Blanca (San Diego) – Snout-to-Tail Dinner or Meeting San Diego Chows

There were a few reasons for us why we decided to start our own food blog. Over the years we have visited many fascinating and interesting restaurants covering high-end to hole-in-the-wall places and many different cuisines from around the world. We often talk about particular interesting dishes and visits but also realized that more and more we had problems to remember when we had which dish or how it compared to a similar dish. Starting a food blog helped us to continuously take some notes of our restaurant visits and also take photos of all dishes. It’s similar with our cooking. We have many cookbooks at home and love to cook from them. Even when we make similar dishes we hardly ever repeat a recipe but always try some new variations. Our food blog “forces” us now to capture our cooking work with photos. Besides capturing all our culinary adventures the food blog is a helpful creative outlet for us. Working as scientists is definitely interesting and also includes creativity in research, but often a more confined and targeted one. Writing and photographing is a much more free-flowing form of creativity which creates a nice counterbalance for us.

In addition to giving us the possibility of looking back to previous restaurant visits and cooked dishes, a food blog is also a nice way to share some of our experiences with our family and friends far away. Even when we lived in Germany we already had quite an interest in restaurants and cooking but it really got more and more serious since we moved to San Diego about ten years ago. It was always a bit unsatisfactory to talk in detail about the latest dish we cooked or had in a restaurant when we only could describe it roughly – the blog helped to change this. Interestingly, since we started our blog we now also get photos from restaurant visits from our family from time to time. But beyond our family we also hoped that the food blog would give us a possibility to meet other people who are interested in food, might it be virtually or even better in person. After we posted about our recent visit at Blanca in Solana Beach on Chowhound rather quickly an interesting discussion evolved which centered around the interest of many posters to have some kind of get-together. After we moved the discussion to the San Diego Chow Group and Chef Gavin Schmidt from Blanca joined the discussion all those thoughts substantiated rapidly, and we decided to have a special Snout-to-Tail Dinner at Blanca.

The snout-to tail dinner took place in the private dining room of Blanca which provided a quiet and intimate ambience for all twelve participating foodies. After a few introductory words from Chef Gavin and proprietor Seth Baas the night started with an array of canapés: plate of a variety of excellent charcuterie covering pork and lamb, profiteroles filled with pork and goat cheese, lettuce cups with crispy pork, garlic pork sausage with cabbage and mustard, chicharrone taco with bbq pork and house made kimchi. The canapé selection showed a nice variety from different ethnic influences and was a good play on different street foods. It was hard to agree on a highlight since all of them were excellent, but it was especially nice to have some excellent blood sausage which unfortunately isn’t often seen on restaurant menus. Chef Gavin’s take on the current trend on combining Korean with Mexican influenced street food was also memorable.

Amuse Bouche: smoked potato foam, pork kidney, house made prosciutto, caviar.

Good combination of the mild prosciutto and the very good kidney which didn’t have a too strong uric acid aftertaste like other preparations we had before. The caviar gave the dish some slight saltiness whereas the potato foam wasn’t just an often seen gimmick but added some base to the dish.

Skin Salad: fried pork skin with baby vegetables in various forms.

This was a smaller version of a related dish we also had at the last tasting menu at Blanca and was a nice showcase of the broad spectrum of cooking styles Chef Gavin is using – on one side the focus on unadulterated local produce where the taste of each vegetable is important and on the other side modern techniques as spherification to encapsulate a yogurt-chamomile mixture as part of the dish. A very strong dish for us by itself, and even though this dinner was pork themed we felt that although the fried pork skin was a nice idea which added some textural variety, it distracted too much from the rest of the dish.

Dichotomy of the Pig Head: plan vs. impulse, conform vs. deviate, tradition vs. unknown….and sassafrass.

The description of this dish on the menu was intriguing but left many possibilities on what to expect. The dish turned out to be a mélange of different preparations of parts of pig head. Sous-vide cooked torchon of head meat which was reminiscent of good headcheese. In red wine braised cheek which was very tender and had a mild flavor. Excellent smoked tongue and, as a highlight between many good preparations, pickled and fried pig ear which was much more tender and flavorful than any pig ear preparation we had before.

Blood and Flowers: pork trotter, blood, cocoa, nasturtium.

