Oysters

In addition to their high levels of zinc, a key mineral in testosterone production, these slippery bivalves boast the natural flavors of saline and butter with a snip of fruitiness on the finish—bewitching the palate and, in some cases, the eyes. “Anytime I can watch my date slurp something, I’m in,” says Chef Anthony Sinsay of Harney Sushi, who just introduced oyster- champagne shooters (made with sustainable oysters from Carlsbad Aqua Farms) in cucumber-basil consommé. Sold in trios, these love shots get their tickling effervescence from champagne and extra sweetness from local apple mignonette.

$7 during happy hour; $11 thereafter
3964 Harney St., Old Town
619.295.3272
301 Mission Ave., Oceanside
760.967.1820
harneysushi.com

Avocados

It wasn’t some sex-crazed hedonist who dubbed them “testicle trees”—it was the (sex-crazed) Aztecs who originally noted the way avocados hang from their branches in pairs. The creamy green fruit has since been framed as more than just a visual suggestion of sex, given its superior measures of oleic acid for heart health and stamina, Vitamin A for maintaining good vision (and accurately sizing up new romantic prospects), and Vitamin B6 for regulating hormone balance. At Candelas in Coronado and Downtown, the spell is cast through the Estructura de Aguacate starter: whole Haas avocados, halved and stuffed with lime-marinated scallops, shrimp and crabmeat and given a sensual top-off of cilantro cream and mango vinaigrette. It’s an appetizer that challenges couples to stay in their seats for the remaining courses.

$12
416 Third Ave., Gaslamp
619.702.4455
1201 First St., Coronado
619.435.4900
candelas-sd.com

Coriander

If your affection for another goes unrequited, take a cue from the ancient Chinese by making a love potion from coriander (a.k.a cilantro seed). Even easier, nudge the person into ordering channa masala at Ashoka the Great, which uses cilantro seeds as a main ingredient in the aromatic sauce covering garbanzo beans. The vegetarian dish also features fresh ginger, another organic touted for its aphrodisiacal oomph. “But the coriander has to be there for making a fragrant masala,” says manager Jagrup Singh, who imports the spice from India. The seeds are pulverized with cardamom, cinnamon and black peppercorns and start releasing their charm (and antioxidants) faster than you can play footsie under the table.

$9.95
9474 Black Mountain Rd., Ste. G, Mira Mesa
858.695.9749
ashokasd.com

Figs

Common to the fabled Dionysian orgies of ancient Greece, voluptuous figs hit the taste buds with a fleshy texture and honeyed nectar that can turn unsuspecting humans into amorous spring bees. Fibrous and full of potassium, they’re known to alleviate fatigue, which plays favorably for post-dinner romance. Look no further than The Fig Tree Café in Hillcrest for mouthfuls of the sexy fruit set within a mantle of buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto and zippy arugula. For obvious shows of affection, Chef Alberto Morreale assists by shaping the pizza crust into a darling heart.

$14.95
416 University Ave., Hillcrest
619.298.2010
figtreecafehillcrest.com

Chocolate

The mother of all aphrodisiacs shows up in a new collection of Valentine’s Day indulgences by wholesaler San Diego chocolatier David Bacco, who insists his heart-shaped sweets “work just as well for males.” Indeed, studies have proven that macho brains enjoy the same stimulating punch from chocolate as women, thanks to the superfood’s hefty levels of phenethylamine (a.k.a. “the love drug”). Bacco’s latest creations include Incantato, made with milk chocolate, passion fruit and caramel; plus Captive, which combines the chocolate with mango ganache and balsamic reduction. Fall under Bacco’s sweet spell on Valentine’s Day, when he works his chocolate magic into each phase of a four-course, $65-per-person prix-fixe menu at North Park’s Sea Rocket Bistro (6 and 8:30 p.m. seatings on Feb. 14). His products are available at Jonathan’s in La Jolla, Seaside Market in Cardiff, Albertson’s in Del Mar and Harvest Ranch stores.

9888 Waples St., Sorrento Valley
888.560.5535
bacco-chocolatier.com

By Brandon Hernández

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and you’re doing barroom calisthenics (i.e., 12-ounce curls, vodka presses, shot puts) with your bros in preparation for the big game. The odds in Vegas are still being finalized, but the odds of your ordering a flute of champagne are already set—at about three million to one. The biggest sporting day of the year is no time to get your man card pulled.

