There once was a country mouse, and a city mouse. And the country mouse visited the city mouse, and they walked in the grand lights of the city amongst the hustle and bustle. And, as is the usual with mice, the country mouse grew hungry. But the city mouse had only soulless, frozen-and-nuked family fun chains, and pretentious eateries where waiters kept their judgemental eyes fixed upon those who did not know the term, “aioli.” The country mouse soon died of starvation.
But soon, we may see a day when no more country mice die needlessly, at least not if North Park’s restaurants Urban Solace and The Linkery have anything to say about it. With Urban Solace’s innovative takes on comfort food, and The Linkery’s steadfast dedication to farm-to-table eating, North Park now has not one, but two stunning restaurants. Unfortunately, now North Park diners are left with a hard choice: which of these restaurants is better?
It's the Diamond Crusted Pimp Cup of Chicken
Dining at Urban Solace, with its New American take on classics like tomato soup with grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, and chicken and dumplings, is a bit like answering the question of “What feels better than a glass of warm milk at night?” with a response of “A glass of warm milk served in Lil’ John’s diamond-studded pimp chalice.” At first, you may think it’s a bit cheeky and bizarre. But then you think about it, and you realize something: you want the pimp cup.
The food is nothing short of spectacular, combining familiar flavors with a touch of sophistication. The Jidori chicken, considered by many to be the hallmark dish of the restaurant, is the best you can get without roasting the bird yourself – perfectly cooked where lesser establishments would turn the chicken into sawdust. And the tomato-fennel soup with crème fraiche and a grilled four-cheese sandwich hits a wonderfully nostalgic note. There’s enough goodness in the soup alone to make you think that mom made it for you – and that mom got a bit fancy in the preparation. I’ve eaten at Urban Solace several times, and the only time I wasn’t blown away was when I ordered a crab “pop-tart,” which is thankfully no longer featured on the menu.
Urban Solace's Grilled Cheese is arguably better than lovemaking on a bearskin rug.
But if you want a good dish, try the duckaroni. I already am a macaroni and cheese slut, and by that I mean I would do mildly depraved things at the whims of others simply for a plate of mac and cheese. But when you add duck into the mixture, I turn white and have to steady myself on the nearest chair. It’s almost too much, and like with anything of that vice-like nature, almost too much is just enough.
The dining room is nice looking as well, in a distinct departure from our usual habit of recommending places that are delicious, but involve a certain risk of being shot. No need for a Kevlar vest here, although a dress shirt would make for wonderful camo.
The Linkery, by comparison, does not seem like your mom got a bit more sophistication; it seems like your mom took a job in a meat packing plant. I realize that “meat packing” and “your mom,” in the same sentence will elicit giggles from the immature members of the audience, but the Linkery specializes in house-made sausage, and such jokes really are unavoidable when you’re talking about a restaurant with such specialties. Now that the sausage caveat is out of the way, let’s talk food.
Located within half a block of Urban Solace, the Linkery combines good beer with really, really tasty meats, all with a focus on providing solid, fresh, local ingredients. It’s not as pretty as Urban Solace, but it does have a singular focus on the ingredients. That is never, ever, ever a bad thing.
Ever wanted a place where you could be as blatantly carnivorous as you want without feeling guilty afterwards? You’ve found a home. The meat is unquestionably the star here. Of course it helps when you’re adjacent to a sister company that happens to be an artisinal cured meat vendor. Just like everything else, it’s local, it’s organic. It’s even good for the environment. Take that, you lentil-munching vegetarians! The Hot Italian sausage and Cincinnati sausage are fresh, well balanced, and manage to avoid the near-ubiquitous over-salting that you get even with name-brand tubular meats. And the house-made licorice mustard is enough to get in a bare-knuckles brawl over as well (mind you, I hate mustard, and I would consider punching a baby for this food). It also helps that the Angus beef and Hampshire and Blue Butt pork come from San Luis Obispo county, home of the best ingredients in the world, and worth going slightly less-than-local for.
Some would call this "cruel," or "barbaric." For me, the word "crunchy" comes to mind, thanks to the Linkery.
The burger is also a standout, combining the very best meat with grilled onions, bacon, pineapple, and a fried egg. This is the kind of meal that hardened men in prison weep while daydreaming about when the slop is dumped on their table in the cafeteria.
Speaking of the wants of incarcerated men, the beer selection is also stellar, and features local breweries like Stone and Alesmith. Once again, the mantra of good and local foods comes into play.