The pork trotter as a deep-fried gelantinous preparation reminded us of a similar presentation at Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles. The two different sauces alone had very different characteristics – the nasturtium sauce had some spiciness whereas the cocoa-pork blood sauce presented some minerality and depth. Both sauces alone didn’t really work with the pork trotter but once you mixed them they were a perfect match for the richness of the trotters.

Chowder: Pancetta and potato broth, various clams, jowl and razor clam “ravioli”.

Another nice example of using modern techniques to enhance a dish – Chef Gavin created the ravioli by encapsulating a razor clam between two pieces of pork jowl using transglutaminase, also known as meat glue. This dish had as a foundation an outstanding pancetta and potato broth where one clearly could taste both main ingredients. The different clams, ravioli and potatoes added some additional layers of flavors without overpowering each other – a very strong dish.

Surf and Turf: seared rock cod, pork cider jus, pork belly, apple

Perfectly seared rock cod with moist flesh and very crispy skin was paired with sous-vide cooked tender pork belly. The cider jus added some slight sweetness to balance the richness of the pork belly.

Grilled Pork Chop: Brassicas, parmesan, picholine vinaigrette

Very flavorful pork chop which was tender and had the right amount of fat to make it flavorful. This dish showed once more Chef Gavin’s ability to work with vegetables and make them an integral part of a dish. The smoked cauliflower with parmesan puree and the different brassicas stole the show of this dish and were good just by themselves.

Dumpling: braised hock, foie gras, truffle dashi

It’s always a good sign if in restaurant a dish is presented in a covered bowl. Normally one can expect a strongly fragrant dish and this time was no exception. Once the lids were removed a wonderful smell of truffles pervaded the dining room at Blanca. The shaved black truffle and truffled dashi were perfectly accompanied by foie gras and a braised hock dumpling - another highlight in an astonishing tasting menu.

A Day on the Farm: soil, seed, sprout, root, flower

This dish is most likely the most written about creation from Blanca and kind of the signature dish of Chef Gavin. For this dish the chef came into the room presenting a whole roasted pork shoulder. It was than carved tableside and laid atop the other components of the dish – a wide array of vegetables and flowers as well as some “soil” made out of among other things ground cocoa nibs. The roasted pork shoulder and the vegetables were excellent and we liked the conceptional idea of the soil but thought that the dish contained too much of it and that its flavor distracted from those of the meat and the vegetables.

Pumpkin Pie 2011: Tahitian squash frozen meringue, bacon brittle, spiced chichacones, maple ice cream.

A fall/winter inspired dessert with a very light squash based meringue as the foundation of the “pumpkin pie”. The five-spiced chicharrones and the bacon brittle added some salti- and spiciness to the dish as well as textural variety. The maple ice cream completed the pie with some sweetness.

Mignardises: Blood Orange Truffles

In a pig centered tasting menu even the mignardises have to include parts of the pig. Here the truffles not only contained orange, cocoa and chocolate but also some pork blood which added a hint of minerality to this fitting end of the night.

After our excellent first tasting menu we came with high expectations to Blanca and were hoping for a continuation of this experience. But already the first plates of the canapés ensured us that we would be part of a memorable night. This tasting menu enforced our impression of Gavin as a chef who has the confidence and experience to develop his own style but at the same time adapt it to his surroundings. His dishes combine all kinds of modern and classic techniques but also involve ingredients special to this area. It was also very nice and helpful that he took the time to explain all of his dishes before they were served. Something, which is of course impossible under normal circumstances, but would be a great addition to any tasting menu. The great experience didn’t end at the kitchen but everybody made sure that we had a smooth dinner – Seth provided us with a good and balanced wine pairing, explaining each wine and his thoughts for the choices. The service was flawless and we never felt rushed.

At least as important as the food for us was the opportunity to meet some of the people we knew from discussion boards. It’s nice to meet others in the virtual world but in the end it only allows for very limited interaction and so it was interesting to see the people behind names like SDGourmand, Dining Diva, stevuchan, Shouzen and karaethon. Everybody at this dinner felt that this shouldn’t be just a one-time event. As part of this initiative a new San Diego / South California message board (“The Communal Table”) was created which not only should help to facilitate such dinners but also initiate a more open discussion between all parts of the dining experience, e.g. chefs, guests, and waiters.

