New Year's at the Link

Here at the Linkery we’ve been getting a lot of calls from folks wanting to come in for New Year’s, which is great. Many folks asked about our no-reservations, walk-in style, wondering if they won’t get a table. In the past, we’ve had a lot of fun on New Year’s, but we’ve never been overflowing or been on a long wait. We expect the same this year, and were looking forward to it.

So come on in, don’t sweat it. 30th Street should be a blast — all the restaurants are staying open late, and we expect a great community celebration.

Oh, and Max told me he’s doing a special chile verde with the absolute last of Curtis’ pastured chicken for the season. No more pastured chicken till late Spring!

Enjoy this New Year's Eve With No Reservations

Here at the Ritual, we know that you shouldn't have to go broke ringing in the new year. We'll honor the end of 2009 by tapping into a cask of one the best ales in San Diego: Alpine Beer Company's Nelson Rye-P.A. We'll also be serving fresh shucked oysters and mussels form Carlsbad Aqua Farms, and serving organic Prosecco by the glass (if you want bubbly). Our full dinner menu will be available for your enjoyment.

Reservations not required or accepted.
no cover charge, no dress code, no stress

Happy Hour 5:30 to 7:30pm Tues - Sat

3:30-9:30pm Sun
$3.50 most taps & $1 off select glasses of wine

Holiday Cheer at Sea Rocket

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have some great craft beers to celebrate the holidays, including a cask of Stone Smoked Porter withVanilla Beans that I just tapped; Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi, a seasonal release, a Gold Ale brewed with Frankincense and Myrh; and AleSmith YuleSmith Holiday Ale, an amber hued winter warmer with generous amounts of both hops and malt. I also accidentally broke our local beer only rule by bringing in the second annual batch of the Stone/ Jolly Pumpkin/ Nogne-O Collaborative Holiday Ale, brewed with chestnuts, white sage, caraway and juniper berries. Turns out that this batch was not brewed at Stone like last year's, but at Nogne-O in Norway. In the spirit of Christmas, I'm going to forgive myself and enjoy this delicious beer anyway. Happy holidays to all!
Chris

Cask and Oyster Night Keeps Getting Better

Each and Every Thursday at the Ritual you can count on a freshly tapped cask of locally craft brewed ale & fresh shucked Carlsbad Aqua Farm mussels. This week, December 17th we'll be serving Lighting Brewery's Amber Ale. "... an American version of classic UK Premium Bitters. Using literally buckets of hops from homegrown hop plants in the backyard and a well stocked homebrew shop, the resulting beer was big, malty, hoppy and enjoyable. You might even say like a “bitters” but bigger and better. We have taken this beer one step further at the brewery by adapting the original recipe to make optimum use of our brewing and fermenting equipment. We include selected British malts in our recipe to bring out the beers’ hoppy character and carbonate naturally to smooth out any possible rough edges."*

And to top it all off. . . this Thursday is the 3rd one in the month. . . and there's shuttle service

*Lightning Brewery Website

Citizen Video is joining forces with some awesome local peeps this holiday to help support the Lindsay Community School's pregnant and parenting teens and their children. Stop by Citizen Video and drop off a gift for the gift drive and get $5 off any of our newly printed tshirts. Moms need new or lightly used clothing or toiletries. Moms are age 12 to 18. Children need baby essentials - diapers, clothes, blankets, bottles, etc. Children are ages 4 weeks to 3 years. We'll finish up our gift drive with our EVE BEFORE THE EVE PARTY at the Whistle Stop on December 23rd. One dollar from every drink will go to benefit the Lindsay Community School. Need an excuse to have a drink during the madness of the holidays. Well now you have a great one.

Is 30th Street in North Park or the North Pole?

It's been so cold outside lately, we're not quite sure ourselves. The Ritual Tavern is the perfect spot to warm your bones and fill your belly this December. Why not come in tonight, have a hot bowl of Shepherd's Pie (or French Onion Soup), a pint of winter ale, and do your holiday shopping at the same time? Ritual Gift Certificates, T-shirts and Hoodies are perfect for most everyone on your list :-)

Happy Hour nightly 5:30-7:30pm
All Day Sunday (3:30-9:30pm)
$3.50 draught beers & $1 off select glass wines

Here on Cask

It seems appropriate to note in this space, that Green Flash 30th Street Pale Ale is on cask at the Linkery right now. Along with several other delicious beers. Oops, it sold out before I got around to blogging it. Never mind.

30th and NYT

North Park -- and in particular the area around 30th and University -- are nicely featured in this Sunday's New York Times. Caffe Calabria, Bar Pink, and us at the Linkery represent the food and drink side, while Planet Rooth, Soul Ryde, and Rubber Rose hold down the retail.

They could have picked from dozens of other businesses in the area and also had a great story, too. That's what I love about this 'hood.

Here's South Park Walkabout Guide

South Park Holiday Walkabout
This Saturday, Dec. 5th - 6 to 10pm

Click here for a shop-by-shop guide that you may print and use.
Free trolley runs 6-10pm, with stops at Grant's Marketplace (Beech St.),
South Bark Dogwash (30th St.) and The Grove on Juniper (Juniper St.).

Bring the family!

Holiday Ritual

Its chilly and dark early, we’ll understand if you need to drop in to the Ritual for some hot soup, cask conditioned ale, music, or holiday ale.

Daniele Spadavecchia on guitar, Stone Levitation on Cask, Oysters on the Half Shell start it all off tonight.

The decorations are up and the Winter beers are rolling in. We have Alesmith YuleSmith on tap. In bottles are Big Sky Powder Hound Winter Amber Ale Shipyard Prelude, Black Diamond Winter Dubbel Ale from Walnut City, and Vintage 2008 Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi.

We have a great cold weather soup, Londoner Sausage (by Knight Salumi) and Shitake Mushroom topped with crème fraiche and fried leeks. Beginning on Friday night we will offer a hearty new entrée; Niman Ranch Lamb Skewer with Souzie’s Organic Turkish Eggplant over Basmati Pilaf with red bell pepper sauce.

This weekend the neighborhood will offer seasonal attractions, including the North Park Toyland Parade on Saturday at 11:00 am and December Nights this Friday and Saturday in Balboa Park.

Top your Saturday off with our Winter Beer Flight featuring the new Winter Powder Hound, Prelude and Dubbel Ale bottles just in and mentioned above for just $5.

Keep the festivities going with our all day Sunday happy hour special featuring a Niman Pulled Pork slider and Onion Rings with selected draught beer for only $8.00.

Cheers!

Celebrate Prohibition Repeal Anniversary w/Alchemy

We often toast to friends, happiness and health. But on Dec.6, South Park restaurant Alchemy encourages raising those glasses to celebrate what we are allowed to fill them with – alcohol.

