The Best Things to Eat at the San Diego Fair, 2012

The San Diego Fair starts this Friday and I can't wait.  It's the symbolic kick off for Summer and this year they're doing a cool deal - $24 for all 24 days!  You can go again and again, which sounds insane but think about it - now you can try ALL the food.  No more wondering if you should get the bacon wrapped turkey leg or the Porkabello Kebab.  I know, these are big decisions!

But to the regular guy who only goes to the fair once or twice a season and who doesn't want their final photo of them clutching Deep Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon ("What was he thinking??!") it's time to get selective.  And that's where Local Wally comes in.  I tasted all the food at the fair and now present to you the BEST food at the San Diego Del Mar Fair, 2012!

Smothered in a tangy sauce, the pulled pork and tri-tip sandwich are as good as you'll find at your local San Diego BBQ joint.  Tender and flavorful, the pork beats out the tri-tip by a small margin but both are worth the calories.  You won't feel too guilty eating these, either.  Of course, that Pork Chop on a Stick is intriguing as well.  On a stick!??  How cool is that!

If you like the idea of people pointing at you with deep envy, get the 4 pound bacon wrapped turkey leg at Bacon-A-Fair.  It's the size of a football and you can even suggest that you are going healthy because it's mainly Turkey!  On the Paleo "caveman" diet?  This is your stop!

If you have never had Australian food, it appears they are big on deep frying potatoes and dipping them into Ranch Dressing, Nacho Cheese Sauce, or Sweet Chili Sauce.  Ahhh, those Aussies know how to live!  Don't miss this - I know it sounds disgusting but a tempura battered slice of potato dipped into decadent heart stopping sauce is the stuff that fair food memories are made of.  Say, why is that EMT guy hanging out there?  I hope it's because he knows good food when he sees it!

 My wife disagrees with me on this one.  She likes Hot Dog on a Stick.  But I like any food stand that stacks up rows of corn dogs in the window, glistening under the heat lamps with a sheen of deep fried goldeness.  The batter isn't as sweet as HDOAS, but that's OK with me.  I can go to my mall and get Hot Dog on a Stick, but I can only get this once a year at the San Diego Fair.

 San Diego has a lot of fish tacos.  I love the crunchy ones served at The Brigantine in their bar and the grilled ones served at OB's South Beach Bar.  But when you're at the fair, the best ones are at the Palapa.  Fried and crispy, at first I was taken aback by the flour tortilla but in the end this was a worthy contender.  Certainly miles ahead of the terrible fish tacos served at Petco Park (labeled as "Rubios" but not even close to what you get at a Rubio's outside the ballpark).  Nice people at this stand, too.

Tasti-Chips has been around for a long time, making fresh cut potato chips, and no one does it better.  Light and crispy, some puffed up like you might find in a fine French restaurant, you can smother them in sauces but why ruin a good thing?  This is the number one essential "don't go home without them" food stop.  Listen to me, I know what I am talking about!  Local Wally loves French Fries and these Tasti-Chips are one of my all time favorites!

Not all fair food has to be terrible for you.  The Greek Gourmet serves up the Best Gyros at the fair, thanks in a big part to Mary Papourlias-Platis, otherwise known as the CaliforniaGreekGirl.  A San Diego coastal local, Mary's gyros is more than decent fair food, it kicks butt on the Daphne's of the world.  And I like it that she doesn't tempura batter it and fry it, though if another booth did I guess I would have to try it.

The Lobster Shack makes it debut at the fair this year and I know what you're thinking.  Lobster at the fair?  Whaaaa???  But yes, this guy is a real lobster guy (just look at him!) and he's cooking up real live lobsters in these giant steaming pots.  Lobster Roll, Lobster Dinner, and all at a price that's fair in any venue outside the fair, and a bargain inside.  $25 gets you a lobster dinner - it's a lot, but didn't you just fork out $4 for the same ear of corn that Ralph's is selling 3 for a buck?  These are nice people taking a big risk with selling lobsters at the fair so make that trek into the infield and splurge a little.  Isn't this better than that deep fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich?  Remember, it's in the Infield so don't go looking up and down the Midway for the lobsters.

