frites were tiny and thin and fried with shallots - much like Cafe Chloe's. These were cooked a tad crisper though - which I liked.

The short rib was good - the meat was perfectly tender and sweet. The polenta was a tiny bit limp though, as if maybe the grain hadn't absorbed as much water as it should have. Marc - who grew up in the South - pronounced it "grits." The little green beans that showed up on several dishes were cooked perfectly crisp every time.

From the moment I laid eyes on the menu, I had my eye on the duck confit. It was not actually a confit leg - but pieces of duck mixed into a spinach salad with a rich bacon vinaigrette and mango slices. I loved it, but I was surprised the menu didn't specify that it was a salad.

The last item to come to the table was the chicken breast wrapped in pancetta. The chicken was good and very tender - but I think palate fatigue may have set in by the time this arrived. I was less thrilled with it than the other dishes. The sauce seemed a bit sweet, and the bacon wasn't quite crisp enough - but it's almost not fair for me to judge anything with rosemary in it since I can't stand the stuff.

We stuck with wine and champagne on this visit, but they have an interesting sounding menu of soju cocktails, made with their own house-made infusions. We also skipped dessert - though I saw several going out of the kitchen that looked very good. We were on our way to a birthday party and I had made the cake so we wanted to save a little room. (More on that later.)

The service was friendly and helpful, but not intrusive. We could see Chef Walsh in the kitchen buzzing around, and it's clear this place reflects his vision - right down to the decor which he did himself. The theme is sort of "Miami meets Mid-Century" with a mixture of opulent touches like white leather seats, the bubble mirrored bar, and a modern color palate of dark brown, red and saffron. They definitely spent some money, and I think he did a fantastic job. The restaurant was full last night, and felt busy but not oppressively crowded. It felt like the space was well-planned.

With the reasonable prices and practiced cuisine Chef Walsh is putting out, I have to say I think this place surpasses many of the similar offerings in town. We're glad to have him back!

Bite
http://www.bitesd.com/
1417 University Ave
619.299.BITE

recommended dishes: nicoise salad, duck confit, steak frites, grilled eggplant

Bye Bye Birdies and Congrats to Brandon and Ally!

The baby birds have left the nest! Strangely enough they were ready to go on Saturday, just the day after the earlier photo was taken. It turns out there were three in there, and over the course of the day, they just took wing. Not gradually either. They just soared away. One had a little trouble getting out of the lantern, but once he was out, he was gone. Here they are just before they vacated (you can actually see the one on the right trying to get out.) I was a little worried that they were leaving prematurely, but what I read on the internet said it only takes about ten days for them to get all their feathers, and once they have them they're ready to go.
We had a fun weekend seeing and talking to friends - on Friday we got a phone call from our friends Tracy and Brian, who recently moved to Virginia. It doesn't sound like such a big deal, but Brian was in Georgia for training until May, so we hadn't talked to him since Christmas Day - and I hadn't talked to Tracy since she moved in March. It was almost (but not quite) as good as a visit. Our friends Chris and Kari were also in from Portland this weekend - so we spent some time with them on Saturday, and our friend Tom was down from San Francisco.

On Saturday we headed up to Encinitas for the wedding reception of our friends Brandon and Ally (the reason for all these visits in the first place.) They were married a few weeks ago in Hawaii, but the reception was held at the Quail Botanical Gardens. It was a gorgeous venue - lush and green, and the weather cooperated nicely. The food was catered by Las Olas in Cardiff There was a hosted bar with beer (including some Hawaiian varieties favored by the happy couple), wine and some really good margaritas. Dinner was skirt steak/carne asada tacos, prepared on site.

Looks good doesn't it?

For dessert there were cupcakes from VG Bakery, also in Cardiff. (The VG stands for Very Good.) Chocolate and vanilla, with the kind of whipped buttercream frosting that you can lick right off the top. Not that I did that - at least not while anyone was looking.

The orchid decorations were a genius idea.

It was a great party, and we'd like to wish Brandon and Ally many years of health, good cheer and happiness. Raising a glass:

"May your troubles be less
And your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness
Come through your door."

Or - even better:

"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way."

Have a good week!

Eating for One (and a little friend)

No - not that!!

Can you see him?? Look at that little beak and that fuzzy little head!

We had this old lantern light hanging up over our back porch. It was sort of tilted to the side, and a resourceful bird made a nest in it. We disconnected the lightbulb so as not to fry the little buggers, and just this last Saturday we heard cheeping for the first time. Lo and behold - I climbed up on a chair and saw a little scrawny wet-looking baby bird wiggling around. I was actually worried for a while, it's been quiet since the weekend and we had a lot of activity in our backyard around then - but this morning I saw the mama come back. When I got home, I climbed up and took this picture (using the zoom, I didn't want to get too close.) I'm not sure if there's one or two - but he, she or they sure do make a lot of noise when they're hungry!

