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.