iPhood: Chef Rich Sweeney's R Gang Eatery

A few months ago at the San Diego Influence Awards, a few of us from the San Diego "Momfia" totally accosted the cutest guy in the room and tried to talk him into letting us adopt him and make him an honorary Mommy Blogger. Theresa from Rock on Mommies and I then spent the next few months internet stalking Aaron Hier (or @AHizz as he's known by his adoring fans), like a bunch of 12 year old's would stalk Justin Bieber. Yes. It was kind of pathetic. But our efforts paid off in the end... and a few weeks ago we got the invitation we were waiting for.

One of Aaron's best friend's is Chef Rich Sweeney (of Top Chef Season 5 fame), and just last month Chef Rich opened his new restaurant, R Gang Eatery, in Hillcrest. Being the Top Chef uber-fan that I am, I was THRILLED when Aaron invited us to dinner at San Diego's hot new restaurant and got downright giddy over the propect of meeting Chef Rich in person. 

Drinks and Apps

We began the evening with R Gang's signature cocktail, the "Prickly Pear Margarita". With habanero-infused vodka and pear lemonade, this drink was definitely "prickly" - and that chili flavor hits you in the back of the mouth as you swallow. Of course, it didn't stop me from DOWNING mine. For the appetizer, Aaron ordered us the portabello fries. Now, I'm not a huge mushroom fan, but I am a huge fan of fries, so I gave them a whirl. And politely had to stop myself from scarfing up the rest of the plate and leaving none for my dinner-mates. 

Dinner

While both Theresa and Aaron had the fab looking burger with TATER TOTS on the side (yes, TOTs, which almost swayed my decision) I decided to go with something a little different. I had a hard time deciding between the Mac n' Cheese and the Chicken Curry Pot Pie, but thanks to the suggestion from our totally a-dorable waiter Terence, I went with the Chicken Curry Pot Pie. And I was SO HAPPY I did! While apparently the burgers at R Gang are good enough to turn a vegetarian into a meat-loving sinner, the pot pie was more unique in its flavors and was very well seasoned. Oy, how Tom Colicchio of me to say...

Dessert

Now, if you are as obsessive about Top Chef as we are around here, you may remember Chef Rich's shining moment - when he was asked to pack his knives and go for making S'Mores for the Foo Fighters. And as a nod to his last night with Padma, you better believe that there are delish S'Mores for dessert at R Gang... along with banana pudding with homemade Nilla wafers covered in chocolate, and strawberry rhubarb cobbler. And yes, we did order all three. NOMNOMNOM.

The DISH.

The food, the drinks, the adorable waiters all put this restaurant high on my list. But really, I was a bit star-struck and could not get over how amazingly gracious Chef Rich was. When things slowed down a bit, he took the time to hang out with us and talk to us about his Top Chef experience. Being the TV whore that I am, I was practically squirming with excitement. 

First thing, the thing I know you all want to know. Yes, it's not just your television: Padma is smoking hot. Rich said there was something about her...she is fabulous in every way. He also said that Gail has the most amazing palate he's ever met. He said you could put a pinch of something in your dish and she would catch it. Tom was hilarious and had a great personality, and Toby Young, who can come across as the harshest of the Top Chef judges, was actually a really great guy. Chef Rich also had nothing by praise for his fellow contestants, and told us that they are kinda like a fraternity; only people that have been on Top Chef can truly understand the experience.

Rich answered our questions about where they went after they packed their knives ("Elimination Island", a secret location where the eliminated chefs are sequestered until the regular season wraps up shooting) and talked about how hard it was not to be able to tell your friends and family where you went off to for 5-6 weeks - even after coming home. 

Chef Rich was honestly one of the nicest people I've met in a long time. He was open, sincere and the type of guy you would want to sit back and have a few drinks with. We talked about his love of bacon, and I tried to impress him with my Bacon Cupcake/Bacon Toffee achievement, which he immediately topped by hinting at the BACON MADNESS that he's perfecting for his new brunch menu, along with chicken n' waffles and his build your own Bloody Mary/Maria option. Drool.

The evening was a blast, and while in the beginning Theresa and I may have wanted to adopt Aaron, now we are just hoping he and Rich will adopt us!

 R Gang Eatery

3683 Fifth Avenue - Hillcrest

Dinner Tues-Sat 5-11PM & Brunch Fri-Sun 9A-3PM

Delicious Dish - Pasta Heaven

I think we can all say that we are looking a little closer at the things we eat these days. Not just from a dieting calorie counting stand-point, but from a healthy lifestyle view. Movies like Food, Inc and shows like Jaime Oliver's food revolution have really brought to the forefront the idea behind trying to eat simpler, healthier and not so processed food. 

I struggle with this daily. I love food and love to eat good food. I'm not happy replacing items that I love with things that are just over-processed and lower in fat/calories. Earlier this year, I started seeing a naturopathic doctor regarding some recurring issues. Since I've been seeing her, I've learned a lot about treating the underlying issue, and not just treating the symptom. An idea so simple that I'm working on approaching my diet the same way.

Over the past week I was introduced to two similar fresh and easy pasta recipes from two very cool bloggers - ModChick's Lindsey and PureMama's Juli. Both were simple, fresh, easy and OH SO DELISH. 

Over at ModChick, Lindsay made her family a summer pappardelle with tomatoes and arugula. Go check out her pictures and tell me your mouth is not watering. I dare you! While I'm not not a fan of tomatoes (that's actually putting it nicely), I know that Jason loves them and that he would so dig this dish. And arugula ON your pasta?! I had never thought of that, but lemme tell you.. I may never eat pasta without it again. 

