30th Street Blog

South Park Walkabout - Sat. Oct. 2

It's almost PUMPKIN TIME! Save the date for South Park's upcoming Walkabout -- Sat. October 2, 2010, from 6-10pm. Plenty of tasty surprises are on the menu. More info to come!

Jaws Will Eat You Alive

Facebook Jaws Event Page
Sea Rocket Jaws Blog

We at the Linkery are really enjoying the new sausage sandwich on our menu, and we want all of you to come enjoy it, too. So we're offering a deal this week -- the sandwich and a half-pour of draft craft beer (whatever we have in the Pils/light ale category that day, we'll let you know) for $10. This will be good from tonite through Thursday nite.

Don't forget, you can also add bacon and cheese.

Thursday Ritual: Fresh Carlsbad Aqua Farm Oysters and Green Flash 30th St Pale on Cask

Wondering what to do tonight? We'll be spending our Thursday night in air-conditioned bliss, eating fresh local seafood and drinking casked ale :-)
Join us, won't you?

We sent Michael over to Catalina Offshore Products earlier to round up some fresh local fish for tonight's dinner. Then we sent him to the North Park Farmer's Market. He's now shopping for fresh organic produce to accompany tonight's entree. (and our new dessert too!) Very excited to have an organic fruit tart tonight :-)

An EZ Dish: Chicken Nuggets With Mole

Chicken nuggets have a bad rap. And what with their being an icon of industrial food an all, I understand.

But at El Take It Easy, we don't need a poultry scientist to make nuggets worth socking someone in the mouth for. We just need pastured local chickens from Curtis Womach, a traditionally prepared mole sauce, and the talent of chef Max Bonacci.

It's white meat, dark meat, and a touch of the precious bits from Curtis' chicken, lovingly nuggetized by our culinary team and presented to you in a rich dark mole. Available every day at the link, except when we run short on chickens.

Margerum Wines at the Linkery on Thursday

I first discovered Margerum Wines maybe a decade ago, when Gaffney's was featuring them on a night I wandered in. An old friend was in the bar, buying the maximum allocation she could of one of Margerum's Syrahs, and she told me about this winery and the quality of the wine. I bought my first bottle then, and have been hooked ever since.

Check out Joshua Lurie's Q&A with Doug Margerum here

As such, we usually have at least one Margerum-made wine on our menu at the Linkery, whether it's his M5 Rhone, or one of the wines he makes for Happy Canyon such as Barrack or Piocho.

It is with great pleasure, then, to celebrate with Mr. Doug Margerum and Margerum wines on Thursday, in a special pairings dinner. We'll have four wines from Margerum Wine Company in house, and Max will have a pairing for each dish. You can get each pairing for $11, including the food and a small pour of the wine, and also buy food and wine a la carte.

Margerum Chenin Blanc 2008 paired with
Pedrozo Black Butte cheese, Three Sisters Serena cheese, local buckwheat honeycomb, apples

Margerum SYBARITE Sauvignon Blanc 2009 paired with
Local squid scampi, pink grapefruit, tarragon

Margerum M5 Rhone Blend 2007 paired with
Roasted sweet pepper empanada

Margerum ÜBER Syrah 2008 paired with
Griled pastured goat from Farinelli Farm

We'll start at 5:30pm and go until 11:30pm. Full menu available in addition to the pairings. Doug Margerum will be in the house to chat about the wines.

It's going to be a great event.

AleSmith nite at the Linkery - 4 casks, 2 drafts, pairings with pastured meat dishes

Tonite (Thursday) promises to be a great nite at the Linkery -- we've got 4 cask-conditioned AleSmith beers, a couple of their drafts, and Max has made four special pairing dishes for the cask ales, each one featuring one of the amazing meats we get from our independent California farmers.

The Linkery at Alesmith, June 2006

Each pairing is $10 for the food with a half-pour of cask ale, or you can buy the food and/or the beer individually.

The menu:

Anvil ESB | Kettle fried raviolis made with local rabbit from Curtis Womach

Summer YuleSmith | Pastured Central Coast lamb sopes, Righetti Ranch pinquito beans

Nautical Nut Brown | Braised pastured California goat in a blanket

Wee Heavy | Grassfed Spanish Oak Ranches beef bresaola hash with local quail eggs from Wingshadows Hacienda

Full menu also available. The dinner is available from 5:30pm till 11:30pm (or until we run out, of course).

