My Week as Wally, Part 2: Happy Wallydays

A lot of people tell me "Wow, you have a great job as Local Wally" and they're right.  I get to run around San Diego (and Napa Valley) doing cool things and eating great food.  Of course, the pay is dismal but the benefits are terrific!

If you remember the weekend before Thanksgiving, it was wet and gloomy.  In other words, a good time to go down to The Third Corner in Encinitas for a bit of winetasting.  The wines were OK, but the food was great.  Want to see it?

After that the sun came out a bit so we walked around the Encinitas Street Fair and ducked into a few shops.  There's something so cool about living in a beach town.  I'm not bragging, just stating a fact.

Small town Encinitas hasn't changed much in 50 years.

Eclectic shops along Highway 101.

The next day the sun was out in full force.  Now this is San Diego!  We drove to the coast and spotted tons of dolphins in the surf.  No, you can't really see them in this shot but you can pretend.

The Cardiff Kook

I love the gay surfer statue in Cardiff.  Today he is wearing a red bra and skirt and carrying a bag of goodies.  I don't see why the guy who created this statue is so ticked off all the time that locals dress her, I mean him, up.  But I'm hungry so let's go somewhere special since it's so sunny.

How about the Beach House, upstairs on the patio?  OK, so the food is a bit overpriced and but the view more than makes up for it.  Let's see how it looks behind me.

I told you the view was good.  You have to check this place out next time you're in the area.  Downstairs you sit right next to the sand and they have some pretty good deals at sunset time.

But the day wasn't over yet.  We had to take Andy the terror terrier out or there would be Hell to pay, so off to the dog park down the road for a bit of romping as the sun set.  But what's for dinner?

Ummm, how about some Prime Rib with a horseradish crust?  I know it looks extravagant but I got this for $3.99 a pound at Stater Bros supermarket so it was a nice indulgence.  Andy got the bones and later threw them up, and that caps off the day.

The next day I made tamales.  What, you don't know how to make tamales?  Well, someday I'll show you.  It's easier than you think, though there is a code that tamale makers follow that says you must moan and groan about how hard they are to make. 

"No, No!  Calm Down!!  Bad Boy!!!  Be Good!!!!"

This is Andy acting up.  He is a complete idiot in the kitchen, grabbing potholders and running like Darren Sproles from the Chargers.  He does not being told NO.  Look at him!

"What?"

But just to show you that we don't have the worst dog in the world, here he is being good.

STICK WITH ME.... There's more coming of the Adventures of Local Wally!  SPOILER ALERT!  Balboa Park!

You love Wally, you'll love my website called LOCAL WALLY'S GUIDE TO SAN DIEGO!  Come visit and tell your friends!  And wine lovers and alcoholics will love my guide to NAPA VALLEY!

My Week as Wally, Part 1: San Diego Wine and Food Fest

It was the battle between rain and wine in San Diego last week.  With storm clouds approaching and a dismal weather forecast that gave no hope of a sunny day, San Diego played host to the 7th annual, much anticipated Wine & Food Festival.  Would San Diegan's chicken out and stay home, or would they brave the elements for unlimited wine and bites of gourmet from the city's most popular restaurants?

The answer?  San Diegan's came in droves.  With restaurants as varied as Dicks Last Resort to Donovan's Steak House, the food was good enough to stand in the rain to get.

Here's some clam chowder with crab and scallop on top.  Good?  What do you think?

And this one was super delicious, a bit of surf and turf with steak and scallop and an odd looking swizzle stick.  I know, now that I look at the presentation it's a bit, well, embarrassing when I tell you you were supposed to suck on the swizzle stick to get the juice out.  But people lined up for this one big time.  Look, get your mind out of the gutter!  I know it looks like a miniature sex toy but it was really good!

The idea behind the Wine and Food Fest is that you get to sample lots of wines, lots of beers and spirits, and eat your way through the event.  It's sort of like getting samples at Costco, only the food is incredible, the wines great, and instead of crummy Kirkland frozen pizza it's an ahi poke taco or seared scallops. 

