San Diego Dining

Dining in San Diego was especially fun.  Not only the meals but the wonderful treats were available within walking distance. 
Here are a few of the places where I dined.

Mimmo's is in Little Italy.  It wasn't my favorite.  I ate at two other Italian restaurants that were better.  But I picked this one at random and it was OK.

This one was my favorite Italian, Bella Luna.  I had a luscious salad with mangoes and a tangy vinaigrette, mushroom risotto and a fabulous house made lemon sorbet. 

Candelas was fantastic. The sign on the door said " New Mexican Food".  I believe it meant a new style of  Mexican food, not food from New Mexico.  At any rate, the inside is charming, the wait staff were very kind and attentive.  I had a salad of watermelon and cantaloupe with a cumin laced vinagrette and an entree of sauteed baby vegetables.  It was so delicious. 

The best restaurant by far was Cafe Chloe where I dined on my final evening.  It is a teensy tiny little French restaurant with about 12 tables and very friendly waiters.  I had frog legs to start, then steak and frites with a caramelized onion blue cheese relish.  For desert I had pistachio bread pudding with espresso sauce.  The owner, who had been working mostly behind the bar, came over and gave me a tasting of a sherry that he said would go with the bread pudding.  It was really delicious with it, kind of sweet and warm.  I thought that was a really sweet thing to do. 

My other favorite place was Heavenly Cupcakes, located a dangerous 2 blocks from my hotel. 

I went their TWICE and only wished I had found it earlier in the week.  I had the Lemon Raspberry and Coconut Lemon.  It inspired me to see if there were any cupcake shops in Denver and that's when I found

Gigi's Cupcakes.  Denverites, you must go there. (More on this later.)

A word to those who worry about dining alone.  It is a marvelous experience.  First, because since you are not deep in conversation you can really spend time savoring the food.  I always take something to read along so the wait staff gets the message that I am not looking for conversation and that I am not in a hurry. I had three courses for supper each evening, and the staff seemed to enjoy the fact that I was not calorie conscious and picky.  I lingered over my meal, people watched and left a generous tip.  I tend to eat so quickly at home a bad habit left over from residence, made worse when  the boys were small.  I am trying to correct that and my vacation helped me along.  I am trying to eat more slowly now that I am at home.  To further my cause I have decided to eat out alone at a nice restaurant once a month.  Also, my friend Barry and I eat out monthly too.  We both like good food and trying new things.

It sounds like I ate my way through San Diego, and in fact I probably did.  I haven't even mentioned the self serve ice cream at Yoga Tango, the fabulous gelato and divine chocolate caramel mocha I had at the Coronado Hotel.  My daily walks and only eating till I was full helped me not gain any weight. Since I slept in most days, I usually only had two meals a day, a schedule I would keep if I didn't work, but do employ on weekends and my day off. 

Bon Appetite! as Julia Childs would say.