It’s only a few days into the New Year but a lot of people are already looking forward to the next holiday: Valentine’s Day. And if you’re not, have you even walked into a Walmart lately? There are hearts, flowers and chocolates everywhere!
But if you’re looking for something a little more than the average Hallmark V-Day gift, perhaps you’d be interested in boarding a plane and heading south to San Diego. Dinner and dessert with an amazing view, in a city that’s not anywhere close to being cold, that’s what I call romantic. Just to wet your appetite even more, here are 11 mouth-watering dinners and drinks you could enjoy during your V-Day trip in San Diego.
1. Shrimp and Bone Marrow Sopes at Bracero Cocina de Raiz Bracero Concina de Raiz in the hot Little Italy neighborhood exemplifies San Diego’s signature Cali-Baja cuisine. Local diners have been packing the restaurant since it opened in 2015, so it’s no surprise that one of San Diego’s hottest dishes can be found here. Bracero’s popular shrimp and bone marrow sopes features fresh shrimp, bone marrow, fried parsley and chile de arbol served on a thick tortilla made of fried masa.
2. Prop 64 Cocktail at True North Tavern On November 9, 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, effectively legalizing adult consumption of marijuana. With availability comes experimentation, and True North Tavern in the eclectic North Park neighborhood is one of the first bars in San Diego to experiment with cannabis oil. The cocktail features Amarillo hop bitters, egg whites, lime simple syrup, Chareau aloe liqueur and Nolets gin, topped with non-psychoactive drops of cannabis oil.
3.Seared Cauliflower Steak at Kindred Decked with heavy metal imagery and evil-looking cats around every corner, the all-vegan Kindred in the quaint South Park neighborhood is easily one of San Diego’s quirkiest restaurants. Fortunately, the food is as much of a draw as the décor. In addition to offering a creative cocktail list, the dinner menu serves snacks, salads, main dishes and sweets. A favorite is the seared cauliflower steak: grilled cauliflower topped with orange squash purée, tahini beets, puff pastry and steak sauce. Even serious meat eaters might consider a vegan lifestyle after a trip to San Diego.
4. Pork Belly App at Carnita’s Snack Shack While San Diego is a vegan-friendly destination, Carnitas Snack Shack claims to be where “vegans go bad,” although it does offer vegetarian options. Home to all things pork related, both their North Park and Embarcadero locations feature a menu of mostly burgers and sandwiches, but it’s actually a no-bun dish that’s a must-have. The pork belly app prepared with braised duroc pork, sweet-spicy glaze, frisée salad, apples, radish and lemon vinaigrette is a meat lover’s delight.
5. The Lusca at Miss B’s Coconut Club San Diego is in the midst of a tiki resurgence, and Miss B’s Coconut Club is one of the hottest new spots to try out this trend. Named after a mythological giant octopus, this monstrous punch, shareable with 5-10 people, features the house blend of rum, guava-mango kombucha, Nocello liqueur, citrus, honey and papaya and is served in a silver octopus bowl, garnished with a pineapple crown. Found only at Miss B’s Coconut Club in Mission Beach, the Instagram-worthy cocktail is sure to get many likes.
6. S’mores French Toast at Breakfast Republic San Diego is a laid back city, so it’s no surprise that brunch venues abound. With a fun décor and an all-breakfast menu, Breakfast Republic is where locals go for the most important meal of the day. Since opening in North Park in June 2016, the eatery has quickly expanded to Liberty Station and Encinitas, with plans to open two more locations. The highlight of the menu is the s’mores French toast, which features a decadent graham-cracker crust and thick-sliced brioche bread topped with toasted marshmallows and chocolate sauce.
7. Señor Croque at The Crack Shack When celebrity chefs set up shop in San Diego, they don’t stick to white table cloths and fancy tasting menus. With an all-day menu of chicken-and-egg-based dishes, Richard Blais’ The Crack Shack in Little Italy offers a relaxed, al fresco dining atmosphere with a full beer and cocktail bar, a bocce ball court and a white giant chicken statue that actually crows. For those who like a challenge, the señor croque is a hearty and messy chicken sandwich made with crispy free-range chicken, bacon, fried egg, cheddar cheese and miso-maple butter on a brioche bun.
8. Alkaka the Fierce at False Idol The entrance to one of San Diego’s most coveted new bars is as hard to find as a reservation at this hot spot. Hidden behind a refrigerator door inside the recently redesigned Craft and Commerce restaurant, False Idol is the brain child of legendary tiki king Martin Cate (Smuggler’s Cove, Whitechapel) and another example of the tiki trend taking over San Diego. An angry idol is the inspiration behind Alkaka the Fierce, a punch bowl-style cocktail made with chai-infused bourbon, aged and dark rum, vanilla, pimento dram, and orgeat served in a sharable bowl with a faux volcano that erupts, literally.
9. Maple Bacon Doughnuts at Great Maple For breakfast or brunch, as a main dish or dessert, the maple bacon doughnuts from Great Maple are sure to please hungry visitors. Served warm on a wooden board, the freshly made doughnuts are covered with a signature maple bacon glaze, pieces of bacon and powdered sugar. Reservations are recommended as the retro-modern eatery in the Hillcrest neighborhood tends to be packed on weekends.
10. Devil’s Dozen “Benny” at Firehouse Is it a doughnut? Is it eggs benedict? It’s actually both! Firehouse, a restaurant and bar in Pacific Beach with sweeping ocean views, serves The Devil’s Dozen “Benny” every day until 3 p.m. Foodies can start the day with a vanilla-bean glazed doughnut sourced from Devil’s Dozen local doughnut shop, topped with maple-peppercorn bacon, poached eggs, lemon hollandaise and side of potatoes. With the shores of Pacific Beach just a few steps away, full-bellied visitors can catch a snooze on the beach afterwards or hit the waves to burn off the calories.
11. Raindrop Cake at VaniTea Cafe A Japanese translucent cake served with brown sugar, soybean flour and usually decorated with a flower, the raindrop cake has taken social media by storm. The chilled dessert isn’t really a cake at all, since its main ingredients are agar, a vegan gelatin, and mineral water. Nonetheless, this picture-worthy dessert is trending and VaniTea Cafe, a small dessert and coffee shop in Chula Vista, is one of the first ones to make it in San Diego.
Happiness is calling in San Diego. For more information on San Diego’s offerings, including exciting vacation packages and valuable coupons for attractions, restaurants and more, visit the San Diego Tourism Authority’s website at www.sandiego.org.
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