The Third Fancy Food Show Tour - An Urban San Diego Bistro Crawl

The third tour they asked me to put together was by invitation only, for a smaller VIP group called the Buyers Circle. I immediately thought about taking them around to some of my favorite smaller restaurants for a progressive tasting dinner with beverage pairings, but I really didn't want to limit them to only one item per restaurant. Ultimately we wound up with more of a hodgepodge - but I think it was a good thing.

The only problem was choosing which restaurants to go to. There are so many good ones, but with only four hours, I had to make some choices. Ultimately I designed a route that started downtown, with a detour to Barrio Logan for the Guild, then came back downtown and up to Hillcrest with a stop at Starlite on the way. We wrapped up in North Park with Urban Solace. Had we the time, I would have loved to take them to Jayne's Gastropub, Modus and the Linkery - but alas it was not to be.

The first stop leaving out of the convention center was Cafe Chloe - where owner Alison greeted us with a platter of smoked trout canapes on crostini with granny apple and horseradish. These were wonderful, sort of like tuna or chicken salad on steroids. We also had some of their famous frites, and some mini vol au vents with chicken and mushrooms. Rich, but very good. They poured a lovely rose wine to go along with. We stayed there for a comfortable period while everyone ate and chatted with Alison about the business. Alison was a wonderful hostess and I think everyone was impressed with the decor and style of the cafe, as well as the food. One person told me the watercress aioli was her favorite thing from the whole tour. After chatting and eating for as long as we could, we moved on to the Guild.

At the Guild, we were greeted by partner and manager Linda, ushered into a private room and seated with menus for a three course tasting with cocktail pairings. First up was the tomato and mozzarella salad with basil foam, served in a little metal casing on a skewer, paired with a shot of good sake.

Next we had a bite of spicy seared sesame crusted tuna with a nice fruity Jade Kiss cocktail - a vibrant green shot of cucumber and lime. Third, we had their Kobe beef sliders - which were just as good as I remembered from dining there if not better.

These were paired with a spicy passionfruit cocktail. Linda talked with us about the design and the restaurant, and answered everyone's questions. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the Guild - a few people even told me it was their favorite stop.

Next, we were off to Currant, where they set aside a nice spot in the bar for us, and we enjoyed a tasting of Buttermilk Fried Frog leg (one of a few things I ate this weekend I had never tried before!) with a saffron risotto, a foie gras torchon with currant orange chutney, and a banana phyllo pastry. Chef Pflueger brought the food out and greeted us, but I think they were busy preparing for service by that time.

There was a little too much chutney on the foie gras torchon, but the frog's leg was surprisingly good. You have to watch out for those little tiny bones though. From Currant we moved on to Starlite, just up India Street.

At Starlite, we discovered cocktails waiting for us on the tables, along with plates of their house made charcuterie. We had some really good fritto misto - including some scandalously good fried cheese - and a sampling of their jidori chicken entree. This was the one stop I had not tried before, but I will be going back.


From Starlite, we scooted up University to Bite, where Chris Walsh greeted us with an array of champagne cocktails and accompaniments - including oysters, foie gras creme brulee with toast points, grilled salmon and cheese sandwiches, and pears wrapped with prosciutto. He opened just for us, and prepared the food himself - how's that for special treatment? He was also a joy to work with in setting this up, I have to say. And that foie gras creme brulee is to die for. Dangerous, actually.

Our next and final stop was Urban Solace, which was in full swing by the time we arrived. Given that the tour ran from about 4-8, our visits to the other restaurants had mostly been before service - and Bite was actually closed that evening. Urban Solace was buzzing. The bar was packed, they had live music going, it was a nice contrast and a good festive wrap up for the evening.

Chef Matt Gordon brought out beef cheek sliders with their tomato jam, a plated sample of their pork rib eye with corn spoon bread which I especially enjoyed, and a small peanut butter and chocolate creme brulee. If you haven't tried this dessert, you really must. It might sound a little cloying but it's absolutely delicious. These were all paired with wines, the dessert with port.

Thus sated, we headed back downtown and dropped everyone off at their hotels. It was fun for me to put it together, and I think the participants enjoyed it - weary as they may have been from their three days of tasting, eating and chatting at the show.

The rest of the photos can be viewed here.

Where we went:

Cafe Chloe
721 9th Ave
San Diego, 92101
(619) 232-3242

The Guild
1805 Newton Ave.
San Diego, 92113
(619) 564-7584

Currant Brasserie
140 West Broadway
San Diego, 92101
(619) 702-6309

Starlite Lounge
3175 India Street,
San Diego
(619)358-9766

Bite Wine Bar and Bistro
1417 University Avenue
San Diego, 92103
(619) 299-2483

Urban Solace
3823 30th St
San Diego, 92104
(619) 295-6464