California Love

As an east coast girl, leisurely lunches, skateboards and shirtless men were practically supernatural phenomena to me. Yet, I now feel like an explorer who has just discovered uncharted territory - San Diego. Ponce de Leon should have searched for the fountain of youth in San Diego, year 2011. Maybe Doc Brown would have let him use his DeLorean DMC-12.

Not only does San Diego have surfer babes, perfect 75 degree weather and the best zoo in the country, it also has far superior sandwiches. Even though Care was getting married in 24 hours, she picked me up from the airport and we went straight to a little sandwich shop close to Pacific Beach. I can't even remember the name of it; it was definitely a woman's name. Betty's or Veronica's. Maybe I'm just thinking of the Archie's. Regardless, it was a standard sandwich shop, little tables with umbrellas outside. I ordered an 8" with capicola, ham, salami and pepperoni (not the healthiest choice), hot peppers, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, mayo and "special sauce" (thousand island?). The sandwich was toasted and served on a paper plate. We sat outside and as the California breeze played with our hair, we happily munched on our delicious sandwiches. I don't know if it was the bread, the meat, or my vacation mind that made that sandwich taste so good, but I swear, that was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

I should also give a shout out to the Sweet & Savory Café on Mission Boulevard. I got a couple sandwiches from here - the Brie, filled with oven roasted turkey, thinly sliced granny smith apples, imported brie cheese and a tangy cranberry mayo, and the Tri-Tip, coffee spice rubbed tri-tip, roma tomatoes, mixed greens, smoked gouda cheese and a roasted garlic mayo. Both sandwiches were fantastic, I even heard a few people in the café talking up the garlic mayo. The breakfast sandwiches looked really good too, unfortunately I just didn't have enough time to try one. I loved this place though. Grab a sandwich, walk out to the boardwalk, find a bench and watch the skateboarders cruise by you. It's a good life, but I do enjoy faster-paced Boston.

Lastly was the Bare Back Grill. Jill drove in from LA, and we ventured out to Pacific Beach for a good burger. Some new friends from the wedding raved about the Bare Back Grill and their New Zealand style burgers, so we decided to give it a shot. We both ordered the Kiwilango, recommended to us by our beautiful waiter (he could have told us to order scorpion tongue and we probably would have). The burger was made with 100% organic beef, blue cheese crumbles, fresh diced jalapenos (not the pickled kind!), lettuce, tomato, red onions, hot sauce, aioli and BBG sauce. And finally topped with crushed tortilla chips. I'm not sure what exactly the BBG sauce was made of, but it tasted a lot like a tangy BBQ sauce. The burger was outstanding, not quite up to R.F. O's standard, but still incredibly satisfying.

Oh San Diego, I’ll miss you. But I did get back to Boston just in time for lobster roll season.