Speaking of being hungry...

James has been away this week, but I've been managing to fend for myself. Above is a dinner I made one night of greens, yellow tomatoes, roasted chicken and toasted baguette with a schmear of St. Agur bleu cheese.

This how I cooked for myself when I was single - just a bowl and glass - and I kind of miss it. I guess I could still do this for us, times two - but it seems like more fun to toss the salad in the big bowl, get out the wine cooler, pour the Pellegrino, etc. when there are two of you.

And here's a breakfast I made one morning. I remembered seeing a recipe for something called "Bostock" in the Tartine cookbook - basically a frangipane tart made with brioche and jam, instead of pastry and fruit. I had picked up a loaf of brioche at Trader Joes and I had the frangipane on hand, so I figured what the heck.

I didn't look back at the book - and it turns out the jam is supposed to go on the bottom, but I kind of liked it this way. It's sort of a more elegant pb&j. Super easy, if you have the frangipane on hand. To make it, preheat the oven to 375, smear some frangipane on a slice of brioche (a couple of teaspoons), spread with jam and top with sliced almonds. Bake until the frangipane puffs and the edges of the bread are brown - about five minutes. Cool on a rack and eat while still warm. (The recipe calls for an extra step of brushing the bread with an orange simple syrup - but I didn't bother.)

I hope you are eating well this week too!

That's not me, is it?

As it turns out, you can take just about anything too far. I do sometimes think there's a fine line between showing off and demonstrating a genuine love of and enthusiasm for food and feeding other people, but I'm not quite sure which category this article in today's NY Times is talking about.

I'm reading the Omnivore's Dilemma right now, and I can kind of relate to the ennui about overdoing the fancy/organic/provenance thing, but I resent the implication that it's somehow frivolous. People should care where the poor pig came from, and I am glad they are going to the cheesemonger instead of unwrapping the Cracker Barrel. Then again, I certainly wouldn't be mortified about serving store bought tortillas to guests (especially when I don't know how to make them!)

And what's so wrong with Ann Taylor anyway??

Dang that snooty New York Times.

Who is this Alice Q. Foodie?

Alice Q. Foodie features restaurant reviews and recommendations, recipes, stories, essays and ramblings about the author's adventures as frequently as time allows her to post them. In her “day job” Alice is a lawyer, but please don’t hold that against her.

Alice is a lifelong San Diego resident and lover of food. She fancies herself a champion of the local food scene, and for that reason, this blog features local San Diego restaurants, food purveyors and producers whenever possible. The notable exception to this rule occurs when Alice reports on her travel adventures.

Alice is also occasionally inspired to share information about non food-related subjects (or very peripherally related subjects.) She hopes you do not find these terribly boring.

Should you have a comment, compliment, criticism, or question, please feel free to leave a comment or email Alice at alice dot q at cox dot net.

Welcome, and thanks for stopping by!

Warming up for September

I was back at the Farmers' Market again this morning, and to say I had some company would be an understatement - the place was packed. Wall to wall people. The most crowded part was the aisle of food stalls, which is almost an entity unto its own. I headed there first and was seduced by the Turkish kefta grilling on a cast iron hibachi. I ate it wrapped in a pita with yogurt, tomatoes, onions and pickles and pepperoncinis. Delicious.

I stopped for a couple more chocolates (this time purchased loose instead of in a box - a bit cheaper that way) and stuffed my reusable Trader Joes bag with produce. I spent quite a bit of money, but I got a lot for it. The sandwich, a dozen local eggs and some local honey, some more pluots and apriums, strawberries, tomatoes, cherries, etc. I tried not to go too far overboard since James is out of town this week, but I figure at least this way I will be eating healthy while he's gone!

Part of my motivation for this trip was to explore what the market has to offer in the way of local non-produce items. I've signed up to participate in the Eat Local Challenge for this September. The idea is that you try to eat foods produced (and preferably grown) within 100 miles of your home. I am glad to have found the local eggs, honey and tons of produce, but as far as I'm aware, local grains and meats don't really exist, even including the greater Los Angeles area. I don't think there is a local source of organic milk either, but I plan to make up for that as best I can by buying Straus milk from People's (which is organic and from a Bay Area family farm) or Broguiere's (not organic but from L.A. and also comes in returnable glass bottles.)

