{"id":247706,"date":"2014-08-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/under-the-mission-hills-sky\/"},"modified":"2014-08-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T07:00:00","slug":"under-the-mission-hills-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/under-the-mission-hills-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Under the Mission Hills sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frank Sabatini Jr. | Restaurant Review<\/span><\/p>\n

Nary a chunk of the old Mission Hills Radio-TV structure that now houses The Patio on Goldfinch<\/a> is recognizable. The former repair business, which opened in the 1950s and closed some decades ago, became an unsightly misfit to the quaint \u201crestaurant row\u201d that began blossoming on this street over the past several years. But as of early summer, it\u2019s sitting pretty.<\/p>\n

The dazzling redo, implemented by locally based Lahaina Architects and the restaurant\u2019s staff designer, Bea Arrues, greets with a spacious, dog-friendly patio accented magnificently with a wall of thriving greenery. Tables, cushioned banquettes and a built-in fireplace give the feel of an indoor space despite its lack of roofing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t talk about rain,\u201d quipped Manager Kristina Smith, adding that retractable covering is coming soon.<\/p>\n

Further inside is cushier seating plus a handsome bar, skylights and a glass-enclosed \u201ccheese cave\u201d that leaves you imagining sitting inside of it with a bottle of good wine. The shelves are stocked with various curds from nearby Venissimo Cheese shop along with jumbo wheels of young Gouda from Central Coast Creamery in Paso Robles.<\/p>\n

\"(left)<\/a>
(left) French onion soup; (right) treasures from \u201cthe cheese cave\u201d (Photos by Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The layout concludes with another living wall in the back and an open kitchen fronted by a cozy dining counter that serves as the \u201cchef\u2019s table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compared to its flagship restaurant, The Patio on Lamont in Pacific Beach, the Mission Hills offshoot is organically showier, hence its nomination for an Orchid Award by the San Diego Architectural Foundation.<\/p>\n

The menu starts off with a couple dozen \u201csmall plates\u201d that actually yield more than three bites apiece. The cioppino, for example, is substantially portioned in a bowl brimming with shellfish and Chilean sea bass. Every piece of fish was evenly cooked and the tomato-based broth was spicy and downright drinkable.<\/p>\n

Equally impressive was the crab-ahi tower layered with avocado and Roma tomatoes and rising from a bed of thinly sliced cucumbers. Citrus vinaigrette and soy ginger brightened the flavor profile in what is potentially a medium-weight meal if you\u2019re not sharing it.<\/p>\n

Rich, nutty Gruyere cheese\u00a0 from the \u201ccave\u201d prompted us to order the French onion soup au gratin. The broth carried a depth of flavor from espresso in the recipe \u2014 a fine construct if only the soup was served hotter and the cheese was gooier.<\/p>\n

Compressed watermelon salad was a first for us, but not the last for me. A few nights later I encountered it at Table No. 10 in East Village. Could this be the start of a new, irresistible food trend? I\u2019m betting yes and that we\u2019ll see a lot more of them next summer.<\/p>\n

Here, the fruit is put into vacuum-sealed bags with honey and lemon, which speeds up the flavor infusion. It\u2019s then plated with smoked feta, pine nut brittle, shaved fennel and arugula. Refreshing and complex, we loved every bite.<\/p>\n

From the menu\u2019s \u201clarge plates\u201d section, we shared the \u201cbeef and bleu\u201d flatbread, which sported an addicting buttery crust beneath a super-savory mantle of New York steak, creamy Gorgonzola, mushrooms, garlic and herbs. At last, a flatbread rising from a sea of so many others out there that didn\u2019t leave us yawning.<\/p>\n

From the same category, you\u2019ll find slow-braised pork shank with Asiago risotto, bone-in rib eye with parsnip puree and a few other flatbread choices.<\/p>\n

The menu graduates to pricier \u201cshared plates\u201d that translate to date-night portions of chateaubriand, whole fish and surf-and-turf. There\u2019s also a monster burger of sorts called the \u201c30 buck chuck.\u201d It\u2019s a 10-ounce patty made with filet mignon, prime rib and Kobe beef, then topped with a duck egg and served on a black-truffle brioche bun. The dishes, we\u2019re told, easily feed two.\"SDUN<\/a><\/p>\n

Tequila abounds from a list featuring everything from Calle 23, priced at $9 per one-and-a-half ounce serving to the luxurious Clase Azul Ultra, which will set you back $255 for the same neat pour. We took the frugal road by imbibing on Blanco tequila infused with pineapple and vanilla beans ($10). It was smooth and lovely.<\/p>\n

Other libations include a slate of craft beers, global wines and \u201ccool cocktails\u201d that don\u2019t exclude chocolate martinis and citrusy gin fizzes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dessert menu features another trendsetter that started appearing recently on a few other menus in town: banana bread with boozy Foster\u2019s sauce. We opted instead for a more pedestrian finish of deconstructed key lime cheesecake served in a glass jar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Good stuff. But when we return it will be expressly for the big small plates combined with further rounds of tequila, a romp through the cheese list, which we passed over, and additional time spent lazing on the Mother Earth-kissed patio.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2014Frank Sabatini Jr. es el autor de \u201cSecret San Diego\u201d (ECW Press), y comenz\u00f3 su carrera como escritor local hace m\u00e1s de dos d\u00e9cadas como miembro del personal del ex San Diego Tribune. Puedes localizarlo en fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank Sabatini Jr. | Restaurant Review Nary a chunk of the old Mission Hills Radio-TV structure that now houses The Patio on Goldfinch is recognizable. The former repair business, which opened in the 1950s and closed some decades ago, became an unsightly misfit to the quaint \u201crestaurant row\u201d that began blossoming on this street over […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":247707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Under the Mission Hills sky","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}