This year’s San Diego Restaurant Week, organized by the local chapter of the California Restaurant Association, marks the end of the event’s first decade, with more than 180 of the county’s eateries offering prix fixe menus in their joint quest to define the art of area dining. Trouble is, the whole affair runs only seven days (Sunday, Sept. 21, through Saturday, Sept. 27), which means you’d have to hit almost 30 participating venues a day to take it all in. The job’s a lot easier in La Jolla, where 35 merchants are giving the week a shot – many, if not all, are already your favorites, and the list includes the following, along with some very interesting choices of names of the fare:
Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria, which offers a $10 lunch including any seven-inch pizza or small pasta plus a side salad with your choice of dressing. The impressive price continues through dinner, which features stuff like ten-inch pizzas, lemon chicken wings/soup/salad and New York cheesecake for $25. All this can be yours in exchange for a trip to the venue, at 811 Prospect St.; the number’s (858) 729-9988, and the web address is amicis.com.
The Marine Room, a 73-year-old local landmark, is trotting out a three-course menu at the eater-friendly price of $45 per person. The fare includes the exotic-sounding Ras el Hanout spiced prawns, Loch Etive steelhead and braised Kurobuta pork cheeks; for $15 more, you can enjoy a helping of ahi tuna or center-cut Angus filet mignon. The latter two’s names aren’t as much fun, but that doesn’t make the Marine Room any less ideal for marking the week. The restaurant, owned by the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, Inc., is located at 2000 Spindrift Drive. The number is (866) 644-2351, visit marineroom.com for more.
Herringbone, whose $20 lunch and $40-$65 dinner menus this week feature wine pairings as part of the deal. Buffalo ranch octopus, seared diver scallops and something called dulcey tres leches are only a few of the eatery’s entires, although they win the prize for the oddest handles. Herringbone is located at 7837 Herschel Ave.; call (858) 459-0221 or see HerringboneEats.com.
The Melting Pot, whose fondue underpinnings yield delights like quattro formaggio, your choice of three salads as a second course and goodies from the beef, shrimp and chicken families as a third. $35 for all three courses is an excellent value, and you can get lobster tail with any entrée for $14.95 extra. One of the dessert fondues is called the Flaming Turtle, and it’s worth the extra $5 to find out exactly what that is. For more, come by 8980 University Center Lane; call (858) 638-1700; or visit meltingpot.com.
The Shores thinks Restaurant Week is so cool that it’s decided to extend it until Sunday, Oct. 5. That means that, for a paltry $25, you can lose yourself in Wasabi cured salmon, sweet-corn bisque and (for an extra $10) crispy-skin sea bass. Don’t forget the flourless callebaut chocolate cake for later, and be sure to relax with a three-wine pairing (an additional $15) after the meal. The spectacular views of La Jolla Shores are yours for the taking. The Shores is located at 8110 Camino del Oro. Please call (858) 466-0600 or visit The Shores Restaurant.com for more.
For even more, go to sandiegorestaurantweek.com and click on La Jolla’s little red spot on the home-page map. It’s a cinch San Diego will eat itself silly next week, and La Jolla’s got plenty of venues to fuel the cause.