I was in San Diego this past weekend for a quick getaway and the city totally won me over. I’m totally infatuated with its natural beauty, friendly people and incredible food. The best meal we had, hands down, was at the California Modern at Georges at the Cove.
Georges offers three restaurants in one location: George’s Bar (a casual bistro), Ocean Terrace (rooftop dining) and the California Modern (contemporary food in a sleek setting).
For our postponed V-Day dinner, we wanted to go with the California Modern because it had good veg options (a rarity in SoCal), not to mention an emphasis on seasonal and local ingredients.
What’s in it for you: Meyer lemon ravioli; fennel and spinach soup; winter fruits salad (chicories and ricotta-pomegranate crostini); fried avocado; ricotta gnocchi; butternut squash risotto; grilled mushrooms with carrot miso puree
What’s in it for them: Seared beef carpaccio; local halibut tiradito (like ceviche); Maine lobster seafood stew; Muscovy duck breast; roasted organic chicken; cider-glazed pork chop
The butter was so fresh
Yes, the bread and butter was that noteworthy.
As for actual meal, there wasn’t one entree that stuck out to me, so I went with three appetizer-sized plates, starting with a carrot salad:
Carrot salad with Indian spiced yogurt, crushed almonds, kumquat, cilantro and orange honey
The waiter recommended this one, and as proven by the rest of his suggestions, he’s a smart man. I don’t think I’ve ever had something so fresh before, and the mix of different types of carrots was a new concept to me. The sweetness of the honey, the crunch of the almonds, the masterful presentation…I want it again!
Following our waiter’s rec once again, my second dish was the farroto, a clever twist on risotto using the farro grain:
Farroto: Farro with mixed mushrooms, mushroom broth, pea tendrils, poached egg and parmesan reggiano
Heaven in a bowl. And if you think a poached egg would be weird, you’re sorely mistaken, my friend. It oozed out and gave the grain a creamy texture. It was like I was a part of the cooking process! (Yeah right. I wish.)
As for my third and final dinner component, I chose the minestrone, which touts seasonal veggies (brussel sprouts!) and comes with a side of fresh pesto, grated Parmesan and olive oil. Check out the purple broccoli!
Seasonal minestrone soup
My boyfriend went the complete opposite route and went for a traditional hanger steak with potato “puree,” a.k.a. mashed potatoes. He said it was one of the best hanger steaks he’s ever had, and I wouldn’t doubt it considering how amazing everything of mine was.
Hanger steak
We exercised a rare form of dessert restraint when we ordered just one, not two, desserts (crazy, I know!), but in the end, it was plenty because it had the most crazy flavor mix:
Chocolate terrine: smoked chocolate mousse, praline, chocolate meringue cake, pear gelee, brown ale ice cream, poached pear and tamarind caramel
Would you look at everything that’s in it?? Velvety mousse, crunchy praline, spongy meringue, spicy caramel. What a trip. My only dislike was the ale ice cream because I hate hate hate beer. But kudos on the flavor extraction; it tasted just like the finest bottle of booze.
Georges at the Cove
1250 Prospect St.
La Jolla, CA 92037
858.454.4244
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i think the carrot salad is one of my favorite appetizers of all time. (it even rivals the pineapple salad at Kittichai!)
I could not agree more with your take on Georges. My family ate there last night and had one of the best meals of my life. The food is crazy good. So clean, and the Chino Farms carrot salad was so wonderful. So full of flavor but so simple. One of the deserts we had were the doughnut holes. Who could have thought they could make doughnut holes taste so good.