But mimosas taste so good! Man up with a Manmosa at Tavern at the Beach. The Pacific Beach hotspot spikes the classic drink by throwing out the orange juice—and throwing in more alcohol. A brawny brainchild of Tavern managers Dave Franklin and Victor Swircz, the Manmosa sets champagne afloat on a sea of Shock Top (an orange- infused, Belgian-style wheat ale), adding extra kick with orange-flavored vodka.

“It’s like having two drinks at once and it fits into any time of day,” says Swircz.
With potency and the ability to go the distance, this drink has serious crossover appeal. “It’s for dudes for sure,” says Franklin. “But you know the ladies…they always want what they can’t have.”

Tavern at the Beach
1200 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach
858.272.6066
tavernatthebeach.com

barleymash & ginger’s

600 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp
barleymash.com
gingerssandiego.com

Whiskey Girl sauntered a block north last month, making way for Verant Group (Brewley’s Pint, Offshore Tavern, Sandbar Sports Grill, Tavern at the Beach, True North Tavern, West Coast Tavern) to install not one, but two new concepts at the intersection of Fifth and Market, Downtown. barleymash, a resto by day and entertainment venue (live music, DJs) by night, is devoted to all things barley: beer, bread and bourbon. Downstairs, a metro-sensual martini bar called ginger’s promises to be a sophisticated escape from the frenetic Fifth Avenue bustle. The two- in-one venue is set to open in March.

Gabardine

1005 Rosecrans St., Point Loma

Chef-turned-restaurant mogul Brian Malarkey (Searsucker, Burlap, Gingham) is re-stitching the fabric of the San Diego dining scene, one ’hood at a time. Fresh off his conquest of La Mesa via his beefy, beery new restaurant, Gingham, he’s set his sights on Point Loma for his next eatery, Gabardine. Former Sea Rocket Bistro chef Chad White will command a shipshape crew in rolling out a fleet of seafood delicacies.

Gang Kitchen

346 Sixth Ave., Gaslamp
gangkitchen.com

The coal-fired pizza at BASIC in East Village and URBN in North Park earned restaurateur Jon Mangini a piece of the local restaurant pie. Now he’s using his noodle to bring a totally new concept to life. Enter East Village’s Far East-inspired Gang Kitchen (opening this summer), a steely, touched-up warehouse design akin to his initial venues. Artsy graffiti-esque décor will set the tone for a panoply of traditional flavors from various Asian cultures—including pho (soup), rangoons (dumplings) and Shanghai beef—plus a variety of sakes and themed specialty cocktails.

Lucky’s Lunch Counter

338 Seventh Ave., East Village
luckyslunchcounter.com
culywarehouse.com
blockno16.com

The expansive Culy Warehouse by Petco Park is getting an extreme makeover. A project by Ty Hauter, and produced by his company, Good Time Design (co-owner and managing partner of 1st Street Bar, Bootlegger, Bub’s at the Ballpark, Double Deuce, Knotty Barrel, RT’s Longboard Grill and The Tipsy Crow), the new hospitality mega-plex will feature three venues under one roof.
Lucky’s Lunch Counter will serve over-stuffed deli and giant pork tenderloin sandwiches, extreme salads, gourmet hotdogs and hearty soups. A larger chunk of the overall square-footage will become the new Culy Warehouse event space. And the big daddy of the trio is Block No. 16 Union & Spirits, a multi-level entertainment venue (with a 35-by-25’ LED wall larger than the Jumbotron at Petco) intended to rival Southern California’s premier nightclubs and concert halls. The entire project, set to open in May, will hold up to 2,100 people at a time.

Puesto Mexican Street Food

1026 Wall St., La Jolla
eatpuesto.com

Tijuana meets La Jolla at Puesto Mexican Street Food, the Village’s new fast-casual, slow-food eatery, offering a heightened and authentic south-of-the-border experience.
Beginning February 10, all-natural ingredients will be the foundation for tacos and other traditional indulgences, boosted by house-made salsas and modern design.

Raglan Public House

1851 Bacon St., Ocean Beach
raglanpublichouse.com

PJ Lamont and Matt Baker, co-owners of Bare Back Grill in Pacific Beach and Downtown, are taking a variation of their successful, 100 percent organic beef burger-centric concept to Ocean Beach. Named after the New Zealand beach town of Raglan, Raglan Public House is slated to open early February, giving Obecians a casual gathering place for “bloody good” food and craft beers as they’re served in the Kiwi motherland.