Blanca

437 S Highway 101 # 301

Solana Beach, CA 92075-2221
(858) 792-0072

One Market (San Francisco) – Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

There are many different holidays in the Western world which are celebrated in all countries like Christmas or Easter but there are certain holidays which are very specific for each country. Often these holidays are related to the founding of a country like Independence Day in the US, Bastille Day in France or the Day of German Unity. The day which represents for us from a foodie perspective the most specific American celebration of gathering and food was always Thanksgiving. There are remotely related holidays in Europe like Erntedankfest in Germany but those celebrations are much more based on a religious background and are often only celebrated in scattered areas.

When we moved to the US Thanksgiving was for the first few years always an international potluck we celebrated with many coworkers from all over the world at the research institute we worked at that time. In the last few years we often used the Thanksgiving break for a short foodie trip to Las Vegas but this year Thanksgiving was for us the starting day of a longer trip to the Bay Area and the wine country. We never really had problems to find a good restaurant in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving but it turned out to be surprisingly challenging to find something suitable in San Francisco. Either many restaurants we were interested in weren’t open for Thanksgiving or they were open but had very boring and vastly overpriced special menus. After many phone calls and emails with different restaurants we finally settled on One Market for our Thanksgiving Dinner.

One Market is the best known restaurant of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group. The Lark Creek Restaurant Group was founded by Chef Bradley Ogden and business partner Michael Dellar in 1989. Bradley Ogden has over the years established himself as a well respected chef in the culinary world and was critical in setting up all twelve restaurant of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group throughout California and Las Vegas with several more planned in the near future. Even though Bradley Ogden was the founding chef of One Market in 1993 since then a number of executive chefs have followed him with Mark Dommen at the helm for the last six years. Chef Dommen started his culinary education at the California Culinary Academy before honing his skills and moving up the ranks by working for many exceptional chefs like Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys), Gary Kunz (Lespinasse) and Jean-Louis Palladin (Palladin). He was also opening chef of Julia’s Kitchen in Napa before joining One Market.



One Market restaurant is located across the Ferry Building in one of the large buildings which house banks and investment firms. The restaurant is on the first floor and has windows all-around which gives the place an open feeling.



When we arrived at One Market the place was extremely crowded in the entrance and it soon became clear that they were about 20-30 minutes behind their schedule. They have a small bar area to the right where most people waited for their table.



The dining area has two levels. We were seated on the lower level and even though the tables are relatively close to each other the restaurant didn’t feel too overcrowded.



We started the night with two cocktails. No Partridge – Hangar One spiced pear vodka, Orchard pear liqueur, Domaine de canton ginger liqueur. Pleasantly fruity cocktail with nice pear flavor which got a nice kick from the ginger liqueur. The drink had a nice balance between alcohol and fruitiness. Hot Apple Pie – Tuaca, mulled apple cider, cinnamon whipped cream. The warm cocktail was perfect for this cold night and was indeed reminiscent of an apple pie. The vanilla liqueur paired nicely with the apple cider.



The bread was an epi-style bread which reminded us on the bread you get at the different Bouchon restaurants. A simple but very fresh bread.



Amuse Bouche: Duck liver mousse, quinoa tabbouleh, pickled cauliflowers and carrots.

The menu just mentioned an amuse bouche to start the dinner but our waiter brought a rather large plate of a few different appetizers – a light version of tabbouleh with quinoa instead of the normal bulgur which gave it a more nutty flavor, pickled cauliflowers and carrots which weren’t overly sour like many pickled vegetables often tend to be and, as the highlight of the plate, a very creamy and smooth duck liver mousse. One often sees chicken liver mousse on restaurant menus but duck liver mousse seems to be much less popular which is surprising as this example shows a wonderfully rich and creamy version which has a nuanced livery taste and is perfectly accompanied by toasted bread.

Course 1a: Golden lentil soup, vadouvan, yogurt cloud.

This soup was made of pureed lentils so that it had a smooth and creamy consistency without the use of cream which made the soup very light and enjoyable. Vadouvan seems to be one of the current trendy spice mixes often used now by chefs and is a French version of an Indian curry by adding onions, shallots and garlic to classic Indian curry mixes. Since lentils are frequently used in French and Indian cooking the use of vadouvan was a clever way to bring these two worlds together. The addition of spinach and croutons gave the soup some color and textural variety.



Course 1b: Red wine risotto, duck confit, gizzard, chicories

Risotto cooked al dente can be some of the simplest but most satisfying dishes and this red wine risotto was no exception. The carnaroli rice had the right balance between creaminess and some toothiness from the firmer center. The red wine not only gave the dish an impressive bright color but together with some duck stock gave the dish a solid foundation. The duck confit, but even more importantly the duck gizzard, pronounced the duck flavor of the dish. The chicory completed the dish by adding some slight bitterness.



