in town for business

Everyone told me SD was the best city. The last memory I have of it is the zoo and the inside of a hotel room while my dad was doing his conference rounds. I figured I'd make it back there eventually.
Weekend getaway one was San Diego.



Sunday event is nice because that gives me all of Saturday to up my step count while eating as much as I can.

Heard there was a Donut Bar and couldn't resist getting one for breakfast. I was almost discouraged but waiting in line seemed like a better alternative to finding and waiting in line at another brunch spot. The fried raspberry pistachio happiness was worth the wait - large enough to even save half for breakfast the next day.

Don't think self control wasn't involved though. I was also on the hunt for some tacos, which helped pace the donut eating. I found Serrano's just a couple blocks away.
Tamarind margarita to start? Yes, sí, oui, sim. Gimmegimmegimme. The perfect rim of tajín was the best part. Good thing the place was mostly empty at the odd post-lunch hour because I was shamelessly licking it clean...

...while waiting for my birria and octopus tacos. 

The birria didn't stand a chance against the octopus.
But what really made it for me was the red sauce. Their medium version, made with a Japanese chile. I was about halfway through eating it by the spoonful before I pinpointed that it reminded me of hibachi sauce.

The event lacked a bit of organization and was definitely smaller than I imagined in terms of number of vendors. We left for a pretty incredible vegan dinner at Donna Jean, and it's a good thing we did because we heard that they promptly ran out of food at the night market portion of the event.

I didn't care though - I was too busy buried in the hominy. Oh my lord, the hominy. With black garlic, NM chile, chorizo spiced tempeh, mushrooms, and cilantro. The NM chile was what got me. It reminded me of my elementary school friend who would bring hominy to lunch, and it was so intriguing to me, I got a craving for the stuff before I really understood what it was.

That could've been a main on it's own, but I got a main anyways. All I heard were several types of mushrooms when I decided I had to have the risotto special. The mushrooms were so meaty and the risotto so surprisingly creamy.

I never thought I'd crave a vegan meal again, but damn Donna Jean.