A Long Walk To Ocean Beach (from East Mount Helix....)

So, I'm going to take a long walk

There's no deep reason for this, it's not a fundraiser and I'm not having another mid-life-crisis (have I had one before?!?!?), It's simply been a while since I've done something like this, and it seems time.

Yes, I've taken an all day walk before, many times actually.  I've done the 3-Day Walk 3 times (20 miles a day, 3 days in a row), and I've walked from North Park to the beach a number of times (once I walked back as well).

This one is roughly 18.85 miles and I guess that it will take about 7 hours, give or take.

The route (as noted below) is also very rough, but should be very close to the actual.

I'll depart at 7:00am, on Saturday November 13th.

All are welcome to join me, for all, or part, or none.  Meeting me along the way to say hi or offer a water, or Band-Aid or Tylenol (joking, I'll be fine :-), would also be cool.  

I go pretty fast, and won't be making many stops, other than for quick nourishment and biological breaks, so keep that in mind if this sounds interesting to you.

But know that, honestly, there is absolutely no pressure to join or act or even care about this.

I'll be posting my progress to Instagram, so if you want to check in on me here's the link (I also post a lot more there than via this blog, so if you want to see more of what I'm actually doing that's a good interface to do that):

https://www.instagram.com/dvasandiego/

I hope you all are staying healthy and happy.

Make it a great day.

DVA

Mom's Pizza and Pasta - San Diego, CA, USA

 

https://www.momspizzasd.com/

Allow me to present to you a truly special restaurant, run (and owned) by 2 really exceptional people.  Rob and Raya have created not only a comfortable family-feel pizza and pasta (handmade I might add) spot, but the food is really incredible.  And you know me, if it wasn't I'd have no problem calling it like I see it, and a little later in the story you'll see for yourself, and then hopefully you'll go and  try it for yourself. 

First, let's start with the oven.  Hot Stove Pizza is what the sign says.  Like, what even is that?

My first look and I was like "a conveyor oven, come on, this is not going to be good"

And then I peeked a bit closer, and what did I see???

The conveyor inside the oven is actually made of stone slats that convey the pizza (or whatever) from one end to the other.  BRILLIANT!!!!  

This provides the nice and crispy crust that you get from direct contact with a cooking surface, while eliminating the hard to reach places to clean, or locate a pizza, in a traditional gas oven, or wood fired, etc...  From what I recall it was running at a temp of ~650f.  

Canadian made, super unique, and I love it

I'm now looking forward to eating more than I was 10 minutes ago, let's get it!

Caesar Salad

And, as I typically do, I forgot to take a photo.  It was decent, not amazing, but a nice tang to the dressing and freshly shaved parm on top.  Nice, but we're not here for the salad, and honestly if the wife wasn't along I wouldn't have had it at all.... just sayin'.

Kid pie?

Well, it's all the kid would eat (cheese only) but we each had a slice, and madonna was it good!

The crust, just look at it

Yeah, the crust, it's magic

The crisp and crunch was off the charts.  And not the crunch of being over-cooked or stale, etc.. this crunch, when you bite into the crust, shatters into little bitty crunchy pieces, a never-ending crunch if you will, and then the interior pillow hits you.  Light and fluffy, slightly chewy, combined with the crunch shards..... someone wipe the sweat from my forehead, I'm overheating!

I need to pause the typing for a sec so that I can go get a leftover slice from the fridge, I'll be right back, I can't type another word until I get this pie back into my mouth.....

OK, thanks, sorry for that.

Stromboli???   Strom-yesi!

Chicken Parm Stromboli

It's made with the same dough as the pizza, a dough that is aged for several days in the fridge, and not old mind you, so don't start with that, it's a ferment in ball form (a ferment, is that a thing?).   Rob tells me that they typically let it go for 4 days, which my buddy TK will back me up on, is quite nice  :-)

Geeze-Louise, even just the photo looks amazing  Delicious view right?!?!?!?

And then the king arrives

Pepperoni sausage, classic, love it, can't get enough, it's the "go-to" for me for sure.

What else can I say?  We drove 30 minutes for this dinner, and I would (and will) do it again at twice that if need be.  Maybe we'll try the pasta next time?  Maybe we'll try IT ALL next time?

I do have 2 final comments:

1) They are located right next door to (literally the fence separating the properties) a childcare/preschool, so they can't serve any alcohol (no beer, wine, etc., no pinché nada).  It wasn't a big deal for us as we had the kids in tow, but if it was date night I'm gonna want a beverage.

2)  I found out about this spot from Instagram via someone that I follow, Bobs' Pizza Tour in NYC.  We had both commented on one of his posts, and I saw their name @momspizzasd, and looked them up and BAM!  I love the magic of that (thanks @bobspizzatour !!!)

3)  Yeah, I said 2 but it's my blog so meh....Rob and Raya have another location, a more formal dining experience with wine (yes!!!), but it sustained some water damage and has been closed while that's being sorted out.  Trattoria Ponte Vecchio, Del Mar (Carmel Valley Road).  Look for a post on that coming soon (Ammy, get ready, we'll need your babysitting services as we're gonna relax and enjoy:-))

DVA

Blue Ribbon Pizzeria - Encinitas (San Diego) CA -USA

https://www.blueribbonpizzeria.com/

After a long drive up the coast we've finally arrived.  Based on their online reviews my expectations are high.  Especially knowing that the owner once manned the pizza station at the legendary Spago's in LA.

As you read the "story" on their website the owner also claims to have had this oven in his garage for some time.  Looking at it, it's kind of hard to believe.  Although it's possible that the dome and other accoutrements are a legitimate part of that story, but all I can see are a lot of bricks.  Looks nice though, don't get me wrong, but this was not moved in one piece to it's current home.