Named after its creator, Executive Chef Craig “Andy” Beardslee, Andy’s Sage Fried Chicken & Bacon Waffle Tower at Hash House a Go Go is a foot-high balancing act: two chubby chicken breasts propped up by bacon-infused waffles, topped with a tangled mane of crispy fried leeks and drizzled with maple reduction. When the popular Hillcrest restaurant opened on Fifth Avenue in 2000, this $18 monolith cast a national shadow—garnering exposure in The New York Times, on The Martha Stewart Show and on Food Network’s Chefs vs. City. (More recently the beast/feast appeared on the Travel Channel’s Bacon Paradise.) “It was our first hit song, if you will,” says Hash House co-owner Johnny Rivera. “And we’ve been playing it ever since.”

hashhouseagogo.com

No Weigh

Super Monster Burrito

(a nearly seven-pounder with your choice of fillings)

Freebirds World Burrito
3958 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest
619.299.5500
freebirds.com

3 Lb. Burger Challenge

(six hamburger patties topped with 12 slices of cheese, two fried eggs and four bacon strips on a triple bun, served with cheesy tater tots)

The Corner Restaurant & Bar
369 10th Ave., East Village
619.531.880
thecornersd.com

The difference between non-carbonated Blink and its competitors is clear: “Unlike most energy beverages, you can see what you are drinking,” says founder Howie Reed, a Montana native living in La Jolla. Reed, who created Blink as an alternative to coffee and sugary wake-me-up potions, boasts that his proprietary blend (which includes natural caffeine and Vitamin B) not only reduces wasted calories, but also helps save the planet. “I saw people purchasing both an energy drink and a bottle of water in the same transaction,” he says. “Blink saves you money at the register and reduces your carbon footprint by combining two bottles into one.”

blinkenergywater.com

In the high-tech, yet homey kitchen classroom at Cups Culinary in La Jolla, some of San Diego’s most gifted gastronomes, including Spring Hill Cheese whiz Rachel Peter (left to right in photo are Suzie’s Farm intern Elle Ucker, Rachel Peter, Cups owner Michelle Ciccarelli Lerach and Cups Director Chef Jesus Gonzalez) teach everything from serving charcuterie to decorating baked goods. “Cheese is milk’s leap to immortality,” says Peter, whose whey-cool lessons in crafting artisanal cheese and crème fraîche show students how to make culture pop. “I love sharing its taste and essence because, for me, it represents tradition, health and community.”

cupslj.com

Now You’re Cooking

Una Noche en España:
Tapas (Jan. 6) and Mas Noches
en España: Paella (Jan. 19)
Hipcooks, North Park
619.269.8844
sandiego.hipcooks.com

Hands-On Basic Sushi
(Jan. 7)
Great News! Cooking School, Pacific Beach
858.270.1582
great-news.com

Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen
Basics Three-Part Series
(Jan. 10, 17 and 24)
Sur La Table, Carlsbad
760.635.1319
surlatable.com

Inside each of the six San Diego Broken Yolk Café locations, “walls of honor” reveal the names of customers who’ve shoveled down 12-egg omelets in under an hour. For these ravenous elites, breakfast was on the house—their names forever engraved on shiny metal plaques like so many benefactors of a gastro-bypass hospital wing. Among those who’ve burped victory is Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s hit TV show Man vs. Food, who, in 32 stomach-defying minutes, consumed not only the humongous, cheese-filled, chili-smothered omelet, but also the requisite heaps of home fries and biscuits. Can’t crack this many eggs in one sitting? Plan to shell out $25.99.

thebrokenyolkcafe.com

Other local Man V. Food stars

Surfin’ California Burrito

(stuffed with steak, shrimp and French fries)
Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop
1810 W. Washington St., Mission Hills
619.296.8226
tacosmackdown.com

El Toro Sandwich

(sliced tri-tip and barbecue sauce inside a large Kaiser roll)
Phil’s BBQ
3750 Sports Arena Blvd., Point Loma
619.226.6333
579 Grand Ave., San Marcos,
760.759.1400
philsbbq.net

Hoping to catch a slice of the food-TV limelight in a world where hotdog-eating competitions and other portion-gorging events garner national media attention, one local restaurant has created a monster. In late January, Brian’s 24 in the Gaslamp will unveil its Pancake Monster—five buttermilk hot cakes, a half-pound each of ham and country-fried steak, four giant bacon strips and three sunny-side-up eggs, all piled onto a pound of home fries. “Our focus has always been on big comfort food,” says owner Brian Epstein, who conceived the five-and-a-half-pound beast. “This dish takes it to the extreme.” So extreme, in fact, that the $25 entrée will be free for anyone who devours it in under an hour. (Are you listening, Food Network?)

