The Red Door - Mission Hills - USA

http://www.thereddoorsd.com/#the-red-door

If the statement to the right of the above photo doesn't give you a sufficient enough hook to try this place, then launch to the inter-web and look for something else that's more to your liking, cause this is just too awesome for you.

A farm to table restaurant that evolved to a FARM that provides food to it's TABLEs.

I love that so much.  I tried to delve a bit deeper into their webpage to find where the farm was, but alas I was unsuccessful.  In some ways I think this is probably intentional on the part of The Red Door because they obviously wouldn't want a bunch of obsessed people, like myself, just showing up at their farm and saying hi, looking around and telling them how cool they are, while really just disrupting the work that they're trying to do.

Back to dinner.

We are a foursome tonight and as such we enjoy a meal and drinks from time to time when our travels have briefly ceased, allowing us to commune and share our goings-on over the past weeks and/or months, since the time of our last respite. 

As we're pretty darn hungry from the get-go, our cohorts, we'll call them K-Dub and EASE to keep the privacy to a maximum, especially after that Ashley-Madison fiasco...anyway, we all select some nibbles to begin with.

The ubiquitous Shishito Peppers

A more than standard fare at most restaurants these days.  All the cooking that these little buggers really require is to just keep it simple.  Just don't F it up.  The Red Door nails it pretty well.  I was concerned when I saw the plate and the lake (lake not lack) of sauce below, but all was well.  The sauce was light and was there for you to enjoy or not, the peppers weren't drowned.  It's also quite possible that they weren't cooked at all, which for me worked, and HG agreed, but I think K-Dub was looking for more, searching, trying to understand exactly what the heck was going on.....  

Sweetbreads

These were yummmm.  Sweetbreads are the thymus gland of a cow.  Normally they are poached and then fried and then sauced, and these (I think) followed that exactly.   A light batter, some small greens, and then an asian sauce things below (the menu states Fig Gastrique, but whatever).  My only complaint was that I wish there were more.  These were soft but still had a firmness that relented when bitten.  They also seems to have been cleaned perfectly, no stringy uglies running through the meat or outer skin stuff.  Just pure gentle loveliness.  Meaty and delicious.

Vegan Nachos

K-Dub's mortal enemy is gluten.  This includes breading, chips, cakes, obviously anything made with flour or yeast or blah, blah, blah.  Basically it = boring, but we work with it cause she's pretty darn awesome and we dig hanging out with her.

So, hence the vegan nachos that would never be on our table otherwise, guaranteed.  But before we can enjoy them (this photo is of the replacement nachos) HG is so drunk that she knocks her wine over, into the nachos, and then into K-Dub's lap (none of that is actully true.  I handed HG the hot plate of peppers and she had to set it down fast, and then everything tumbled.  Toats my fault).   The nachos were meh.  You can see what's on them, no need for further explanation.  Not bad, I'm just not inspired to further eloquence.

Yes, please, more wine.  It's so fricken hot outside that we need to re-hydrate!

And then someone EASEd in and grabbed the big one, no fear, just takes it....

I'm sure it's not his first  :-O

OK, dinner photos.  At this point the sun has set and we are working with man-made luminescence, so there is a golden hue to all that you'll see hence forth.

This is the "special of the night" Short Ribs (I think)

Honestly, truly, I can't remember, and this was my meal  :-O--------  I remember it being good and all the flavors going well together, but it might have been chicken for all I can recall.  Sorry....

Fresh Catch

This was tuna and as we EASEd into this it was room temp, and that seemed kind of weird to all of us.  It also could have been intended to be that way, but we don't know because we didn't ask.  We were on our second bottle and we just wanted to eat.  It's cool.  Sometimes you just want to roll with it, and we did.  Overall I don't think it was bad (EASE?) but not great.

I am always cautious when the waiter recommends the most expensive thing on the menu.  And I often will ask just to see what they say, even when I've already made my selection.

Cook's Ranch Pork Tomahawk

This was the most expensive thing on the menu. It was also the most delicious thing we ate at The Red Door.  Cooked perfectly, seasoned well, glazed with a very light sauce that complimented the meat well, letting the meatiness shine through and be the star while contributing a subtle gentle lingering flavor in your mouth.  The meat was soft and easy to eat.  Delicious.  The Mac and Cheese was also a terrific accompaniment to this dish.  It could have held up on it's own if this was a brewery or bar, etc...

One perfectly composed dish.  Bravo.

And then we blinked and it was over.

There was a last photo of desert, some sort of peanut butter tort thing but by the time I thought of taking a photo it looked like a pack of wild dogs had attacked it and dragged it through the bushes to finish the kill.  Not a very appetizing photo, so we'll skip that. 

Evaluation?  I like The Red Door, I always have.  I also like The Wellington, right next door for a drink before dinner here, or anywhere nearby (The Wellington and The Red Door share the same ownership group.  They even share the same kitchen) .  

The Red Door

It's a great neighborhood spot to slowdown your life and linger over a meal and/or a your beverage of choice while talking with family, friends, even random strangers.  Try it, it can be a good thing.

Linger

Let's do more of that

DVA