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.

Greetings and Happy New Year to those of you we haven't seen since we entered this new decade!

New Sources & Services
We found a great new source recently to kick off the new year on the right foot. Dennis, Christy and I went to visit Suzie's Farm recently down in South San Diego. Robin and Lucila Taylor run the farm and Lucila gave us a great video tour. We now buy produce from them such as beautiful little cherry tomatoes, cabbage which we use in our fish tacos at lunch, radishes and greens.

Speaking of lunch, here are some tasty photos of our lunch plates, along with a special offer you might want to take advantage of...before February 28th!

Special Events
Coming up this Wednesday (Jan. 20th) is the second ever DrinkAbout. It's great to see the community of restaurants and bars come together to arrange for a free bus to drive you around to eat and drink great food and beer. The DrinkAbout bus was organized by Lee Chase at Blind Lady, so a big thanks to him!

And speaking of the community coming together, the first ever 30th on 30th is coming up at the end of this month. Restaurants up and down 30th Street will be offering a special on appetizers and drinks, most in the range of $2. So eat and drink your way up and down 30th street without breaking the bank.

Although it's still a month away, people have been asking us what our plans are for Valentine's Day. So, if you're the type to plan ahead, know that we'll be offering a 3 or 4-course Prix Fixe Menu Friday, February 12th through Sunday February 14th. No menu details yet, but definitely save the date(s)! We will accept reservations all weekend to help you properly celebrate with your romantic other, and menu specifics will be published here on our blog at least a week or two beforehand.

And for those of you who are not planning to get all lovely-dovey this year, we'll also be hosting an "Anti-Valentine's Day" event at the bar featuring specials on a bunch of great Stone Brewing beers, such as Arrogant Bastard, Double Arrogant Bastard, Cali-Belgique, and whatever Pale Ale, Smoked Porter, and Holiday Ale we've got in the fridge when the time comes.

In the News and On-Line
Something that we're really proud of is having been named one of the top 10 most sustainable seafood restaurants in the U.S. by Fish2Fork. There are a lot of seafood restaurants out there, but few that take into account the environmental impact of their fishing decisions. We're glad that more attention is being paid to this and that an organization like Fish2Fork can provide recognition to those restaurants that are serious about their commitment to the environment.

We also received special mention (and the only photo!) for our Sea Urchin Bisque in a nice review of winter soups in The Reader published 1/6/10.

Don't forget that Sea Rocket is active on Facebook and Twitter so if you want up-to-the-minute updates about our cask beers, specials, special events and other fun news, add us to your list!