My skepticism is growing.....

Let's ease into this.

Fried ravioli

This was OK, looked a little better than it tasted.  Kind of bland, not the punch of flavor that I was expecting by the look of it.

This was one of the strangest Caesar Salads I've ever had.  It was very (VERY) lightly dressed and then topped with a lot (A LOT) of crumbly crispy parm/breadcrumb stuff.  As you forked it, all of the stuff just fell off.  If/when you could get a bite that included all of the "stuff" it tasted really good.  The trouble was accomplishing that.  Most bites were dry lettuce, and then you were left with a plate full of crumbles.

Fail

On to the pizza (and hopefully upwards.....)

So, super confused....

Take a look down. How great does that Roni and sausage look?!?!?!?

Large diameter pepperoni and fennel sausage.

Flavor?  Almost none.  Shockingly none.

Now, most of you that know me well know that I'm not a topping guy.  It's the crust that matters most to me, but the pizza looked sooo good (and sounded so good from the menu), that we were SO blown away at the lack of flavor.  Like, you couldn't even tell that there was sausage on the pie.  

Yes, that bad/disappointing.

Kid review: 

Both were fans and ate as much as we put on their plates.

Next up, the classic Margherita.

Now about the crust. 

It was firm and crisp and held up to what I thought was an over-topped pizza (aka too much stuff).  But as we ate, and as it cooled, it got harder and harder, turning almost cracker-ish by the end.  Like it was turning stale right in front of our eyes.

Yes, weird

Look at that crust, it's even hard to look at.  It'll break a tooth if you stare at it too long..

Meh

I do have to say that the setting was nice and the wait staff were awesome, and the beer was cold and delicious.  Not that we'll ever drive 45 minutes (1 way) EVER to go to this place again, but if you're in the neighborhood, and have kids, and want a comfy place to hang, then this is the place.

If you're scouting out a great pie, keep your head down and move on.

DVA

Bill's Pizza, Palm Springs, CA, USA

https://www.billspizzapalmsprings.com/

Hello beautiful Palm Springs!

We're here to celebrate the Ol' Lady's birthday, and to soak up some sun and fun, and to just get the heck out of town (we've got a little lock-down fever.....).

So why not try some local pizza, perfect 110 degree weather food ;-/

After an exhaustive search I discovered this local favorite, Bill's Pizza.  Bill claims to have perfected his pizza making skills by traveling through Italy and also participating in a seminar by none other than Chris Bianco (click on the following link for my blog about a trip that the Italian Stallion and I made to  Phoenix to enjoy pizza from Chris' flagship restaurant):

  http://yourpiemymouth.blogspot.com/2019/09/pizzeria-bianco-phoenix-arizona-usa.html 

First, let's start with a round of beers!

And while we waited we enjoyed some wonderful local art

We began with a very decent Caesar Salad.  Nothing too exciting though, I think we were just glad that they kept it straight, no "creative twists" with this classic.  Just do the classic, it's already good enough.  

Thanks Bill!

As the sign states, fast slices!  Cheese is up!

And for the grown-ups, a large pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom.

The style is similar to that of Fillipi's.  For those of you not familiar with that type, using the NY style as a baseline, it's got a thicker crust and is more generously topped.  This one, however, has a sourdough crust, which really means that they are naturally leavening the dough (there was no sourdough flavor).  What this gives IS a lighter crust, and it needs it with the abundance of toppings.

Nice under-carriage.  Crisp but not hard, it's certainly able to hold up the slice without any flop.

The only unpleasant part of this experience I'd say is when you get to the very outer range of the crust, it get's really hard, almost inedible.   I'm not a fan of pizza bones (aka, not eating the crust), but in this case it was simply unavoidable.

Or

give it to the kid

Hey Mikey, he likes it!

DVA

Landini's Pizzeria, Liberty Station Public Market, Point Loma, San Diego, CA, USA

 

https://www.landinispizzeria.com 

Yeahhhhh!  I'm back, woop woop!

And if you noticed an issue with www.yourpiemymouth.com, that's been fixed too.  Back in business, COVID-19 is over (jk, but it feels like it more and more every day), the sun is shining, and I'm crushing a new pie.  Couldn't be better.

So this little gem has been hiding from me in plain sight, and I'm super stoked to tell you all about it.

The original location (since 2009) is in Little Italy, this one is in Point Loma at the Liberty Station Public Market.  To me, a way better location to get in and out of (and the douche factor is much less as well).  It's located where the original Public Market Restaurant "Mess Hall" previously was, which sadly no longer exists.  The space is now split into 3 different restaurants; BBQ, Korean, and pizza.....

Not having ever heard of this place, my expectations were obviously very low.  

Would I be surprised?....

Ohhhh mama, smelled and looked great

Really, really, REALLY terrific pizza.  

A truly classic rendition of the New York style that you'll not find better anywhere outside of the Big Apple.  Yes, even better than Bronx or Luigi's (which I really like as well).

The toppings are placed with a light hand, critical for a thin crust.  So many places get this wrong, and it's a shame.  It overwhelms and overloads the pie, often times eliminating the ability to even pick us a slice.  Not here, no no no.

And the crust.... The perfect paper thin velum of crisp, parchment thin outer layer, protecting the fluff interior just beyond.  A light cloud like middle, a pillow for the brief application of sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

Perfectly balanced on all accounts.

Is this my new favorite pizza place in SD?  If we're just talking about the pie (there's no table service, etc.....) then yes, a very big yes.  My current favorite pizza.

It even comes baby approved.

Eat a new pie, you might end up being surprised how much you like it  :-O

DVA