Tasty's Blog

Restaurant Week has arrived! It’s one of San Diego’s best events, now in its twelfth year: all over the county, restaurants of every stripe participate in prix-fixe menus and specials. That means that if you like to eat well (and who doesn’t?) you can not only get some of the best value for your dollar…

If you’re in San Diego, you probably have noticed the fact that it is raining.  Not just any rain, either — it’s a true-blue El Niño, one storm after another lined merrily up to dump some long-overdue moisture on our parched and cracking soil. While the rain is undeniably good for everyone in the region, it can put a damper (pun intended) on outdoor activities.   The animals are almost all in hiding at the San Diego Zoo, walking around Sea World is a chore, and hiking up a steep and muddy hill?  Forget about it. But, of course, that’s what we are here for.  Whether you’re visiting or you live here, we have delightful and delicious ideas for your activities, all of which, of course, involve wonderful wines, lip-smackingly delicious beers, and some of the best food you’ve ever had…

Image Courtesy: Flickr user bayasaa Here we are once again at the end of yet another year.  But what a year it’s been! This is the year that everything started to change.  San Diego got on the map as the foodie landmark it’s always deserved to be; our region started to make headway in the wine…

We are proud to announce that we are now members of the prestigious 500 Club! What’s that, you’re asking? We’re tickled pink to tell you. We’re just bursting at the seams with pride, in fact, because what that means is that we have now received more than 500 five-star reviews from the TripAdvisor community.   Sure, this may come across as bragging, but the truth is we know that we wouldn’t be able to make our trips wonderful without the people who come along with us. Sampling fine foods and delicious beers and wines is a wonderful thing, but without people to share them with, the pleasure is dulled.  We’re so happy to have such wonderful company along for the ride, quite literally.  When we’re on the train watching a glorious sunset over the Pacific Ocean, our bellies full of the best…

San Diego is a very special place for a number of reasons. First, there’s the remarkable weather: mostly gentle and warm, with a Mediterranean climate and miles of the most glorious coastline anyone’s ever seen.  Then, there are the people: friendly and kind and — not to toot our own horns or anything — but San Diegans have been named some of the best looking people in the country for years, a combination of our lifestyle choices, the outdoor living, and… well, it’s probably something to do with our amazing craft beer scene! But there’s another reason San Diego is special, and that’s the proximity to the international border.  Our culture is deeply infused with all things Mexico, from our whitewashed, ranch-style homes to our delicious San Diego-style tacos to our slang… and our holidays.  All over San Diego, people are celebrating Dia…

This week isn’t just the leadup to Halloween.  It also contains a very special day, one that everyone should celebrate, one with a near-universal appeal. We’re talking about National Cat Day, of course. What better time to tell your furry feline friends how much you appreciate them? Sure, they may not understand.  More likely, however,…

Photo Courtesy: Flickr user Kulicki San Diego has a lot going for it. Beaches, mountains, great weather, great people, great beer – and great golf.  It’s a well-kept secret that San Diego has some world class golf courses – more than 90 throughout the county – and they’re all great for different reasons.  Of course,…

October is here, again! Already! It’s a wonderful time of year.  Time to break out your best pumpkin carving skills and Halloween or Day of the Dead decorations, because the autumn winds are blowing away the last bits of El Nino humidity and making it the beautiful season it always is in San Diego! It’s possible to find some scary good wines out there to augment your grown-up costume party, and it doesn’t have to be a terrifying experience.  So if you’re looking around for something new, try one of these ideas on for size. If you’re rushing to the supermarket, don’t just grab the same tired old chardonnay you’ve been getting for the past couple of years. In fact, don’t get chardonnay at all. Everybody loves chardonnay, so try something different. Plus, it’s fall. Go for a big bold California red!…

Labor Day is almost upon us again – already!  It’s been an odd year, thanks to an El Nino that has kept things unseasonably warm, but now that warm weather is going to be a blessing, because this is the official weekend Americans love to get out and fire up their barbecue. Burgers are the traditional grilled food of choice, but there’s no need to worry too much about pairing your beer to your food. Since Labor Day is a time to hang around outside with friends, consider pairing your drinks to the weather instead! Since the odds are that it’s going to be a warm day, stock up on light beers with light flavors and a relatively low alcohol content so that you don’t get thirsty and end up taking an impromptu nap and missing the party! IPAs, or…

We’re coming up on the end of August, the slow and heavy days where nothing seems to happen and the bustle of early summer has been replaced by sleepy, sultry afternoons.  These are the Dog Days, so called because Sirius, the Dog Star, rises with the sun this time of year, at least in our hemisphere. It’s also the quiet interlude before Wine Country’s biggest time of year: the harvest!  This is a great time to travel to California if you don’t live here, or explore the region around you if you do, because there are all kinds of events that take place around harvest season. Harvest time lasts a couple of months, because some grapes take a little longer to ripen than others or are left a little longer on the vine.  It starts around September (although some grapes…

The dog days of summer are upon us. Hammock Day, July 22, 2015, is a way to celebrate the warmest days of the year by embracing the sunshine, grabbing a drink, and – you guessed it – basking in a hammock. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours invites you to enjoy the rest of your dog days by partaking in one of their various excursions which allows you to sit back and enjoy the best brews and wines of San Diego, car-free! Their all-inclusive tours offer a VIP experience for you and your party to indulge in a “vine to glass” or “hop to table” experience with local food and wine or beer appreciated at the production facilities. The best part being that there is no need to drink and drive. Their guided tours provide transportation between the vineyards, winery,…

Oh, hey! It’s nearly July 4th already?  How did this happen so fast?  It feels like just yesterday that we were waiting up to see in the new year, and here it is Independence Day. We love the Fourth of July.  It’s nice and warm, the day is long and punctuated by food and cold drinks, and at the end of it we get fireworks!  Usually, we put up a guide to pairing wines and beers with your barbecue foods, but this time, we’ve scoured the web to find ways for you to work your favorite drinks into your favorite summer recipes. If you’re grilling beef, accompany it with a porter or stout reduction sauce to simultaneously tenderize it and bring out the smoky tanginess of the beer.  Reductions are super easy and really delicious – all it means is…