Food & Drink HOT PLATES
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BLACKMARKET BAKERY TOMATO PROVOLONE CROISSANT There are sweet people and there are savory people, and while it’s rare to
find something they both will agree on, I would challenge anyone to find fault with the Tomato Provolone Croissant at Blackmarket Bakery. Each bite is flaky and buttery, with sweet tomatoes and melted provolone cheese folded into a warm, delicate pastry. Blackmarket Bakery just opened its second San Diego location in East Village. –JI
Get Some SDM staff shouts out our favorite food finds this month
LITTLE DUTCHIE OXTAIL Oxtail is the super bone, the tastiest cut. It’s the one that makes soups across all cultures taste indescribably good, thanks to all the collagen, which turns into silky, rich umami when cooked slow and cooked right. Don’t often see it
BY MATEO HOKE, JENNIFER IANNI, TROY JOHNSON, DAVID MARTIN, NICOLLE MONICO, COLE NOVAK, AND AMELIA RODRIGUEZ
he SD food scene gets better by the minute, and our staff is out there, day after day, heroically tasting as much good stuff as we can. Each month we're compiling a hit list of some our favorite dishes and drinks we think our readers might want to put their mouths on. Go get some. T
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at a food truck, though, nor do you taste it as good as Jamaican-Caribbean-African food truck Little Dutchie’s—swimming in a near-jerk sauce. –TJ
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ARLO SEAFOOD CHARCUTERIE BOARD Chef Josh Mouzakes is really cooking at Arlo, making dishes where you can see the creative idea but it doesn’t taste like an “idea.” Just tastes pretty damn great. Like this secret-menu charcuterie board—all the usual turf treats, flipped on their head with surf.
SOLARE RAVIOLI DI RICOTTA E SPINACI Solare is not-so-quietly one of the most consistently good Italian restaurants in the city. Owner Randy Smerik is an Italian wine obsessive, so his list is gold with silky Barolos and rarer varietals from the boot. But this simple ravioli—made in-house; filled with spinach, Grana Padano (like an upgraded Parm-Reg), and ricotta; topped with butter-sage sauce— will make you a better you. –TJ
Tastes like summer. –AR 2 The “oh, damn” parts are smoked mussels and clams, smoked salmon dip made with salmon belly and Dijon, and shrimp transformed into paprika- spiked chorizo. –TJ 22 JULY 2023
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DAO FU MI XAO TOFU Behind a nondescript Normal Heights storefront hides housemade tofu so good it could crack the most ardent plant protein naysayer. Bookended by a complimentary salad (with more tofu!) and free ice cream, your stir fry arrives on a plate resembling Paul Bunyan’s frisbee and sets you back less than 15 bucks. –AR
STRAWBERRY SHACK STRAWBERRY SHACK SHAKE I was the kid who’d eat around the strawberry flavor in a slab of Neopolitan. Recently, though, I’m a convert to berry ice cream, thanks partly to this Carlsbad stand’s shake. The shack forgoes chemically artificial fruit, instead blending frozen vanilla custard with fresh local strawberries.
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