in this business park in Ranch Bernardo,
at a place that I'd been wanting to try for a while...
The Cork and Craft, which is housed in Abnormal's facilities (Abnormal is also a wine and beer company). One of the co-owners of Abnormal, James Malone, is the husband of one of the co-owners of Mostra (they just had a baby earlier this year). Cork & Craft also uses Mostra coffee in some of their darker beers. One of the main reasons we wanted to come here is also because the executive chef, Philip Esteban is Filipino American and has been making quite the name for himself with his culinary creativity. One of their chefs, Mike Arquines, is also the master roaster at Mostra Coffee (which we love).
They have so many beers on tap. It was also cool to dine in a space where we could see all of the vats.
While this was not dinner (which have the most interesting entrees in my opinion), we settled for brunch. The menu choices are more limited but we wanted to at least have an "intro" to Cork & Craft before coming back here for dinner (cough cough, birthday coming up...)
We got here right when they opened (10 am on a Sunday). It started to get more crowded by the time we left.
See the bolded box highlighting their flight of 5 choices? Unfortunately, THE ONE beer we wanted to try, the Calamansi Saison was totally out. They only do small batches and dagnabbit, the calamansi was no longer.
It's quite large in here. There's that rustic industrial vibe along with flashes of bling (they had a cute chandelier in the women's bathroom) with crystal chandeliers in various areas.
Our flight of 5 had everything in the box except for the calamansi Saison.
I loved the taster glasses. Any beverage served in a footed glass makes it seem more elegant. You could serve a crappy soda or malt liquor in here and it would look good. But back to these beers. Out of the five, my favorite was the Mostra mocha stout (of course) with the 5 p session as my second favorite. The other beers in between the spectrum were too hoppy for my taste. Bert liked them all but preferred the hoppier beers.
On to the food, eh.
Bert's Crab Hash benedict with potato hash.
I think this would have been better if the crab cakes didn't have the potatoes in it. It was potato overkill since it was served with fingerling potato hash. Bert really enjoyed his dish since he's a big fan of eggs benedict anything. The muffins at the bottom were just 'ok'. I mean, they could have been Thomas's for all we knew.
My Pork Belly with apple sauerkraut, shaved radish, pickled mustard seeds and fried egg (an extra and served over hard, my request). It looks small but it was really the perfect portion. This is brunch not some big ass dinner.
The lovely glazed pork belly sans the fried egg topping. I didn't care for the pickled mustard seeds. The apple sauerkraut was refereshing and didn't taste too vinegary or krauty (yes that is a made up word). The meat was so tender...I'm already salivating just looking at these photos, ha ha.
I can't wait to return in the near future. Hopefully we will have a chance to see Chef Esteban in action.
Who else went to Cork & Craft?
Mary went last May, while Faye's later visit highlighted their Happy Hour offerings.
Articles:
"Poway High grads turn usual hobby into 'abnormal' wine biz" Poway Patch, May 7, 2013
"The Cork and Craft...shares space with urban winery & brewery" SD Eater, Oct 2014
"No beer, no problem, SD Reader, Oct. 20, 2014
Feast - North County Inland blurb from the SD Reader, Sept. 9, 2015
"Well-grounded chef poised for stardom" DiscoverSD, Dec. 17, 2015
The Cork & Craft
16990 Via Tazon
San Diego, CA 92127
(858) 618-2463
thecorkandcraft.com + fb
As a slight detour before heading home...we wanted to check out a new purveyor of toroid delights in Cathy's 'hood...
6 comments:
Oh gosh the brunch looks good! I haven't been back here since my lasts visit all those months ago. The flight of beers look generous - was it $15? I love those tulip beer glasses too (I think that's what the glass is called). I love an all-crab cake - no fillers please. Did you think the hollandaise was better than usual? The pork belly looks beautiful - I like how it wasn't terribly fatty (from what I can see in pic). I'm not of those mustard seeds either. Krauty is the best word I've read today !
Hi Faye - the brunch was pretty good but I am looking forward to a future dinner here. Yes the flight of 5 was $15. The beer glass shape is a Belgian taster glass which is similar to the tulip shape. However the tulip is if the sides were curved upwards with a slightly flare.
This crab cake had filler which was not that great. Since the benedict was Bert's dish, I didn't eat too much of it, just a taste of the crab/potato cake. I don't like Hollandaise sauce at all and made sure to eat a piece that was sauce-less. The pork belly did look quite nice. It had fat but not too much. The glaze was so delicious. Almost like 'meat candy', ha ha.
I really want to try the brunch here but it's only served Sundays and we are usually busy! I was actually looking into it for my bday weekend, except with Easter coming early this year, they are doing Easter brunch buffet that weekend so I'll have to find some other time to go!
Hi Kirbie
I want to go here for dinner. Their brunch menu is limited. Hopefully you and Mr. K will be able to go to C & C.
That pork belly looks divine. I'd totally make Jake eat the egg and just stick with the pork belly, haha. Glad you tried it, even if was just brunch this time! We need to go and visit again.
It was really good, that pork belly. I can't wait to go here again but for dinner. I'm glad I read your post and Faye's.
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