In celebration of the 76^th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition, Alchemy will be hosting a “Silent Sunday” prohibition cocktail party starting at 8 p.m. Resident mixologist Frankie Thaheld and guest bartender Nate Stanton of El Dorado Cocktail Lounge will be on hand to dish out delicious drinks throughout the evening. As with a traditional “Silent Sunday” at Alchemy, a silent film from Citizen Video will be projected. Local crooner Melly Frances will perform her unique blend of blues and jazz inspired tunes with an accompanying bassist.

SD Tweed Ride, Saturday December 12

A bike ride celebrating style, camaraderie, transportation, and fun. It starts on the 30th Street corridor, natch.

South Park Walkabout this Sat. 12/5

Reminder: South Park's annual Holiday Walkabout is this Saturday, December 5th. A good time to enjoy holiday lights, refreshments, music, specials and sales in the neighborhood.

Beer Week: Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies aka Meet the Brewer!

As you already know, San Diego's first ever Beer Week continues through this weekend. Here at the Ritual we are extremely excited to pair food with some of best beers in the world. Tonight we'll continue the trend by pouring Alpine Brew Co. 'Pure Hoppiness' on Cask and 'Duet' on tap. We'll also be serving BBQ Niman Ranch Pulled Pork Sliders (2) with sweet potato fries $8.50 in honor of the soon to be opened Alpine Brew Co. BBQ restaurant. Come in tonight and you'll have the pleasure of drinking with the brewer/owners of Alpine Brew, Pat and Val.

Tomorrow night, Saturday November 14th, the Ritual is serving our last dinner and pairing of Beer Week. New English Brewing is one of the newest additions to the San Diego brewing community. Simon Lacey the owner/brewer will be presenting 4 tasty beers paired with traditional English fare (6 pm: $40 + tax & tip) Please RSVP 619.283.1618 or info@ritualtavern.com

Cheers! from all of us at the Ritual :-

Saturday Night in South Park

Before (or after) dinner this Saturday night, check out the fun and festivity at some of South Park's favorite shops and stops:

* The Grove on Juniper -- 6th Anniversary Party, 6-9pm, Sat. 11/14.

* An Evening of Art & Shopping -- at Maeve Riley, Mythology (both on 30th St., just north of Juniper), and Junc Boutique (on Fern St., just south of Juniper).

NORTH COAST FLIGHT & KEEP THE GLASS

TUESDAY, NOV. 10

Starting at 5pm the first 72 people to order any North Coast beer get a free Keeper-Pint.

FLIGHTS OF SIX-5OZ BEERS FOR $15
Scrimshaw Pilsner, Red Seal Ale, Pranqster Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Brother Thelonious Belgian Abbey Ale, Le Merle Saison and Old Rasputin Imperial Stout

We'll be serving the VERY RARE and AWESOME
Bourbon Barrel Aged Old Rasputin 12th Anniversary Stout
AND
Red Seal CASK CONDITIONED on the beer Engine

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 11 CHIMAY KEEP THE GOBLET

Chef Aaron LaMonica gets crafty with
Chimay Red, White & Blue as he creates
Chimay Cheese, Beer and Food Pairings.
First 96 people get a Chimay Keeper-Goblet.

Beer Week Continues. . .

Saints and Sinners alike are welcome to partake in this Wednesday's San Diego Beer Week event at the Ritual: 4 courses of Lost Abbey beers paired with equally delicious food.

Beer Week Continues. . .

Ritual Tavern is excited about San Diego Beer Week, and our upcoming dinner and beer pairings! Tuesday November 10th we're pleased to offer a taste of London on 30th Street. Join Dennis Hartman of Fuller's for an enlightening presentation of the artfully brewed Fuller's beers paired with traditional English fare, including four beers and three food courses. Fuller's London Pride, ESB, 1845 and London Porter complimented by Roast Beet Salad, Roast Leg of Lamb, and Chocolate Pudding! $40 per person plus tax and gratuity. Call 619 283 1618 for reservations or email info@ritualtavern.com

Happy Beer Week from the Linkery and 30th Street

It's Beer Week! And The Nation's Best Beer Boulevard ain't gonna disappoint.

Probably the highlight of the week, from a 30th Street point of view, is the Green Flash Progressive Beer Dinner on Thursday...replete with a free hop-on/hop-off shuttle running up and down the three-oh.

As for us here at the Linkery...here's our lineup.

* We're starting a day early, Thursday, with Alesmith Winter Yule on cask paired with fried green tomatoes (local, of course) and with Stone Ruination on cask paired with grilled Baja octopus and ginger chile dressing. I know that a lot of you won't read this before Thursday is done, but fortunately we'll have Winter Yule on cask Friday, too. It's an Imperial Red Ale, 9% ABV, hand tended by AleSmith's cask maestro Bill Batten.

Then the real stuff starts. I'm pretty confident that this week we're setting a benchmark for craft beer celebrations at a farm-to-table restaurant:

* Friday the 6th is Airdale Airlines Nite. This is just meant to be a lot of fun and showcase Airdale, which is a newcomer to the local brewing scene but worthy of being a San Diego brewery. We'll have their Pale Ale, Spiced Porter, and Dark & Stormy Tap on draft -- at $1 each for everyone dressed in their pilot or flight crew carb. I figure the place should look like something from "Only Angles Have Wings" (Howard Hawks/Clark Gable joint, Google it.)

* Sunday the 8th, all day and nite, is our Green Flash Smoke Out. We're super-sizing (in a non fast-food sense) our regular Smokehouse Sunday to include 6 GF beers on cask, and 5 on draft. The cask beers all have specific pairings, too, and they're avaliable for $8 for the dish of food and a half pour of beer. A couple unusual beers on cask include Hop-less, Green Flash's new gruit beer made with herbs instead of hops, and SuperFreak, Green Flash's Belgian IPA with wild yeast for sourness and aged in wine barrels. Green Flash brewer and loyal North Parkian Chuck Silva will be on the premises, we'll have sausages made from Green Flash's spent barley, and Max is also considering spit roasting a pig. Just 'cause. Here's the full menu.

* Thursday the 12th is the Green Flash progressive dinner. For this we're teaming up with our great neighbor restaurants on 30th: Sea Rocket Bistro, Ritual Tavern, Jayne's Gastropub, and (on 30th in spirit only) Blind Lady Ale House. At each location you'll find multiple Green Flash beers available with paired dishes always under $10 for the pairing. If you're really a hedon you can probably get up to 12 or 15 in total. Green Flash is running a hop-on/hop-off shuttle on 30th to make it easy to get to all the venues. As an added bonus, totally unrelated to Green Flash, Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing, who is an inspiration to all of us who love craft food and beverages, will be at Toronado right up the street that night, too.