Then last Saturday night my friend Juli from Pure Mama's had us over for dinner. She told me she was just whipping up some simple pasta, but I will say that nothing about this pasta was simple tasting. Juli sautéed some green beans, asparagus and garlic and in a separate pan mushrooms. She made some Angel Hair noodles, tossed in some olive oil - then served the pasta, the veggies with fresh parsley, toasted pine nuts, some parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon. Simple, easy, fresh and heavenly!

With these thoughts in mind as I ran to Trader Joe's at 5:00 yesterday (obviously, I'm insane), I did a bit of a mash-up between the two pastas. Jason's had the tomatoes, while the rest of us had the peas and asparagus mix. 

The arugula, cheese and lemon made the dish for me, with the added hint of bacon crumbs rounding out the flavor with that touch of salt. 

The kids liked it, Jason liked it - and I actually COOKED something which made everyone happy...  we were in Pasta Heaven. 

iPhood; The Fish Tacos and Chevys Experience

When Chef Jason Neroni was interviewed recently about why he chose to leave San Diego and the restaurant Blanca in Solana Beach, he was quoted as saying "The running joke other chefs told me was that all San Diegans want is fish tacos. It was funny for a moment, and then it got annoying because it was true."

Ouch. But... well... true?

Down in San Diego, we are known for a few things: perfect weather, obscenely high housing costs, and fish tacos. So when I was offered the change to test out 4 of the best Fish Taco spots in San Diego with the Chevrolet Best Of Tours - I jumped at the chance. A beautiful sunny day, 8 different fish tacos and the chance to drive a Camaro?! Who wouldn't?

Stop #1 - South Beach Bar and Grill in Ocean Beach

When we all first met up, we were encouraged to drive or drive in each of the 5 different Chevys lined up to take us to our 4 stops. I immediately leaned over to La Jolla Mom Katie and said "That's all you, I get nervous test driving cars..." {note: foreshadowing} With that she hoped into the front seat of the Malibu and drove us to our first stop. 

Fish Taco Talk: I would have been happy staying there all day. The sun was shining and the ocean was right there, and the tacos were light, crispy and perfectly cooked. There was a little hint of spice to them and the white sauce was enough to give you the flavor but not enough to drown your food. I wanted to devour them, but being this was only stop one, I ate one and politely pushed the other away {sob}.The only thing missing was a beer. But since we were encouraged to drive, we were asked not to drink. That's fine - I needed to be smart and professional anyway. HA. 

Stop #2 The Brigantine, Shelter Island.

We step out from the loud bar buzz of South Beach Bar and Grill to a line of Chevys waiting for us. The one that I was actually very interested in was the Traverse, Chevy's 3 row "crossover". Somehow the keys ended up in my hand and I hopped into the front seat to drive 7 of us to "The Brig" in Shelter Island. 

Last year Jason and I thought it may be time to start looking at a new car to replace my Audi A4 (which i love love love, but alas is a tad small these days). We were getting to the mindset of carpools, lugging crap, 2 kids + dog, etc, and while there is NOWAYINHELL I will drive a mini-van (sorry MiniV moms. While the sliding doors are enticing, I. Just. Can't. Do. It.), we still need something with some size. Enter in the "crossovers" - the SUV/MiniVan mix - for the mom that wants the minivan perks without the mini-van. The selling point - many of them have 2nd row captain seats! GENIUS! Last year when I went to test drive the 3rd row Pathfinder, my first question was "How does Grandma get to the 3rd row with 2 carseats in the 2nd row?" Car seats pretty much render 3rd rows useless, because if you have ever had to install a car seat you KNOW you can't be doing that at every stop you make. Okay. Rant over.

As we learned as I carefully drove through the narrow streets of OB, the Traverse was actually designed by female engineers and many of the ideas for features came directly from mothers. So THATS why the 2nd row is captain seats - because a MOM had some say! In quick 10 minutes I drove it, I liked it. It seemed huge on the inside but didn't look that big on the outside. It's definitely a car I will revisit. 

Fish Taco Talk: The fish taco part of this story - well, it was The Brig. Been there, done that. Good, but nothing special. Moving on...

#3 Blue Water Sea Food, lower Mission Hills area.

Feeling a bit more confident, once again I hopped in the drivers seat - this time in a HUGE Hybrid Silverado. This thing was ginormous. When I first got in, my feet didn't even touch the ground. I felt little driving this thing - like I was a kid driving in my parents car. If you need a big truck, this is a good option. Although I did get a little nervous when it slid back a little on a step hill - something that happens in the slight lag it takes the hybrid to click in. 

Fish Taco Talk: This place was packed. So crowded there was no place to sit down, so we picniced in outside on the back of the Silverado. Maybe it was the hot sun, maybe it was stop #3, but this one really didn't do it for me. But the last stop...

 #4 The Green Flash in Pacific Beach.

Having driven two other cars, I got cocky and decided to go for the win and drive the Camaro. With thoughts of Lucas screaming "BUMBLEBEE" and Jason singing "Bitchin' Camaro, Bitchin' Camaro..." in my head, I happily took this set of keys. 

This car is hawt. I kept trying to think of a way I can justify it.. hey, the backseat isn't that small...with memories of days I used to have my Hoopty (1984 Nissan 300Z), I actually got to pick up a little speed on our short freeway jaunt. When we got out of the car in Pacific Beach, I think there were actually cat calls. Strangers stopped on the street to admire the utter coolness of the new Camaro. HipMamaB lived up to her name. 

Fish Taco Talk: I knew that the Green Flash tacos would be good. An old favorite from "back in the day", the shrimp taco was delish and just what was expected. Too bad I was already so stuffed from the previous 3 stops!

All in all, it was a fun day. Fish tacos, sunshine, cool cars and new friends is a great way to spend a day in San Diego.