the last supper

As everyone already knows, I have actually officially left San Diego. It's still a little painful to talk write about. My best friends and I have been conquering San Francisco for the past few days, but today, Lauren left the Bay Area today and the tears started flowing all over again. So I'll keep the grad talk to a minimum and instead discuss one of my last meals in San Diego at Searsucker. This restaurant was praised by San Diego Magazine, and since none of their suggestions have failed me thus far, I decided that since Grammy was in town, we might as well take one last trip downtown to find out what all the hype was about. Needless to say, we were not let down. It was truly an incredible meal and an all around impressive experience. When we walked in, signs like the one below decorated the spacious restaurant...

Cheddar puffs to start... basically a croissant filled with gooey cheese. YUM.

Grammy ordered the baked eggplant

Guilty pleasure... a side of butter mashed potatoes to share...

Salmon, served with goat cheese fondue and beets...

And one of my favorite details: mismatched chairs.


Searsucker, thanks for an amazing last supper and San Diego... you will always have my heart (post graduation post coming soon).

happy hour = happy day

As the school year and my school career come to a close, I've found the best way to combat the inevitable tears and stress is to indulge in some happy hours. After extensive research, my friends and I came across Whisknladle in La Jolla, a pretty pricey restaurant during lunch and dinner hours, but during happy hour, 5 to 7 p.m., their tapas and drinks are not only affordable but delicious and of amazing quality for their price. Tapas run at just $3 per dish and sangria (the white is a personal favorite) for only $5 per glass or $20 per pitcher. Needless to say, this place is cute and comfortable and makes for the perfect study break (or I suppose now, CELEBRATION THAT WE ARE DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREVER!)

True words

White sangria

Wikki Wikki and I

These lamb meatballs almost made me throw vegetarianism out the window. Sio said they were fab!

Garlic shrimp

Crudo ahi tuna with grapefruit and avocado (YUM DOOD)

Grilled asparagus

Holy god, patatas bravas, definitely the best part. These little morsels were clearly coated and fried in copious amounts of butter and were exploding with flavor; potentially the best thing we ordered.

"I get by with a little help from my friends..."

Most people cried at their high school graduation. But I had to fake it. Inside, I was rejoicing that this "hell" was finally over. It just wasn't fun for me, the whole high school thing. I tried to make it work, but my heart just wasn't there. I didn't like myself, which made it hard for others to like me. I was always confused, I felt jaded and I was constantly trying to be someone that I wasn't.

But college graduation will be a different story. I know it's commonly said, but these past four years have been the greatest of my short 22 years of life. I have grown a lot. I've learned what it's like to love, and lose. I've learned to truly let go of people who just aren't worth it, no matter how long they've been around. Although the following are still works in progress, I've learned about myself, what I stand for, who I want to become and what I'm searching for. But most importantly, I've learned about friendship. I've met the people who will be in my life forever and after four years of spending every waking minute together, I can't imagine what life will be like in just a few short weeks when we're separated.

Thankfully, I know these friendships are strong enough to withstand the great distances we'll be from each other. I apologize if this post seems unusual, since characteristically I write about either nothing at all or, of course, my latest favorite meal. But I thought it was important to touch on a subject that has been overwhelming my thoughts and emotions for weeks, at times making it hard not to shed a tear (or 10). Plus, I wanted to pay a little homage to all of the people who have undoubtedly shaped the person I've become and made these past four years truly irreplaceable (you know who you are).

But enough of this sob story; besides being the best friends in the world, my friends also know how to eat (thank GOD). So without further adieu, our latest potluck masterpiece...

Casey's famous guac

Siobhan's caprese salad

Step one to empanada-making... lots of chopping.

Ready to pop in the oven...

Finished product.

I'd write a step-by-step on how to make these, but really, all you have to do is sautee anything you think would be good in croissant-ish dough with garlic and olive oil (maybe a little pesto). Cut puff pastry into rectangles. Fill rectangles with sauteed-goodness and cheese. Fold and seal with a fork. Paint egg on top so it looks all glossy and professional and pop 'em in the oven at 400 degrees until the tops are golden and crispy.

Enjoy with Blue Moon(s) and your best friends.

super stylish salad

Since the relocation of my internship, I've been forced to explore a new area of downtown San Diego, obviously searching for the best places to grab a quick lunch in the middle of a busy day. Salad Style, located just a few blocks from San Diego Magazine on F Street, creates some of the freshest and best salads I have ever tasted.

Besides this, there's usually reggae music playing and they have very cool light fixtures made from wine bottles.

I have ordered the caesar salad both times I've been there. Typically, there is absolutely nothing unique about a caesar salad. But at Salad Style, the caesar comes with crisp romaine, cojita cheese, avocado, hearts of palm, yellow corn, toasted croutons and the option to add grilled chicken. This "caesar with a twist" definitely hits the spot.

Today I sampled the couscous, which seemed to be infused with curry and had lots of currants throughout the dish.

But so far my favorite little treat from this hole in the wall is their tomato, pesto and garlic bruschetta. Crunchy tostini with a perfect layer of homemade pesto and topped with fresh and sweet tomatoes that had been marinated in garlic. Now that's a snack!
(Sorry for the poor quality, iPhone photos... it's all I had!)

comfort food at its best

As an intern at San Diego Magazine, I spend a lot of time looking up restaurants and researching the latest and greatest menu item or newest specials. In the midst of this research, I find myself scouring the menus to determine which restaurants should be added to my "must-try" list before I depart from San Diego in just five short weeks. You can imagine that this list is getting lengthy, but I'm positive I can eat at all the places I've been hoping to try. Last night, Stephanie and I, feeling a little lazy and under the weather, decided to try out Urban Solace in North Park. (Sidenote: North Park is slowly becoming one of my favorite areas in San Diego. It seems to be very up and coming, especially in the restaurant realm... highly recommend giving it a shot).

Urban Solace is tucked away on 30th Street, which if you aren't familiar with is pretty much the go-to spot for an amazing, trendy restaurant. Reservations seem to be a good idea for Urban Solace, but luckily we were sat immediately. The restaurant's lighting was dim and the decor was simple yet comfortable. The first thing I noticed about the menu was the extensive cocktail, beer and wine lists. The second were the fried pickles.

I don't even like pickles and these were INCREDIBLE. Perfectly fried in a really unique batter, my guess something wheat-ish and served with the chef's homemade blue cheese dressing (also not a fan of blue cheese usually but was actually in heaven with this dipping sauce). I had to email Matt Gordon, the chef, after dinner to get the scoop on how they heck they made the dressing/sauce taste so amazing. "It's a pretty simple dressing, really. Sort of a hybrid blue cheese/ranch. We use buttermilk, mayo, sour cream, onions, blue cheese, a little vinegar, lemon juice and some secret spices," Gordon said.

Steph ordered the tomato soup, which was adorably displayed in a mini mason jar.

We both ordered the portobello sandwich, which was very tender and topped with goat cheese, lemon aioli, grilled onion, arugula and tomato all piled onto an egg bun. The lemon aioli was the key ingredient in this dish, making the seemingly heavy sandwich seem light. The fries... oh the fries, were maybe top three best fries I've ever had. They tasted both sweet and savory at the same time (which might sound strange but I promise you, these were beyond anything I could have ever wanted/imagined in a french fry).

Although pretty much everything I've mentioned in this post was fried/unhealthy, the menu is actually really diverse. Other items that I'll need to try include: warm cheese biscuits with orange honey butter, pan roast wild salmon, warmed seasoned quinoa and MAC N CHEESE. I will be back, sooner rather than later... best meal I've had in a long time!