You'll find a lot of places selling BBQ'd corn but this stand near the exhibit halls is the best.  With a smokey char'd exterior and piping hot kernels, you won't do better.  Add some hot sauce and spices to kick it up, or just smother it in butter, it's wholesome goodness that will remind you of being a kid.

OK, this is crazy but the BEST bite at the San Diego Fair 2012 was found at the Gingerbread House.  It isn't macho like a giant turkey leg, in fact it's downright dainty, but the cookie dough on a stick with fudge topping and nuts is by far the best thing I ate this year.  Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, I suspect that people will be lining up for these once the word gets out on how good they are.  Whatever you do, don't buy one and share it!  You're going to want your own.

The Biggest Disappointment Award this year has to go to Bacon-A-Fair for their PorkaBello Kebab, a Mushroom stuffed with Gorgonzola Cheese and wrapped in Bacon.  You're going to see them on the skewers and want one but try to resist.  The bacon is flaccid, the mushroom is just a mushroom, and the cheese is nonexistent.  It looks great on the grill but it's a toss in the trash after one bite.  I love Bacon-A-Fair but this is a fail.

NOTABLE LAST BITES

You have to love any stand that has Indian Fry Bread AND Thai Chicken!  Fry Bread is like it sounds, a slightly greasy deep fried dough that you can put toppings on.  With cinnamon sugar it was a bit like a churro.  Worth considering.

Funnel Cake is a standard, a doughnut-like batter dunked into hot oil in a stringy form factor.  I got mine with ice cream and hot fudge but everything got soggy so I suggest a basic powdered sugar topping to keep it nice and crispy.

Nutty ice cream bars and cute girls at the fair, what's wrong with that?  Grant's does a great job with ice cream desserts.  When you want a good quality ice cream bar, head to Grant's.








See you at the San Diego Fair in Del Mar!  And don't forget, you can get more Local Wally at www.LocalWally.com and my soon to be launched site on the San Diego Microbrew Scene!

Wally Celebrates His Anniversary!

I know, it's been a long, long time since I have posted anything but stuff happens.  After being laid off from a company I've worked at for 10 years ("Hey Wally, could you wash that company car before you return it?") and being forced to dine like a college student (Top Ramen, Kraft MacNCheeze), I thought I needed a break.  Last year we were saving for a big trip to Paris for our anniversary, but that just didn't seem like that great of an idea 12 months later so we jumped into my Lexus that has a bent rim and bald tires (dammit!) and went out to dinner.

Last year we went all out at La Valencia's Sky Room and I'm still pissed!  It was outrageously expensive ($130 per person) and they did the "big plate/little bite" thing I hate.  Look, if you want to insult me by only giving me one scallop for my entree, don't put it on a plate the size of a New York Pizza!  Also, the Sky Room gave us the sh*ttiest table even though they knew it was a big (I mean, BIG) anniversary.  So I hate them.

Instead we went back to a place we used to go when we were oh so young - Piatti La Jolla.  I know it's corny but I dig it when restaurants do things like put "Happy Anniversary" on the menu.  Of course, 31 years is a long time - that has to be a typo.

That dang sauce for the bread is super good, a mix of garlic and olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some parsley and chili flakes tossed it.  The waiter was super cool and everyone wished us a H.A., which is nice.

We started with the Carpaccio, which is raw beef.  Sorry vegetarians, this is so tasty that even you might give up tofu forever after a bite.  I think Piatti does this best, better than many of the other restaurants in town.  Paper thin slices, zesty and lemony, dang it this is good!

We split a salad of grilled Romain lettuce wrapped in Proscuitto with a very acidic dressing.  At first bite it was too tangy but once you got a taste of the meat it all blended nicely.  They split the salad in the kitchen, which I loved.  At the Sky Room this one plate would have served the entire dining room.