* Saturday we're capping off the week with a reprise of one of our most successful beer events ever: Mad River Serious Madness 2. Mad River is a phenomenal brewery from Blue Lake, California in Humboldt County. We've been friends with them a while, and once again they are bringing 6 cask beers and 5 draft beers to bust out on Saturday at noon. It's very rare for Mad River to offer specialty brews -- they're known for their consistent and excellent lineup -- so this is an amazing opportunity for which we are very grateful. We'll have their bourbon stout, double brown, chile beer, pumpkin ale, wheat wine and more. And, of course, we'll have pairings for each of the cask beers, at $8 for the food and the half pour of beer. Check out the full menu.

* Every nite of beer week we'll have multiple cask conditioned beers (actually we have that every nite of the year), great craft beers on draft, lots of delicious food, and, you know, good wine and house made nonalcoholic beverages too.

* Totally unrelated to Beer Week, we're co-sponsoring a free showing of Food, Inc. at the Velo Cult Bike Shop on Saturday nite. It's a look inside the industrial food system that we at the Linkery are working to move beyond. We like the fun of what we do but we also don't forget that we're trying to develop a way of eating and living that you and we will be happy to be in touch with. Food, Inc is another step toward a world like that. If you're interested, come to Velo Cult (2220 Fern, it's basically 30th but randomly has a different name that block) by 7pm on Saturday nite. Some of us will ride up to the Link for dinner afterward.

Green Flash Hop-less(?!) on Cask at Sea Rocket

Beer without hops?! Yes it's true, Green Flash brewmaster Chuck Silva, with a little help from his friends, went way old school and cooked up a medieval style beer called Ancient Gruit. We'll be tapping the cask on Friday, November 6, at Sea Rocket Bistro to kick off San Diego Beer Week.

Hamilton's 3rd Anniversary Ale Hop-less (Ancient Gruit)

Hop-less Gruit is a collaboration brew at Green Flash Brewing between
Brewmaster Chuck Silva and Head Brewer, Ben Spencer, from Magnolia Brewing
in San Francisco. Under Chuck's careful guidance, Scot Blair and Dennis
Borlek from Hamilton's Tavern performed several of the brewing functions
like mashing in and grain out as well as adding herbs to the boil. That's
right! Herbs!! No hops were used in brewing this Old World Gruit Ale.
Instead we used Marsh Rosemary, Sweet Gale, Yarrow Flowers, Rose Hips,
Heather Tips, and Elder Flowers. These herbs provide the bittering balance
as well as a complimentary herbal sweetness to the rich barley sugar
character. The malt make up is very similar to a big brown ale and the aroma
is both sweet and savory making it a great option for pairing with many
flavorful dishes (think venison). Hop-less finishes at 5.7% abv.

Start San Diego Beer Week with a 4 course Dinner and a Show

To kick off San Diego Beer Week, Shmaltz Brewing Company and Ritual Tavern will team up to present a beer and food pairing dinner that you won't soon forget. For only $40.00, you will be treated to four delicious courses paired with four of Shmaltz Brewing Company's award-winning beers, you'll also enjoy an unbelievable performance by the Saint Twins, the world's first and only twin thought readers. Featuring both HE'BREW beers as well as Coney Island Craft Lagers (TM), this unique menu is inspired both by Jewish food culture as well as the age-old carny lifestyle. Join us for a night of food, freaks, and fun!

MENU*:

Pumpkin Soup
Candied Cranberry
Coney Island Freaktoberfest
***
Candied Apple
Kiwi sorbet
Coney Island Albino Python
***
Phyllo Wrapped Salmon Filet
Aparagus, red onion, cream cheese
Topped with sun dried tomato pesto
Over creamed spinach
Coney Island Lager
***
Chocolate Éclair
HE’BREW Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah

SPACE IS LIMITED SO RSVP SOON TO RITUAL TAVERN info@ritualtavern.com or (619) 283-1618

*Menu subject to change based on availability and whim of the chef. L'Chaim!!

BEER WEEK IS COMING!!!!!

Here we go, one of the best weeks (actually 9 days) on the calendar. November 6 - 15 the San Diego brewing community has put together a reason to get out and drink good beer. All over town restaurants, bars and taverns will be featuring amazing beer selections to celebrate craft brewing. Check out http://sdbw.org/ for all the details.

Alchemy will be featuring Wandering Aengus Cider, Stone Brewing Co. and Ommegang Brewery. Each night we will pair our tapa del dia with a beer from these three breweries...yum yum. Come on by, see ya soon.

Beer Wars!

It's pretty amazing to take a risk to create something great, and to share that creation with a lot of people. The craft breweries around San Diego have done that with their beers, and filmmaker Anat Baron has done that by making a movie about the beer industry and how craft brewing is seriously shaking things up.

We're having a special showing of the movie, Beer Wars, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Anat Baron and Chuck Silva of Green Flash Brewing. This is a unique opportunity to see the first screening of this film in the city of San Diego.

Anat's background, skill, and personality were able to get people to open up during interviews and tell it like it really is. From the annual beer industry convention in Las Vegas to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, this gives you a larger perspective on what happens in San Diego every day. Plus, our own Greg Koch of Stone Brew has some hilarious clips in the film that you won't want to miss! And if that's not enough, we'll also be showing a short DVD that Greg shot at the original airing in Los Angeles when the live panel discussion was filmed.

How to see the movie

The screening is limited to 40 people and will take place on the first Sunday of San Diego Beer Week, November 8th at noon at Sea Rocket. The cost will be $10. Come as early as 11am or stay late to enjoy some beer and lunch including local grass-fed lamburgers, line caught American tuna melts, and mushroom sandwiches.

Email your name and phone number to dennis@searocketbistro.com to RSVP or give me a call at 858-663-7752.

See what else we have going on during Beer Week here.

Horror Trailers at the Whistle Stop

We will be screening our fourth annual horror trailers this Thursday, October 29th at the Whistle Stop Bar. The show starts at 9pm. Come and be horrified by all the greatest moments in film horror history with a specific focus on American 80's and Italian horror. Heads explodes, zombies fight sharks, trash roams the streets and more. If you haven't decided on your Halloween costume yet, this is the place to be inspired. View the trailer below for a taste of what's to come. We'll have an intermission set by new-to-the-San-Diego-scene NUDE BOY. We can't believe how fun this is going to be.

Autumn arrives on 30th Street

Fall is in the air and we're celebrating the fact at Sea Rocket with our good friends from Airdale Brewing Company. We'll be featuring three of their beers on tap this weekend and Chef Christy will be preparing a special menu to go with them. We'll have Butternut Squash Soup paired with Afterburner Amber Ale, Autumn Roast Pork Stew with Homecoming Spiced Porter, and our Chocolate Stout Cake with the Dark and Stormy Imperial Stout. Three course with beer for just $25!

