Grant Grill, San Diego, USA (Inside the U.S. Grant Hotel, Gaslamp)

http://www.grantgrill.com/

From the moment Grant Grill opened its doors in 1951, the San Diego restaurant was a hit…and it wasn’t just the mock turtle soup (allegedly prepared with a generous two fingers of sherry) that kept the plush mahogany booths full.  Blah blah blah.  Go to the website and read all about it if you have an interest.  And you should, cause this place is great!

I've lived in San Diego my whole life and I have never been inside.  Yep, been to the U.S. Grant Hotel before, mainly to pick up customers.  But never for a drink or a meal.

Let's do both RIGHT NOW!

OK, the setting is a business lunch with two lovely ladies to discuss some super important business things and such and whatnot. 

This was the soup du jour, some sort of Tomato with something else, sorry, I didn't order it, and I hadn't planned on blogging this experience either, but when Black Johnny gave me a taste I was totally blown away.  

It was amazing.  

Huge flavors, perfectly seasoned, tomato and a whole lot more going on.  I think I took about 6 spoonfuls, then I picked up my camera and the rest that follows is magic.

4 seconds later it was gone.  And I missed it terribly.  Until the next thing came along....

Unbeknownst to me, the Grant Grill has teamed up with the High West Distillery to make a Manhattan (one of my favorite drinks), premix'd and then age in an oak barrel for 100 days before serving it.  The aging mellows the Rye/Bourbon/Whiskey (whatever you are using) with the vermouth and bitters perfectly, making the drink a singular note on your pallet.  The flavors remain deep, but there is no harshness, no grimace when swallowing.  

Smooth, cold, strong.  Like a Cormac McCartney novel, in drink form.

Yeah, kicks ass.

 A Man's Drink

A Ladies glass of wine

Some kid snuck in and ordered a shirley temple.  Kids....

And then there was this on the table.  Kinda scary.  Must've been died green for St. Patty's??

Let's eat s'more stuff!

Both ladies ordered the salmon.  It looked perfectly cooked and had cauliflower something or other on the side.  I didn't try it, they seemed to enjoy it.

And then my fish sandwich arrives.  Catch of the Day.  I believe it was grouper.

Pan seared, atop was an aioli with lots of garlic and herbs, and then a lightly grilled tomato, super soft bread.  Don't get distracted by the height of the bread.  It was soft and had a slight yeasty sourdough flavor and was a great vessel to get what lies inside the bun into your mouth.

A beatiful sandwich, and the truffle fries didn't hurt it at all either.

I'd eat this meal every day, no prob.

And again?

We then shared a dessert and DIDN'T share a drink.  Someone had a glass of red something, sorry, I don't remember and I don't care cause it wasn't me...  :-O

And whazz up with that broken finger?!?!  You should get that thing checked out lady!  Gross.

This guy enjoyed, very much, the Muscat Port, with our.....

Carrot Cake

Cream Cheese Frosting, Pistachio Nugget, Ginger Ice Cream, Golden Raisin

Incredibly moist and big carrot, cinnamon, nutmeg'y flavor.  The frosting and ice cream playing together on top rounded this plate out perfectly.  Not too sweet but just enough for an after lunch morsel.  Yummmmm.

Awww Baybe, says Claudia

Kinda does look like a baby laying on a chaise lounge.  Nice one CS.

Grant Grill, I'm kind of smitten with you.

A very nice meet and greet, let's get together some time soon.  I'll be thinking about you till then.

With love...

DVA



The SafeHouse North Park, Izakaya, San Diego, USA

http://thesafehousenp.com/

I've been wanting to check this place out for quite a while now.  Not only because I go to Japan a lot and have eaten A LOT of ramen in my days, but because it is generally slammed pretty hard on Yelp, most of the comments coming from lovers of Underbelly (which is the worst ramen in San Diego).
So me thinks it can't be all that bad ;-/

Let's check it out!

BEER and Japanese food.  Late night, or fast, Japanese food.  Not fine dining, so if you go here be ready for not that.

They have an extensive tap list with lot's of local choices.

