We all met at the beautiful home of Mr. TJ who lives in the historic neighborhood of Talmadge, where he whipped up a few drinks before we headed out to our first stop...
This is one of his new dogs; he has six Italian greyhounds. This one was a female and was as sweet as could be. These dogs are so dainty looking and remind me of skittish deer.
MFH is one of my dearest and best friends.We've known each other for nearly twenty years. When I first started my career, she was one of the few folks who took me under her wing and supported me. We've been through a lot together and I am so happy that she can now finally relax and not have to deal with work anymore (like schedule changes, phone calls from parents, and trying to please parents and students).
Mr. TJ thought it would be good to start off at one of his favorite places in Hillcrest, which is gearing up for Pride next month.
None of us, save for Mr. TJ, had been here before. Their Happy Hour started at 3 pm, but we got there around 5:30. Mr. TJ was also eager for us to meet his favorite waiter, Marco, who apparently is very hot. The gal there (who turned out to be his manager) said he had switched shifts with her that day. She was actually a hoot!
Even though it looked really nice inside...
we wanted to be outside and enjoy the day. Turns out there was a lot of "action" the hour that we were there with angry drivers at a nearby intersection honking and screaming at each other. One even got out of his car to threaten the guy! Wut!
Our corner table. At one point during our little stay here, a homeless guy walked by and had the nerve to ask Mr. TJ for $5!!!!! Not, "Can you spare some change" but flat out, "five dollars". Mr. TJ said that hardly ever happens to him anywhere, much less Hillcrest.
The thought was that we would just have a drink here and a few appetizers, then move on to another place.
One of our starters was the Calamari and Shrimp Fritto, which was Half Off due to Happy Hour, so yay for that.
Our second appetizer was the Sausage e Funghi pizza, which was NOT half-off. Apparently, they took Pizzas off the list of the Happy Hour options. Boo.
We all ordered a glass of wine...
MFH's Pinot Grigio and my Moscato (I like my wine sweet). Mr. TJ and La Ley had the Prosecco, all of which were light and refreshing.
The pizza...
which we really enjoyed. Very simple, freshy, and tasty.
made better by the parmesan cheese, oregano and chili pepper flakes.
Our fried squid (they included the tentacles, which I liked) and shrimp (only three) which also had a few fried strips of zucchini. This was good, but I wished there were more of the squid.
Here is the view of Origano across the street...
Boreana, our server (and the manager) was fantastic. She was very attentive and had a great sense of humor. Although we didn't see Marco that night, Mr. TJ told us there was another hot waiter at a nearby restaurant, ha ha, so of course, that would be our next stop.
Osteria Origano
3650 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-9590
origanorestaurant.com
Next up, more drinks and appetizers across the street...
2 comments:
That Italian greyhound is so cute! Are they the same as those whippet dogs?
I can't stand squid tentacles - they freak me out for some reason.
But the white wine and moscato (what the heck is a moscato BTW) looks sooo refreshing - but I think it's b/c it's sweltering hot where I'm at right now.
Origano looks beautiful though - I'll probably try to make it for their HH first to try them out.
Nice post :)
hi Faye- yes, her name is Isis. Her coloring is a silvery grey. very very beautiful. Italian Greyhounds are smaller than Whippets. They are very delicate and smalldogs.
Moscato - a sweet dessert wine made from muscat grapes.
If you go to Origano, look for Marco, the hot waiter, ha ha.
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