Chains and Night-of Blogging

I am doing something new tonight - writing about a dinner that happened mere moments ago.  I still have the taste of dessert and wine in my mouth, but I feel compelled to share my experience with the world now as opposed to in a few weeks when I've had time to sit on it and contemplate the descriptions.  I also have no pictures from tonight's dining experience.  Not a one.   Here's to expanding my dining vocabulary!

Knowing that Glenn would be at work until the wee hours of the morning, I planned an evening with Blair.  We did not have any set plans, anything was up for grabs.  A handful of things were mentioned including walking up the La Mesa stairs (my suggestion which she quickly shot down) and watching the Grunion run, but once we found out Jean would be joining us, we knew our options would need to be narrowed down to food.  For those who need a reminder, Jean is Blair's mother and my dining soul-mate.  Years before I had ever met her, Blair told me I needed to hang out with her Mom.  I obviously thought this was kind of strange... until I actually met Jean.  It was true, our passions for all things fine align quite nicely, and she has generously allowed me to experience more of the San Diego food and wine scene than I ever could have hoped for.  All this to say, tonight would be a night of food, and those crazy Grunion would have to wait a few weeks.  

Our original plan was to hit the Prado - an old Cohn stand-by that we had not visited in some time.  As the evening progressed and time crept up on us, the decision was made to go to a restaurant closer to the La Jolla area.  Trulucks, a Texas-based seafood chain, was decided upon and I anxiously paroozed the menu online while waiting for dinnertime to come around.  

When we arrived at Trulucks and were greeted with pure friendliness, I noticed a classy and old school "vibe", if you will.  It seems as though many restaurants are trying to be hip and trendy, yet there is often something missing.  Trulucks boasts Southern hospitality along with beautiful red leather clam-shell booths and a live pianist.  The menu was easy to read, and the wine list seemed fun with a decent variety that offered tastes, glasses, or bottles of the wine of your choice.  I had the pleasure of  narrowing down our choice to a white, and Jean selected a lovely bottle of 2006 Bouchaine chardonnay.  We actually wound up getting two bottles of the Bouchaine over the course of the evening.  Yes it was that good. 

Dining with Jean and Blair is unlike any other dining experience, and it's exactly how I think eating out should go.  Variety is the name of the game, so multiple appetizers and entrees must be ordered no matter how many individuals are eating.  Tonight we started with the crabcake, the deep fried calamari, and the warm goat cheese.  The crowd favorite was the crabcake, which our lovely waitress informed us included 93% crab and only 7% bread/seasoning (aka filler).  This was one of the best crab cakes I have had, and I am looking forward to making it with the fresh lump crab meat I buy at Costco on my next visit.  The calamari was just ok, the highlight for me were the two sauces it was served with - a light cocktail sauce that almost seemed to be more marinara-esque and a spicy mayo that was perfect with the crisp pieces of squid.  If you order the calamari, be warned - those large round breaded pieces are not actually fish - they are fried lemon.  Can be quite shocking when one is expecting mild and chewy and gets tart and stringy.  The warm goat cheese was just that - served with chopped olives and a handful of flavored pecan chunks.  My weakness for goat cheese tempted me to choose this as my favorite appetizer, but I know the crab cake was actually better.

We are now two glasses of wine in and ready to order entrees.  For the entrees we relied solely on our waitress' recommendation.  Blair had the Redfish Pontchartraine served with rice and a handful of grilled shrimp surrounding the plate.  The fish itself was tender on the inside, crisp on the outside, and extremely flavorful.  This dish was very southern and almost seemed like it should have been served alongside a spicy sausage jambalaya or cheesy grits.  Next on the list was Jean who selected the Blackened New Zealand King Salmon served with fried green tomatoes.  This salmon was, as promised, unlike any salmon I have ever tasted.  It had a hint of smokiness and was extraordinarily thick and tender.  Highly recommended!  My dish was a Miso Glazed Organic Totem Black Cod.  I am not sure I have ever ordered cod, but I am glad I branched out and did something different.  The fish itself was quite mild, yet very tender and absorbed the Asian inspired flavors the rest of the plate brought in.  

In addition to our entrees, we also ordered a one pound Dutch Harbor Red King Crab leg.  I now understand why Truluck's is famous for their crab.  This crab leg was tender, sweet, and did not need to be dipped in butter.  No matter how full I was, I kept going back for more crab leg, digging my tiny seafood fork into the moist meat, wishing the taste would never leave my tongue.  On my next trip to Truluck's, I must order the crab again.  Maybe a pound all for me!