Course 2a: Spit-roasted Berkshire pork loin, fennel, apple, potato puree, cider

Pork often tends to be overly dry but Chef Dommen used spit-roasting to ensure a juicy cooked pork loin on the bone which also had fortunately not all fat trimmed of. The spit-roasting also gave the pork loin a flavorful crust. The creamy potato puree and sautéed apple-fennel mixture accompanied the meat fittingly to give a simple but expertly prepared dish.



Course 2b: Roasted Willy Bird turkey, cornbread & applewood-smoked bacon stuffing, creamed spinach, shallot-thyme gravy

What is Thanksgiving without turkey ? One Market presented a rather classical but very tasty version. Large pieces of moist, tender turkey meat, not overly dry cornbread stuffing with a strong bacon flavor, good gravy and some cranberry jam. The unexpected star of this good Thanksgiving dish was the creamed spinach – a perfect preparation with a pronounced garlic flavor.



Course 3a: Valrhona chocolate soufflé cake, chocolate-banana ice cream, chocolate malt cream

The souffle cake was light, well prepared and had a good balance between the sweetness and some bitterness from the chocolate. Even though the ice cream and the cream on top of the soufflé also had chocolate incorporated the dessert didn’t feel like chocolate overkill and overly sweet but was balanced.



Course 3b: Triple layer pumpkin cheesecake, maple sugar pecans, egg nog ice cream

Nice presentation of this fall dessert with rather subdued pumpkin flavor in the cheesecake. We normally are not big fans of egg nog but here the flavor wasn’t too dominant and went well together with the cheesecake.



Surprisingly good espresso ended the night at One Market

We came to One Market with low expectations - We had so much problems to find any interesting restaurant for Thanksgiving in San Francisco. Reviews were mixed and pointed more towards a meeting place for bankers and politicians. Thanksgiving, together with Valentine’s Day, is normally a day when you should avoid restaurants like the plague and when we arrived the restaurant was clearly overwhelmed by the rush of the customers. So we were quite worried when we waited for our table that the evening would become a disaster but it turned out to be quite an enjoyable dinner. The cooking style from Chef Dommen at One Market might not be the most innovative but it produces very solid dishes which had some surprising twists. It was refreshing to see that he used even at such a dinner where you would expect that he cooks for the lowest denominator some unusual ingredients as duck liver or gizzards. A special mention deserves the service at One Market. We normally prefer a very slow pacing but were expecting to be rushed at such circumstances but instead our server made sure from the very beginning that we had a relaxing night and ensured a slow progression of the dishes throughout the night. Even though he was responsible for many tables our server always recognized when we needed bread, water etc.

One Market might not be a destination restaurant in San Francisco especially if you just come for a visit to the city. But if we would be living in San Francisco we would be interested to try more dishes at One Market. Especially the “Weekly Beast” from Chef Dommen where he offers whole animal menus with a strong emphasis on local ingredients sounds very interesting.

One Market Restaurant

1 Market Street

San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 777-5577

Wine Vault (San Diego) – Oktoberfest Dinner or finally an Oktoberfest we enjoyed

Asking San Diegans what three things they associate most with Germany, many are likely to answer: cars, beer and Oktoberfest. We can agree with the first two items as parts of the image Germany has abroad, but to us Oktoberfest illustrates some of the worst stereotypes about Germany. If you ask Germans, especially outside of Bavaria, about Oktoberfest most of them will just shake their heads and couldn’t care less about it. Every time during Oktoberfest many television channels will air a few documentaries and interviews from Oktoberfest and it will remind everybody what Oktoberfest is about – to squeeze as much money out of visitors as possible, and for the visitors to wear strange clothes that no German would touch (except for Bavarians who are a little bit special in that regard), singing to the most horrible country music and to drink themselves senseless and act like complete idiots. So every time somebody asks us if we are interested to visit one of the Oktoberfest incarnations in San Diego we usually tell them that we prefer to pass.

When we first heard about the Oktoberfest Dinner at Wine Vault we were initially skeptical what it was all about and if it would have any “features” of the original one but the more we looked into it the more we got interested. We liked and have visited Wine Vault several times and enjoyed the Chef’s five-course tasting menu on Saturdays with many interesting dishes and good wine pairings. The Oktoberfest dinner appeared to be an interesting variation on the Wine Vault tasting menus with a slight twist towards Oktoberfest influenced dishes with, most importantly, some good German beer.