My wife got the special, a oven baked Yellowtail with fingerling potatoes (no, those are not bananas) and lots of fresh veggies.  Delicious, perfect, wow!  The waiter was so cool that he asked if she wanted anything special, suggesting different sides and extra vegetables, and he added his touch by tossing some asparagus on top.  That's nice, really nice.  ($27)

I got the Paradelle, which is a wide noodle with shrimp and saffron and tomatoes.  It's one of my favorite dishes there and it was also fantastic.  The shrimp were perfectly cooked, the sauce had the right balance, this is a good dish.  ($20)

At the end the waiter came by and I asked, a bit embarrassed, if they happened to save the menu with the Happy Anniversary heading on it?  The waiter pulled it out of his apron with a bow tied to it and gave us a free dessert.  How cool is that?

So Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife, thanks for putting up with me for a long, long time, and thank you Piatti La Jolla for a wonderful meal!  If you've never been to Piatti, go this weekend.  Ask for a nice table on the patio and I guarantee you will have a great experience.

Five Guys Burgers Proves It's Hard To Make a Good Burger

I love burgers but I'm not a burger snob.  OK, yes, I love gourmet burgers with bleu cheese and kobe beef, but I also love the little McDonalds burgers that looked like someone sat on them first.  Basically, I set my burger bar pretty low.  Pretty, pretty low.

Five Guys Burgers opened in my neighborhood a while back but I've resisted going because I've gotten some pretty darn good burgers at Third Corner and frankly, I am always a bit suspect whenever you walk into a place and every poster on the wall and hanging from the ceiling says "Best burger in town as voted by ___________ (fill in the blank with the name of some city in the middle of the US)".  A bit like Tamra saying she's the hottest housewife in the OC - once you say it, it's probably not true.

Anyway, so here's the drill so you don't feel like an idiot.  When you order you tell them what you want on the burger and all toppings are included.  Onions, mushrooms peppers, condiments, you pick.  They are kind enough to tell you that the fries serve two and the service was super nice.  Feeling good.  I order and spend a bit of time trying to figure out the Coke machine and then wow, look!

Barrels of peanuts!  Free!  All you can eat!  OK, liking this.  But I didn't want to fill up as I ordered a "little burger", which is really just a single patty burger.

This is a $4 burger and weighs in at 480 calories, probably even more since I asked for mayo on the burger.  Now for comparison, a regular burger at In N Out is 390 calories and for the 480 you can upgrade to a cheeseburger.  I don't mind the calories as long as the food is worth it.  So I take a bite and I'm back in high school!  No, I'm not saying I was all happy and nostalgic, I'm saying this darn thing tasted like a crappy high school cafeteria burger!  The bun was sort of steamed, the burger tasteless, the mayo had that artificial sweet taste like they used Miracle Whip, it was meh. And I'm being nice.  Shoot, how many calories again?

Let's rip open that bag of fries.

You should know me by now, I love fries and unlike burgers I am very particular about fries.  Well, these actually passed the test.  A lot like Boardwalk fries, you do get a ton of them and I loved that they had malt vinegar to sprinkle on top.  Crispy, salty, a hit.

As we were finishing up their staff quickly comes by and takes the wrappers off the table and thanks us and smiles, which is nice.  But good fries, free peanuts and a nice staff can't make up for a lousy burger, and at $16 for two for lunch (2 little burgers, one order of fries, 2 small drinks) it's just too expensive and not worth the calories.

Now I want a Double Double to reaffirm my love for burgers.  Damn, I hate that.

San Diego's Love Affair with Fish Tacos and Taco Shops

If you've spent much time in San Diego you know what I'm talking about.  Taco shops on every corner, in every strip mall, that's how we roll.  So the idea of a taco shop connected to a gas station with a car wash right outside seems as natural as rice and beans. Fill er up!

El Pueblo Taco Shop (820 Birmingham Dr, Cardiff, CA) is located right off the 5 in San Diego North County.  Common sense might tell you that there is no way this place is going to be any good, but the buzz around town was that they had the best fish tacos in town.

Here's the menu with the usual suspects.  Prices were pretty good, a bit cheaper than a traditional "non-gas station location" joint.  Really, not that much more than Taco Bell, and TB has really gone downhill since they got busted for using some sort of Soylent Green meat product in their food.