A couple more glasses of wine and way too many stories later, it was time for dessert.  If you have been around Blair in the past two weeks, you have heard about the Bag of Chocolate she had on her last visit to Truluck's.  A decadent chocolate 'bag' filled with pound cake, fresh berries, and a thick whipped cream (and I am convinced mascarpone, too) filling smothered in fresh fudge sauce and broken open for the table to enjoy - this is how dessert is supposed to happen.  The bag of chocolate lived up to its hype, and I would certainly order it again, hopefully with more room in my tummy to enjoy all of those flavors melding.  

Overall, I give Truluck's a 'definitely visit here again' score of 3.5 out of 5 stars, especially considering it is a chain!  It seems to fit the La Jolla/Sorrento Valley after work crowd perfectly and I hope to experience the fresh seafood and fun beverage pairings many more times.  

Truluck's La Jolla . 8990 University Center Lane . San Diego . 858-453-2583 .

Emergency Row Seats and Armonk

When Glenn's college roommate asked him to be the best man in his March 2009 wedding in New York, Glenn was excited and honored. Knowing I had already taken significantly more unpaid vacation days than one should take in a year - but also knowing that I would willingly take more if a great trip were involved - Glenn said "let's spend a few days in the city after the wedding!" Brilliant man.


I flew to New York with my dear friend Jacob Paul Willis, who was shooting the wedding. We had checked in online the day before our flight so we were able to change our seats to the emergency exit row. Some airlines charge you for changes like this but my good friend Delta will give you double the leg room for free, if you ask early enough. I wish I had taken a picture of my legs stretched out and how awesome the emergency exit row was. I have never flown first or business class, but imagine it feels like the emergency row, only better. I streched my legs all the way out. Like, until they could reach no more.

An all fruit smoothie, biscoff cookies, 4.5 hours in flight and 3 hours at the rental car place later, I drove myself from JFK to Armonk, NY. (Pause for Applause.) Driving in Boston is worse than driving in New York, but driving in New York is pretty scary. Glenn was already at the rehearsal, but I knew I needed some sustinence and a shower for friendliness to be an option. What you see on the left was my sustinence. Real live New York pizza from a cute little Armonk hot spot called Amore. Delish. Well fed and therefore ready to be socially acceptable, I sped off to the rehearsal and (what else?) rehearsal dinner.



This photo is the best representation I have of the rehearsal dinner. My phone/camera idea wasn't working out that well. Here you see John and D-Rock, other college roommates/good friends of Glenn's. We spent the evening at a Thai restaurant near the wedding site, and enjoyed lots of yummy fried thai empanada type things, as well as curry and all things peanut sauce.


Wedding Day! What better way to say goodbye to Mike's bachelorhood than with pizza? Based on my great experience with Amore Pizza the night before, we visited again for lunch. I had a chopped salad with walnuts, goat cheese, chicken and apples. The salad was ok, but I don't think I would ask them to chop it again. It kind of feels like eating herbs instead of lettuce, which grossed me out. The boys shared a large pizza with mushrooms and pepperoni.

I did not have any wine, but for some reason Glenn thought it would be a great idea to take my picture by this magnum. Do I really love wine that much? More on that later.

New York, part one, is a wrap.

Running Headaches, Peanut Butter and Krakatoa

(photos courtesy of the lovely iPhone - hence their darkness)

Saturday morning I ran really far. Like farther than most humans should ever run. The run itself was great, but I don't think I drank enough water and I also didn't chew on enough of my Clif blocks (I refuse to goo - ick) so what happened after my run was kind of inevitable. I crashed.

For those of you that know the inner workings of Kristin, you know that once the Kristin brain starts convincing itself there is an ish, it's impossible to revert back to health. Paranoia and anxiety take over, I am convinced I am going to vomit for days and days, and Glenn is forced to dance the 'slap her back into reality/show her sympathy cause she doesn't feel good' marimba. Oh it's cute. After a 30 minute nap and some gatorade I was able to swallow a few Ritz, including one with more peanut butter on it than I've ever seen. Are you ready for this? It totally helped! I wasn't even sick! I just needed some food and water! NO WAY.

While I was laying on the couch convincing myself I would be horribly ill, Glenn also had to call my lovely sister Corrie and tell her I would not be making it to the lunch date we had planned in my current state. Being the supportive and understanding sister she is, Corrie was cool with this and told me to just call her when I feel better. Around 2:30pm I am feeling better and Glenn was at work, so I called Corrie and we decided to grab a light/very late lunch and run errands together. I drive to Golden Hill, talk to Corrie about her New York trip since I'm going this weekend, and we walk down the street to Krakatoa.