When we lived in Germany our preferred style of beers were mainly Pilsner and Hefeweizen. Both styles are the most popular beer styles throughout Germany. San Diego has become one of the beer capitols of the world but many breweries tend towards hoppy ales which was quite a change for us, and it took some time to adapt to it but by now we even often tend to prefer these ales over a Pilsner. But still we crave from time to time to have a nice Pilsner or Hefeweizen and so the Oktoberfest dinner was a perfect chance to combine great beer with good food.



Wine Vault is located on India Street close by to Gelato Vero, Saffron and Shakespeare Pub in a rather nondescript building elevated from the street.



Due to the hidden location a number of signs are placed close by.

Wine Vault has two main seating areas – A covered patio which is very nice in the summer but can be a bit chilly later in the year. This time we were seated inside in the stretched main dining room. The interior is quite spartan with the wooden chairs and tables but not uncomfortable.

The bread service was very good with what tasted like housemade bread.



1st Course: Knight’s salumi sausage, housemade pretzel, sauerkraut, whole grain mustard froth.

Nice sausage from Knight salumi which was filled with Gouda cheese. The sausage was encased by a tasty dough even though it wasn’t the promised pretzel but reminded us more on what is called in Germany as a Stockbrot. The mustard froth was a nice idea to add some spicyness to the dish though it could have been more pronounced. The disappointment of the dish was the sauerkraut. Good sauerkraut should be very mild in taste, hardly sour and braised for a very long time. Unfortunately this version was what you get in most restaurants in the US - overly sour, not long enough braised and tasted like the stuff you get in glasses in the supermarket. The only really good sauerkraut we ever tasted in San Diego can be found at the Linkery.



Paulaner Munich Lager: Classical lager with golden color and traditional light, hoppy finish. It paired nicely with the sausage without overpowering it.



2nd Course: “Clam Chowder”, braised bacon, marinated clams, celery, harissa oil, crispy sourdough. This was not a classical clam chowder and had a more intense, briny flavor but was at the same time much lighter. The base of the clam chowder was a homemade clam broth where the other ingredients were prepared separately and added just at the very end. The harissa oil gave a subtle spicyness to the dish.



Paulaner Pilsner: Overall a quite similar beer to the lager before but with a stronger hoppy finish. The beer had a crisp and dry flavor which went along nicely with the clam broth.



3rd Course: Confit of prawns, brandade cake, brussels sprouts, preserved lemon, wild arugula.

Perfectly tender prawns with a sweet, fresh taste paired with brussels sprouts and brandade cake. The brussels sprouts were finely chopped after the cooking which eliminated their inherent bitterness and resulted in smooth and mild texture. The brandade, a mixture of salt cod, olive oil and potatoes was a fitting starchy foundation of the dish but the salt cod could have been more pronounced as it was hardly detectable. The lemon flavor was a good link to the paired beer.

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen: Classic Bavarian wheat beer with a crisp but also fruity taste. Wheat beers are often drunk with some drops of freshly sequeezed lemon which was replaced here by the preserved lemon of the dish.



4th Course: Roasted pork belly, olive oil potato puree, green apples, micro chives.

Pork belly is very popular in Germany so it is not unlikely to find such a dish on Oktoberfest. The pork belly was roasted and had a similar consistency to braised pork belly. The meat was sprinkled with sea salt which made some bites too salty. The richness of the pork belly was counterbalanced by some fruitiness of the apples – presented as apple slices and apple puree. The use of olive oil instead of butter for the potato puree intensified this fruitiness and also resulted in a smoother puree.



Paulaner Oktoberfest: Bavarian Maerzen style beer with a good balance between the sweetness of malt and the bitterness of the hops. This meat course required a stronger tasting beer which could stand up against the heftiness of the pork belly.



5th Course: Braised short ribs, soubise, crushed potatoes, braised mustard greens, gremolata.

Rather classical dish of fork tender meat with braised greens and potatoes. What set this dish apart was the use of soubise,a bechamel based sauce with pureed onions, and gremolata. Both added some variety to the dish by the sweetness of the onions and the tartness of the lemon in the gremolata.



Paulaner Salvator Double Bock: Very rich, malty beer with some chocolaty aftertaste. The boldest beer of the night was fittingly paired with the last meat course and had no problem to hold up against the different flavors of the dish.