Mmmmmm, salsa.  I love different hot sauces and they had plenty to choose from, from chunky salsa fresca to green to a smokey chipotle sort of sauce.  And look, free hot carrots! 

Right now they are running a special that I hope will last a long time but probably won't - Fish Tacos for $.99.  Before we dive in, let me tell  you where I am coming from.  My favorite fish taco is from The Brigantine when I want fried, and South Beach in OB when I want freshly grilled.  The 99 cent taco here is fried and that's cool with me.  

And here they are!  Double wrapped, crispy fish, nice and fresh.  The fish was a bit skimpy, about the same as Rubio's, but the flavor was good, not fishy at all.  On my taco scale I would rate these better than Rubios, not quite as good as The Brig - but at $.99, what a great deal!  Remember, this is the same price Taco Bell charges for their terrible crunchy taco and the difference is night and day.  


My wife also ordered a Tostada, which to me looked a lot like Taco Bell but she claims it was way better.

The shell was crunchy, the beans authentic tasting, she liked this.  Personally I hate tostadas just because of the eating concept (do you pick it up, do you break it up).  Whoever invented the tostada had no real idea of what this thing was,  sort of like the guys who make sandwiches 10" tall with a runny egg on top.  What am I supposed to do with that?  OK, enough food ranting.

So here's the bottom line - you find yourself in North San Diego county, you should check this place out.  Impress your Yelp! friends who want to go to crummy places like Casa de Bandini and say "Look, I know a little hole in the wall joint that has the best 99 cent fish tacos in San Diego and we can even get our car washed while we eat" and wow, will they be impressed with you or what?


El Pueblo Taco Shop
820 Birmingham Dr
Cardiff, CA
Right off the 5 freeway

Is Ad Hoc in Napa the "French Laundry" for the Common Man?

Last week I found myself in Napa looking for a place to eat dinner.  With so many great places to eat, it's hard to pick just one.  After a disappointing meal at Paon in Carlsbad last week, I decided to play it safe and go to a Thomas Keller restaurant.  You know this guy, the man behind The French Laundry, one of the top rated restaurants in the world.  But The French Laundry costs $250 per person and it's not hard to spend a thousand bucks for two.  So as much as I wanted to eat there, we went downscale a bit and ended up at Ad Hoc, priced at a much more reasonable $52 per person.

Now here's the deal with Ad Hoc - there's only one meal they serve each night.  Everyone gets the same thing and the food is served "family style", meaning one plate put in the middle of the table.  But this is no Coco's, trust me. 

The restaurant is casual and bustling like a bistro, casual enough for jeans but with a nice upscale vibe to it.  Look, there's even a screaming baby ("more pork belly!").  I was so hungry that I could have eaten that baby.  Thankfully, we were seated on the other side of the restaurant. 

Since everyone gets the same thing there are no decisions to make!  I like that.  I hate ordering and then seeing the other plates come out and wishing I had ordered something else.  Tonight's dinner started with a perfectly dressed endive, watercress and pea shoot salad.  Now I know, salads are sometimes not all that exciting but this one was delicious, fresh and just perfect.   Sniff, sniff, what's that I smell?

Pork Belly!  Whoo Hoo!  Some of you out there might be thinking that this is gross or weird, but remember that bacon is made from pork belly.  Feel better?  And also note that when you cook pork belly low and slow the fat renders out and all you are left with is the most moist and succulent meat ever with a melt in your mouth consistency topped with a crispy skin.  I would eat this all the time if it wouldn't kill me.

The main course, the pork short ribs.  A pork short rib is the meaty section of the first 3 ribs closest to the shoulder.  Thomas cooked this simply but perfectly and then sliced it off the bone.  This isn't like a spare rib, it's more like a pork shoulder texture and packed with savory flavors.  Good?  Great!  And to go with it, some of the best mashed potatoes I've ever had.

By now I was stuffed, so full, and pretty satisfied.  But wait, there's more!

So....full.

But...must....eat....cheese....and....candied....walnuts....with....honey.