Airdale Afterburner, is a beautifully balanced amber ale. Combining a rich, malty aroma and flavor with the subtle, lingering character of perle and amarillo hops, Afterburner delivers a winning combination of sweet and bitter. This beer is a rich ruby red color with a creamy head. Notes of caramel and toffee invade the palate while finishing with a smooth bitterness. At 5.3% alcohol, Afterburner is a supremely drinkable beer while maintaining a full-flavored approach. Amber Ales tend to be more approachable than their pale ale cousins.
5.3% ABV / 34 IBU's / 18 SRM
Airdale Homecoming, is a classic brown porter spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. It starts with hints of espresso on the nose and a light malt sweetness with faint traces of chocolate and vanilla. Caramel notes come through as well. The Holiday spices are faint, allowing the porter's flavor to dominate while the spices enhance the chocolate notes. A light-bodied beer, the finish is smooth with a subtle hoppy bitterness. A wonderful warming effect makes this beer a perfect holiday treat! Available from October thru December.
5.5% ABV / 25 IBU's / 35 SRM
Airdale Dark & Stormy, is an American Imperial Stout. This beer starts with a pleasant aroma of coffee and cocoa. A gourmet flavor of bittersweet chocolate surrounds the tastebuds and melds with the full-bodied beer to make this sensation last and last. Not too dry, not too sweet, Dark & Stormy blends the two into a wonderful semi-sweet taste. The high alcohol imparts a comfortable warming feel, but is perfectly balanced with the flavors and aromas. A nice coffee bitterness lingers on the finish, enticing you to take another sip.
9.5% ABV / 50 IBU's / 65 SRM

Want even more fall specials? How 'bout Coronado Brewing Company's Red Devil on cask? It's an imperial amber ale that is literally a double version of the Mermaid Red - twice the hops, twice the malt for a big, bold red ale.

Ritual Tavern: Tuesday Flight/ Thursday Cask

Ale Flight Tuesday

Last Sunday Ritual offered a flight of seasonal/autumnal beers. The response was so great (nearly went though a case of Smashed Pumpkin) we're doing it again today, Tuesday October 20th. Get your hands on three tasting size goblets and sip Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale with Natural Flavor, Belzebuth Blond Ale with a frightening 13% alcohol content, and the seasonal release from Eel River, Organic Salient de Scotia Brune.

Cask and Oyster Thursday at the the Ritual: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Each Thursday the Ritual Tavern features cask ale* from San Diego’s best craft breweries and fresh shucked local Carlsbad Aqua Farm oysters. This week we’re featuring the 2009 GABF Silver Medalist in the American Style IPA category. Chosen from 134 entries, Sculpin IPA is one of the best beers to come out of San Diego, aka, the best beer city in America! Great in the bottle, it’s even better on cask.
Join us, won’t you?


Happy Hour: $3.50 Taps / $1 off select glasses of wine
(Cask Ale not included in Happy Hour pricing)
5:30 -7:30pm Tuesday – Saturday
3:30 – 9:30 Sunday


*“Cask-conditioned beer, often referred to as 'real ale', is brewed from only traditional ingredients and allowed to mature naturally.

The unfiltered, unpasteurised beer still contains live yeast, which continues conditioning the beer in the cask (known as 'secondary fermentation'); this process creates a gentle, natural CO2 carbonation and allows malt and hop flavours to develop, resulting in a richer tasting drink with more character than standard keg ('brewery-conditioned') beers.

Real ale is always served without any extraneous gas, usually by manually pulling it up from the cellar with a handpump (also known as a 'beer engine'). This is the traditional way of brewing and serving beer; only a few decades ago did filtered, pasteurised, chilled beer served by gas become normal.” http://www.cask-ale.co.uk/us/realale.html

Chargers on the big screen at Sea Rocket

We'll be showing the Monday Night Football game on the big screen television in our front room tonight. All our San Diego County draft beers will be just three bucks during the game, plus we'll have barbecued ribs, sloppy joe's and cole slaw too. Of course we'll also have plenty of fresh local seafood as always. Come by and support the local team, local breweries and local foods tonight!

Ballast Point Sculpin on Cask at Sea Rocket

I just tapped a cask of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, and I must say it's one of the finest beers I've ever tasted.
Ratebeer.com calls it the 5th best IPA in the world.
Ballast Point says:
The Sculpin IPA is a testament to our humble beginnings as Home Brew Mart. Founded in 1992, the Mart continues to be a catalyst for the San Diego brewing scene, setting the trend for handcrafted ales. Inspired by our customers, employees and brewers, the Sculpin IPA is bright with aromas of apricot, peach, mango and lemon. Its lighter body also brings out the crispness of the hops. This delicious Ballast Point Ale took a Bronze Medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival in the Pro Am category. The Sculpin fish has poisonous spikes on its fins that can give a strong sting. Ironically, the meat from a Sculpin is considered some of the most tasty. Something that has a sting but tastes great, sounds like a Ballast Point India Pale Ale.
Come by and try a glass tonight!
Also serving fresh, local opah, swordfish, lobster dip (local spiny lobster), oysters, clams, mussels and much more tonight.

Flights of Fancy: Oysters, Beer and Jazz)

Gypsy jazz guitar returns tonight to the Ritual.  Daniele Spadavecchia
has a new venue in our acoustically rich wood paneled dining hall.
You may have seen him play at Urban Solace, the Farmer’s Market in
North Park or at Zia’s Bistro in Little Italy.    Its great to have
lively acoustic guitar back again on the first and third Thursdays of
each month.  

This week’s cask is Old Curmudgeon Imperial Porter from Rock Bottom La
Jolla.    It took a Silver Medal home from the 2009 San Diego
International Beer Competition in the Smoke Flavored & Wood Aged Beer
category.  

Raw Fanny Bay and Mt. Simon oysters are available tonight.  Our entrée
special is Honey Mustard Salmon Filet with organic German butterball
potatoes, cherry tomatoes and sautéed leeks.  Organic Scarlet Apples
are baked into cobbler for dessert.  

Join us on Sunday for a flight of seasonal beers.  Get your hands on
three tasting size goblets and sip Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale with
Natural Flavor, Belzebuth Blond Ale with a frightening 13% alcohol
content, and the seasonal release from Eel River, Organic Salient de
Scotia Brune.  

Beer Week:
San Diego’s first ever beer week is just around the corner.  We are
starting the week with Shmaltz Brewing & Coney Island dinner on
Friday, November 6.  This four course dinner event will feature new
releases from the brewery, Freaktoberfest and Jewbilation 13, paired
with fantastic Ritual courses.    We’re also hard at work collaborating
with the breweries on the final details for our other beer week
events.  

OKTOBERFEST | Stems, not Steins, at Alchemy!

Raise your stems, not your steins, for a unique San Diego Oktoberfest dining experience!

On Thursday, October 15 at 6:30 p.m., South Park restaurant, Alchemy, will be cooking and pouring a special Oktoberfest Wine Dinner. The evening will feature a traditional German menu along with exclusive German wine pairings from Patrick Ballow of Free Run Juice.

Guests will be treated to five different wines to complement four courses of classic German fare including Brautwurst with house red cabbage sauerkraut, roasted venison with herb speatzle and strudel made with fresh Gravenstein apples, candy almonds and German Tslit cheese.

