Total Pageviews

Saturday, June 30, 2012

ARCHIVE / IS SAN DIEGO'S 30TH THE BEST CRAFT BEER STREET IN AMERICA?






YOU BET—Men’s Journal magazine a couple of years ago called 30th Street, a three mile run from the North Park to South Park neighborhoods in mid-San Diego the top beer town in the U.S. Mens Journal mag writer Christian DeBenedetti says the “variety of beers across 30th Street is the most eclectic in the country.”

To celebrate all things beer and tasty bites of food, bars, restaurants, and coffee houses along 30th Street have formed a marketing consortium called www.30thstreet.org, which also posts a popular 30th Street blog: http://the2line.blogspot.com/

Jay Porter, owner of The Linkery and El Take IT Easy (both on 30th St.) is one of the driving forces behind the loose confederation of saloon, bistro and coffee owners. He’s on record saying “The 30th Street Corridor, I propose, is the best culinary street in the nation. If I'm wrong about that (and I'm open to hearing about other streets), at the very least it's really fun and delicious and has hundreds of taps of local craft beer.”

One of the group’s most successful promotions to date is the monthly happy hour event each 30th of the month.

Called 30th on 30th, Porter points out, “Here's the program in general: on the 30th of each month, a bunch of restaurants and bars on and near 30th Street offer specials, such as a feature appetizer for $3. This makes it easy for you to go on a restaurant crawl and check out all the amazing places on the 30th Street Corridor. Most places start their specials between 5 and 6pm. So come on out and join us!"

30th on 30th falls on a Saturday, which will make for a lively weekend in North and South Parks tomorrow night.

But don’t just take Jay’s word for it. The Portland Oregonian put it nicely: "The chorus of the San Diego area's dynamic food and beer scene sings most sweetly along the city's 30th Street Corridor"
Three miles can be long trek, especially during short happy hours, but San Diego Transit has a bus line that travels the length of the 30th Street Corridor. It’s called the No. 2 Line or as Westcoastersd.com, a beer centric monthly magazine and web/blog dubs it, “The Deuce is the best public bus line in the U.S.”

Jay Porter readily agrees.

Here’s a list of 30th Street establishments listed on http://the2line.blogspot.com/
• (--Suncrest Dr--)
• Cantina Mayahuel
• (--Adams Ave--)
• Kadan Club
• Jayne's Gastropub
• Air Conditioned
• (--El Cajon Blvd--)
• Crazee Burger
• Ritual Tavern
• Sicilian Thing
• Toronado
• Red Wing Bar & Grill
• Caffe Calabria
• The Office
• Riki Sushi
• El Take It Easy
• Sipz
• Rancho's
• (--University Ave--)
• Heaven Sent Desserts
• Bar Pink
• Urban Solace
• True North
• The Linkery
• 30th Street Cafe
• Paesano
• Eddie's Place
• Lefty's Pizzeria
• Veg-N-Out
• Mosaic Wine Bar
• North Park Fish Market
• The Smoking Goat
• Bluefoot Bar
• (--Upas St--)
• Cardamom Cafe
• Zensei Sushi
• Alexander's
• Sea Rocket Bistro
• (--Switzer Canyon--)
• Vagabond
• Daily Scoop
• Rebecca's Coffeehouse
• Cafe Madeleine
• Whistle Stop
• The Station
• (--Grape St--)
• The Big Kitchen
• Hamilton's
• Alchemy
• (--Beech St--)
NEAR 30TH
• Tiger! Tiger! (El Cajon Blvd)
• Carnitas Snack Shack (University Ave)
• Splash Wine Lounge (University Ave)
• Urbn Pizza (University Ave)

PS: Just to see if you’re paying attention one tasty 30th Street restaurant in North Park is missing from the list above. Post a comment. If no, I’ll post an answer in a couple of days.

UPDATE: The only restaurant missing from above list is the tasty Italian/American eatery Il Postino on 30th near University.

Images from respective restaurant websites.

