{"id":250044,"date":"2016-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/backyard-waffles\/"},"modified":"2016-04-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T07:00:00","slug":"backyard-waffles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/backyard-waffles\/","title":{"rendered":"Backyard waffles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/p>\n

Joseph Kraft recalls feeling cheated in life prior to eating his first Belgian waffle at the age of 30, saying it didn\u2019t compare to any waffles he ate growing up \u2013 and certainly not to the frozen brands you heat in a toaster.<\/p>\n

The revelation was triggered specifically from a recipe he made for Liege waffles, which are constructed from yeast dough and pearl beet sugar. Similar in texture to brioche, they\u2019re exactly the kind you\u2019ll encounter at his hidden outdoor eatery, Guau Guau Waffle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The signage is understated, although 30th Street Laundry marks the spot. An alley to the right of it leads to a rear patio replete with sprawling greenery, a tented makeshift kitchen, and a mish mash of tables strewn with books on travel, cycling and food.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The \u201cmarket special\u201d with goat cheese, strawberries and pink sea salt. (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve driven by dozens of times since Wow Wow opened in 2014, and never knew this little waffle paradise existed until seeing it listed online.<\/p>\n

The business was originally founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Todd Casselberry, who began selling the waffles at farmers markets in Northern California. He eventually partnered with Kraft and his wife, Amy, as they branched into farmers markets locally. They currently operate stands in Oceanside on Thursdays; Poway on Saturdays; and La Jolla on Sundays.<\/p>\n

The menu at their 30th Street space features sweet and savory waffles. And that\u2019s it. You\u2019ll find nothing more here than house-made lemonades, pour-over coffee and Tazo teas. If you\u2019re craving eggs, a sign at the order table recommends you head to nearby Cardamom Caf\u00e9 & Bakery, Lucky\u2019s or The Mission for them.<\/p>\n

Although if you\u2019re shakin\u2019 for bacon, the menu obliges with the No. 7 waffle, a top seller crowned with creamy, crumbled goat cheese, mashed avocado and a couple ounces of thick bacon coated deliciously in brown sugar. The friend in our threesome who ordered it proclaimed it was more filling than she expected, and that it harbored enough protein to leave her forgetting about omelets and scrambles.<\/p>\n

My other tablemate, however, would have preferred eggs in one form or another. He ordered the \u201cmarket special\u201d waffle. Goat cheese, strawberries and pink sea salt on top wasn\u2019t enough to constitute a full breakfast for him. A side of guacamole helped, although droplets of chocolate-infused balsamic flooding a few of the waffle\u2019s crevices made it all the more dessert-y for his liking.<\/p>\n

So I shared with him my turkey-melt waffle sandwich, which included an unctuous layer of smoked mozzarella as well as arugula and tender, roasted red peppers. We loved the interplay between the mildly sweet waffles and the savory ingredients. But it left us further imagining how exquisite these semi-dense beauties would taste with eggs between them \u2014 or ham or chorizo or salmon for that matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used eggs at one point, but our kitchen is so tight that we didn\u2019t want to deal anymore with cooking them for every other waffle,\u201d Kraft said, hinting that eggs might return to the menu after an onsite commercial kitchen is installed this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll expand the savory items,\u201d he assured, adding that \u201cwe\u2019re trying to figure out a good non-fried chicken recipe to go with the waffles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The turkey melt with smoked mozzarella and roasted red peppers (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For now, nearly every waffle option includes a sweet component, either from fresh fruit or locally sourced Jackie\u2019s Jams paired to French brie cheese (the No. 8).<\/p>\n

The \u201cchocolate lovers\u201d waffle is particularly toothsome. Sticks of Belgian chocolate are embedded into the dough, resulting in a gooey filling that oozes out as you fork along. Dusted in powdered sugar and augmented by fresh berries, you get two small squares per order.<\/p>\n

Other choices include the \u201cfresh & light\u201d topped with berries and house-made whipped cream; the \u201ccookie butter\u201d using Belgian ginger bread cookies; and the \u201cGreek parfait\u201d embellished with Greek yogurt, berries and wildflower honey.<\/p>\n

The lemonades are clean and refreshing. Available plain or flavored with pureed fruits, they share in common highly filtered H2O from The Water Lady store in North Park, plus regionally grown lemons and sensible measures of pure cane sugar, just enough to quell the pucker factor. For this non-coffee drinker, it was a rewarding kick-start for getting out of bed earlier than usual on a weekend morning.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>Wow Wow operates from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. We got there five minutes before the gate opened to a Sunday-morning line that formed quickly. But tables turned at a decent clip; as well they should when eating at a place built around a single food item served with finesse and simplicity.<\/p>\n

\u2014Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/em> 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 antiguo San Diego Tribune. Puedes localizarlo en <\/em>fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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