Hiatus

I just thought I would write here and say that the food blog will be on hiatus until I get my new computer. There's just too much going on with Dialed In right now for this to get any attention.

Go eat...

Bargains!

*1/17-1/19 OCEANAIRE EXTENDS RESTAURANT WEEK MENU The Oceanaire extended its Restaurant Week menu for a week longer (until January 19) so patrons can still enjoy the $30 three-course dinner steal.400 J Street, Downtown San Diego 619.858.2277

*Cohn Restaurants is celebrating their anniversary by offering $20.07 dinner specials at select restaurants including Dakota, Thee Bungalow, Corvette Diner, Kemo Sabe, and Dakota. Check out the site here and check it out before it ends on January 24.

I will try to get to some reviews this weekend: my favorite sandwich spot downtown, California Grinders; Panda Inn @ Horton Plaza; La Strada and a couple others...

Multicultural Fair

This is more for Dialed In but it's long so I thought better to link you to this page:

NINTH ANNUAL SAN DIEGO MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP ANNOUNCED

SAN DIEGO, CA — The Ninth Annual San Diego Multicultural Festival will feature
an exciting lineup of entertainment that reflects San Diego's diverse
population. The free event on Saturday, January 13, will feature a variety of
food, entertainment and fun for the entire family. The festival takes place from
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade on the north
side of Harbor Drive between Market Street and Fourth Avenue, across from the
San Diego Convention Center. The festival coincides with the Martin Luther King
Jr. Day Parade at 10 a.m. near PETCO Park. The popular festival regularly draws
thousands of people, and this year, 25,000 to 30,000 people are expected to
attend. For all festival details, visit www.ccdc.com.


Entertainment Lineup:

EAST STAGE: MACY'S STAGE

11:30 a.m. Native American Dancers, Northern Traditional

12:15 p.m. Bayou Brothers, Louisiana Bayou Music/Culture

1:15 p.m. CIA (Callahan Institute of Arts); Hip Hop Dance

2:00 p.m. Harvey Mendiola, Polynesian Dance

2:45 p.m. Riders of the Purple Sage, Classic Western Band

3:30 p.m. The West Coast Boogiemen, Blues, Rock, Swing

4:15 p.m. Bolgazohdoomah, Music of Ghana


WEST STAGE: CCDC STAGE

11:15 a.m. Skelpin', Irish, Spanish and Turkish Music Fusion

12:00 p.m. Lucky Lion Dancers, Traditional Dances of China1

2:30 p.m. Corazon y Candela, Cuban Music (Salsa)

1:30 p.m. Joel Penner, Jazz

2:15 p.m. MLK Parade Awards

3:00 p.m. Balinese Dance

3:30 p.m. SoulVoice, Women's A Capella Quartet

4:10 p.m. East West Band, Jazz Fusion


INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLERS STAGE

12:00 p.m. Native Talk, Native American Storytelling

1:10 p.m. Asako Aizawa, Japanese Storytelling and Origami

1:45 p.m. Alyce Smith Cooper, African American Tales

3:00 p.m. Tales from the Story Bag, Irish, Scottish and English Tales

3:35 p.m. Tales Alive, Musical Folktales from Asia & Africa

4:15 p.m. Abel Silvas, Californian Native American Storytelling

Albertson's

I live in Kensington. That means the nearest Albertson's is in City Heights. I love my Albertson's because it is probably an experience of the greatest diversity that one can have in San Diego. There are white people, African-Americans, Latinos, Eritreans, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more, who all converge in the same place to get groceries. The store is huge and accomodates the mixed demographics with cultural and ethnic foods. There are aisles with Asian and Mexican foods, Soul food, etc. This diversity in San Diego is always fascinating to me, even when I'm getting annoyed by the person in front of me redeeming 20 WIC certificates. (There really has to be a better way)

What a contrast my Albertson's is from the new Albertson's downtown. Located in the "East Village" on 14th, between G and Market streets, the new Albertson's is an experience unto itself. It is huge, probably the same size as my City Heights Albertsons, but it couldn't be more different. There is a huge "customer service" center which I've never even seen in a store before. There is a wide area with various to go food items such as the soup bar that lead you to the butcher counter in the back and the deli on the side. The aisles throughout the store are wide and the store definitely carries more specialty items. The liquor aisle isn't all locked up and there is a huge selection of wines.

I originally entered the store with the intention of just getting a fresh steak from the counter, but I realized there were some sale items I needed, too. I got my stuff and then just kinda browsed around. This was definitely not my Albertsons. I guess if you bought into the whole "East Village" thing and bought, you are paying in more ways than one. The markup on regular items is huge. You know Easy Cheese, right? The aerosol stuff in a can? $5.09!!! Holy shit.

Anyway, the store is nice. As it is on my way home, when I need stuff, I will stop there in the future (they actually observe the "3s a Crowd" rule), but my coupon cutting dad would seriously kick my ass if I were to ever buy a regular priced item in that store.

The Local

I'm really not very good at keeping this blog up to date, but I'll work on it.