It’s not easy trying to establish a farmhouse, homestyle feel in the middle of urban rush and hustle. The constant noise, smog, and the oppressive rush of the city constantly fight the feeling of simplicity and comfort. But those same obstacles are the reasons why places like Urban Solace and The Linkery exist, and why these restaurants should be treasured.
And thus we arrive at the paralyzing question: which should you choose? Well, you can’t really go wrong, can you? More than anything else, it will depend on what you value and what you’re looking for. But for my money, well, let’s just say that Urban Solace is the only one of the two that’s on my speed dial.
Stone Brewing Company’s Fresh Dinner
Let me start out by saying, in no uncertain terms, I love beer. When somebody in San Diego says “I love beer” it means something distinctly different than most other places in the country. Often heralded as “Beer City USA” or the “Microbrew Capital of the Country”, San Diego is swimming in great local microbreweries. With paragons of all that is hoppy, malty and generally delicious such as: Alesmith, Green Flash, Firehouse, Lightning, Port Brewing Company, Lost Abbey, Stone, Ballast Point (just to name a few) all in the area, one could say that we’re a bit spoiled. Of the aforementioned, my favorite is Stone by a longshot.
With catch phrases like “Fizzy yellow beer is for wussies” and “I’m bitter and I like it” it is easy to infer that their beers are not created for the faint of heart, or palate. With a standard domestic glass of nonsense, you could reasonably expect between 7 and 15 IBUs (International Bitterness Units, used to indicate how bitter a beer is), Stone’s low end is 41 and goes up well over 100. From the Pale Ale, to the delicious Smoked Porter all the way up to the heavy hitting seasonal Double Bastard, Stone is the only brewery from which my picky bitter self will admit to enjoying every brew in their arsenal. There are free brewery tours, beer tasting, a bar and lounge as well as a garden to sit in and enjoy a fresh IPA, but wait, they have food too? Yes, an impressively delicious menu of dishes created to go along with a nicely chilled glass of white zinfan… yeah right. Buffalo burgers with beer cheese, garlic cheddar beer soup, fried mashed potato balls with Smoked Porter bbq sauce to name a few, a menu fit for an Arrogant beer drinker.
Stone does have a lighter side though and last night, over a few glasses of beer and a glorious sunset in the garden, they showed it to me. Last night was Stone’s Fresh Dinner, a mission of Executive Chef Alex Carballo to showcase the local organic produce of San Diego county. Chef Carballo got his team out of bed to get out by 5AM to begin shopping the local farms for the ingredients for the dinner, a feat that can be very difficult if your team works at a brewery. From 5AM they found all the freshly harvested components of what would become a 5 course dinner. A few beers deep, upon leaving, I forgot to snag a menu but I will do my best to recount.
The dinner started with a brief walk through the back and a fresh pour of a new beer straight off the tank. The beer was a session ale that is a compilation between Stone, Ballast Point and the winner of a homebrew competition. It was unfiltered and relatively low in alcohol content (4-5%). The color was golden and opaque and looked much like honey. On the palate it was very summery with tons of citrus and bright floral hoppiness. Look for it’s release later this year.
-Course 0: Panzanella, served at the meet and greet in the garden.
Green, wax and purple beans, Temecula onions, fresh baked and dried bread, heirloom tomato, avocado oil.
The bread was fresh baked and dried same day. The beans were barely cooked and served very crunchy. With the sweet heirlooms and the Temecula onions this looked like a big plate of summer. The bread was still slightly crunchy which is a welcome departure from the often soggy bread that I associate with panzanella. The salad was well seasoned and pleasantly spicy which went well with the session ale that we were sampling.
-Bread on the table: Green Garlic Focaccia
This is probably in the top 5 breads I have ever eaten. Airy, light, crispy, garlicky and incredible. Excellent job chef.
-Course 1: Gazpacho
Heirloom tomato, cilantro, pepper.
This was about the best gazpacho that I have ever had, but to be sure, it did not change my opinion of gazpacho. The heirloom tomatoes were sweet, the spice was just right, and the oil they used had a really nice flavor too. The rub with gazpacho is that, although I know it is a classic, refreshing, cold summer soup, I want a bit more heat, a bit more salt and a bag of chips. Their was enough distinction in the way that it was seasoned to convince me that it was a soup but it always will taste like salsa to me. To be fair, this is a pretty consistent feeling among most people that I have discussed gazpacho with.
