Mid-Winter Get Away (Pt 4-Tasty Eats)

of course i would never post about my trip to southern california and leave out the best part....the food!

good friends of ours recently moved here for work, so we arranged to meet them friday night for dinner. one cuisine that is sorely lacking in northern virginia is decent mexican food. our friend's had the recommendation that "gloria's cafe" had some of the best mexican/el salvadorian in los angeles. and holy cow, they were not wrong!!!! apparently this place was on the food network recently, and mentions one of the house specials: carne adobada. slow roasted pork in a seasoned tomato sauce with onions. it comes with a side of sweet plantains meant to compliment the tangy sauce. and it was phenomenal! even though i was stuffed i kept eating until my plate was clean. the restaurant itself is easy to miss. a small hole in the wall in a strip mall near the sony studios in culver city. but it's work taking the time to find. just looking at the pictures, i cry a little at how beautiful that tender pork was. 

saturday morning we woke up to gorgeous blue skies in pasadena. still full from the night before, tony i and decided to skip a big breakfast and find a coffee shop instead for a small morning bite i was so excited to see that pasadena had an "intelligentsia!!! intelligentsia is an amazing coffee company based in chicago that serves some of the best espresso drinks i have ever enjoyed. and that includes italy. and they excel at the cute designs they form in the foam. always a nice touch!

instead of thawed factory made pastries, they had a case of locally made unique baked goods for sale. i was intrigued by the "california croissant". i assumed they were filled with spinach....but was pleasantly surprised to hear that they were actually filled with salmon, seaweed and ginger! the combination sounded so appetizing i had to try one.

this really was one of the best croissants i've ever had. just the right amount of filling to be flavorful but not overwhelming. and the croissant itself was perfectly flaky. i almost teared up a little it was so good!

on my lunch break from IMATS, i met tony at a nearby food festival. various vendors had set up little booths along the side walk. like food trucks, but stationary! most of them offered unique twists on classics, or fusion-style options like "kimchee nachos" or "tandoori chicken and waffles". i was drawn in my the "sushi burrito". mostly because the spicy tuna roll came encrusted with fiery cheetoes. yes. cheetoes. and sushi. it wasn't the easiest street food for eating. but it was one of the more interesting i've had!

after arriving in la jolla on sunday, we asked our hotel concierge for a recommendation of good seafood. he said he could recommend "decent and fancy" or "amazing and casual". we opted for the latter. and he pointed us in the direction of el pescador. a small fish shop that sells and prepares their local catches. you can get whatever options they have one of three ways. as a platter (grilled and served with rice), on a salad, or on a sandwich. and they have a pretty wide variety of fresh fish options! 

tony and i each got the teriyaki salmon sandwich. a thick filet of melt-in-your-mouth salmon served on a soft roll with lettuce, tomato and just a hint of mayo. that with a crisp sauvignon blanc was the meal i was hoping for!

for breakfast tony and i went next door from our hotel to "the cottage".  i was drawn in by the fact that instead of toast with their omelets? they serve scones! and fresh strawberry jam. and there are few things and wonderful as fresh strawberry jam.... i had the southern california omelet with gruyere, bacon and guacamole. any chance to have avocados! the food was tasty, but what really endeared me to this place? was that as soon as we sat down they put a carafe of coffee down in front of us! and they gave us cups of coffee to go!!!

there were two things i had to do while in san diego. 1) watch seals (check) and 2) have a good fish taco. a few reviews online had us discover that one of the best taco places in san diego was right here in la jolla! "the taco stand" is one of those great no-frills places that always has a line out the door. but they take orders quickly (and correctly) and turn the food around with amazing speed.

i ordered one of the fish tacos, and one taco al pastor. with a side of mexican street corn. it was all so amazing! the fish taco had a creamy chipotle sauce and fresh avocado on a piece of grilled mahi mahi. the tortilla was a fresh soft corn tortilla that was by far one of the best tortillas i've had. but the al pastor? THAT was even better. slow roasted pork and pineapple with a topping of onions and cilantro. amazing!!! 

our last meal before leaving town! it was a quick trip, but a wonderful trip. tony and i found ourselves at a local haunt near lax that actually had some pretty tasty option! one of their appetizers was "buffalo cauliflower". their healthy take on chicken wings. cauliflower tossed in buffalo sauce with bleu cheese crumbles and scallions.