Tickets are $41 per person. Seating for this event is limited. For more information or to R.S.V.P, please call Alchemy at 619.225.0616 or visit www.alchemysandiego.com. Full menu below:

Alchemy Oktoberfest Menu

10.15.09

Executive Chef ~ Ricardo Heredia Wines ~ Patrick Ballow

Reception

Sekthaus Solter 2006 Riesling Brut Sekt, Rheingau

First Course

Kartoffelsalata

Baby Potato / Bacon / Red onion / Beer Mustard dressing / Capers

Josef Rosch 2008 Leiwener Klostergarten Kabinett Riesling

Second Course

Brautwurst

House Red Cabbage Sauerkraut / Green apple slaw

Stefan Gerhard 2005 Hattenheimer Hassel Spatlese, Rheingau

Third Course

Hirshbraten

Roasted Venison Shank / Juniper Jus / Herb Speatzle / Sheep's milk Cheese / Pretzel

Robert Konig 2007 Assmanshauser Hollenberg QbA trocken, Rheingau

Fourth Course

Strudel

Gravenstein Apples / Candy almonds / German Tslit Cheese

Dr. Loosen 2004 Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese Riesling

National Ups

In case anyone didn't see it, Men's Journal called 30th Street "easily the nation's best beer boulevard." We appreciate the recognition!

Find the colors of fall, including Red, Gold and Brown, at the Ritual.

AleSmith brews Evil Dead Red for your enjoyment during this time of year. If you want “Vivid mahogany color . . . Rich, chewy, toasty, malty flavors perfectly balanced by a moderate hoppy bitterness." (AleSmith), this is your pint. The Ritual is serving EDR cask conditioned!

Marty Mendiola won another Gold Medal last month at the Great American Beer Festival. Longboard Brown took the top honor in the English Style Brown Ale category. You can enjoy a pint from a fresh keg of Longboard from Rock Bottom La Jolla with us.

Our kitchen is sending out flavors of fall as well. Find the aroma of Niman Ranch Short Rib in the air, and you’ll be tempted to enjoy this entrée doused in rich beefy red wine demi glace.

In addition to our oyster offerings, we have Duck Chowder featuring pulled duck confit, Fried Calamari, and later this weekend; Crab Cakes.

We will also introduce new entrees including Chicken with Sundried Tomato and Artichoke heart in a White Wine Sauce, and Gruyere Mac and Cheese Gratin. You can also treat yourself to Julian Apple Crumble topped with Vanilla Ice Cream.

The latest issue of Men's Journal named San Diego as the best beer destination City in the US, noting our wealth of breweries and, of course, 30^th Street. We’re planning to make San Diego’s first ever Beer Week an event to remember. These are the evenings we have planned at the Ritual:

Shmaltz Brewing and Coney Island Lager Dinner Friday, November 6

Fullers Griffin Brewery Dinner Tuesday, November 10

Lost Abbey Dinner Wednesday, November 11

Green Flash Progressive 30th Street Dinner Thursday, November 12

New English Brewing Dinner Saturday, November 14

South Park Walkabout Sat. Night 10/3

This Saturday night, October 3rd -- South Park Harvest Walkabout, 6 to 10pm. Free trolley, shops open late, free music, specials and sidewalk tastings -- plenty for everyone to enjoy.

Celebrate openings of new businesses including STATION TAVERN & BURGERS and McM GALLERY, plus the 7th anniversary of GRANT's MARKETPLACE. Fun!

For a map with participating businesses, visit www.southparkscene.com. For a COMPLETE WALKABOUT GUIDE with what's happening everywhere -- visit www.southparkwalkabout.weebly.com.

South Park how has a Facebook page, too. Check us out at www.facebook.com/southparkscene.

Taste of North Park hits 30th Street

Lots of 30th Street restaurants and bars are part of Taste of North Park:

Ritual Tavern
Toronado San Diego
The Office Bar
Caffé Calabria
Apertivo Italian Tapas & Wine Bar
Ranchos Mexican & Vegetarian Cuisine
Heaven Sent Desserts
Bar Pink
Urban Solace Restaurant
True North Tavern
Paesano's Fine Italian Food
North Park Panini Place (NP3)
Eddie's Philadelphia Steaks
Mosaic Wine Bar
Uptown Fish Market and Grill
Bluefoot Bar & Lounge
Cardamom Café & Bakery
Zensei Sushi
Sea Rocket Bistro

Plus, other exciting places like the brand new West Coast Tavern (in the old Hawthorn's space) and Splash Wine Bar that aren't technically on 30th, but are in North Park.

Buy tickets here!

The Garden tomorrow at the Whistle Stop

Citizen Video is screening the film The Garden tomorrow (Sunday 27th) at the Whistle Stop at 4pm. The Garden is about the largest community garden in the United States - a 14 acre farm in Los Angeles. The folks from Suzie's Farm - San Diego's newest CSA farm - will join in the fun with us and bring some veggie samples. We will share our recently canned green beans from Suzie's Farm to garnish bloody mary's. Yummmmmmm. What a great way to get your veggies.

VC3

The Velo Cult Fall Social and 3rd Anniversary party was a lot of fun, and the music by Triple Chicken Foot and by Scott McDougal was awesome. (I saw undercurrents of clogging about to break out in audience.)





It was actually a lot more crowded than it looks in these photos; the camera on my Blackberry isn't really good for capturing an audience.

We're really lucky to have many world-class businesses like Velo Cult in our neighborhood. Thanks Sky and crew for a great event and for everything you do for our community.

Velo Cult Fall Social

It starts in 90 minutes! (Although it sure as heck doesn't feel like Fall.)

3 Course Meals under $30? Every Day, Every Week

Here at the Ritual Tavern, we pride ourselves on serving up quality and value every day, every week. Like many eateries in the neighborhood, we offer great locally farmed organic produce, shellfish, locally crafted beer and great value. Also, like many of the other quality restaurants on 30th Street, the Ritual will not be participating in San Diego Restaurant Week. We will, however, continue to be here for you once the glow of Restaurant Week fades :-)

You want a 3 course meal for $30? Just choose from our regular menu: favorite combinations include. . .

100% Organic Crows Pass mixed baby green salad + our famous Saddlebrush Gumbo + Organic JR Farms Strawberries with fresh whipped cream and house baked shortbread for dessert.

A full pound of local Carlsbad Aqua Farm Mussels or Charcuterie made locally by Knight Salumi + Niman Ranch all-natural Beef Burger with fresh sliced french fries, and house made condiments or Vegan Shepherd's Pie + Creme Brulee or Beer Cheesecake.

Shrimp Scampi with Sadie Rose ciabatta + Griddled Jidori Chicken Breast with local organic vegetables and organic long grain wild rice + locally made sorbet or gelato.