This week Dave, Sara and I ventured to The Local. We have been there many times before but it has always been a question for us because in our experiences, the lunch hour there is so busy. The food is good but the service has always been slow. One of the first times, we sat down at noon, finally got our order taken at 12:25, and got our food at 12:55, which we basically had to take to go. That particular day, about 2 hours after my lunch, there was an ad on Craig's List from the Local looking to hire someone during the day shift.

Well, I'm happy to report that on Wednesday, the usual waitress was there, but now at least 2 other food runners/bussers who help keep drinks full and whatnot. Our orders were taken promptly, our food came out in a reasonable amount of time, and our check was delivered without any wait. All of this lets me get on to the food.

As I mentioned, I've been there many times before. I'm a huge fan of the "steak stuffer" sandwich. This is a hollowed out baguette filled with large chunks of steak (or chicken if you prefer), melted cheese, with sauteed mushrooms and onions. They offer this sandwich "local style" too, with lettuce and tomatoes and other stuff, but I was told that they only suggest that with the chicken.

This time, however, I was lucky that the tortellini was a special of the day. Whenever its on special, I get this plate. The tortellini are made of tri-colored pasta stuffed with cheese in a garlicky alfredo sauce. There are chunks of grilled chicken on top and served with garlic toast, which is pretty much white bread rubbed with garlic and toasted. Sounds plain but it's good. There is a lot of food, and as I type this, I'm eating the leftovers cold, and it tastes just as good as it did when it was served hot.

Dave prefers the "black bean plate". It is a bowl with about a third of it full of white rice, a third of black beans, and his preference is the steak, though chicken and shrimp are also available. It comes with your choice of tortillas.

Sara usually opts for the turkey club, but this time went with a cheeseburger. Neither marvelous nor disappointing, if you're in the mood for a burger, this place is as good as any. The thing I love about the Local is the proximity to Yard House, which to me, has mediocre food at prices way too high to fork out for lunch. Each of us splitting the bill, including our drinks, tax and tip, paid about $14-$15. Still a little steep for lunch, but for the occasional splurge, it's closer than Karl Strauss.

Also note, they have great daily happy hour specials and they usually have a few good lunch specials. If you're there on the right day, I also highly recommend checking out their seafood bisque. It is delicious.

The Local is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue, close to the trolley line at C Street. It is also a great place to pre-drink before shows at the House of Blues.

Hangover Options: 7-Eleven

Oh, Thank Heaven. Recently a 7-Eleven opened in my building- the epitome of convenience. I sometimes feel like a little kid when I'm in there. Remember when you're a kid and you want everything but your mom tells you that you're just there for the Sunday paper and some milk? And then there's that time she's getting gas and surprises you by kicking down a slurpee and you know that things are all good. There was the time in 4th grade that I got grounded for riding my bike to the 7-11 and not coming back until after dark because I couldn't ride and hold my slurpee. That was the worst birthday ever. There was also the time that after losing my virginity, my boyfriend and I walked to the other 7-Eleven near my house but just a little further away, to bask in our post coital slurpee heaven.

But back to the point. I was hungover at work and needing some fixin. When I'm in the store, there's a voice telling me that a half pound of beef jerky, nachos, and a gatorade is NOT gonna solve my problems. But then there's this other voice going "Get it all." I compromised. And I decided to try something new. Resting next to those Big Bite Hot Dogs... Something I've laughed at, gawked at, been grossed out by, and now that I've tried, completely appreciate in all of their awesomeness: The Go-Go Taquito.

The Go-Go Taquito comes in several varieties. There're the promo 2 for $2 ones: taco and cheese, pizza, jalapeño and cream cheese were the ones I remember. Then there're the other ones, promo price 3 for $2.79. They come in Monterey Jack and Chicken or Monterey Jack and Beef. I opted for these, though I only made it through two of the three. They're bigger than they seem. The beef is kinda similar to the meat in Jack in the Box tacos. Being that I was eating these at an embarassing hour of the morning, I did have to pop them in the microwave for a couple seconds to get the cheese properly oozy and melty since they probably hadn't been on the little rotisserie grill for long.

I've seen people buy these and then dump nacho cheese and jalapeños in the bag they're served in, and now I know that they are a little dry and not very spicy, but still, washed down with some Vitamin Water, and the hangover issue was solved. Maybe they'd taste better with some salsa or guac to dip them in, but they definitely fit my needs for the day: cheap, alcohol absorbent, and convenient. Sometimes it doesn't get any better than that.

And FYI, when lunchtime rolled around, there was no hunger. In fact, I was good to go until dinner time. And look, you can buy them frozen and take them home... though you probably wanna avoid looking at the nutritional value...

Restaurant Week

I have been eating at home (you know, gotta save my money for all the shows coming up), but I thought I would point out that next week kicks off San Diego Restaurant Week. Basically the best* of San Diego restaurants offer 3 or 4 course dinners for $30 or $40 per person, depending on the restaurant. The chefs have created special menus. To be honest, I haven't seen a restaurant that I want to try. Looking at the menus, I realize I'm a simple girl. You can throw together a bunch of things on a plate that I've never heard of, but how does it taste? And is it worth $40 plus tax and tip? Anyway, judge for yourself here. You can browse the restaurants and the menus they've concocted for the week.