Dessert: Housemade Valrhona chocolate truffles.

The regular dinner didn’t include any dessert but we wanted to end the night with a sweet finish and ordered some of their homemade chocolate truffles. The truffles tasted homemade as they had a good balance between the different filling and the chocolate without overpowering each other. The five truffles had fillings of Whiskey, peanut, ginger, Grand Marnier and hazelnut.

We had many good meals at Wine Vault before and this Oktoberfest dinner was no exception. Wine Vault has found its niche of bistro-style food with sprinkles of fine dining creativity and a strong emphasis on paired tasting menus. The kitchen consistently showcases high quality dishes, with the only exception of the underwhelming sauerkraut that night, using interesting flavor combinations. Their wine pairings are often thoughtful and we particularly liked the beer pairings during the Oktoberfest dinner. The service was less personal than normal but that was understandable as much more coordination is necessary to serve the same course to a fully occupied restaurant at the same time. The only major complain for us was that Wine Vault didn’t replace any glasses between the courses. Even though the beers progressed throughout the nights towards stronger tasting ones we still could taste the previous beers. For a restaurant that is strongly focused on wine/beer pairings it should be obvious to provide the best way to enjoy such pairings. A nice add-on to the dinner were the introductory explanation of Chad Heath from Stone Brewery before each course. Stone Brewery is one of the importers of Paulaner beer in the US and it was enjoyable to get some more information about each paired beer from him.

Overall the Oktoberfest dinner not only supported our notion that Wine Vault is a good place for a relaxing, interesting dinner in San Diego but perhaps even more importantly that it is worth looking more often after these special wine/beer dinners at some of our favorite restaurants as they often provide a great opportunity for a unique night. After our recent Fort Rose winery dinner at Café Chloe this Oktoberfest dinner was another great example.

Wine Vault Bistro
3731-A India St
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-3939

German Pancakes with Homemade Raspberry Fruit Quark.

In Germany we have a saying that would translate something like “Have breakfast as if you were a Czar, lunch as if you were a king, and dinner as if you were a peasant”. Although we take a much more Mediterranean approach to food in that dinner is the most important meal of the day for us, we really enjoy trying out new breakfast dishes. Especially on weekends when we have a lot more time in the morning – and what better way is there for a food lover than starting into a new day with trying out a novel dish?

However, this post is not about a new dish this time but about a breakfast recipe that has been handed down verbally over three generations in our family: on how to prepare (one version) of German pancakes. These pancakes are less fluffy than their American counterparts (which we also like very much) because no baking powder is used in this recipe. They are closer to French Crepes in taste but have a thicker consistency. The pancake mix is prepared following a very simple formula that is easy to memorize: take x number of eggs, add 3x tablespoons of flour, 1.5x tablespoons of sugar and milk for a cream-like consistency. We typically eat them with jam after baking them in a frying pan, but this time we combined them with our homemade quark that we recently prepared. So if you have been wondering about what you can do with quark, the preparation of a fruit quark mix is one of the main uses for quark and quite delicious. Its fruity taste and slight sourness nicely balance and cut through the rich buttery taste of the pancakes.

This time we had some fresh raspberries at hand to make German Pancakes with Homemade Raspberry Fruit Quark. This is a nice way to start a Sunday morning together with a cup a coffee !

Place eggs and sugar into a bowl. Add flour and milk and mix until the pancake mix is smooth. Let the mix rest for 10 min.



Meanwhile prepare the fruit Quark: place raspberries, 1/3-1/2 of the Quark and sugar into a bowl.



Mix with a blender, not too long, and mix in the rest of the Quark with a spoon. This helps maintaining a thicker consistency. Add sugar to taste.



Heat butter in a pan. Once the foaming subsides add half of the pancake mix and bake under medium-high heat for about 4-5 min. Check with a spatula when the underside is slightly browned and turn pancake. Bake for another 3-4 minutes, again checking the underside a few times until it also is slightly browned.



Transfer pancake to a plate. Add fruit quark on top and form a role. Enjoy immediately while still warm. Repeat steps with the remaining pancake mix.