Farmer's Market to Table on August 5

Please join San Diego Weekly Markets and the Linkery for a progressive dinner beginning with an amuse bouch from Viva Pops! at the North Park Farmers' Market and then continuing up North Park Way to the Linkery, where you can enjoy any or all of the following courses featuring ingredients found at the market that day:

Stone fruit salad - Smit Orchards
*
Cheese selections - Taste Artisan Cheese
*
Linkery made lamb and pork hot dog on Linkery baked bun with SoNo whole grain mustard - SoNo Trading Company
*
Strawberry gazpacho with strawberry sorbet - Suzie’s Organic Farm

The dinner will be served at the Linkery until 11:30pm or until we run out of courses. Most if not all of the farmers and artisans will be present at the Linkery after the market ends, to talk about their work and their delicious products.

Think chocolate - think Heaven Sent Desserts

Spiced German Chocolate Bundt Cake - 30th on 30th special - $3.50

Wednesday Ritual, Cask Summer YuleSmith & 30th on 30th and

The Ritual Tavern hosts Outdoor Outreach tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th for a fundraising drive. All you have to do is come in an enjoy the fare
you have come to love us for, and the Ritual will donate 10% of sales
to Outdoor Outreach. Outdoor Outreach has a fascinating and
inspiring agenda;

"Outdoor Outreach is a San Diego-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization whose mission is to empower at-risk and underprivileged
youth to make positive, lasting changes in their lives through
comprehensive outdoor programming. Outdoor Outreach programs support
under served youth in San Diego County who are at risk for school
dropout, substance abuse, violence and unintended pregnancy. We are
the only agency in San Diego and one of just a few in the country to
utilize outdoor physical experiences to provide youth with the
support, relationships, resources and opportunities they need to
become successful adults. Since its founding in 1999, Outdoor
Outreach has taken more than 5,000 youth on over 1,500 outings,
including rock climbing, snowboarding, surfing, snorkeling, mountain
biking and backpacking."

Learn more at outdooroutreach.org

The 30th on 30th event visits the Street this Friday!
We are aware of the popular demand for our Niman Ranch Pork Carnitas tacos, (30th Street Tacos) and we are prepared to accommodate everyone's hunger for this tasty treat.

Our friends at AleSmith crafted a cask conditioned YuleSmith for us
to feature as well, be sure to experience one of the tastiest Double
IPAs around with us. This tasty cask will be available on Friday, and
more than likely an AleSmith Brewer will be around enjoying a pint.

He'Brew brews a different recipe every year for their Rejewenator
release, and the Ritual is lucky enough to be able to be offering
this on draught. "America's smallest, biggest and most award-winning
Jewish (and now Sideshow Freak) Beer Company, Shmaltz Brewing
kicks-off its 14th year of delicious beer and delicious shtick with
the third incarnation of their annual celebration ale,
REJEWVENATOR®. Brewed with Organic Concord Grape Juice, Shmaltz
proudly introduces a new recipe of their Half Dopplebock, Half
Belgian Style Dubbel hybrid lager/ale - a truly unique brewing
performance. Rising to 8.2% alc, Rejewvenator® is available
nationally in 22 oz. bottles and a very limited amount of draft."
-Shmaltz Brewing

We have plenty more exciting things to try, come on by the Ritual and
see what else is new.

Cheers!

North Park Farmer's Market Growing like a Weed!

Have you been by the North Park Farmers' Market lately? It's under new management and adding new farms and food purveyors like crazy. Maybe you've seen the owl banners on 30th and University streets? Just follow them to the corner of Herman and North Park Way and check out all the new vendors as well as some old favorites. In the past few weeks, they've added organic California olives and olive oil from Good Faith Farm, squash, beans and corn from Kawano Ranch (they're also bringing mushrooms from Mountain Meadow in Escondido), and artichokes, asparagus and dried beans from the Central Coast at Suncoast Farm. Other highlights this week: cherries, peaches, pluots, nectarines, squash blossoms, eggplant, green onions, avocados, grapefruit, green beans, blueberries, and so much more!

Heaven Sent Desserts are simply - heavenly!

Each 30th we serve a different special from our menu at a special price and this 30th on 30th Heaven Sent Desserts offers up an individual Spiced German Chocolate Bundt Cakes. Whether you are a choc-a-holic or a bundt cake aficionado, or simply love desserts, this individual Spiced German Chocolate Bundt Cake will wow you with its rich tasting experience. The Devil's Food chocolate base is rich, moist, yet light; with an interior of Coconut Pecan filling, finished in a smooth and silky chocolate covering - both filling and covering spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

This delectable dessert is especially priced at $3.50 for the 30th only!

Ritual Open at 2pm Saturday & Sunday July 17 & 18

Thanks to you folks who dropped in earlier this week on your way back from the beach or from your poolside. We'll help you cool off after cooking all day in the sun. Our outside patios have been filling up around sundown, we like to see folks enjoying the balmy summer evenings out there over tasty Ritual food and refreshing glasses of beer.

