{"id":253120,"date":"2018-04-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/sticks-and-cones-to-feed-your-bones\/"},"modified":"2018-04-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T07:00:00","slug":"sticks-and-cones-to-feed-your-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/sticks-and-cones-to-feed-your-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"Sticks and cones to feed your bones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Frank Sabatini Jr. | Descripci\u00f3n del restaurant<\/p>\n

The small, assorted kebabs that are requisite to street festivals in Brazil have arrived in the heart of Hillcrest.<\/p>\n

So have the sidekicks that go with them, including yucca fries, conical-shaped coxinha (chicken croquettes) and toasted manioc flour known as farofa, which Brazilians sprinkle onto meats and veggies to give them a little extra texture and a slight nutty flavor.<\/p>\n

\"Sticks
A newcomer to Hillcrest for Brazilian street food (Fotograf\u00edas de Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unlike the decadent meat feasts (churrascaria) found at Brazilian steakhouses, espettos are inexpensive snack-size skewers of beef, chicken, seafood and veggies. They\u2019re eaten on the go or as noshes while lolling over a few drinks.<\/p>\n

\"Sticks
(l to r) Mixed meat and veggie skewers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Espettos Brazilian Skewers is the radical rebranding of Sushi Co., which Brazilian transplants Ramon Barros and his friend Andre De Paula decided to close due to increasing competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is better because it\u2019s our own street food,\u201d Barros said while cutting up the prized cap of tri tip (picanha) from a slab of top sirloin. Both sections of beef end up on thin, wooden skewers measuring about 9 inches long.<\/p>\n

With my spouse in tow on the first visit, we ordered four different skewers and the yucca fries. It was a Sunday afternoon and Champions League soccer was streaming on two flat-screens. Due to the deafening shouts by a handful of jocks rooting for their teams, we fled and ate the food at home.<\/p>\n

\"Sticks
Yucca fries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every skewer was delicious, especially the picanha. Priced at $3.99, it\u2019s the most expensive on the menu, seasoned only with a little salt and pepper so that the rich, beefy flavor shines through. And it did.<\/p>\n

The mixed skewer contained an appetizing threading of top sirloin, chicken and pork sausage; the latter faintly resembled kielbasa. Another skewer yielded a few ounces of cubed chicken thighs. Barros says it\u2019s the only protein that gets marinated before hitting the grill.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, all of the meats were succulent and flavorful, even without the support of excellent chimichurri vinaigrette or above-average honey mustard sauce.<\/p>\n

A tasty combo of zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant and onions comprised the vegan skewer, which served as the lean, healthy component to our meal. The powdery farofa struck a particularly good friendship to this skewer.<\/p>\n

Yucca root is a starchy Brazilian staple used in a number of dishes throughout the country. It turns up here in the form of deep-fried logs resembling short, chubby french fries. Delicately crispy on the outside with fluffy mashed potatoes on the inside, they shouldn\u2019t be ignored.<\/p>\n

Returning solo a few days later for lunch, the atmosphere was pleasantly mellow. A Brazilian TV channel played at very low volume. So I parked myself at a table and plunged into a six-piece order of chicken coxinha and a small paper basket filled with fresh potato salad.<\/p>\n

The coxinha are made offsite by a Brazilian cook who encases trace amounts of shredded chicken breast and cream cheese into potato dough. Tailored after croquettes, they\u2019re shaped into teardrop cones, deep-fried to order and yield about two bites each.<\/p>\n

\"Sticks
An order of coxinha, also known as chicken croquettes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They arrived with ketchup, which steals their joy. Ask instead for chimichurri and you\u2019ll discover the perfect fit.<\/p>\n

The potato salad was a simple, satisfying construct of finely cubed potatoes and tiny pieces of celery in a light mayo dressing. A liberal sprinkling of black pepper made it sing, although I had to ask for it at the order counter.<\/p>\n

\"Sticks
Potato salad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"SticksIn addition to house wine, the eatery is stocked with domestic, craft and Brazilian beers in cans and bottles. Prices start at $1.75 for Bud Light. There are also weekday lunch deals from 11 a.m.\u20133 p.m. featuring salad, a side dish, two skewers and a fountain drink for $9.90.<\/p>\n

Lindo maravilhoso Espettos! You\u2019re a marvelous addition to this block of Fifth Avenue. I don\u2019t miss the sushi at all.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Frank Sabatini Jr. is the author of \u201cSecret San Diego\u201d (ECW Press), and began his local writing career more than two decades ago as a staffer for the former San Diego Tribune. Reach him at fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Frank Sabatini Jr. | Restaurant Review The small, assorted kebabs that are requisite to street festivals in Brazil have arrived in the heart of Hillcrest.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":816,"featured_media":253121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Sticks and cones to feed your bones","_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-253120","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\/253120","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\/816"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}