out and about: slowly

Y’all know how often I wax poetic about scuderie - our local italian, make your own, eat great pizza, pasta, brussel wonderment? Our favorite family to-go order spot.

Whelp. They also have a sister restaurant, across the street, and also down the hill, pacific beach side from us. Where the chefs take their time (slowly, if you will) to infuse as much flavor in their dishes as possible. A little more local flavor, a little less cuisine specific, but every bit as tastefully fantastic.

present moment pear lychee: vodka, st. germain, pear juice, lychee liquor, topped with prosecco

harland hazy ipa

Pear? And prosecco? Yes please. And thankfully, there is no issue with subbing gin for vodka (since hello, allergy). This drink was/is delicious. If you want pear to be the moment? It is.

And y’all are prolly tired of hearing about how much jamie loves harland hazy, so we will just leave this right here.

puccia bread & spreads: our popular light and fluffy bread with a crispy crust served with our signature whipped feta, whipped eggplant & house butter

If you pay attention to nothing else I’ve said… order the bread and spreads. Period. Hard. Stop. All were fantastic. I couldn’t pick a favorite. The butter was out of this world. The feta - was not like any feta I’ve ever had (and I’m not normally a fan) and converted me. the eggplant didn’t over power the bread.

This is a must have.

tuna crudo: sushi grade tuna, cucumber, poke sauce, chili oil, sesame seeds, onion aioli, pea green shoots

Do y’all remember the viral cucumber salad craze from a while back? Well this dish? Tastes like the best of those asian cucumber salads combined with the freshest tuna. Unlike other spots, the marinade didn’t over power the fish; so you could actually taste the freshness, and not worry that it was masking less fresh fish.

whiskey sizzle kabobs: gf skirt steak, onion, bell peppers, potato medley, apple whiskey glaze

Okay. Let’s just start at the beginning. This skirt steak was incredibly tender, fork tender, melt in your mouth tender. It didn’t need even need a knife to cut. The veggies were perfectly charred, with just that hint of grill, but not so much that they didn’t have a bite, or lose their flavor.

blue moon

prosecco rose, ruffino, lumina

Excellent sparkling.

And great nostalgic replacement beer, when the harland tap was cashed.

spring garden risotto: pea and mint puree, pecorino cheese, roasted asparagus, sun dried tomatoes

We love a good risotto. And man were the flavors on point here. I could have stood for it to be a little creamier, but over all so fresh and tasting like summer. Key in peas and mint for the win.

Pro tip? You can add any protein if you have a meat loving hubby like mine.

sweet & slow pork chop: marinated pork with guajillo pepper sauce, served with roasted veggies, sweet potato puree, sweet citrus harissa sauce

Holy moly, was this pork chop the moment. Sweet, spicy, jam packed with umami. Perfectly cooked and tender.

And don’t get me started on the sweet potato puree. I need this in my repertoire. Stat.

bonfire espresso martini: vodka, espresso, mozart white chocolate liqueur, marshmallow torched tableside

Espresso martini? But make it s’mores. With white chocolate? Yes please. The only change I would make? Just to ramp up the whole bonfire feel? Riming the glass with graham cracker crumbs.

Pro tip: swap out vodka for tequila. Adds even more smokey goodness.

Also tableside torching? The best.

chocolate basque cheesecake: ultra creamy chocolate filling with burnt outer edges

Holy decadent creamy chocolate batman. More like chocolate mouse had a baby with cheesecake, and that baby was better than the sum of both parts.

Get the cheesecake.