Add Daily Happy Hour from 5:30-7:30 Tues-Sat and all day Sunday

($3.50 Pints and $1 off select glasses of wine)

Cask Ale and fresh shucked Carlsbad Aqua Farm Oysters each Thursday. This week 9/17/09 we'll be pouring Pure Hoppiness from local favorites Alpine Brewing. Hope you can join us :-)

San Diego 30th Street Week

Are any 30th Street restaurants doing Restaurant Week? I haven't heard of it (although over at Sea Rocket they are running a great prix fixe menu for a couple weeks).

I think the reason SDRW participation isn't a big deal on 30th is because value isn't created by discounting prices -- value is created when a restaurant delivers high quality, remarkable food time after time. The kind of meals you can eat at a dozen places on this street between Alchemy and Jayne's.

30th Street Cask on 30th

Labor Day weekend has arrived. Why not start the last official big weekend of summer at the Ritual with oysters and cask ale!?! Keep in mind we can help you beat the heat with tasty beverages, air conditioning, and our ever-popular deck seating for the lovers of open air dining and drinking.

Green Flash 30th Street Pale Ale is on cask. One of our most popular draughts ever returns cask conditioned and Crystal dry hopped.

Our entrée special is Niman Ranch Pork Delmonico in a hunter sauce with Wingshadows Hacienda squash topped with herbed ricotta and organic tomato. This plate is a tasty masterpiece and a value at just $16. Later in the weekend we’ll be featuring our every popular Niman pulled pork sandwiches, the perfect holiday weekend treat.

Our stellar draught list is currently highlighted with Green Flash Summer Saison and AleSmith Speedway Stout. We have Lost Abbey Devotion, which will be followed by Lost Abbey Avant Garde. New in the bottle here is delicious Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky Brewing in Montana. All of the above are definitely among the tastiest beers ever and simply not to be missed.

The Ritual Tavern is now officially two years old, and only days remain until the Ritual Second Anniversary AleSmith pairing dinner on Wednesday, September 9th. We are guarding a cask of Nautical Nut Brown Ale and Vande Rose pork for the occasion, AleSmith cheese is on the way, and members of the AleSmith team will be on hand to celebrate with us. Limited seating for the 6:30 dinner remains, and a second 9:30 seating is available as well, so please contact us for your reservation. Secure your table by phoning 619 283 1618 or by emailing info@ritualtavern.com.

As always, the Ritual crew is here to cater to your fine taste in food and beverage, so come on in and enjoy Labor Day weekend and the Ritual Anniversary!

Cheers!

Alchemy's Labor Day Weekend SILENT SUNDAY

Trees Please

About 50 trees were recently planted along 30th and Upas. Ever since the weather got hot, we've been begging for anything to help keep us cool, and trees are really cool! So we'll be holding a little celebration at Sea Rocket Bistro on Wednesday, September 16th at 5pm. County Supervisor Ron Roberts will be there, Liz from North Park Main Street (who made all this happen!), Gordon Carrier of Carrier Johnson Architects, and possibly our councilman Todd Gloria. Come for the celebration and stay for a dinner of local seafood or some of our half priced wines by the glass that we do only on Wednesdays. More info here: http://searocketbistro.com/content/celebrate-trees

Working For Tips at the Linkery

Moonlight Brewing's no-hop beer, which uses California Redwood tips to balance the malts, will be tapped at the Linkery at 5:30pm today. Come and enjoy!

Silent Sunday @ Alchemy this Labor Day Weekend

Silent Sunday's
at
Alchemy
Labor Day Weekend
Sunday, September 6, 8pm - close

Party like it's 1929 this Labor Day weekend during SILENT SUNDAY'S, the first Sunday of each month at Alchemy in South Park. Celebrate with Alchemy this special Sunday as their mixologists introduce a few new (old) Prohibition-age cocktails including the "Princess Mary's Pride" and Georgia Moonshine Jell-O shots (really) along with their traditional absinthe service. Citizen Video will project a full-size classic silent film on the wall while patrons enjoy swingy 1920's era jazz from a live acoustic band. www.alchemysandiego.com

The Station

The Station (in the location of the former Snippy's, next to Velo Cult) is doing their "dress rehearsals" starting this week, open to the public. It looks fantastic (and, uncoincidentally, was packed when I rode by at 5:45 today). 30th gets better and better!

30th on 30th

The Linkery has 30th Street Pale Ale on cask right now, if you want to get the fully meta cask beer experience.

Doings on 30th

One Grill appears to have opened in the old Commonwealth Cafe spot next to Bluefoot. I've heard it's a Yakitori place.

A sign announcing "Fishmarket & Grill" is up at the old Panchita's next to One Grill.

Construction is going on next to Veg-N-Out.


The interwebs say that the market that went in next to Rancho's has closed (and it looked that way when I walked by the other day).

It's a bummer about the market, but I love that 30th keeps bubbling up with new stuff.

Alesmith Cask and Pairing Nite at the Linkery, Thursday 20 August

This Thursday is one of these amazing events that we at the Linkery, on rare and special occasions, have the privilege to offer. We're very appreciative to both the world-class artisans at AleSmith, and to our many world-class local farmers, for providing us this opportunity.

We'll have 5 AleSmith beers on cask, each paired with a farm-driven dish from the Linkery. We'll also have 4 more AleSmith beers on draft. Each pairing is $8 for the dish and a half pour of the beer.


The Linkery visits AleSmith, 2006

If you're not familiar with AleSmith, they are a very small operation in the city of San Diego that ranks very highly on pretty much every list of "best breweries in the world". Their beers are flavorful and often in the West Coast style, but they emphasize quality, balance, and craftsmanship. The folks who work there are friendly San Diegans who happen to be among the best at what they do, and who love great beer and great food.

We are grateful to count them among our friends and colleagues.

And now, to Thursday's lineup!

ON CASK

Old Numbskull West Coast style barleywine
paired with
Numbskull-battered onion rings (onions from Sage Organics) with tomatillo catsup (tomatillos from Wingshadows Hacienda)

Speedway Stout
paired with
House made buttermilk biscuits, red eye gravy, house cured city ham (Berkshire pork from Kelly Biensen), and honey herb butter (herbs from La Milpa Organica, local honey)

Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
paired with
Scotch egg of house made lamb sausage (pastured lamb from Christine & Jim Maguire) and quail egg (pastured quail from Wingshadows Hacienda)

Nautical Nut Brown
paired with
Shiitake mushroom ravioli (organic shiitakes from LiveGreen) with house made yogurt, Pozo Tomme cheese (Christine & Jim Maguire), and chives (from La Milpa Organica)

Decadence 2008 Anniversary Ale
paired with
House made Decadence ice cream sundae with caramel bacon sauce (house made bacon of Berkshire pork from Hilleman Family Farm)

ON DRAFT

X Extra Pale Ale
Anvil ESB
IPA
Horny Devil Belgian Strong Ale

The kitchen opens at 5:30 and stays open until 11:30, as usual. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis, as usual. The Alesmith crew will be on hand celebrating with us.