This whole thing started up in the Bay Area, where it's relatively easy to "eat local" (for a comprehensive guide to suppliers of local products in the Bay Area, click here) but it's spread throughout the food-centric world as a trend. I can see why some people accuse the movement of gimmickry but I think it will motivate me to explore the options for locally produced foods I might not otherwise find.

As the locavore "manifesto" states:

If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic. This is one of the most readily available alternatives in the market and making this choice protects the environment and your body from harsh chemicals and hormones.

If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.

If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business. Basics like coffee and bread make buying local difficult. Try a local coffee shop or bakery to keep your food dollar close to home.

If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Terroir, which means 'taste of the Earth'. Purchase foods famous for the region they are grown in and support the agriculture that produces your favorite non-local foods such as Brie cheese from Brie, France or parmesan cheese from Parma, Italy.

For me, it's a balance of sustainability and supporting a local economy - if not my own, then another one close by.

I've been "double-fisting" on the conscientious reading lately, switching off between Animal Vegetable, Mineral and The Omnivore's Dilemma. I figured I better read it before I go see Michael Pollan speak next Tuesday at UCSD. It's really a shame we've come so far from knowing (or caring) exactly where our food comes from. It also really makes you wonder whether all this modern technology has really done us any favors. I'm reminded of those ads from the 50's that talked about how much leisure time women would have if they had a washing machine, and a dryer, and an electric stove - and on and on. Yeah, right. Most of these technological changes are water under the bridge at this point - but it sounds like there's quite a bit we can do to slow the progress toward total ruin. Hopefully people will wake up to the fact that there's more to life than low prices before it's too late.

Local (by way of Peru) - Guanni Chocolates

As promised, I am back with a few words about a fabulous new discovery, Guanni Chocolates. The company is owned by a local chef, Mariella Balbi - and the name is an amalgamation of the names of her three children, Gian Franco, Juan Alvaro and Ian. One of them - I'm not sure which one, but he was about ten years old and a total sweetheart - was with her there at the market on Sunday, answering questions and helping his mom mind the store.

The chocolates are hand made using natural and organic ingredients and unique Peruvian flavors. I'm surprised I haven't heard about them before - it looks like they got a writeup in the local news a couple of years ago, but I've never seen them mentioned on Chowhound or any of the local blogs.

As you can see, they are exquisitely made. Likewise, the flavors are quite sophisticated. I selected this box from a list that included five liqueur flavors - including Grand Marnier, Pisco, Chambord and Calvados; two spicy flavors - including one made with Peruvian hot pepper and the other made with yellow hot pepper; three fruit flavors - passion fruit, raspberry and cassis and Lucuma (more below); the requisite dark chocolate truffle; and three nut/caramel combinations.

Clockwise from top right, my box includes the "Lucuma" - a dark chocolate ganache truffle flavored with a rare Peruvian fruit by the same name that resembles a mango; the "Romance" - a dark chocolate shell filled with a ganache flavored with blood orange and Chambord; "Bukare," the dark chocolate truffle (topped with gold dust); the "Cocoroco," a soft bittersweet lemony caramel sprinkled with Alaea sea salt; and the "Pisco"- one of my favorites - a dark chocolate ganache truffle spiked with Pisco brandy and some finely ground currants. Going on around up to the top are another Romance and another Pisco - then the one in the middle with the pecan on top is a "Criollo" - a dark chocolate shell filled with chopped pecans and dulce de leche; and in the center is a "Praline au Rhum," a soft light chocolate ganache flavored with rum and almond praline.

She was out of a few of her most popular ones - the Cassis, with raspberries and cassis in dark chocolate, and the Loreto with passionfruit and apricot - will have to nab those on the next go round. I liked them all, but the dark ones were my favorites. She doesn't shy away from the bittersweet chocolate - she uses only 70% and above, and unless otherwise labeled, everything is dark. She also offers a selection of vegan and sugar-free chocolates made with all natural ingredients. Fore more about the ingredients, click here.

The chocolates are not inexpensive, but considering that they are locally made - not only with love, but with organic chocolate, dairy products and fruits - I think they're worth a few extra pennies. I also love the Peruvian textiles she uses to fasten the boxes. My box of 9 was $24.00, a box of four is $11.00, and a box of 12 is $32.00. (She also had a few less expensive single items and bars set out for sale.)

The article I read indicates they are for sale at the Hillcrest, Vista and Escondido farmers' markets, as well as through the website. If you're a local chocolate fanatic, I suggest you high tail it to the Hillcrest farmers' market tomorrow to get your hands on a few. But do me a favor, would you, and wait until I've had a chance to go get some of the ones I missed trying last week?