Dig This Jive: Christine Pasalo's blog

On Wednesday, May 16, The San Diego Council on Literacy will host a culinary-meets-reading event at NTC Promenade at Liberty Station. Billed as “Eat Drink Read,” this event taking place in Point Loma will feature dishes from a dozen San Diego chefs, all of whom drew inspiration from a favorite book.

Two of the chefs participating are Craig Jimenez of Craft & Commerce in Little Italy and Matt Gordon of Urban Solace in North Park and Solace & the Moonlight Lounge in Encinitas.

“You’re able to run away on this adventure to find sunken treasure,” says Jimenez of Todd Strasser’s Beyond the Reef, the book he’s chosen to interpret for the event.

In homage to the Key West setting of Strasser’s tale, Jimenez will prepare Conch Fritteratti with Lime Mustard: a tender sea snail breaded in panko crumbs, fried, and served with lime mustard and a salad of seaweed and charred peppers.

“I read Beyond the Reef for English class when I was in middle school,” says the 30-something Jimenez. “We had to write a certain amount of book reports per month and this one stuck with me.”

Since Craft & Commerce is known as much for incorporating books and book quotes into its decor as much as for its food and cocktails, it’s fitting that the Little Italy restaurant would also contribute something from the bar. Bartenders Eric Johnson and Christian Siglin will pair the Conch Fritteratti with a cocktail they’re calling the Bahama Brahma: a mix of Jamaican rum, coffee liqueur, coconut syrup, fresh pineapple and fresh lemon juice served over crushed ice.

Chef Matt Gordon of Urban Solace turned to Ernest Hemingway’s Paris memoirs, A Moveable Feast, for enlightenment.

“Having grown up in the Southwest where everything is so new, I am always moved by the sense of history of cities like Paris,” Gordon shares. For the event, he will serve miniature Croque-Monsieur with a creamy brown butter Mornay sauce. “It’s just something I love to eat and such a defining Parisian dish.”

It’s also a dish the Solace & Moonlight Lounge owner says he would make for Hemingway if he was alive today, even though, as Gordon puts it, “[Hemingway] talks about a bit ‘finer’ eating in the book.”

Complementing the eats with refreshments are Stone Brewing Co., Honest Tea, Solar Rain, 12 Signs Wine, and SOL Markets. Also, Hillcrest favorite Bread & Cie Bakery and Cafe will put together gift bags inspired by Dr. Seuss’ Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

Admission to the event, which takes place from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., is $60 and benefits The San Diego Council of Literacy’s efforts to provide free literacy assistance to adults, families and children in San Diego County. Click here to purchase your tickets. (NOTE: Payment is via PayPal. If you don’t have a PayPal account, don’t worry; simply pay as a guest.)

(Image from the website of The San Diego Council on Literacy.)

What it’s about: Lunch Box Blues chronicles one working dad’s effort to pack his son a fun and healthy school lunch every day.

Why I dig it: Because it has inspired me to get creative with my own lunch. Now, on the days I go into an office to work, I take a half hour in the morning to pack myself a healthy lunch that I’m excited to eat. And the fact that the author uses a variety of bento boxes and other handy-dandy containers is just the cherry on top for my inner (and outer) organization freak.

Fun facts:

• The working dad in question is AP Food Editor J.M. Hirsch.
• Hirsch has made up three Star Wars-themed sandwiches—the Obi Wan-wich, the Yub Yub, and the Jawa-wich. Don’t panic: there won’t be a Jar Jar anything in the future.
• The stainless steel bento boxes used are of the Lunchbots line. For info on the other lunch box gear used, click here.

Record Store Day. Earth Day. You can celebrate both in San Diego this weekend with treks to Mission Hills and Coronado. Plus, you can get full on fine dining in Hillcrest and unplugged music on Adams Avenue. Garnish with a sunny-without-too-much-burn weather forecast and serve.

Saturday, April 21: Happy Record Store Day!

• 10:00 a.m. Celebrate Record Store Day at M-Theory! Exclusive releases, including Common’s latest, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. EP featuring two new songs, and a Regina Spektor 45 featuring two unreleased tracks she recorded in Russian are just a few of the wiles M-Theory is pulling out to lure you to their event. There will also be a sidewalk sale featuring 50 cent LPs and $1.00 CDs, free swag and skateboards from Sector 9, free pizza from Lefty’s Chicago Pizzaria, and a live and free 5:00 p.m. performance by The Donkeys.
• 12:00 p.m. Get full in Hillcrest. The 11th annual Taste of Hillcrest takes place until 4:00 p.m. Approach the event with a strategy and you’ll get a quality sample of the over 50 restaurants participating this year. Thankfully, though the event is another year older, the ticket price is the same as it was in 2010: $30 in advance, $35 day of. To buy tickets online and to get a PDF of this year’s event map, visit Fabulous Hillcrest’s event webpage. For an idea of how the tickets for this event work, check out my post on last year’s Taste.
• 4:50 p.m. Watch tUnE-yArDs perform live at Coachella from the comfort of your couch. I had the honor of seeing Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-yArDs, perform live at San Diego’s House of Blues this past Wednesday. Her creativity humbles me. If you’ve never seen her perform live, I’d hate for you to miss the opportunity. Seize your chance by tuning in on Channel 2 of Coachella’s live webcast. Garbus will amaze you with her ability to layer sounds and beats on the spot. She will take you in with the sweet ferocity of her voice. She will dumbfound you with the way she sings back-up for herself. LIVE. I dare you not to be struck in awe.*

Sunday, April 22: Happy Earth Day!

