Happy Summer everyone! Here's what's going on at the Rocket.

Food News

Dennis went to visit Black Dog Farms recently out in the Imperial Valley. We're buying some things from the organic part of their farm, so keep your eye out for their produce on our menu, along with the plethora of other local farms we buy from of course.

We've finally found a new source for California olives, so you'll now be able to get green olives on our tapas menu that are from up north in Corning. We've created a house-made marinade for them including some minced veggies, lemon and chili peppers.

On that note...We've changed some things about our Market Fish Plate, including a new Green Olive Tapenade and the addition of a side of California Wild Rice along with the steamed seasonal veggies. The rice has a wonderfully chewy texture and is seasoned with some of our chimichurri sauce (herbs, citrus & oil).

Events and Other Cool Things

Here are some photos of our current art installation by Maura Vazakas. If you haven't seen them in person yet, the two very different styles of expression are definitely worth a look.

30th on 30th will be on Wednesday this month, so don't be afraid of fighting too big a crowd. Christy is planning to make some Chinese Broccoli sauteed in a house made oyster sauce, and we usually pick a beer to pair with our special but that's still TBD at this point. Just stay tuned to our facebook page or 30th Street blog for updates. And if you're not a beer drinker, never fear, because it just so happens that every Wednesday we offer select wines 1/2 price by the glass all night!

We'll be closing in observance of the 4th of July holiday this year since last year was really quiet. We hope you enjoy your day and we'll be back open on Monday the 5th for business as usual.

Check out the fun, free, local concert series put on at Bird Park this summer. Maybe we'll see you there, or maybe we'll see you at the bistro for dinner after the music is over and the sun has gone down. We're just 2 blocks away!

Until Dennis finishes up our super spiffy custom iPhone restaurant app, check in on our live specials board anytime you're wondering what's on tap or off-menu.

The SDBikeCommuter.com website is growing, and so is Art Produce Gallery's garden space.

Hello Rocket Readers!

It's been almost 2 years since we opened and what a wild ride it's been! It's nice to get into what finally feels like a bit of routine, and then to shake up that routine with interesting events and fun new things. Here's what's going on right now, in chronological order.

The monthly DrinkAbout happens this Wednesday, May 19th. Our special pairing will be Christy's Pan-Fried Fresh Corn Polenta topped with a Bacon & Mushroom Gravy, alongside a pint of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA on cask for $8.

We're showing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly this Thursday
We're excited about the Italian Film Festival and our showing of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Italian director Sergio Leone. Follow the link for all the details, but the important thing is that we'll be serving a $25 prix fixe menu and showing the film this Thursday, May 20th at 7pm. Call 619-997-8043 or email elena@searocketbistro.com if you'd like to join us for this special event. We'll also be selling Mitch's Fresh Sea Urchin at the film festival's Piazza event at the Birch North Park Theater on May 22nd which runs from 11am-6pm. Buon appetito!

30th on 30th is on Sunday, May 30th this month. We have yet to determine what our small plate special will be, so stay tuned on our website, facebook page, or twitter @ searocket.

Turning 2 with Oysters Galore
On Tuesday, June 1st, we'll be celebrating our 2 year anniversary! Every Tuesday for a while now we've offered $1 raw oysters from Carlsbad Aqua Farm, but because this is a super special Tuesday, we'll be creating some additional oyster dishes for the occasion, such as our Baked Gouda Garlic Oysters, Scalloped Oysters, Oysters Rockefeller...more details next week on what to expect!

Art Opening June 3rd
At Sea Rocket we recognize we are located in the center of a vibrant creative community. We invite local artists to show their work in our space, and we enjoy the artistic insight that each unique artist brings to the table (pun intended). We are happy to announce our next featured artist: Maura Vazakas. Born and raised in New York, Maura was first inspired by her artist mother. Her influences range from humor, to nature, nostalgia, and pop culture. She now lives and has her studio in San Diego, and her current work reflects her love for cities and architecture. Please come meet the artist at an opening reception on Thursday, June 3, from 5-10pm. Past artists have included Brian Fick, Matthew Mahoney (installation still active!), and Bruno Tanonis.

Here's some Spring news from all of us at Sea Rocket.

Special Events & Community Outreach
30th on 30th is this Friday! Our $8 pairing this month will be a bottle of Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale with an Egg & Tortilla Chilequiles w/greens, cotija cheese & salsa roja. It's like a baked omelet or quiche layered with tortillas. Yum. We'll reserve the front room just for this event and try to get you in and out of there quickly so that you can move on to the next great spot!