This is the Widmer Saison I believe.  Crisp and fruity.  Yummmmm.

A very rustic/industrial interior abounds.  I love the foot rests, this in lieu of a bar or ledge.  Cinder block and black paint, nice.  They also have USB charging ports on the bar, also nice.

I'm chilling with HG for the first round, then she's off for a mini girl's night.  Mid-first beer she turns to me and says:

"You gonna do pictures and shit?"

Yeah HG, I'm gonna do pictures and shit.  Sheeeeeesh....

Here's some pictures and shit

I'm starting with one of their buns, the Braised Duck.

The toppings are minimal and light, letting the duck shine through.  Delicious big duck/poultry flavor.  The bun is super light and airy.

Octopus Skewers

You can TOTALLY tate the charcoal flavor bouncing off the octopus, reminds me of Shibuya.

This was awesome.  I'll order it every time I'm here.  A light sweet sauce as well.

Chicken Heart Skewers

Fresh garlic, ginger and herbs are atop.  Fresh and bright flavors enhancing the deep chiken flavor of the hearts.  Firm but not chewy at all.  If you like chicken you'd like this.  Just close your eyes and open your mouth. 

Green Flash SoulStyle IPA

Shishito Peppers

They have the flavor of bell peppers, no heat, but these are lightly grilled and adorned with a soy based sauce of some sort.  I ate them all.

Beef Tongue

If you like fillet mignon, you'd love this.  Soft but not mushy, deep beefy flavor.  Like the best cut from the cow.  Again, if you close your eyes or don't know what this is, you'd think Moooooooo!

And then this happened

Tonkotsu

This bowl is the standard offering, not additional add-ins, of which they have many.

Two slices of pork belly, or really thick bacon.  Smoky and yummy

I thought it could use a little spice so I asked for it.  Wish I hadn't cause I was buzzed and I dumped the whole dish in, and then proceeded to eat it all.  Gut bomb at about 4 am..... 

Was good going down though!

The egg was a little runny for my taste but I liked the color on the outside, meaning that they had boiled it in something good.

Don't come here expecting great service, unless Matt is working, cause you will not get it.  That is probably the only area that they need work in.  Attention when someone needs a beer, or when you finally give the beer take away the dirty dishes in front of them.  Other than that, this place rocks.  Real Japanese Izakaya food, decent ramen, best in North Park for sure, great selection of beers.

I'll be back soon, save me a seat.

Ramen, slurp it up

DVA



Tasty n Alder, Portland Oregon, USA

 In a town filled with endless options for amazing culinary experiences the bar has been
raised once again. 

We are in Southwest Portland.  A area that is teaming with new, flashy, exciting places to eat and shop.  At the top of this list is

Tasty n Alder

It's located at the corner of SW 12th Ave and Alder, in case you were wondering if the owner's name was Alder, or something, cause you'd be wrong.

We're here for brunch, and we're hungry.  The menu is designed around small plates for sharing.  We like sharing, so let's get rolling!

http://www.tastynalder.com/

And, as usual, let's start with a beverage, the adult variety of course.  A fairly standard, and delicious, bloody mary.  I'm not needing to cure a hangover so much, although Han'Fan' could use that! but more to kick-start the day!  It's 70 deg outside, blue skies, a beautiful day, and I want to soak up as much of it as I can.

Let's eat!

One caveat first....  The menu here doesn't offer much in the way of an explanation of specific ingredients, so I'll do my best to offer my own, but I may not be all that accurate. Not far off though, in range of the target, but you're probably used to that from me by now :-O

Monte Cristo, Spiced Maple

 Tasted like bioche with a deeply flavorful cheese atop, perfectly melted but not runny, and a ham that was a cross between prosciutto and regular ham, but not panchetta.  Delicious!  And split three ways it was just the right amount.

Mini Bisquits with Sausage Gravy

One amazing bite!

Biscuits are one of the stars of this joint, being a breakfast/brunch place.  And they know how to make em!  Light and flaky, thick and buttery.  Gravy was stick to your ribs good!

Potaoes Brava,  fried in washimi wagyu tallo, Over Easy Eggs, Aioli

You mix it all together and enjoy.