-Course 2: Abalone and Spring Roll
Abalone: Carlsbad Aquafarm abalone, watermelon radish, cucumber served in shell on a bed of sea salt.
Spring Roll: Assorted cabbages, radish, carrot, and mint served with a soy, garlic, hot pepper dipping sauce.
If you have not had abalone, it’s probably not what you would think. Abalone is very chewy, so in order to serve it you either need to cook it for a very long time or tenderize, score, and slice very thin. They opted for the latter, the abalone was presented very simply and in its own shell with a lightly dressed salad of thin sliced watermelon radish and assorted cucumbers. The abalone itself was not sauced or seasoned, a move that I assume was to let the flavors stand on their own, briny, sweet and tasting of the ocean… delicious.
The spring rolls were served as an accompaniment, Vietnamese style rice paper rolls filled with shredded vegetables and herbs. They were very crunch and refreshing and the Vietnamese/Thai style dipping sauce was very tasty. For the vegetarians, they substituted the abalone for an extra spring roll. As tasty as they were, they were not substantive and certainly not reasonable to substitute a $5-8 abalone with a $0.75 spring roll.
-Course 3: Prawns and Eggplant Napoleon
Prawns: giant La Jolla spot prawns, corn and potato succotash, Carlsbad Aquafarm mussel vinaigrette.
Napoleon: roasted squash, eggplant, sweet pepper sauce.
The prawns were great, presented beautifully family style, head on, on top of the succotash with a stripe of stark green mussel vinaigrette on top. They were very large, tasty and cooked perfectly. The corn and potato succotash was flavored lightly and the sweet flavor blended well with the prawns. I got a few dirty looks for slurping the brains and fat out of the heads but those people do not know what they are missing.
I appreciate that there was a real limit put on the kitchen by what was available that day from which to compose their dishes but the Napoleon was not a success. The dish itself, I am pretty sure was vegan so to serve roasted squash and eggplant without cheese is already fighting an uphill battle. It was properly cooked and the pepper sauce was tasty but the overwhelming flavor was tea which was odd. The eggplant was not peeled, which might have been fine if it was thin skinned, but it was not. The thick and tough skin made it difficult to eat and the dish was underseasoned as a whole. One of our dinner buddies, Beth, is not a vegetarian but does not like seafood. Unfortunately for Beth, who had already traded her abalone for a spring roll, the entree course being seafood as well meant that the Napoleon was her only option so while we tore through the prawns she picked at the eggplant.
-Course 4: Stone Fruit Trio
Roasted peach with balsamic vinegar, honey and almonds.
Chilled peach, strawberry, blueberry and pinapple sage soup, whipped cream, lime zest.
Plum tart
The peach was roasted nicely with honey and balsamic vinegar and then covered with roasted almonds. They set it on a small pile of sugar which provided both stability and sweetness. The plum tart was simply delicious, red plum on a bit of custard in a bite sized tart shell. The peach soup was the real standout. Peaches and fresh berries were blended with pineapple sage, poured into a shot glass and topped with whipped cream and lime zest. The shooter had impressive concentration and layers and layers of different complex flavors. I am not really a dessert person because I don’t enjoy sweet endings to meals but this fruit trio was satisfying and refreshing. My wife wanted cake but I was very happy.
All in all the meal succeeded as a showcase of what can be bought fresh and organic just miles from home. The chef was pleasant, informative, presented each dish and took any questions the diners had regarding the sources of the food or the creation of the dishes. The pint of unreleased beer right off the fermenter was a unique and exciting experience. The panzanella in the garden was a great start, in a beautiful setting with perfect weather. They had a slideshow showing the produce they bought as well as the preparation of the dishes which was very cool to see while eating, the start to finish of what’s in front of you.
I only see a few issues with the whole thing, two of which have already been stated. First was the Napoleon, I will admit to not being a fan of eggplant but that was not a good dish. Beth and I used to both be vegans and neither one of us liked it. Second was the price, $55 a person for all those courses and a beer is reasonable, but not for the vegetarians. I did some calculations in my head and figured out that the food for those that did not eat meat/seafood cost about a third (or less) of the non-vegetarian dishes. In the future I would suggest a vegetarian option that is a bit more substantive or a lower price for the pre-specified vegetarians. Finally, this is a Stone Brewing dinner, it seems to me that there should have been an available beer pairing flight (for an extra cost would be fine) that would put a good brew with each dish.
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Filed under $50+ PP, Beer, Best of San Diego, Commentary, Dinner, Fresh Local Best, Restaurant Review