"You Stay Classy, San Diego!"

As a graduation gift to myself, I took a weekend trip to San Diego to visit some old college friends and, of course, to eat until I regained all the weight I lost while I was engrossed in textbooks during my exam period. The following are photos of my favorite meals from the trip.

La Jolla eggs benedict | bacon, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, garlic & balsamic vinegar| The Cottage

Mimosa | Champagne Bakery

Breakfast flatbread | over easy egg, bacon, cheese, marinara sauce | Champagne Bakery

Chicken wings | Yakitori Yakyudori

Smoked gouda cheese | Von's

Wine selection | The FleetWood

Tako wasabi | Tajima 2

Uni pasta | Tajima 2

Shaved ice | Cafe Venti

Thanks to everyone who made the meals so memorable! I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. And I'll be topping off my graduation celebrations tomorrow night with dinner at Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco!

Cravings

Being stuck indoors while sick and trying to study (a most unproductive combination) has led me to crave certain foods. And when I can't have them, looking at photos is the next best thing!

Roast pork

Gouda cheese

Naan and chicken curry (Naan-N-Curry, SF)

Stewed marinated pork (Hoshi, Santa Clara)

Strawberry crepe (Original Pancake House, Fremont)

My mother's steamed sea bass

Beringer White Zinfandel

Taking a quick break from the San Diego food entries...

Important fact about me - I love wine. Someone should get me a shirt that says "Oenophile" or "Sideways" on it so I could wear it with pride while trotting around Napa, glass in one hand and a platter of cheese in the other.

So what better way for me to relax and unwind after long hours of studying and working than to open a bottle? I had one of my favorites this past weekend - Beringer White Zinfandel. Three reasons why I love it:

1. It's pink. How much more feminine can you get than reclining in your chair swirling a glass of pink liquid? It would probably be Elle Wood's drink of choice (if they had gotten around to that in the movie, but they were too busy focusing on her legal prowess).

2. It tastes like strawberries. And along with that, hints of cherry, citrus flavors, just the right level of sweetness (unlike this Austrailian muscat I tried the other night, which was so sweet it tasted like cough syrup with sugar), and a clean finish that leaves a hint of strawberries on your palate. It's hard to dislike this wine unless you detest strawberries. And how could you not like strawberries?

3. It's cheap. I got a few bottles at Food Maxx for $3.99 each. Granted, they were on sale, but the original price was only $5.99. You can get a 750 mL bottle for $6 off the Beringer website. But don't let the price fool you - this is not poor quality wine! Unless of course, you're the kind of person who sips on Opus 1 on an ordinary day (in which case you need to become my new friend).

White zin in glass, under light

This calls for a quote from one of my favorite movies, "Sideways":

Miles: First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. You're looking for color and clarity ... Now, tip it. What you're doing here is checking for color density as it thins out towards the rim ... Stick your nose in it ... mm, a little citrus, maybe some strawberry, passionfruit ... and there's just a flutter of like a nutty, Edam cheese.
Jack: (smelling wine) Wow. Strawberries, yeah. Strawberries. Not the cheese ... When do we drink it?
Miles: Now.
(Both down their glasses.)
Miles: (dismayed look) Are you chewing gum?!

Thankfully, I was not chewing gum, but rather on asiago pressato cheese that I couldn't resist buying at Bristol Farms. It's a younger cheese (asiago d'allevo is its older counterpart) that's sweet, rich, buttery, and just slightly tangy. Delicious with or without wine!