In recognition of San Diego Pride 2010 the Ritual is opening at 2pm this Saturday and Sunday. Park2Park shuttles will provide transportation service from Ritual to the parade and festival from 10am til 2 pm on Saturday. Here is a great story about Park 2 Park and Pride by Morgan Hurley on SDGLN.com.

Cool off with gazpacho served chilled and featuring organic cucumber from the farmers market. Then go big with an entrÉe of Niman Ranch Prime Rib. The Prime Rib will be roasted, then plated English Cut over Parship Mashed Potatoes with sautÉed organic local carrots and tomatoes, and finished with beef jus.

Another shuttle to catch is the DrinkAbout bus running on Wednesday
the 21st.

Towards the end of the month (July 28th) we are hosting a benefit for Outdoor Outreach. Outdoor Outreach empowers at-risk and underprivileged youth to make positive, lasting changes in their lives through comprehensive outdoor programming.

Have a look at the Outdoor Outreach website

We here at the Ritual Tavern hope the good weather brings you the spirit of
celebration and festivity.

Cheers!

Walkabout Guide for South Park - Sat. 7/17

Click here for a complete stop-by-stop Guide to the South Park Walkabout. All welcome -- Sat. 7/17, 6-10pm, restaurants, taverns, shops and stops throughout South Park. Free walking tours and trolley, too.

Here's a preview from the U-T's "Night & Day".

Ritual Wednesdays at the Tavern in July

Wednesday July 14: Tonight

For all you meat lovers out there, we'll be serving up Niman Ranch Meatloaf tonight! Comfort food in a comfy tavern. We got what you need :-) Vegetarians and Vegans can enjoy vegan shepherd's pie or sauteed organic market veggies every day :-)

Wednesday July 21: Drink About!*

Ritual Tavern and Toronado are at the middle of this free bus route. Busses arrive every 30 minutes starting at Blind Lady (7pm) and Hamilton's (7:10pm) . Last pickup 11:20pm at Ritual Tavern (northbound) and Toronado (southbound) What’s not to love about FREE transportation up and down 30th street, stopping near many of San Diego’s premier craft beer and artisan food establishments? Treat yourself to the ultimate progressive dinner!

Wednesday July 28th: Outdoor Outreach Fundraiser!

A percentage of every purchase will be donated to Outdoor Outreach! You can eat and drink to your heart’s content, free from guilt, knowing that a portion of your tab is going to a charitable organization. “Outdoor Outreach’s mission is to empower at-risk and underprivileged youth to make positive, lasting changes in their lives through comprehensive outdoor programming.” http://outdooroutreach.org/

* On the 3rd Wednesday of each month 2 "Brewery Tours of SD" Busses loop for 4 hours, stopping at 8 craft-beer bars.
Hop on and off FOR FREE at Blind Lady, Small Bar, Live Wire, Toronado, Ritual Tavern, Sea Rocket, The Station & Hamilton's.

Summer in the City - Walkabout Sat. 7/17

South Park's Summer Walkabout is this Saturday, July 17th, 6-10pm. As always, free trolley, bands on streetcorners, shopping specials, and tasty treats from Beech St. to Juniper St.! NEW this Saturday -- FREE guided walking tours (6:30pm and 8:00pm) with neighborhood history and highlights. Gather at Info Booth at The Grove for free tour.

For a complete shop-by-shop guide, sign up for the South Park Scene email newsletter.

First Friday - "Happy Hour" in South Park

Check this out - tonight 4-7pm. 20% off all purchases -- plus surprises galore!

Add the Z

Last week's feature dish from El Take It Easy somehow didn't get on here then, so we'll add it now, too.

This is the egg and squash cazuela: summer squash and egg in a cazuela with mole verde, and some fresh made flour tortillas.

The slow-cooked goodness of the sauce, combined with the rich but light flavors of the egg and squash, evokes to me the wonderful, innovative tacos at Tacos Gus in La Condesa in Mexico City. (Tacos Gus which recently splintered from Tacos Hola, in case you were wondering).

When we explain to people that El Take It Easy is not Mexican food, this is what we mean. I’m not aware of squash and egg cazuela as a traditional dish in Mexico. But surely the kinds of cooking and flavors we experience from being part of an international region, can inform our cuisine in marvelous ways.

Eggs over El Take It Easy

For those of you just getting to know El Take It Easy, here's a dish for you:

That's pork jowl bacon (house cured, natch), local duck eggs, grilled house-baked bread with pork skin butter (yes, I said pork skin butter). Bacon and eggs like you've never had before, I promise. Goes great with a glass of Triennes Rose.