We hope you can make it!

On Thursday Evenings at the Ritual there is a good chance you can hunt up raw oysters, cask conditioned ale, and the occasional pulled pork sandwich. We are certain you will find Luna and Simon oysters, pints of Stone Levitation from the cask, and the succulent pork in abundance tonight. The Levitation cask has been conditioned with Amarillo hops.

Duck are returning to Tavern country this weekend. The arrival of acase of Peking duck from Maple Leaf Farms in Indiana prompted us to ask Dylan for his advice regarding duck season. His reply was rosemary salt. So we roasted up fresh rosemary in salt and rubbed the duck with it. Next we will braise in duck fat, and by the weekend we’ll be serving Duck Confit.

Just into the bottle cooler is Port Brewing Company’s Panzer Imperial Pilsner. This specialty beer is a lager. The lagering process takes much longer compared to the brewing of ales, and lagering is not often practiced by brewers here in town, so naturally we are pleased to have another local Pilsner to offer you.

Another new bottle is Eel River Acai Berry Wheat. Ted Vivatson was in town recently and we have to say this gentleman is one of the jolliest brewers we’ve ever met. His Eel River Brewing Company is located on the Pacific Coast Highway in Fortuna, CA., and is the nations first certified 100% organic brewery. We are now serving their Acai Berry Wheat, “A light-bodied wheat ale brewed with organic acai berries from Brazil, and a flavorful mix of four other organic berries. Acai berries boast high antioxidant properties too, so drink on!”–Eelriverbrewing.com

Coming up on tap is Blue Frog Grog & Grill’s Blonde Frog Ale. “A copper colored ale made with an abundance of pale malt and a sprinkling of floral hops, resulting in a smooth malty beer of considerable strength. Enjoy the blond in moderation, or you may end up trying to turn a grog into a prince.”
–bigbluefrog.com

We would love to have you in to celebrate our second anniversary dinner on September 9th. Join AleSmith Brewery for a pairing dinner featuring Van De Rose pork, AleSmith cheese, and of course AleSmith Ales. Reservations are now being accepted for this special event.

You may have heard about the A-list from 10news, we're in the running for "best neighborhood bar", currently Pacific Beach is getting most of the attention. The Silver Fox and London's West End are in the lead. Why not show a little love for North Park, and vote for us? Cheers!

Crank Testimonial

Just a note that I love Manivela (it means "crank" in Spanish) -- they deliver Blind Lady pizza to my house in Golden Hill (over 4 miles away) within an hour of ordering. Friendly, easy, inexpensive, environmentally sound, awesome.

Ballast Point Even Keel..

is delicious. It's on cask at Sea Rocket Bistro right now. If you like delicious beer on cask, please stop by for a pint.

Amber waves, and all that.

cross-posted to Casing the Joint.



It's great that the Obama/Gates/whoever "Beer Summit" is calling attention to the companies that actually make the mediocre beers which masquerade as being tied to a specific locale.

* You thought Bud Light was American? Try corporate Brazilian-Belgian.

* Blue Moon is from the Midwest, right? Nope. That would be from a multi-national version of nowhere which includes South Africa, the UK, and Canada.

* Red Stripe, as you know from its commercials, hails from London. I mean, to the extent that a corporation like Diageo can be said to exist anywhere.

What's marvelous about the curtain being pulled back on this charade is that it crystallizes this little-talked-about fact: actual American breweries are simply the world's powerhouse for quality beer. The joke about American beer being like a having sex in a canoe no longer holds -- that canoe now rides the Thames or the Amazon.

Anyway, if the Three Summiteers want to actually enjoy their beers, there are some obvious substitutes -- aka improvements.

Since President Obama drinks Bud, he'd probably really enjoy a quality Pilsner like Prima Pils from Victory Brewing. That's in Pennsylvania...like the Avenue.

Officer Crowley's could indulge his enjoyment of wheat beers by ditching the Blue Moon and instead sampling the witbier from Missouri's leading brewer: Boulevard Brewing.

And for Professor Gates, who strikes me as appreciating aesthetics, there is one very obvious step up from Red Stripe:



That would be Session Lager, brewed by employee-owned Full Sail Brewing in Oregon.

Beer of this quality makes me want caught breaking into my own home to drink some. Fortunately, I don't have to...since here on 30th Street, most of the bars, restaurants, and corner stores traffic in it.

New Happy Hours at Sea Rocket

Sea Rocket Bistro now offers two happy hours at the bar every day of the week!

Come in from five until seven and receive a free tapa with every draft beer purchase; tonight's tapa selection includes a fresh grilled San Diego sardine, organic California olives, Winchester gouda cheese drizzled with Temecula honey and more.

After nine, enjoy any of our local craft beers on tap for just three dollars! Right now we're pouring Lightning Fair Weather Pale Ale, Green Flash Hop Head Red and Double Stout, AleSmith IPA, Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat and Airdale Altitude.
These happy hour special offers are available at the bar only.

Also just arrived, fresh sea urchins, oysters, clams, mussels, halibut and mahi-mahi, a batch of lamb chili is finishing up right now.

South Park Summer Walkabout Sat. July 25

Here's a link with the full schedule of events: http://southparkscene.weebly.com

The popular South Park Walkabout returns for its Summer 2009 edition next Saturday, July 25th, from 6-10pm.

Plenty of free music (at Rebecca's Coffeehouse, at Prudential Financial on Fern near Cedar, and at the corner of Beech & 30th) ... plus a free trolley to help you roam the neighborhood.

Here's a story about all that will be going on, including restaurant tastings and specials, snacks and gifts at shops and services, and more:
http://bit.ly/walkaboutjuly25

Please come by!

The Life Aquatic, Le Freak, Green Flash Weekend

Some news from Sea Rocket Bistro:

Tonight, Thursday, is movie night, a chance to enjoy dinner and a movie for just $20!  The movie tonight is "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston and Cate Blanchett.  The prix fixe menu includes a choice of appetizer, entree and glass of beer or wine for just twenty dollars.  Thanks as always to Citizen Video for helping us to offer these events.

All weekend long we'll be featuring the fantastic beers of the Green Flash Brewing Company, including Le Freak on cask.  We'll have flights of Summer Saison, Hop Head Red, Double Stout and Le Freak for just $8.  Saturday night, brewmaster Chuck Silva will stop by around 7 to answer your beer geek questions about Green Flash.  We'll also have a special three course tasting menu paired with, of course, Green Flash beers, for $25.  