Serves 2

Pancake mix:

2 eggs

6 tbsp flour

3 tbsp sugar

300-400 mL (10-13 fl oz) milk

4 tbsp butter

Fruit quark:

300 g (10 oz) homemade quark

250 g (9 oz) fresh raspberries

2-4 tbsp sugar

Blanca (San Diego) – Seven Course Tasting Menu or Cooking Dangerously Creative

When we go out to eat we are very open in the choice of the restaurant. It can be an ethnic restaurant with a strong focus on authentic food, a bistro-style place with variations on classic dishes or an innovative high-end restaurant – in the end it is all about good or bad food which distinguishes a restaurant. But like everybody else we have our own preferred styles of restaurants which we are specifically seeking out. Restaurants which get us excited are often using creative and unique flavor combinations which go far beyond just some twists on conventional dishes. They tend to use unusual ingredients and techniques to accomplish it. These chefs have a very special way to express their thoughts on food and ingredients, and it is a stimulating process for us to try to understand what they want to express with their creation – it is “food for thoughts”. Bistro LQ in Los Angeles is a prime example of such a restaurant and has been one of our favorites since our first visit there briefly after they opened about a year ago.

Unfortunately we haven’t had many opportunities so far to experience such Chefs or restaurants of this specific style in San Diego. Only a few special tasting menus at Better Half Bistro and at Blanca under Chef Jason Neroni left us with lasting impressions as restaurants which go far beyond the usual mainstream. But going beyond the mainstream also often means that you take the risk of losing your customers, and this is not only true for San Diego but even for LA in some instances. When we had the chance to talk with Chef Neroni during our tasting menu at Blanca last December, he already sounded quite disillusioned and so it wasn’t a big surprise that he left Blanca after only a few months. His final comment that “The running joke other chefs told me was that all San Diegans want is fish tacos. It was funny for a moment, and then it got annoying because it was true.” might be too much of a generalization but it also contains some truth.

After this short stay from Jason Neroni and the underappreciation of such a creative cooking style in San Diego, we expected Blanca to become more conservative in their choice of the next Executive Chef. We were quite surprised when after a few weeks Blanca announced to appoint Gavin Schmidt. He has an impressive resume mainly focused around San Francisco. Besides Sous Chef positions at Aqua and Fifth Floor Chef Schmidt really made an impact as Executive Chef at Campton Place Restaurant and Chef de Cuisine at Coi. Both restaurants are known far beyond San Francisco as very creative and ambitious restaurants, and are much closer to the cooking style of Jason Neroni than we had anticipated. So we were really curious to check out Blanca and find out how much he might adapt his cooking style to “fit in”. The recent addition of the seven course Chef’s tasting menu at Blanca was a good opportunity for this.

Blanca is located in Solana Beach in one of the small shopping malls along the Pacific Highway. If you don’t really know where to look it is relatively easy to overlook the nondescript building.

Their distinctive “b” sign is found outside and even after you are seated.

The restaurant is separated into two parts – a bar/lounge area and the dining room. The dining room is surprisingly small with a number of cozy booths on two sides. The interior is an interesting mix of subdued elegance with some interesting lamps which reminded us of those used on older ships.

The bread was freshly baked at the restaurant and was one of the best bread services we had in San Diego. We liked the presentation of the butter on the block of steel which was slightly warm to give the butter the right consistency.

Amuse Bouche: Sea urchin, smoked avocado panna cotta, geoduck, apple, cucumber dashi vinaigrette. Over the last few years we have come to love sea urchin with its characteristic taste of the ocean. Its delicate flavor can easily get lost if not carefully paired. Chef Schmidt chose the right combination by focusing this dish on smoked avocado and sea urchin which complemented each other nicely without overpowering. The apple and geoduck gave the dish some textural variety. The vinaigrette helped to emphasize the “fresh sea” character of the amuse bouche. A very strong start of the tasting menu with more creativity than some other restaurants have on their whole menu.

1st Course: Local vegetable composition, encapsulated caramel yoghurt.

Every restaurant talks about the importance of farm fresh food but this dish might be one of the best representations of what it really means by focusing solely on the ingredients. An impressive combination of 14-15 different examples of local produce. Some from well-known local farms, some from the restaurants own garden, some of them collected by the Chef himself who is known for his interest in foraging. Each bite was an experience of a different variation of incredible produce. But this dish also showed the Chef’s ability to combine great ingredients with newer techniques such as spherification. The encapsulated caramel yoghurt was a nice palate cleanser between the different bites of fresh produce.

2nd Course: Fennel apple soup, spot prawn sashimi, long pepper marshmallow.

