We were actually going to leave Little Italy and play it by ear for lunch...
But after seeing a new business in the alley on W. Fir Street, decided to try it instead so we could maximize our time spent in Little Italy. We paid $15 for parking dammit!
This used to be a coffee place (Heartsleeves):
Chris, the co-owner greeted us and sat us in the back out of the sun (our request). His wife, Pamela, who hails from New Orleans was the chef. They have only been open in this new location for a few weeks but had been previously located on India Street.
TORC and I had their mimosas - pineapple for me and peach for her. We're the alcoholics of the bunch (wut?!). Both were really refreshing! I have to say that I liked both equally but the peach had fruit pieces in it which was nice.
Their menu is short and simple:
We were given housemade corn bread with peach syrup, spooned individually by Chris. Our actual entrees took quite a while to come out (nearly 40 minutes). We were assured that the food was on its way and was being made to order. I wonder how they'll do in terms of timing when they have a ful house? We were the only customers during our visit.
Order of five beignets (the other choice was eight pieces) with syrup. I didn't really try this since I wasn't feeling it for fried dough that morning. These were bigger than what I thought beignets would be. My gal pals seemed to like it, but chose to focus on the savory food items we ordered.
For variety, the Sweet Potato French Toast was ordered. This turned out be a dud. The sweet potato coated the thick cut toast. For some reason, I thought the bread itself would taste like sweet potato. The bread itself was on the bland side. I only took a small piece and didn't really like it. It turned out to be the least touched item during lunch.
The side of bacon came with one of our orders. I'm not sure if it was supposed to go with the grits or the chicken and waffles. Hmm, most likely the grits. THIS, not THIS was good. The bacon was thick and meaty with a slight maple flavor. Bacon candy, I say.
The shrimp and grits was everyone's favorite hands down. The creaminess from the buttery grits with the smoky bacon and plump shrimp was so delicious. On the side was another piece of their housemade corn bread.
Because it took a while for us to get our food, the chef gave us an extra piece of fried chicken, which was nice. There was a leg, a large thigh piece in there. The batter was not overly thick. It was slightly seasoned. The chicken meat was so tender and juicy. The waffle itself was kind of thick and not fluffy. We didn't add syrup to this.
The chicken and waffle was my second favorite dish from today's lunch.
As we walked back to where we parked, we passed by Cloak and Petal, a relatively hot and new restaurant. This wall, while funny, was kind of on the bold side, especially with the F bomb right there.
My parents loved listening to Connie Francis ("Where the Boys Are", one of her biggest hits, is one of their favorite songs, along with "Who's Sorry Now").
Nearby was Bobby Darin, whom Connie Francis was briefly linked with in her early career. Their relationship was not approved by her father. He was known for his hits, "Splish Splash", "Mack the Knife", "Beyond the Sea" (he sang the original; there was a remake by Robbie Williams featured at the end of Pixar's, "Finding Nemo") and "Dream Lover".
Here's a video with a really young Dick Clark introducing Bobby Darin on his TV show (music starts at 1:41 mark):
I associate "Splish Splash" with the tv show, "Happy Days" where Anson Williams (aka "Potsie Weber") sings this song in multiple episodes. Check out a young Ron Howard ("Richie Cunningham")!
Gawd, I just dated myself with that "Happy Days" reference!
Here's what appears to be a ghost ad for Ben Hur Coffee...but was in fact painted in 1982 (read the story here). I was bummed to find out it was not a real ghost ad. According to the article, the brick building is where this locally made (but now defunct) coffee brand was produced; it was considered San Diego's first coffee company.
Article: (but I noticed these referred to their older spot, which is interesting since they opened in their former location in April of this year):
"A slice of Southern hospitality lands in Little Italy" SD Eater, March 29, 2018
Pamela's Kitchen Table
621 West Fir St.
San Diego, CA 92101
(858) 880-7783
www.pamelaskitchentable.com/fb page + reviews from you know where
D's Birthday Crawl 2018 in order:
Return to Herb & Eatery
Devil's Dozen Donut Shop
Portal Coffee
Little Italy Farmer's Market, the new Food Hall and Blick
and this last post!
Last year's crawl in 3 parts (we did an LA road trip which was epic):
"The Trifecta - Cream Pan, THH & Kolache Factory"
"G & B + Blue Bottle @ The Bradbury + The Last Bookstore"
"Return to Mae Tings, LAC-C, LA's Chinatown + Dinner on Convoy St. @ Hui An Garden"
Next birthday crawl will be for TORC, whose real birthday is at September's end; the crawl will be sometime in October. Gotta plan for that!
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