It was like going to the best wedding reception in the world!  Everywhere you turned was delicious food for the taking, and great wines to wash it all down.  Stella beer was handing out free logo'd glasses filled with Stella beer, there were shots of tequila, BBQ's were grilling, and every now and then the sun would peek out to the rousing cheers of the crowd.

Now you guys know I love good wine, but how could I resist Hello Kitty wine?  I mean, are these guys for real?

I wanted to try the Pinot but they clearly knew their audience and served up a pink champagne.  Do you really want me to comment on Hello Kitty wine?  Or can you figure it out for yourself whether this is a serious wine or not?  There were plenty of other wineries there as well, but sadly all I can remember is Hello Kitty wine. Who knows, maybe I'll even buy some to give to my wine snob friends :-)

In the end everyone had a great time in spite of the rain.  Even Santa had a few too many.  He might look jolly but he's really just drunk!  Like the rest of us, he can't wait till next year to do it again.

San Diego is Local Wally, Local Wally is San Diego.  Read more at Local Wally's Guide to San Diego and follow this blog for more cool stories from around town.  And don't forget, Wally knows Napa Valley, too!

WINE TASTING IN SOLANA BEACH?

THE PLACE:  Carruth Cellars (web)

THE STORY:  Local winemaker opens a full blown winery on Cedros Ave in Solana Beach

THE VIBE:  Feels like Napa

A lot of people think I've been too hard on Temecula, but I don't think so.  I love wine, I love wine tasting, and Temecula just misses the mark on both.  Their wines are average at best and the wine tasting experience typically involves fighting Girls Gone Wild bachelorette limo parties for a space at the bar.  I mean, it's pretty rare that I find a wine I love so much that I yell "WHOO HOOOO" in the winery, but that's pretty much the scene on any weekend in Temecula.

That's why I was so happy to find this place.  Carruth Cellars is located in the Cedros Design District in Solana Beach, one of my favorite places to go when I have nothing to do, especially on a Sunday afternoon when there's a Farmers Market.  We had just gotten back from Napa and Sonoma (have you seen my site on Napa yet?) and I was having wine tasting withdrawals, so up the driveway we went.  Keep going, it's all the way in the back.

Wow, this place looks like a real winery!  OK wiseguy, let me explain.  A lot of wineries, especially in T-town, look less like wineries and more like retail stores that just happen to sell wine.  I love boutique wineries with the barrels (not props) and giant vats of fermenting grapes (very young wine) in the same room as the tastings.  For $10 you get 4 or 5 pours, plus you get to keep the glass - and it's a Ridel glass, too.  So who is this guy who makes wine in a beach town?

Winemaker Adam Carruth is a local guy, a Carlsbad High School grad who started making wines as a hobby.  He sources his grapes from Northern California's coast and makes the wines right here on Cedros.  Now even though I write a website on Napa, I'm no wine expert - but I know enough to know when I hit on a wine I love, and that darn Pinot would make your mama cry it's so good.  In fact, all of their reds were every bit as nice as the wines we tasted in Napa, and that includes some that cost $100 or more.

And isn't it cool that Adam the winemaker was right there pouring the wines for the tasters? Now here's a tip - if you're a visitor and you find yourself doing the North County Experience, make sure you stop in for a taste.  But if you're a local, go one step further and join their wine club.  You'll get two bottles for $50 every other month, you'll get 20% off all purchases, and you'll get FREE TASTINGS!  Come on, what's better than stopping in at a winery before dinner, tasting a few, then grabbing a bottle to take with you to open later that night?  Answer - nothing!  You'll also impress your friends, the ones who keep pestering you to go to Temecula!  

(Local Tip:  Cicciotti's down the street has no corkage fee).

If you love wine, if you think you love wine, if you just want something fun to do, make sure you stop in at Carruth Cellars in Solana Beach.  It's just like Napa, only a lot closer.

Don't forget to visit Local Wally's Guide to Napa as well as my guide to San Diego for local tips!  And tell your friends about this blog and my sites!