Brian’s 24
828 Sixth Ave., Gaslamp
619.702.8410
brians24.com

By Brandon Hernández

Nothing announces fun and the New Year like the pop of a cork. And when that fizz calls for a little sizzle, tilt a glass toward Jeff Josenhans at Grant Grill inside downtown’s historic US Grant Hotel—he’s got you covered with his Cocktails Sur Lie. (Sur Lie is a French term for “having rested on yeast.”)

Utilizing the French approach to crafting sparkling wine, the sommelier/mixologist has created the first bottle conditioned cocktails that successfully combine the fermentation processes of beer and champagne.

“It’s basically the champagne method, but applied to cocktails,” Josenhans explains. “We make the cocktail without the alcohol, then put it in a bottle with hops, sugar and yeast. The yeast eats the sugar and produces carbon dioxide.”

From there, Josenhans inverts the bottle to allow the yeast to settle toward the bottle cap. He pops the cap to release the yeast along with a small amount of liquid, which he replaces with more sugar and alcohol.

The formula gives rise to ticklingly carbonated cocktails such as Mule in a Bottle, combining flower-infused vodka, ginger, California hops and champagne yeast; and Smokin’ Pumpkin, a mix of pumpkin-infused rum, saffron, vanilla, applewood-smoked coconut sugar and exotic liqueurs with ale yeast.

When not experimenting behind the bar, Josenhans, a graduate of Sweden’s Stockholm University who has traveled to more than 45 countries, enjoys gardening, cooking and spending quality time with his daughter. He credits his “hard-working, beer-and-tequila-loving family” for his own work ethic and love of fine spirits.

Josenhans’s bottle conditioned cocktails will appear full-time on Grant Grill’s drink menu beginning in January. A votre santé!

Eggnog is about as cool as a Christmas sweater: sufferable while Grandma’s in the house, then avoided until she returns next year.

Though perhaps too stodgy for nightlife hotspots, the egg-and-dairy-based alcoholic beverage—a traditional holiday favorite since Victorian times—is enjoying rediscovery, thanks to some crafty local bartenders who’ve turned it into a velvety cocktail that manages to be hip while stirring images of stockings over the hearth and reindeer tracks in the snow.

There may be no snow this far south, but yule love the brain freeze.

WITH A SHERRY ON TOP

Eggnog is most commonly spiked with rum, whiskey or brandy, but Anthony Schmidt, general manager and chief bartender at Noble Experiment in East Village, never settles for the ordinary. His take on the beverage, the Andalusian Flip—named after Spain’s sherry-producing region—relies on a blend of VSOP Cognac and sweet Pedro Ximenez Sherry for its kick. Orgeat, an almond syrup sold at better liquor stores, intensifies the nutty sweetness, making for a smooth and spicy taste sensation.

Noble Experiment
(inside Neighborhood)
777 G St., East Village
619. 888.4713
nobleexperimentsd.com

NUEVO HUEVO

Heavy cream whipped to soft peaks and combined with melted vanilla ice cream gives rich body to the Hibiscus Highlands Eggnog, a holiday specialty of Burlap in Del Mar. Chris Simmons, co-founder of the Smoke and Mirrors

Cocktail Company and Burlap’s chief beverage whiz, gives his nog-coction a south-of- the-border flair, adding Gran Centenario Rosangel Hibiscus Tequila and Fruitlab Hibiscus Organic Liqueur to the mouthwatering mix.

Burlap
12995 El Camino Real
Ste. 21, Del Mar
858.369.5700
burlapeats.com

INSTANT HOLIDAY CLASSIC

Self-proclaimed “proud booze nerd” Jennifer Queen, a partner in the Blind Tiger Cocktail Co. and co-designer of the drinks menu at North Park’s URBN, has created a signature nog just for you, dear PacificSD lover, that conveys holiday fun with every sip. Called “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Queen’s custom quaff—which caps a creamy, cognac-and-rum treat with two ounces of Hefeweizen beer—is not only a memorable nog but also a refreshing nod to San Diego’s role as a craft brewing capital. Cheers!

It’s a Wonderful Life: PacificSD’s Signature Eggnog
(Yields one serving)

1 ounce Kelt VSOP Cognac
½ ounce Ron Zacapa spiced rum
½ ounce cream
½ ounce spiced sweet potato reduction
(1 large diced sweet potato, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon each allspice and cinnamon, 2 cups of water—all simmered and reduced by half, then strained)
1 egg
2 ounces Hefeweizen beer
1 pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg

Combine all except beer and spices in shaker and shake vigorously, until contents are emulsified. Then add ice, shake until frothy, strain into glass and top with beer and spices.

URBN
3085 University Ave.
North Park
619.255.7300
urbnnorthpark.com