The annual Art Alive celebration at the Balboa Park Museum of Art happens this weekend. We're donating some food to Thursday's Opening Celebration but this fundraiser goes all weekend with a variety of artsy activities.

Or, also Thursday, April 29th, you can join the Go Urban San Diego Meetup Group for a happy hour at the bistro from 6-8pm. You'll get $2 off all draft beers and wines by the glass for the duration.

Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, May 9th. We'll offer some specials during both lunch and dinner and we'll accept reservations that day, so give us a call at 619-255-7049 if you like to plan ahead.

The new Park2Park Shuttle service launched last weekend. Read up about it on their website and hop aboard for just $5/night or $10/weekend (Thursday-Saturday) and leave your car behind. Designated drivers even ride free!

Daisy the Cow has been visiting with us this month. Make sure to stop by and appreciate this colorful fruit paper mache cow and give a donation to a great cause- improving the quality of food in our schools.

Speaking of cows, Dennis & Elena paid a visit to third generation cattle rancher Steve Tellman in Ramona recently and ended up buying a whole animal that we expect to start serving sometime in May. You might want to pencil Tuesday, June 1st onto your calendar, when we'll be highlighting several beef dishes in celebration of our 2-year anniversary!

Menu Updates
A lot of you apparently noticed when we took our popular Beet & Goat Cheese Tart off the menu last month. We've been trying out some new dishes lately and just can't practically keep everything we've ever liked on the menu, but because we've had so many requests to bring the Beet Tart back, we're buckling and will offer it regularly again starting next week. Please forgive us if we occasionally run out though- it's not something we can make "on the fly" so if we get a run on it, it's gone for the night but is usually prepared again the next day.

We'll also be adding our previously-lunch-only Beet Salad to our dinner menu- tender organic baby greens topped with roasted red beets & fresh goat cheese. Those of you who love beets will now really be able to get your fill!

We'll be putting a full-size Sloppy Joe on the menu too, so you can either get the miniature sloppy joe tapa or enjoy this delicious mess as an entree, which comes with cole slaw.

Christy created the most amazing Avocado Cream Pie as a dessert special the other night and we weren't the only ones to fall in love with it! So we'll be putting it on our dessert menu for as long as we can get those tasty avocados. It's got a graham cracker crust and is topped with a fantastically tart Lime Curd and some of our sweetened whipped cream. It's got a super creamy texture that will make you not want to share!

On another dessert note, we've been making these Chocolate Macadamia Nut Candied Bacon Cookies which have been very well received, and we seem to be able to keep the bacon on hand right now, so these will also be available for a while on our Sweet Endings list. Yes, that's really bacon in the cookie.

In the News
We got a nice mention in a Grist.com article this month. Check it out!

Our recipe for Sea Urchin Bisque will be featured in a book entitled "The Wild Table: Adventures in Pacific Foraging & Cuisine" by our friend, wilderness guide and author Jennifer Hahn. The book will be out this Fall and we'll be planning a book release party then, so stay posted.

Elena went up to the bay area recently and made a video at the Tesla Motors showroom that you might be interested in.

Promotions Recap
Mondays: Flip Night- Take a Gamble and win a Free Entree!

Tuesday: $1 Raw Oysters all night long (or until supplies run out...)

Wednesdays: Select 1/2 Price Wines by the glass all night long- 3 Red & 3 White each week

Happy Hour Daily at the Bar:
5-7pm: $2 Tapa free with every Draft Beer (including Cask when available)
After 9pm: $2 OFF all Draft Beers (including Cask when available)

Also: Get a voucher for a $5 Bottle of Wine with Dinner each time you come in for Lunch in May or June. We're open for lunch every Saturday and Sunday from 11:30-3pm. Check out our Grilled Fish Tacos! You can even sit outside in the sun with your doggie if you want- just ask your server if there aren't tables outside when you arrive and we'll put some out! Of course we can't serve alcohol out there, but it's still a nice option since most of the rain has now passed.

It's newsletter time, so let's get newsy. April is packed, so I'll try to keep it as to-the-point as possible.

We just had a great skateboard photography exhibition party for Brian Fick. I used to skate with Brian when they had the vert ramp in Mission Valley, and now more recently at the park in Clairmont. We'll have his photos up through mid-April for you to check out. There are photos of everyone from Bucky Lasek to Bob Burnquist, as well as a bunch of other amazing skaters.