So darn good.  Going back a bit, when we first decided to dine here the hostess went over the menu and said that the only thing she thought was just OK was the dessert.  That's OK with me as I am not a huge dessert guy.  But ready or not, here it comes.

It's Panna Cotta and it was so good that I wished I had a long tongue like my dog so I could have licked the entire bowl clean!  Yes, it was that good.  But didn't I say I was stuffed?  Yes, and now I was very stuffed.  So stuffed that I asked to have my cookie wrapped to take home.  That's it?  One cookie?  Yes, don't embarrass me.

At the end, I could barely walk back to my car.  I don't normally eat like a pig but this food was so good that I couldn't help myself.  In fact, this meal has to go down as one of the best meals I have ever had in my life.  It wasn't cheap -  $180 was the final tab for two after adding drinks - but unlike Paon in Carlsbad where I left thinking I could have cooked it better, when I left Ad Hoc I knew that Thomas Keller deserves all the praise he has been given.

Glen Campbell LIVE at Pala Casino, Feb 17, 2012, Review

A few years back I bought a Glen Campbell DVD on a whim.  I've always liked Glen's music from the first time I heard "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" on my tiny transistor radio as a kid.  That DVD opened the doors for me. Forget all the drama in Glen's life, the music and his guitar playing cut through.  From his work as part of the LA session musicians crew, playing on everything from Elvis to The Beach Boys to Phil Spector records, his claim to fame is having performed on more Top 10 records than any other musician.

So Glen made my bucket list of performers I wanted to see.  Last year Glen was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.  What should have stopped the show only spurred him on to create his final album, the superb Ghost on the Canvas, and to do one last tour.

“I don’t pay any attention to it,” Glen said in a recent interview for Fox. “It’s like when the devil comes knocking on your door. Don’t pay any attention to it.”

Opening with "Gentle on my Mind", the playing and singing were spot on.  The audience, mainly old timers who came to see him one last time, were supportive and appreciative, even when Glen occasionally lost his way and had to check the teleprompters for the lyrics.

His band featured three of his children, including his highly talented and beautiful daughter Ashley, who played the banjo and keyboards.  There was some real love and caring on the stage, especially when Glen couldn't remember the key a song was in and asked the band.  "It's in 'G'", Ashley said as she walked over to her Dad's guitar and removed the capo to put it in the right key.  "G? Gee, I like you too" was Glen's response.  Corny?  Well, maybe, but a touching moment.

THE SETLIST
Gentle on my Mind
Galvaston
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
You've Got to Try a Little Kindness
Where's the Playground, Susie?
Didn't We?
I Can't Stop Loving You
True Grit
Lonesome Blues
Dueling Banjos (with Ashley)
Hey Little One (Ashley and brother Shannon, while Glen took a short break offstage)
Any Trouble
It's Your Amazing Grace
Country Boy
The Moon's a Harsh Mistress (solo, with piano)
Ghosts on the Canvas
Whichita Lineman
Rhinestone Cowboy

ENCORE
Southern Nights
A Better Place

Thank you Glen, for all the music and joy you've brought to your fans.  It was a great show, a great night, and to quote Glen, I was happy to be there.

Bon Appetit Magazines Best Fried Chicken Recipe

I chase recipes.  I get on these kicks where I have to figure out to make the best of something, whether it's smoked spare ribs or kung pao chicken.  And while I've been able to crack the code on most recipes I've gone after, fried chicken has eluded me.  That's why I was so excited to see a giant fried chicken drumstick on the cover of Bon Appetit magazine.

Looking good!

Is there such a thing as gourmet fried chicken?  Mom's have cooked fried chicken for generations and there was nothing to it.  The old school recipe was 1) cut up a chicken, 2) dredge in flour, 3) fry until done.  Well, try that recipe and I guarantee an epic fail!  Somehow the fried chicken scrolls were lost and the gene destroyed.  Fried chicken went from a Sunday standard to a fast food mess.  Now don't get me wrong, I love KFC and will even stoop to supermarket fried chicken and as recently as five years ago was seen with - gasp - Banquet frozen fried chicken.  But none of it was as good as Mom's.