• 12:00 p.m. Celebrate Spring at the Coronado Flower Show. Though Spring likes to swell up my sinuses the way a brown noser pumps up a manager’s ego, I’ll willingly suppress its effect with a dose of Chlor-Trimetron and spend the day under the tents of the Coronado Flower Show, the largest tented flower show in the nation. General admission is only $5; children under 12 are free.
• 3:00 p.m. An Adams Avenue music festival by any other name DOES smell as sweet. Previously known as the Adams Avenue Roots Festival, the FREE event now known as Adams Avenue Unplugged takes place until 7:00 p.m. on this final day of the weekend. Up to 170 live musical performances ranging from folk, traditional roots music, Appalachian folk songs, bluegrass, Americana, cowboy, Cajun, and rockabilly are scheduled to appear at various venues on the two-mile stretch of Adams between Texas Street in Normal Heights and Kensington. For a list of who’s performing and where they’ll be performing, check out the Adams Avenue Unplugged website.

(Photo caption, from left to right: Record Store Day logo from RecordStoreDay.com; Taste of Hillcrest logo from FabulousHillcrest.com; press photo of Merrill Garbus photographed by Anna Campbell for 4AD; photo of the Coronado Flower Show entrance from Beach Local’s Flickr photostream; Adams Avenue Unplugged poster from NormalHeights.org.)

*CORRECTION: Coachella Weekend 2 will NOT be live streamed per a Pitchfork article posted on April 13. You can, however, see video of tUnE-yArDs performing “Bizness” and “Powa” on Coachella’s YouTube channel. Apologies for the misinformation!

That, dear readers, is pesto prestidigitation. Where can you find it? In the Brioche breakfast sandwich served at Village 631 in East Village.

The serving size of the sandwich was more than generous for my stomach and my hand. There were times when I resorted to fork-and-bread-knifing it to save myself the trouble of wielding it in for a bite. I won’t lie: it was also to save the underside of my fingernails from pesto and tomato invasion. I’m dainty like that.

Having tried and liked something off of the “Between the Slices” section of Village 631’s breakfast menu, I’m ready to venture. There are three other sections of first-of-the-day eats: “House Favorites” which includes a house-cured gravlax dish, “Scrambles,” “Quiche of the Day,” and “Good For You!” options featuring house made granola and (in one case) acai.

Then there’s their pastries. They sit in a glass dome above the refrigerated grab-and-go section of the front bar. It’s a regular red light district of breakfast goodies: almond croissants puffed to the size of mini footballs and dusted with powdered sugar, chocolate croissants striped in more chocolate. I’d list more but like a little girl who accidentally found her older brother’s stash of dirty magazines, I looked away before it all sunk in.

I’ve read that their coffee and espresso drinks are good and made from 100% organic beans. I’ve also seen photos that show their dine-in versions carry Rosetta finishes. Not one to drink coffee, I can’t offer a personal take. But I do have my eye on their Chai Latte. And I’ll try a sip of their Iced Toddy if you offer it to me.

They also carry bottles of Bundaberg Blood Orange soda! True, it’s not a breakfast drink. Unless you think of it as fizzy orange juice, which I do.

The forecast for this weekend in San Diego currently shows sunshine on Sunday. Might I recommend you give breakfast at Village 631 a shot?

After a week of fashioning Holiday Gift Guides that promote charitable gifts, local businesses, and independent musicians, I’m burnt out. So, this weekend’s prix fixe menu of recommended things to do in San Diego is whittled down to three courses and topped off with the Chargers game.

Saturday, December 17:

• 12:00 p.m. Tis the season of sweet charity. Ruben Torres presents the 2nd annual “Love Thy Neighbor,” a toy and clothing drive for kids and families in Tijuana, Mexico. Hosted by Beto from 92.5, the FREE event takes place at The Spot in Barrio Logan until 6:00 p.m. There will be live tattooing and an art show with artists from Nittis Tattoo, a live performance by Karlos Paez of B Side Players, and more! Click here to see the YouTube video promoting the event.
• 9:00 p.m. Attend a belated Grand Opening.. Submit yourself to day three of Tiger!Tiger!’s grand opening safari in North Park. Peer upon the Firestone Walker 14th and 15th anniversary beers that will be tapped side-by-side. Scope saucers of salivation-worthy food like Tiger!Tiger!’s Oyster Po’ Boy ($11) and Wood-Fire Banh Mi ($9). Then POUNCE! No pith helmet required.

Sunday, December 18:

• 1:00 p.m. Hone your last-minute-shopping prowess. Need to stuff those stockings? Still looking for something to get your sister (or brother)? Then, head to the North Park Independent Bazaar taking place at Queen Bee’s until 6:00 p.m. Admission is FREE and there will be clothing, accessories, photography, bags, jewelry, cards, art, and more available for purchase from a variety of San Diego’s independent artisans and businesses. Gift one-of-a-kind; shop local!
• 5:20 p.m. Chargers take on the Ravens at the Q. NBC’s Sunday Night Football is hosted by The Bolts and, somehow, there might still be a chance we can pull off a division title. If watching the game at home is too mellow for your taste, then consider amplifying your Yeahs and Ughs with tens more voices and catch the game at either Regal Beagle in Mission Hills or True North in North Park.

(Photo caption: Flyer for “Love Thy Neighbor” from the Connected with Ruben Torres Facebook page; photo of Tiger!Tiger! from the restaurant/bar’s website; flyer from Queen Bee’s website; Regal Beagle brand for the bar’s Facebook page; photo of True North Tavern from Pedal Pretty Cycle Chic’s website.)