Category Archives: food

Kitchen 1540 – Del Mar

For Christmas, Travis gave me the gift of a fabulous meal.  He printed out menus from all sorts of “higher end” spots in San Diego and said we could go anywhere.  We would get to see what San Diego cuisine has to offer and I wouldn’t have to think about how it would fit into our household “dining out” budget.  It was a pretty awesome gift.

After our trip to Portland and fabulously ridiculous meal at Castagna, I was curious about Kitchen 1540.  I had heard really good things about it, but also knew they had recently had a chef change.  I tried not to have huge expectations, but it turns out my fears were unfounded.

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Castagna – Portland

I mentioned we did a lot of good eating over our long-weekend trip to Portland. It’s pretty common for us to cram a lot into a relatively short trip, but even I was impressed that we managed to cross so many tasty bites off our list.  We flew in Thursday morning and then home Sunday afternoon.  That only leaves so many meals, snacks, and beer breaks.  Throw in a day at the coast and meeting friends for dinner, and we really only had our first night in town dedicated to dinner of my choosing.

Based on some Chowhound research and cross-referencing various recommendations, I figured we could either go to Little Bird or Castagna for dinner.  The menu at Little Bird looked to be French-inspired, while the set menu at Castagna looked… well, intriguing.  Intriguing enough that Travis was willing to indulge my curiosity.

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Things we’ve been eating

I have been quite lax in posting these days.  Even worse about documenting what we’ve been eating or cooking, since there has been quite a lot of both going on.  I do have a post in the works about an amazing (amazing!) meal we had in Portland, which leads into another amazing meal we had in San Diego.  For now, I’m reverting to bullet form and apologies.

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organicgirl greens

Disclosure: Our meal was complimentary but I was not compensated for this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

We’ve been going through a lot of greens lately – for smoothies, juices, sautees, etc.  So, when Jen from BAM Communications mentioned organicgirl salad products, I was intrigued.  A little while later, a box arrived on our porch with romaine hearts, baby spring mix, and supergreens.

Each container has a plastic hard cover, but it’s also sealed with plastic on top.  Until you unseal it, the greens stay fresh (and pre-washed!) for quite a while, but the plastic top means that if you don’t use it all, you can easily keep it stored in the fridge.

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Osetra the Fishhouse

Disclosure: Our meal was complimentary but I was not compensated for this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

We don’t spend a lot of time downtown, but I appreciate knowing some good spots in the Gaslamp for when we are in the area and happen to be hungry.  Or, if we’re looking for a special place to go for a good meal.  I had never been to Osetra the Fishhouse, so when the ladies at BAM Communications invited me to check out their special Valentine’s Day oyster shooters, I asked if we could also arrange a little sample of the dinner menu.  Happily, they obliged and I made plans for a fun dinner in the Gaslamp.

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