Our fish sculpture artist Matt Mahoney just had his senior exhibition at the Keller Gallery at Point Loma Nazarene University.

A group of ranchers are trying to get a USDA slaughterhouse going in San Diego. If this happens, it could make local grass-fed meat readily available in San Diego without the costs of going to L.A. for slaughter.

On Tuesday (that's probably today!), we're doing the 30th on 30th. Our special pairing this month will be a Ground Beef Sloppy Joe with house-made pickles & bottle of Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale for $8.

We had a great time watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution this past Friday. In fact, it was so much fun we'll be showing it every Friday at 9pm on our big screen.

On Easter Sunday (April 4th), we'll be doing some to-be-determined brunch specials. We're open for lunch every Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am-3pm.

On Mondays in April, we'll be continuing Flip Night. If you call it right, one of your entrees is free!

Thursday, April 8th, we'll be hosting a Dine Out for San Diego Oceans Foundation fundraiser. 15% of sales will be donated to this great cause.

Thursday, April 15th is tax day. To make things easier for you that day, we're doing a No Tax Day! Have dinner at the restaurant and don't pay any sales tax on your check. Given that sales tax is now at 8.75% in San Diego, that's not a bad deal for you.

Saturday, April 17th, from 5-7pm will be our next Blind Wine Tasting. Bring a bottle (hidden in a paper bag) and $15 and enjoy a mixer-style happy hour which includes a variety of tasty tapas. We'll add a link to the meetup page when week get it.

April 21st is the monthly Third Wednesday DrinkAbout. It's been gaining steam ever since that night it poured rain on everyone.

April 22nd is Earth Day. It's also the start of the Park 2 Park Shuttle. Omar Passons has been doing a lot of work to make this a great service. Looking forward to seeing it in action!

April 24th is an electric vehicle conversion workshop. Read about it here and see Schwarzenegger on one sweet ride.

Valentine's Day Weekend
If you're still looking for a place to celebrate Valentine's Day this year, check out our Valentine's Weekend Prix Fixe Menu. Reservations are being accepted Friday through Sunday. If you're not into that, don't miss out on our opt-out option at the bar: $2 off all bottles of Stone Brewing beers, all weekend!

Fat Tuesday Party
If Mardi Gras is more your style, we've got a great party planned next Tuesday, February 16th, featuring the sounds of New Orleans DJed by Johnny Tran and drdiggs from 5pm until close. See details, including Chef Christy's Cajun Creations here.

3rd Third Wednesday DrinkAbout
The next Third Wednesday DrinkAbout is coming up Feb. 17th. Hopefully it won't be as cold and wet as last month's event! This month, we'll be introducing a special beer pairing, offering a beer and a small starter plate. This month, Christy will be cooking up some Beer-Glazed Berkshire Ham, which will be served with a glass of Airdale Afterburner Amber for $10. Each month going forward, we'll offer a different food pairing with one of our best draft beers just for this event.

Green Flash Belgian Beer Dinner, Thursday February 25th
Following on the heels of that beer-centered night, Chris is organizing a Green Flash Belgian Beer Dinner which will feature 5 Belgian-style beers from Green Flash Brewing along with 5 small plates to match. Menu details will be released in next week's blog, but the beer list will include their Trippel Belgian, Le Freak, Belgian Brown, Belgian Stout and Anniversary Belgian Red. Reservations will be necessary and seating is limited to 20 in the front room. Dinner starts at 7pm, cost is $50 per person, and to top if off Chuck Silva, Brewmaster at Green Flash, will pop by for a visit!

"30th on 28th"
As if that weren't enough for special events this month, the new 30th on 30th extravaganza continues, even though there is no 30th of the month this month! Instead, it will take place on Sunday, February 28th. Check out the blog for details on what everyone will be offering.

Bike Rack & Biking Discount Reminder
Some of you may have met our new Assistant Manager, Greg Hawkins, who joined our team last month. When he heard about our biking discount (he bikes to work himself), he immediately arranged to put a bike rack right in front of the restaurant, so now there's a place to stash your ride while you dine for 10% off.

Weekend Lunch
Now that football season is over, don't forget that we're now open for weekend lunch! You can still collect a $1 bottle of wine for your next dinner visit if you come in for lunch any Saturday or Sunday until the end of this month.