Ritual Cask, Oysters and Live Jazz Thursday at the Tavern

Each and every Thursday, the Ritual Tavern features a local craft brew, served as nature intended it, free from artificially added carbonation, on the hand pump. This week we'll be pouring Ragtop Red Ale!
Featured on the San Diego Brewer's Guild Website it is noted for "A ruby red color and medium body best describes this award-winning beer! This Irish-style Red Ale has great caramel flavors which are well balanced by the fresh Goldings & Willamette Hops from the Pacific Northwest.
Great American Beer Festival® * 2008 * Silver Medal *
Great American Beer Festival® * 2000 * Bronze Medal *
"Irish- Style Red Ale” category for “Ragtop Red “ brewed by Brewmaster, Marty Mendiola at the LaJolla, CA location.

Join us for this cask and fresh-shucked oysters from Carlsbad Aqua Farms.
Happy Hour from 5:30-7:30pm Tues-Sat and 3:30-9:30pm Sun
$3.50 taps and $1 off select glasses of wine!

Enjoy live music from Trio Gadjo on the first and third Thursdays of the month.(tonight July 16, 2009!) Their Django Reinhart inspired musical ramblings are well suited to our old world tavern atmosphere. It’s easy to imagine yourself in 1930’s Belgium, eating fresh mussels, drinking and listening to live music in a candle-lit tavern.

Cheers!
Please vote for us, and all your North Park favorites at KGTV 10's A-list!
http://kgtv.cityvoter.com/ritual-tavern/biz/55779


Cheers!

DJ Greyboy and DJ Ratty spin at San Diego Natural Wine Summit Aug 9

Above: DJ Greyboy will be one of the special guests at the first-ever San Diego Natural Wine Summit on August 9. Check out his June 2009 release "Era Correct."

Jaynes Gastropub is proud to announce that DJ Greyboy and DJ Ratty will be joining us on August 9 for the first-ever San Diego Natural Wine Summit.

It's not so hard to imagine: the same people who dig great wine, also dig great tunes! We are very psyched to have two world-class DJs joining us.

Please join us on August 9 for this very special and unique event...

To reserve tickets please call 619.563.1011 or email info@jaynesgastropub.com

Click here for a downloadable and printable version of the flyer.

Ritual Cask and Oyster Thursday

Each Thursday at the Ritual Tavern a new cask of local craft brewed beer is featured. This week, July 9th we'll be pouring Lime Lite Wit from Coronado Brewing. Its is brewed with lime zest, chamomile, grains of paradise, and a belgian yeast. A great summer brew that comes in at a very drinkable 5% ABV Why not enjoy some on our patio with fresh shucked oysters from Carlsbad Aqua Farms?

Happy Hour pricing on draft beers $3.50 from 5:30-7:30 Tues-Sat and 3:30-9:30 Sun. $1 off select glasses of wine too!

Make your visit to the tavern a Ritual!
Cheers

Food from 30th to You, Velo'ed

Now you can get food from every restaurant on 30th (and, actually, from anywhere on the mesa or downtown), delivered to your door by your neighbor. On his/her bike.

This town gets cooler and cooler.

Alchemy News

Couple interesting items of note going down in South Park…

This week marks four months for our little restaurant and we are very excited to be having such a warm welcome from the neighborhood and beyond. If you get the chance drop by the website and check out the Press link.

Our Wednesday night Vegetarian Tasting menu is rocking, more and more folks are enjoying the Farmer’s Market produce every week. If you haven’t heard, check it out on the blog.

Summer is here and some new menu items are as well, see the dinner menu for updates or give us a call to hear all about it, the Avocado & Sweet Corn Salad is over the top!

Just wanted to let you know what Alchemy is up to this 4th of July!

It's an American Barbeque with a twist this Fourth of July. The new kid on the Southern end of 30th Street is shaking things up with some Good Ole' American barbeque-SAN DIEGO-STYLE- to celebrate our nation's day of independence!

The owners of Alchemy are kickin' their staff out for a well-deserved day off and will be working the room themselves, with the help of our Chef and Sous Chef in the kitchen.

For just $10 bucks per plate guests will have an array of tasty entree and side dish options. Featured on this special holiday menu is a variety of classic barbeque main entrees with the flavor dial turned up a notch. Chef Ricardo Heredia is putting a San Diego spin on traditional BBQ favorites including Mexican Beef Brisket tacos- a unique Mexican twist on an American classic. Also featured will be Carolina style BBQ ribs and a savory pulled pork sandwich.

Highlighting the drink specials menu will be $3 local drafts and Miller High Life bottles and the All American Jim Beam & Cokes - what could be more American than that? - and you definitely CAN'T get that on the beach.

We hope to see you soon.

Alchemy
619.255.0616
alchemysandiego.com

Forks on the Street

This month San Diego Home & Garden magazine came out with their "Silver Fork" awards, highlighting 17 local restaurants as being extraordinary.

Three of the establishments (The Linkery, Urban Solace, and Rancho's Cocina) are 30th Streeters. That was one less than the East Village (Neighborhood, Basic, Cowboy Star, and J-Six) and tied with La Jolla (Zenbu, Nine-Ten, Piatti's). No other neighborhood was represented more than once.

I think there were some really high quality restaurants left out, but I like that they looked for a wide variety of types of food and dining experiences to be represented. I also think that, while the specifics of any place's inclusion (including ours) may be arguable, seeing 30th so well represented in a list like this is appropriate. Great things are going on all up and down this strip.

Walk a Mile on 30th

As unlikely as it may seem in 2009, this Father's Day you can still give Dad his favorite smoke. As long his favorite smoke is from coastal live oak and was used to slow cook suckling pig.

This week is the Father's Day edition of Smokehouse Sunday at the Linkery. We're celebrating by putting a couple suckling pigs on the rotisserie, along with the usual selection of hot links and other goodies.

Also, you can also buy Dad some bacon.

Getting 'Le Freak'y on 30th Street: Thursday June 18th

Thursday is our fresh oysters and cask night. This week in addition to our local Carlsbad Aqua Farm raised oysters and Green Flash Le Freak on cask, we’ll have live jazz provided by Trio Gadjo. Their Django Reinhart inspired musical ramblings are well suited to our old world tavern atmosphere. It’s easy to imagine yourself in 1930’s Belgium, eating fresh mussels, drinking and listening to live music in a candle-lit tavern.

Thursday isn’t the only day to visit the Ritual Tavern. You’ll get $3.50 taps Tues-Sat 5:30-7:30 and 3:30-9:30 on Sun

(please note Cask Ales aren’t included in Happy Hour pricing)

This Sat. 6/20 Old House Fair Sponsor Specials

This Saturday (June 20), South Park hosts the Old House Fair from 10am to 4pm. The center of activity is 30th & Beech, where you'll find exhibitors, vendors, arts & crafts for kids, festival food and live music on stage.

Nearby sponsoring eat-and-drinkeries are offering specials that day, too, to celebrate the Fair. Check out Whistle Stop Bar, Alchemy Restaurant, and Hamilton's Tavern & Cafe for special hours, tastings and prices.

For more info, schedule and map: http://bit.ly/6dOaY