Captions: Top to bottom

--The Linkery, 3794 30th Street at North Park Way. Tip: Late Nite Happy Hour: After 10 pm, all Linkery draft beers are 4 bucks. They’re open late every night, except Sunday. Probably has one of the most complete web site of any restaurant this blog has viewed: www.thelinery.com

--Jaynes Gastropub, 4677 30th Street, near Adams Avenue, 619-563-1011, www.jaynesgastropub.com. Tip: Intimate place, especially the patio. Quality cuisine. Inventive. Well worth venturing beyond the plain Jayne exterior.

--Alchemy Restaurant, 1503 30th Street at Beech, 619-225-0616, www.alchemysandiego.com. Tip: You’ll never go wrong with the quality cuisine or atmosphere and street parking is always available.

--Google Map of North and South Park neighborhoods showing the 30th Street corridor.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

FRANCE BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS



TOUR DE TUBE TOURISTE—Yes, all fans of road cycling will be glued to San Diego’s NBC-TV Channel 65 for the 2012 Tour de France. This year’s Super Bowl of competitive cycling begins June 30 in Liege, Belgium and winds itself through France--briefly through Switzerland—and ends in Paris, July 22.

The world’s sporting cameras focus on all aspects of the race, but many of us will view the Tour de France as tourists. For the first time, the Grand Tour will include towns like Abbeville, Annonay Davézieux, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, La Planche des Belles Filles, Peyragudes, Porrentruy, Samatan, Tomblaine and Visé.

The race’s 3,497 kilometres (about 2, 173 miles) offers views of villages and roads that are seldom seen on world television.

So, get up early (5 am or so Pacific time), put on the espresso and set the table with croissants, the Tour de Tourist is about to start. Use the Tour de France’s map here to plot your daily viewing and googling.

For cycling: www.letour.fr/

Note: London Olympics in 31 days.

FUN BISTRO COULD BE HABIT FORMING


WEEKEND FOOD EVENT--Hillcrest beer centric Local Habit Farm Fresh and Craft Beer Gastropub is celebrating its first anniversary. Located in the ex Hillcrest Theatre on Fifth Avenue, the popular eatery has organized this coming weekend geared to please both avid foodies and discerning beer drinkers. Starting Friday, June 29 and ending Sunday, the event’s menu was determined by way of an online survey.

The top four vote-getters:

--Almond Riocotta Ravioli w/ Artichoke & Thyme

-- Pork Belly w/ Beer Carmel & Bleu Cheese

--Oyster Po’Boy

--Roasted Carrot & Beet Cous Cous.

The beer promises to be on par with the food. Hess Brewing has created a Rye IPA, aptly named Loci Habitus, and custom glassware created for the event will be given each day to the first 40 patrons.

Craft beer brewer Mike Hess describes the beer: “I haven’t done a Rye IPA in a while, not since I opened Hess a few years ago. Back then as a homebrewer, I discovered that I liked the zip that rye malt adds, so I started there. For hops, I love Chinook (I used them in Anno Unum) and I also sought something that wasn’t your typical C (centennial, cascade, columbus, citrus-y) hop. I also wanted something that would work with the creole-type seasoning. My search led me to Sterling, a complex hop that is balanced and has a Saaz-type pepper character that I think would be a natural with Creole. Combined with Chinook and using both all the way through – bittering, flavor, in the whirlpool and dry-hopping – should get us a nice 7.5% IPA, 88 IBUs.”

Loci Habitus Rye IPA will be available in the commemorative Willi Becher pint glass first come first served.

In addition to Hess’s Loci, the remaining 11 Local Habit taps will include Lost Abbey’s Deliverance and Angel’s Share.

Food Photo: By Thomas Ackerman & Local Habit.

Info: Local Habit, 3827 Fifth Ave., 619-795-4770, www.localhabit.com

Hess Brewing Tasting Room, 7955 Silverton Ave., #1201, Miramar area, San Diego, 619-786-4377.

Based on a previous blog in www.westcoastersd.com; used by permission.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

FREE BIRD PARK CONCERT SATURDAY


LATIN JAZZ--The Bird Park Concert Series in North Park will continue Saturday, June 30 with Tinku, a musical specializing in Andean rhythms with a Latin flair. The San Diego-based group proudly plays international songs from 12 countries while highlighting rhythms from Latin America and often performed with native instruments.

Bird Park summer concerts are a community effort led by the North Park Community Assn. and its loyal core of sponsors and volunteers.

