Melanie and I were in San Diego for a few days again this weekend past. As we were parked near Balboa Park, we spend a fair amount of time walking around the park and the areas of San Diego adjacent to the park, Cambridge Square, Park Laurel and Bankers Hill.

Wet Stone is located in the Bankers Hill area of town. We walked there intending to fetch a glass of wine after our visit to the Japanese Friendship Garden kinda on our way back to Miranda. After a few glasses sitting in Wet Stone's front window, screened and open to the outside on a fine Southern California winter's day, we decided dinner was in order. 

We'd had a big lunch so we choose Wet Stone's Chorizo Bilbao & Achiote Chicken Flatbread. It was more than enough for us to share. I had the remaining piece today for lunch. 😎

Wet Stone is an intimate setting. Chef and owner, Christian Gomez, personally made sure we were well taken care of. It was a great experience. We'll be back.

I found Maestro listed in one of those "Essentials" lists for Pasadena. I've used Eater before with good success, this time being no different.

From the opening cocktails to our shared desert, the meal we enjoyed was a treat. Melanie and I shared two appetizers, Shrimp and Octopus Ceviche and then Calamari; she then had the Free Range Chicken Mole and I had the Braised Short Ribs Burritos; we finished with a nice Tequilla and Cheese Cake.
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Great service and food, nice selection of Tequilas, Maestro.

Miranda is currently parked in the All Saints Episcopal Church parking lot in Pasadena, California. We're here for a few days and the location is perfect for exploring Old Pasadena where any number of restaurants, bars and shops are located.

Last evening we had dinner at Ramen Tatsunoya. Best Ramen either of us has experienced to date. Service is great, food was superb. 

We arrived at 6:00 p.m. as Tatsunoya was opening and got two of the last few seats available in this smallish 45+/- seat restaurant. It wasn't too long before a line formed outside. It's that good.

Let me say this about the Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub, we enjoyed our meal and no, it was not the best sushi, but it was by far not the worst. Faint praise you may say. Okay. 

The restaurant itself was within walking distance of our RV park and seemed to be a magnet for local folks. The place has a nice feel to it, service is good and, when our order was taking a bit too long, the sushi chef sent out a very nice nibble to hold us. 

I read a review about Wrench and Rodent from a person called Hateful Harriet during our meal. I can't say it's perfectly accurate of our experience, but Harriet has her points. Nevertheless, I recommend it to you.

Melanie and I ate here back in March of this year at their old location. After our visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum yesterday, Melanie mentioned a late lunch at Cafe Santa Rosa. Yes was my immediate response.

You eat at Santa Rosa for the Indian Fry Bread. What they top the Fry Bread with is also something to anticipate, but the Fry Bread, it's the stuff of luncheon or dinner dreams. 

Very basic restaurant setting now in an eclectic neighborhood containing industry and housing. Service is good. Eat here.

Melanie and I spent a couple of days roaming around New Orleans' French Quarter earlier this month. The weather was cool and a bit rainy, but we've always enjoyed the occasional visit regardless. 

We choose Bayona for dinner one evening mainly because we were familiar with the quality of the cusine and because we were camped/parked only a few blocks away in the French Quarter Public Parking. 

The last time we ate at Bayona was years back when I accompanied Melanie to New Orleans for a deposition. A good friend had just eaten there and highly recommended it to us. She was kind enough to call ahead for us, spoke with owner and James Beard Best Chef winner, Susan Spicer, made our reservation, and Bayona made sure the evening was memorable. 

I'm pleased to say our latest visit was equally delightful. I enjoyed a special prefix menu featuring pork osso buco, Melanie enjoyed the Rabbit. Great food and wine, great service. Highly recommended.

You like barbecue? We do. Meat Boss knows barbecue. Smoked Boston Butt, Beef Brisket, Chicken and Ribs. Damn, it's good, no, it's great.

Sometimes you luck out and hit two great restaurants in succession. Such was the case in Nashville this weekend past. Thanks again goes to Tate and Zoe for picking eateries we'll certainly try again.

Brunch. Henrietta Red.

We traveled to Nashville for a visit with our son, Tate, and his girlfriend, Zoe, before we head west for winter. We arrived on Saturday afternoon in time to catch a portion of Georgia getting whipped by LSU in the SEC Championship game. Tate had asked about dinner and we told him to make a reservation. 

He and Zoe put their heads together and made a reservation at Lockeland Table, a restaurant at which none of us had eaten.

Hal Holden-Bache is an award-winning chef and has received a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2013. 

The bar and dining room at Lockeland Table is almost always full of neighborhood residents chatting to one another while enjoying fine food and drink, but even if you enter as a stranger, you’ll probably leave with some new friends from this convivial eatery. A roaring wood fire in the pizza oven further warms the ambiance, and the specialty pies that emerge from the infernal heat are ideal for splitting as an appetizer unless you’re too selfish to share. The rest of the menu features Southern fare with international accents like the mandatory app of chicken liver pâté on Tuscan bread or the rack of lamb with fava beans. -- Thrillist

Melanie and I are passing through Birmingham, here for a few days. We're parked at my dentist office in Homewood, running a few errands and then lunch.

​Johnny's was/is one of our go-to places for lunch when we lived in Birmingham. Our son, Tate, had a summer job there.

James Beard Foundation Best Chef Semi-finalist three years running, Tim Hontzas knows his Greek and three.

Johnny's Meat and Three

​Timothy Hontzas is a Homewood Chef and restaurant owner of Johnny's - one of the top meat and three lunch spots in Birmingham. He is also a proud Greek-American. His grandfather came to America from Greece on a cattle boat and worked his way up in the restaurant business before starting his own successful restaurant. Johnny's Greek And Three looks at Chef Hontzas and the role of Greek immigrants in shaping Birmingham dining.