The whole Friday night crowd is out in University Heights. Good thing we reserved at Adams Avenue Grill. This is really something: they start at 8 am and serve lunch until 2 and open at 5 for dinner. They do it seven days a week and, if that isn't more than enough, they deliver. Three meals a day, seven days a week. Really. How'd we end up here? It's Michele's turn to show me and The Thin Man places we won't find on our own in San Diego.
Butcher paper and crayons are fun while we're waiting. Too bad our game of Hangman is riddled with artistically challenged and bad drawing. A painter with much better ability has a show here of fine water colors. We have flowers plus actual salt and pepper shakers on the table. (You can hardly find salt and pepper anywhere anymore. We'll uncover more about this another day.)
We're going simple. The Thin Man opts for Anjou pear, Mandarin orange and arugula salad with grilled chicken and Boston lettuce, spinach, walnuts and blue cheese. Pears are perfectly ripe and oranges are juicy. We're partial to salads with heft from cheese and nuts and if you throw in some croutons, that's great. Californians take greens for granted although we were in a Whole Foods, somewhere between Costa Mesa and La Jolla, and the greens were not what you expect. Anyway, in Boston we take lobster rolls for granted. Not beans, not ever.
I'm an obsessive travel planner. I leave nothing to chance when
venturing far away from my home. I need a lay of the new land to feel
safe and happy. I don't always do everything or go to every place I
research, but the last thing I want is to be bored when I'm away from
home sitting in a generic hotel room. Since I've also been, at least
until the last year, a fairly picky-eater I like to know my dining
options. I will only eat fast-food in an emergency, i.e. when there is
absolutely no other choice. As a result, my pre-trip planning involves
many sessions on the Internet, trying to find the best and cheapest
restaurants that also have a decent wine list and cuisine that isn't
too ethnic (the Man won't eat Indian, Thai or Chinese that doesn't come
from a container). This is not an easy task.
Though I'm not a betting person, I would have put my small stash of
savings on the line if anyone had told me a year ago that I would
become a seafood lover. While still not on the sushi bandwagon, I have
to say that 2009 changed my mind about how good fish can be. Of course,
that is, when prepared by professionals using the freshest fish
available. Chef Ludo Lefebvre prepared the best seafood dish I have ever
had at LudoBites 3.0, one that I instantly wanted more of, much to my
husband's disbelief. When we go out to dinner, one bite of his fish is
usually enough for me. However, I know I wouldn't have enjoyed it as
much if I hadn't discovered Pier 46 Seafood first.
You ordered Grilled Ostrich last night? Venison medallions in cherry sauce? Roast duck breast that tasted like the best gelato you ever had? Killer game splattered everywhere - into all soups and on top of all salads?
Here's what I like about California: People think nothing of driving 82 miles for lunch. (In New York, this never happens.) The Thin Man and I are now two of those people as we head out from La Jolla to Plums Cafe in Costa Mesa. We've brought the Boston mechanical lady along to tell us where to get off. She acclimates, more or less, and in no time it's north on the 5. Our LA cousins, who are meeting us, drive 56 miles and they've lived here long enough to get over their New Yorkiness. I guess we have too.