THE BEST MEAL WE HAVE EVER HAD: A PICTORIAL ADVENTURE! [from our adventure in san diego a few weeks ago]:





..............at a restaurant called whisknladle in la jolla. whisknladle is, apparently, on conde nast's 'hot table' list of 105 restaurants for 2008. but what i liked about it was one of those alice waters-inspired, slow food places [local, organic ingredients, they cure their own meats, et cetera] that are--thank the lord--becoming ever more trendy. 'they have bone marrow on the menu,' mike and i whispered to one another, trembling. 'let's go in.'



what is that shown above? why, that's a bacon cocktail. yes, a bacon cocktail! they had the most mindbendingly clever cocktails* you'd ever seen at this place; the above is called 'the suckling apple.' it's an apple-rosemary-infused vodka with a maple bacon twist, and it tasted like autumn in your mouth. amazing!




close-up on the bacon, vegans avert your eyes. ;)



pre-meal, enjoying the shade of the patio and a cool, refreshing beverage. mine is a cucumber mimosa, made with brut, cucumber and honey. very summery!



cucumberiffic!



there's no need to bother with entrees here, although they do have them and they sounded fantastic. we decided to go tapas-style and share a few smaller dishes instead. after all, who can decide?? shown above: homemade bread, squash blossoms stuffed with light & fluffy herbed goat cheese, honey and walnut pesto on top, steamed mussels [& frites] in white wine broth [oh god my favorite, and--one of the many things i hate about not living close to the sea--something i just won't order here in phoenix. a real treat......and i got to introduce mike to them for the first time! he loved them.]



everything is beginning to disappear........



are you ready for this? are you ready for this?? roasted bone marrow with lemon, parsley and capers. if you were on death row, you'd want this to be your last meal. ;)



i really don't know how, but we managed to order dessert as well. our waiter was the instigator. it's a creme brulee and a trio of fruit sorbees, made in-house. ohhhhhhhhhhhh.



a close-up on the sorbet. they brought us each a tiny glass of italian dessert wine with this, on the house. it was all so amazing! we stumbled out a little stupefied by so much good food and tasty drinks......who can face a six hour drive after a meal like that? but it was worth it, so worth it. if you're ever in san diego, you must go here. tell your friends! :)

* a word on the tasty drinks: so, this was supposed to be our last day in san diego. we were killing time in la jolla, looking into the galleries [and thus justifying this trip as 'business'-related, ha ha]. we only meant to have a quick, tasty meal somewhere and then spend all night driving back to phoenix. but somewhere between receiving the menu and reading all the descriptions, i felt my resolve beginning to crumble.

'maybe,' i suggested sheepishly to mike, 'we could stay an extra night and leave in the morning? i've just got a feeling........'
'--no!' he replied. his resolve was stronger. for now. ha. 'we have to go back tonight. we have to get back to work!'
'i know, but.........' i scanned the menu again to be sure. 'honey, they have a cocktail with bacon in it. bacon.'

'bacon?'
'bacon.'

and so it went, we each had to try at least one tasty cocktail each [it was only one each, i swear!]. and then a stupefying amount of food. and then our waiter, the pusher-man, seduced us into ordering dessert. and then he brought us each an adorable little dessert wine. and then we knew we were sunk. we stayed an extra night, curled up on the bed of a ramada inn, holding our stomachs and groaning with pleasure.

it was worth it. ;)