Ok so maybe we weren't exactly looking for Ms. Carmen...BUT we DID make it to San Diego for a very exciting birthday slash early Christmas celebration with Chad's side of the family. :) With not much on the agenda (other than SEA WORLD the following day for Chad's 34th birthday!), we left this Thursday to hit Escondido's Stone Brewery Restaurant for a little recon tasting mission. (aka, try EVERYTHING on the menu!!! lol..or at least the majority of the menu). I swear we scared the panties off of Chad's mom with all the food Chad ordered right off the bat. Lol... Oh if she only knew what was coming for the rest of the day.. ;)
Chad and his sweet Ma, enjoying the glorious 70 degrees out on the brewery's patio.
The entire place was like an oasis hidden in the surrounding industrial park. We could barely find the entrance to the place....and when we finally did, it was this HUGE massive, indoor/outdoor space that married hard glass and steel edges with natural rocks and stones and wood...
Just. awesome.
The super cool gargoyle-esque menu that offered us many tasty selections
My first beer tasting of the day...
Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout :)
One of our many appetizers that slowly morphed into entrees...
Stone smoked porter mac and cheese
Delish!
Dungeness Crab Cake
Wild Boar Ribs with a creamy cole slaw
Buffalo Burger with some sort of beer cheese :)
Prime Rib melt
Chad, sporting one of his birthday gifts,
his Bacon is Meat Candy shirt.. a hit among many :)
And finally, coconut ice cream cake for Chad's mom and I
While Chad tried this weird dessert..
Jalapeno Blueberry Blue Cheese Cheesecake..WTH?!
Apparently it was more savory than sweet...
I took their word on that.
Next we took a tour of the brewery,
led by that funny looking girl in the center of the picture
Where they passed around hop pellets for everyone to look at
She tried to be funny... at least she tried... :)
The steel contraptions that take this chemical and that chemical and malts and hops and this and that to make some great tasting hoppy beer. (tasty to Chad, I like malty beers.. ;)
Their cool devilish logo
The restaurant's interior
After a much deserved two hour nap at our hotel room off the Gaslamp District, Chad, his mom and I headed to dinner to start round TWO of our Glut-fest 2010 :)
The San Diego Convention Center right across from our hotel.
This time our Feast Fest was at Brian Malarky's restaurant Searsucker. Some of you might recognize the name as being a somewhat recent contestant of Top Chef. At the time he was on that show, he and Chad were both Executive Chef's at the Oceanaire, him at the San Diego location, Chad at the Dallas one. And although Brian wasn't actually there, another of Chad's old coworkers helped us through the menu selections.
Scallop crudo
Pork Belly and Eggs
Duck Fat French Fries :)
Bone Marrow
Shrimp and Grits
Short Ribs
Simply called "The King"....and that it was.
HOLY SMOKES...this was by far the BEST tasting dessert I've ever had...or at least in the top 3 for sure!
Bacon caramel sauce drizzled over peanut butter cup ice cream, along side roasted bananas topped with whipped cream...then finished with these crunchy yummy little things...OH.MY.GOD! PURE HEAVEN! I soooooo wanted to lick the bowl after this one.
After we had completely stuffed ourselves beyond capacity, we thought it fitting to end the night taking a stroll up the stairs of the convention center...and yes, they really WERE that steep. :)
Entry and Exit into the Gaslamp District