This place is so fun! It is the ultimate hippie hang out and they have a great variety of sandwiches and salads to choose from, as well as many unique coffees and teas. I opted for the blood orange iced tea and a turkey sandwich with sharp cheddar and dijon. Krakatoa serves their home made potato salad with all sandwiches, and I thought I could really taste each ingredient. Maybe it was just that I hadn't eaten all day. They use red potatoes instead of white and have a light dill and black pepper taste. Mmm.



My favorite thing about Krakatoa was the patio - it had an old school Hawaii vibe and reminds me of something that should be in the Coco Palms when they finally rebuild it. The turkey sandwich was excellent, as well - fresh turkey, super sharp cheddar, heated roll, and of course excellent potato salad.

Next time you are in Golden Hill (ok, next time you want to go to a new restaurant - who hangs out in Golden Hill?) check out my new friends at Krakatoa! If you're lucky you will even be offered a hand painted cigarette box by one of the locals!

Krakatoa: 1128 25th Street. San Diego. CA. 92101. 619.230.0272

The Many Uses for Pasta

Today's post will highlight two pasta experiences I have had of late, both unique, both delicious.

The first 'new' pasta experience I had was several weeks ago when we were hanging out at the Cheesecake Factory late at night with a group of friends. Someone decided to order fried macaroni and cheese, so of course when it came the rest of us wanted to try it. Originally thinking this would be disgusting and I would promptly spit it out of my mouth, I started with a very small bite. The night ended with 3 more orders of fried mac and cheese being devoured at our table. My goal now is to make my own fried mac and cheese, blog to come immediately following the attempt.



The second 'new' pasta experience happened because my friend Blair and I had lunch together at a place called Divine Pastabilities here in San Diego. I had heard of this place, but never thought of going there. I was missing out. The hot item is a "torpasta" which is, as the picture (courtesy of torpasta.com) shows, a roll of fresh bread hollowed out and stuffed with pasta. This sounds particularly heavy, but tastes splendid. They cook their pasta perfectly, their sauces are fresh, fragrant and tasty, and there's something magical about eating pasta without a fork or knife.

Enjoy! I'm off to listen to my latest obsession - The Jonas Brothers. Wrong on so many levels, I know.

Weekenders, Or What I Haven't Been Cooking Lately

This weekend, like many of the past days of my life (cue Soap Opera music) was filled to the brim with things to do. Run over 11 miles? Done. (Had to take the opportunity to brag about the power of my legs... pardon my ego.) Haircut? Why of course. Co-host an awesome party? Check. Drive to LA for the brother in law's housewarming and bratwurst? Ok this list is getting ridiculous, it's time to start talking in sentences. At any rate, the weekend was busy, and another reminder of how necessary boundaries are in my life.

I talk about boundaries and saying 'no' a lot. The idea of 'no' actually being a 'yes' to the bigger things in your life is powerful to me. Limiting the things we commit and agree to, taking time to be who we are and become who we want to be, not letting others' disappointment or pressure change our mind or decision making process - these are all such freeing concepts. And isn't that what it's all about in the end? Freedom? It's what our country was built on, what all great relationships consist of, how individuals become who they were created to be, and the most amazing thing God has to offer us. Despite this I continue to say 'yes' to everyone and everything and 'no' to growth within myself. We're getting a little deep for a food blog, I know. Take a sip of wine and continue with me...

All of the things I did this weekend were good things. Some of them were things that were saying yes to the deeper commitments and freedoms I want. Some were not. I got home last night, exhausted and sore, and realized that I had not made a real dinner at home in over 2 weeks. I had not planned a menu and been excited about the courses and the blending of flavors I was creating, I hadn't taken a Saturday to go to my favorite grocery stores, make my sister the killer brownies I've been wanting to send her, and then have a few friends over to share in their lives and cook for them, since Valentine's Day!

It's March, which will mark the official start of Spring here in San Diego. I have a big trip coming up next week that I'm super excited about. I have a big race at the end of the month that I want to do well at. I have vegetables getting soggy in my refrigerator because I haven't been home long enough to create something out of them. This month I will dream up new menus. This month I will run faster. This month I will say no even more than I have been. This month is going to be awesome. I may unintentionally hurt a few feelings, but I'm welcoming the freedom and fun March will bring.