Herb & Wood: Top Choice
I ran the Rock ‘n Roll San Diego Half Marathon last Sunday. I participated in the same race for the first time last year and wrote about my delicious post-race meal at Juniper & Ivy (J & I) in Little Italy. This year I am writing about my pre-race meal at Herb & Wood because it was pretty spectacular. Located a block from J & I, Little Italy is a thriving hub of great food.
I started to look up San Diego restaurants before making the trip to Southern California and made the reservation after reading that Herb & Wood is the new restaurant of Chef Brian Malarkey, a past Top Chef finalist.
What used to be an old warehouse has become a chic new restaurant. The beautiful open space and the sophisticated modern decor offered an inviting welcome that my friends and I were ready for. We were a party of six and were given a table with plush blue grey velvet seating.
Our attentive waiter gave us a rundown of the menu and essentially went from lighter to heavier plates. I partnered with one of my friends to share some dishes and then we did some more overall sharing.
We ordered the grilled King Trumpets with tarragon butter and lemon. The trumpets were playing music in my mouth. The flavors were wonderful and may have been the best mushroom dish I have ever had.
We also got the grilled asparagus with blue cheese fondue, poached egg, and herb bread crumbs. Another lovely dish that was cooked in the wood fired oven. I get a happy feeling inside when I eat deliciously prepared vegetables.
Friends ordered the avocado on country wheat bread with tomato, candied jalapeño, and cilantro. Avocado toast has been a popular breakfast item in California for awhile, but this one was elevated with the candied jalapeño. I think I will try making this at home.
In order to adequately “carb load,” our table ordered three of the bucatini pomodoro with basil, oregano, parmesan, and chili flakes. We probably could’ve ordered six of these plates because it was that good. My friend tried to get the recipe, but we did learn that they add some anchovies to the pasta sauce. I think I might try making this one at home too!
I got a taste of the chitarra pasta with Dungeness crab, preserved lemon, Sauvignon Blanc and black pepper so I could compare it to the bucatini. The chitarra pasta was rich and delicious, but I’m a big red sauce fan so I enjoyed the bucatini better. My friend who ordered the chitarra pasta would beg to differ as she was singing praises all weekend about it.
One of my friends found out that Herb & Wood serves homemade Parker House rolls. This item is off their menu, so I am sharing a real secret here. I highly recommend these warm, buttery, crispy on the outside, soft of the inside bites of goodness.
I ate so many of the Parker House rolls that when our pork sausage and broccoli rabe pizza with garlic confit, mozzarella, and Asiago cheese came out, I could only eat a slice. By the time we got the pizza, it just couldn’t live up to the rest of the menu.
It was great we had six people, so we could at least taste a couple of desserts. I had seen pictures of some exotic fruit flavored soufflés, but it was chocolate soufflé on the menu this evening. It came with Irish whipped cream, expresso chocolate ganache, and mint chip gelato. It was a damn good soufflé and the accouterments were a perfect match.
The second dessert we ordered was a vanilla cream torte with house made ricotta, huckleberries, and pistachio gelato. I was fascinated by the torte with its 24 layers. It was both creamy and dreamy.
More than a week later, I am still thinking about dinner at Herb & Wood. If you are in San Diego or plan to visit San Diego, you must go.