The fennel apple soup reminded us as a typical example of a fall soup. It had a nice balance between the apple and fennel in which one could clearly taste both with some basil in the background. The prawn sashimi gave some textural counterbalance. But what really set this soup apart was the marshmallow. Similar to the inclusion of fresh eggs that gives many dishes a characteristic taste/mouthfeel the marshmellow slowly started to melt and gave the soup a satisfying creaminess.

3rd Course: Dungeness crab, brown rice porridge, crab tempura, Vietnamese ram tempura, carrot lemongrass emulsion. The porridge reminded us with its creaminess of a risotto. The dish had a good amount of Dungeness crab and we liked the crunchiness of the tempura. Foams and emulsions often don’t add much to a dish and can end up as some kind of gimmick. Here the carrot lemongrass brought some freshness and slight sourness to the dish. It would have been nice to get a second portion of the dish…

4th Course: Black cod, Matsutake, pears, wild flowers.

Perfectly seared black cod which was very moist. We liked the inclusion of pears which gave the dish some fruitiness. The wild flowers were another example of the Chef’s interest in foraging.

5th Course: Fried chicken and octopus, frying peppers, sesame, sassafras.

Our waiter pronounced this dish as a fun dish and we were at first not sure if fried chicken and octopus would work together but even though both kinds of meat had their distinct flavors they weren’t so different and even the consistency was quite similar. This dish was also a good example of the Chef’s use of different sauces and foams, here based on sassafras and peppers, not just as a gimmick but to really bring a dish together and at the same time adding some uniqueness to it.

6th Course: Lamb loin roasted in hay, carrot, potato, wheatgrass.

Another dish which reminded us somehow of fall. The lamb was cooked sous-vide and had a surprisingly distinct taste of hay. The meat was very tender and had despite the hay flavor still some slight gaminess left as you expect from lamb. The spiral of aerated wheatgrass sauce was not only a nice presentation but supported the hay aroma of the dish. Another very creative dish which we felt showed the Chef’s ability to bring some unexpected dimensions to a seemingly “familiar” dish.

Intermezzo: Goat cheese semifreddo, melon granite, pink peppercorn meringue, fizzy melon, pineapple. We like goat cheese and we like ice cream and here we have a great combination of both together – goat cheese semifreddo. The goat cheese semifreddo had the typical slight sourness of goat cheese and was nicely accompanied by the fruitiness of the different variations of melon granite, fizzy melon and pineapple. We also liked the presentation using the same block of steel as for the butter but now frozen.

7th Course: Chocolate truffle cake, bourbon caramel, ginger ice cream.

The chocolate truffle cake had a very strong chocolate flavor but wasn’t overly dense. We really liked the ginger ice cream with its spiciness which helped to cut through the sweetness of the cake and the caramel sauce.

Mignardise: Coconut and coffee pralines.

Nice way to end the tasting menu and like all dishes before it was of high quality and very tasty.

We went to Blanca without really knowing what to expect. Somehow we were expecting that based on the low acceptance of the cooking style from Jason Neroni in San Diego, Blanca would push Gavin Schmidt towards a more mainstream approach covering just well established classic dishes. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Even though the cooking style of Chef Schmidt is different and more playful than the one from Jason Neroni, who prefers bolder flavors, both seem to try to push boundaries of creative and ambitious cooking in San Diego. Starting from the professional service which made it possible to have a relaxing, slow paced night to the outstanding kitchen Blanca presented for us where we would like to see restaurants in San Diego develop – creative cooking which is not afraid to explore unusual ingredients and flavor combination, utilizing all types of techniques but at the same time having a San Diego edge by using what this city (and California) stands for – some of the best and freshest produce and ingredients one can find anywhere. We really would like to see that more chefs in San Diego would be willing to take some more risks and not just cook for the lowest denominator. The restaurant business is of course very risky and nobody expects that chefs would suddenly completely change their menus but it would be very encouraging to see if organizations such as Cooks Confab, Chef Celebration or Slow Food would use their (media) influence to try to educate the customers more hat good food can be so much more than the next variation on short ribs, roasted chicken, steak or burgers. But at the same time it was not very encouraging to see that Blanca was never more than half occupied during a Saturday night, and it very much reminded us of our tasting menu with Jason Neroni. Hopefully we will have the chance to follow Chef Schmidt vision of cooking in San Diego, and this first visit was just a first glimpse of what we can expect in the future.

Blanca Restaurant

437 S Highway 101 # 301

Solana Beach, CA 92075-2221
(858) 792-0072