BEST PLACE TO GET DESSERT ON TAP The Craft Creamery You know how you can go into a bar in SD and order a kolsch from Colorado or a pilsner from Pennsylvania? At The Craft Creamery near Shelter Island, the idea is the same, but with ice cream. Here you can find rotating flavors from the best ice cream makers in the country, such as Fat Elvis (banana ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate chips) from Wisconsin’s Chocolate Shoppe and Marionberry Pie from Tillamook in Oregon. Grab a four-flavor flight for $12. –MH craftcreamerysd.com
BEST CELEBRITY HAM ON TOAST Valentina Every neighborhood needs one of these pheromone-boosting little spots, a minimalist charmer with mussels and wine and a couple well-placed lamps. Valentina is owned by Mario and Morgan Jean Guerra, whose Leucadia Co. restaurant group (Moto Deli, Corner Pizza, Hamburger Hut) has thrived up here. They named this Spanish tapas bistro after their daughter. Get the tomato toast with the famed jamon Iberico, a garlicky, salty, lightly sweet piece of bread art. –TJ restaurantvalentina.com
BEST WAY TO LOAD UP ON SHROOMS By Beth Demmon Not all mushrooms are created equal. Some, like death caps, can kill you, while others may lead you on a more… psychedelic journey. But when you raise your own, it’s easy to know what you’re going to get. This collection of locally sourced starters will take the guesswork out of the equation, putting the “fun” back in “fungus home-growing kit” (not that it ever left).
BEST BONEYARD Ranch 45
BEST JEWISH-KOREAN HANDHELD Homestead Solana Beach
The secret’s out about dry-aging. Won’t be long before we get the dry- aged Whopper. And bone marrow is the activated charcoal of the beef world, a silky collagen bomb people on the internet claim reverses the aging process and brings the Chargers back to San Diego. But the only folks I know that are dry-aging bone marrow are husband-and-wife duo Aron and Pam Schwartz in their Solana Beach restaurant-slash-butcher-shop. Spread it on toast, on steak, on your life. –TJ ranch45.com
& D R I N K
This is a husband-and-wife-owned little casual-bites and gourmet-goods store in the design district. Work up a hunger buying vintage lamps, then regain life here. The roast beef dip is a winner. Tuna salad is one of those things you don’t realize you require in your life until you see it on a menu and it feels like a religious need, and their tuna toastie is excellent. The star, however, is the Korean twist on a reuben: pastrami with kimchi and swiss on toasted rye. –TJ homesteadsolanabeach.com
SOUL FUNGI Ryan Smith, founder of Soul Fungi in Ramona, offers starters for varieties including King Oyster and Golden Oyster mushrooms, making it easy to dabble in mycology without worrying about altering your perception of space and time. Plus, once you’ve harvested all the crops your kit can yield, he’ll send you a new one to keep the ’shrooms blooming. Starts at $30. As the largest white mushroom grower in Southern California, this family-run operation focuses on bringing fresh fungi to the masses in enormous quantities. Sample their tinctures or try your hand at growing with one of their starter kits, all of which come with instructions (and encouragement). Starts at $20. mmmushroom.com GOLDEN MUSHROOM CO. santesmith.com/soul-fungi MOUNTAIN MEADOW MUSHROOM FARMS Since 2021, OB-based Golden Mushroom Co. has supplied restaurants, chefs, and farmers markets with seasonally harvested mushroom varieties and created home kits for aspiring mycologists. OB may be a sunny place for shady people, but it’s also conveniently great for shade- hungry varieties like Lion’s Mane and Pink Oyster mushrooms. Starts at $25. goldenmushroomco.com
BEST MEAT ON A TREE Tribute Pizza
A midcentury post office turned into a pizza haven with a farmer-focused ethos (get the kale salad with aleppo pepper), Tribute has knockout focaccia, soft-serve ice cream with olive oil and sea salt (sounds weird, is glorious), and world-class pies (order the mushroom whitestone). Lots of yes here, especially the “handsome board”—specifically, the “Big One”— with all kinds of cured meat
BEST PLACE TO STRIP Cowboy Star
Making it as a steakhouse these days usually requires coast-to-coast financial backing, so this one’s special. It's San Diego’s indie steakhouse, started by a trio of industry vets, little butcher shop attached. They’ve got all of the fancy meats, all aged in-house—Wagyu skirt, bone-in ribeyes, the works—but it’s the relatively homely New York strip that slays after 21 days of dry aging. Also, that bread pudding will roll your eyes back into your personal sweet spot. –TJ cowboystarsd.com
snacks and fancy cheeses and housemade sauces beside in-season farm fruits and nuts and
such, served on a fallen tree ring. –TJ tributepizza.com
119 SAN DIEGO MAGAZINE
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