More summer concerts in Bird Park are set for July 14, July 28 and Aug. 11. All shows run 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Bird Park is at 28th and Thorn streets.

Other free concerts in San Diego this summer try http://blog.sandiego.org/2012/05/free-summer-concerts-san-diego/

For a history of Bird Park by local Historian Stephen Hon go to http://northparkhistory.org/documents/Articles%20II/History%20of%20Bird%20Park%20with%20photos.pdf

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

ARCHIVE / ACE NORTH PARK BEER MAKER WINS GOLD MEDAL




QUAFF MEETING TONIGHT--San Diego is home to a huge craft beer making trend. Beer lovers locally are opening breweries right and left to fashion more creative tasting beer. Also, individuals are “homebrewing” on a larger scale as well.
Last week, the American Homebrewers Assn., the leading national organization of beer clubs and individuals held its annual convention and competition in Seattle.
One San Diegan, a North Park resident, Kelsey McNair won a gold medal in category 14 for India Pale Ale (IPA). McNair, who runs his one-man brewery, North Park Beer Co., entered as a member of San Diego’s leading beer club: Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity or QUAFF.
McNair’s IPA beat out 553 other entries from across the country for his Gold Medal.
Tasty stuff this trend.

QUAFF has been around since 1989 and currently boasts 180 members. These men and women, who are dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of homebrewing and beer evaluation in Greater San Diego, meet the 4th Tuesday of each month (except December).
TONIGHT’S meeting will probably be more festive than usual as they no doubt will toast Kelsey McNair’s Gold Medal winning IPA. The meeting will be held at Randy Jones All American Sports Grill, 7510 Hazard Center Dr. #215, San Diego CA 92018. The meetings start at 7 p.m. and run until approximately 9:30 pm. (Most people arrive around 6 pm.)
You can meet the members, find out about recent pub-crawls or adventures and homebrew competitions. You will also get to enjoy the monthly presentation, an informative talk about a brewing process, technique or style of beer. Last, but certainly not least, you’ll also get to share and enjoy some of the members’ recent brews.
To find out more about QUAFF, please check out their web site, www.quaff.org, where you can learn about past as well as upcoming club events. The website features a photo gallery, archived speaker’s presentations, a recipe database and calculator, brewpub and brewery database, a calendar of events and archived newsletters.
Sources:
Opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of this daily blog.

Monday, June 25, 2012

FOREVERMORE IT’S CATFISH DAY IN AMERICA


AS THE WORLD TURNS—During June 1987 the planet witnessed:

--the first woman British prime minister in 160 years to win her 3rd consecutive term.

--Oliver North’s secretary Fawn Hall testifies in Iran Contra hearing.

--New Zealand bans nuclear weapons and nuke powered vessels from its territory.

--The last Dusky Seaside Sparrow dies adding its name to the list of extinct species on the planet.

--Supreme Court rules schools teaching evolution need not teach creation.

--Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. retires.

--Johnny Carson marries 4th wife Alexis Mass

--Ben & Jerry’s announces Cherry Garcia flavor after Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia.


Meanwhile at the White House on this day, President Ronald Reagan proclaims June 25 will be forevermore National Farmed Catfish Day. Go Cats!

For the official White House proclamation go to http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/

062587e.htm


Tease as we may, The U.S. catfish industry is doing very well. It is doing its part to produce healthy and sustainable food for consumers. Catfish day has spawned National Catfish Month in August. There are catfish festivals going on mainly in the south, where catfish are farmed: Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

The species of catfish grown on U.S. Catfish farms is the common

Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus), which is native to the growing region and is found in rivers, lakes and streams throughout North America.

The National Audubon Society, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Environmental

Defense Fund all recommend U.S. farm-raised Catfish as a sound environmental seafood choice.

For those that don’t like the taste of wild catfish, the http://www.uscatfish.com/ organization points out farm grown cats are milder tasting because of the controlled diet. Check out the site for recipes.

Image: While National Catfish Day and Month are strictly U.S. celebrations, we had to go to Canada for this image of Chuck, the Channel Catfish, who has been immortalized in this roadside sculpture in Selkirk, Manitoba.