The recipe I've gone to in the past couple of years is from Giada, the FoodTV chef with the big head and big boobs.  It's a lemon and olive oil brine'd chicken called Pollo Frito and it's pretty darn good - but it's not traditional fried chicken.  And, sorry Giada, but it fails the next day crunch test,  turning all soggy and a touch greasy after cooling down.  Nonetheless, it's a good alternative and cool to serve up fried chicken with wedges of lemon.  I've also tried Thomas Keller's (of The French Laundry) fried chicken recipe, the one that has people forking out $55 a plate for, and thought it was a lot of work for rather ordinary results.  Of course, I'm NOT Thomas Keller so it was probably more my fault than his recipe.  So let's try this one from Bon Appetit.


BON APPETIT SKILLET-FRIED CHICKEN

2 Tbsp kosher salt, divided
2 tsp plus 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
One 3 to 4 pound chicken cut into 10 pieces, or equivalent weight of parts (drumsticks and thighs and wings sound great!)
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
Peanut Oil for frying (well, I used vegetable oil but if you have peanut, use it)

STEP ONE:  Prepare the seasonings
Whisk 1 Tbsp salt, 2 tsp black pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic and onion powder in small bowl.  Season chicken and put in a bowl and cover overnight.  Overnight???  OK, so if you don't want to wait all night for your fried chicken, 3 to 4 hours sitting in the fridge works just fine.  The idea is to get the spices and salt inside the chicken, not just on the surface, so time is your friend.

Getting ready to hit the oil

STEP TWO:  Let's Cook This Chicken!
When ready to cook, take chicken out and let it stand covered at room temp for an hour.  Pour oil into  a 10" to 12" cast iron skillet (not non stick) to a depth of about 3/4 inches.  This is critical - you must use some sort of cast iron cooking vessel.  I used a Le Creuset "dutch oven" (aka big pot).  You need the thick pan/pot to regulate the heat.

Whisk the flour, cornstarch and the rest of the salt and pepper in a bowl.  Dip the chicken in buttermilk then dredge in the flour and cornstarch mixture.  No double dipping required.  Place chicken in oil and fry the chicken, turning it every couple of minutes.  Be careful the first time you flip that you don't knock all the breading off the uncooked side.  Use a thermometer and keep that oil in the 300 to 325 degree range.  Bon Appetit says it will take 12 minutes for thighs and breasts, 10 for wings.  Mine took around 18 minutes for thighs and a bit less for the drumsticks.  Use an instant read meat thermometer to check for doneness since raw chicken is not good eats, nor is overcooked and dried out chicken.  Go for 165 degrees internal temperature and check a couple of places on each piece to make sure it is done.

300 degrees.  Note that I did not crowd the pan.

STEP THREE:  Fry it up, drink a beer!
Figure it will take you about 20 minutes a batch so plan ahead if you are trying to time out a dinner.  You can place the done pieces in an oven at your lowest setting, 175 to 200 degrees, if you want to keep it warm while the others cook.  Place cooked chicken on a rack so it does not sit in its own drippings and stays nice and crisp.

Not a stock photo but the actual fried chicken I made!

This is it!  Super crunchy but without cheating like KFC by adding layers of breading.  Not greasy, extremely moist inside and well seasoned.  Just as good the next day cold, retaining a bit of the crunch and keeping all of its fried chicken integrity.

A bit of white beans with olive oil and a fresh watercress salad to accompany the fried chicken made a nice, fresh contrast.

FRIED CHICKEN MYTHS BUSTED!

• No need to soak in buttermilk overnight!  In fact, soaking it is what makes the skin soggy.
• No double breading to create the crust.  
• No salting it right out of the oil.  No need as the chicken is already seasoned perfectly before it even hits the oil.

Best fried chicken ever, as Bon Appetit claims?  I have to agree with that one, and if you love fried chicken you need to try this recipe!

WALLY LOVES SAN DIEGO!  www.LocalWally.com
WALLY LOVES SAN DIEGO BEER!  www.DrinkUpSanDiego.com