No words, just terrific

Fried Egg & Cheddar Biscuit, House Bacon

HG had this and it looked great.  I had my own meal to deal with so I ate it with my eyes only.

Tasso Hash, Onion Sour Cream, Over Easy Egg

MINE!

I just mixed it up and shoveled it in.  Every fricken bite was so full of flavor.  Salty, savory, greasy but not overly, seasoned perfect.  A great balance of big flavors.

Fried Egg  & Cheddar Biscuit, Fried Chicken

Han'Fan' had this.  Looked great.  Hopefully she's enjoyed it by now as it was loaded up in a box, and she was loaded up on a bus, headed back across the river to take a nap.

Go to Portland

Eat some great food

Enjoy a beverage or two

I will again soon.  Promise

DVA



Ichishima Sake Brewery, Niigata, Japan

Yes, Brewery.  

The process to make Sake is more similar to making beer than making wine.  Grains mixed with yeast and allowed to ferment.  Wine is fermented fruit.  Sake production differs from beer making in that there are two fermentations that take place in the same tank.

I also want to point out that this is my 100th post!!!  Yeah, I agree, boring.  OK, let's move on.

I am headed to one of the oldest Sake Breweries in Japan.  It's located in the area famous for the best rice in Japan, the Niigata Prefecture.    

Headed to one of the oldest breweries it seems kind of fitting to be riding in a train that looks like it was time-warped out of the past.  I am not in Tokyo anymore or sure.

It's winter.  

The surrounding mountains to the east are blanketed in white.  It's cold, beautiful, but cold.

After traveling about an hour north of Niigata city, we have arrived.

This inauspicious building is the Ichishima Sake Brewery.  In operation right here since 1790.  

The current CEO/President/Owner is Mr. Kenji Ichishima.

Mr. Kenji is the 7th generation to run this brewery.  I'm already blown away.

And just to calibrate you a bit more on how cool this guy is, I just rolled into his offices, no reservation, no appointment, no idea where I am going, and he drops everything and personally gives me an amazing behind the scene tour of the WHOLE PLACE!  Everything.  Just he and I cruising around chatting about sake making.  Amazing.  Let's go!

This photo is 100 years old.  It shows the original sake vessels, cedar barrels.

This one is about 75 years old.  Shows the crew of the day.  Pretty tough group.

Original vat to soak the rice.

 Fermentation tank.

After fermentation the rice was put in cloth bags and weighted down, pressing out the liquid.

Stacked and pressed. 

It was then filtered, or not, and barreled, and bam!

I said to Mr. Kenji, that's really great, but how is it made now? 

Let's see.....

Rice is conveyor'd to the top floor where it is run through an injection steamer, soaking the rice through.

The soaked rice then drops on a lower conveyor that both drains excess moisture and allows it to cool.

An auger pulls it out of the machine and plops it into a bucket.

Swollen kernels....

Sounds like the Civil War  :-O

The rice is then place in a very humid room and sprinkled with yeast spores, the Koji (cultured grain) has been born.

This different rack is used depending on the style of sake they are making.

The rice is then transferred to large metal tanks, mixed with water and allowed to ferment.

We are on the second floor and these tank are sitting on the ground, just to give you a size perspective.  There are a dozen or so tanks.

Bubbling away.

Mr. Kenji went and got a light to dangle in the tank so I could see better.  Amazing.

Obviously the smell of sake is everywhere.  A light sweet scent in the air.

Here are the tanks from ground level.

After a 30-45 day fermentation the process is complete.  The rice is then pressed and the sake is born!

Yes, we tasted it.  It had a much bigger flavor that I've ever experienced with Sake.  Mainly because this was unpasteurized.  All sake is pasteurized prior to bottling.  This is the nectar straight from the nipple of god.

Wait, what?

This is what is left from the pressing.  I tasted it and it had the flavor of sake caramel.  Deeply sweet, almost burnt but not, soft texture, very interesting.

And then we bottle.

Thank you Mr. Ichishima.  

You, your Sake, and your factory are amazing.

DVA