We just picked up a couple of wines from Pear Valley Vineyard in Paso Robles, a dry Muscat Canelli, and a Syrah. Not only is their winemaker from San Diego, and the wines are excellent for a great price, but the winery is doing some very progressive things to make their property and business a highly sustainable and biodynamic one, working with Cal Poly to institute various energy and resource-saving techniques.

Here's an article about how they've "gone green." And here's a video tour of the winery on youtube.

Here is the biography of winemaker James Hendon.

James Hendon, born in sunny San Diego, lives the California lifestyle that most people dream
of-rocking out in a band, surfing, tennis, golf and, in his spare time, painting and sculpture.
Did I also mention his is a licensed pilot? Yes, James is a true renaissance man. In order to
round out his renaissance resume, James studied Fermentation Science at UC Davis under
the guidance of Ann Noble, noted Sensory Scientist/Flavor Chemist and developer of the Wine
Aroma Wheel. James graduated UC Davis in 2002 and began his winemaking career as an
apprentice in the sparkling wine caves of Gloria Ferrer and then a boutique winery called Tulip
Hill. After discovering that Northern California didn’t have much good surf or beautiful weather
like San Diego, James began a search for paradise . . . and he found it in Paso Robles.

James became the winemaker at Paso Robles Wine Services in 2007, where he was introduced
to Tom and Kathleen Maas, owners of Pear Valley. After a year of working with James, Tom
and Kathleen developed an appreciation for his winemaking artistry. Once Tom and Kathleen
completed construction of Pear Valley’s winery and tasting room they hired James as their
official winemaker. Now James can be seen at Pear Valley, where his spends most of his time
in the winery, but sometimes you’ll see him roaming the vineyards singing to the grapes, sipping
wine with tasting room guests, or strumming the guitar on the patio with his cat, Wasabi.

Next time you're in, give 'em a try!

We got some great little pickling cucumbers from New Roots Urban Farm in City Heights last week and have spent that time curing them in Christy's tangy pickling juices. We'll be selling them by the whole pickle as a tapa special this weekend, so if you're a fan of the pickles that come with our sloppy joe, you can really satisfy your sour craving with these!

(I ate the one in the photo and it had the perfect tanginess and cucumber flavor coming through. Best pickle I've ever had. --Dennis)

Our good friend and fisherman John Law of Wild West Commercial Fishing has brought us a lovely 16-pound Pacific Halibut that he caught on Tuesday just off the Ocean Beach Pier! Christy be making a special dish featuring this tender white fish, so come on in and give it a taste.

Here are the specials that Chef Christy's got planned for Mother's Day this year, which is coming up on Sunday, May 9th. Whether you want to come in for lunch or dinner, call us for reservations at 619-255-7049.

LUNCH ONLY
Belgian Waffle with Pastured Bacon & Eben-Haezar Eggs

LUNCH & DINNER
Starter
Gazpacho
chilled blended tomato soup
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Entrees
Nicoise Salad
featuring pole-caught American Tuna
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Ground Beef and Pork Meatball Sandwich
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Dessert
Belgian Waffles with Strawberry Ice Cream

One of my resolutions for a while now has been to offer some of our lighter fare during the day as well as every night. So, in honor of the new decade, we'll be opening for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays starting Saturday, January 2nd, 2010. 2010 might sound like a long way off, but it's only a few weeks away!

We'll be open from 11:30am-3pm and offering most of our more casual, standard items off our menu (steamers, beet tart, lamburger, tuna melt, etc.) in addition to announcing the arrival of a few new items, including Chris' Famous Mercato Fish Tacos which he's been serving up every week at the farmer's market in Little Italy- fresh tortillas filled with grilled marinated market fish, grilled onions, salsa fresca, white sauce and lime; a Full-Sized Pork Sloppy Joe which many of you have had a taste of through our miniature tapa; a Grilled San Diego Sardine Plate to keep our signature ingredient well represented; and this is my favorite- our Old School Fish Sandwich, as we call it here at the bistro- this is a pan-seared market fish fillet served up on some of our toasted ciabatta bread with lettuce, tomato, and a dash of chimichurri sauce. It got this nickname because we used to serve it a long time ago, but when we put our Tuna Melt on the menu last year, we took it off to avoid duplicate items. Of course it's nothing like the Tuna Melt, which is amazing in it's own right, and considering that I have insisted on ordering it "off the menu" all this time, I figure it's pretty silly to keep it from everyone else!

See the attached Lunch Menu to see what else you can expect from our lunch service. Come check it out after the new year...