"A Dose of Vitamin P" for FoodGPS!

Since FoodGPS had a disappointing week in pork, the bloggers who went down to Tijuana for the Pork 5 ways meal decided to each do A Dose of Vitamin P, dedicated to FoodGPS! (For those of you who didn't know, P here stands for Pork. FoodGPS highlights the best pork dish in his weekly Dose of Vitamin P.)

My Vitamin P was this tosta de cachete con erizo from Chef Jair Téllez of Laja in Valle de Guadalupe. He had run out of food within an hour so I was the only one in the group who had it (sorry!). Here you have uni and avocado on top of a "toast" made with pork cheek. Sweet, creamy uni. Crispy, fatty pork. Mind, blown.

Toast? Crostini? BORING. Crisped pork needs to be the new toast. Bruschetta with crispy pork. I'm going to smear foie gras torchon on a piece of toasted pork cheek. Pork rillette on pork, anyone?

For more porkporkpork, check out my fellow adventurers Street Gourmet LA, e*starLA, and My Last Bite who are all supposed to be posting their Dose of Vitamin P today.

Lunch Prix Fixe at The Kitchin (Edinburgh, UK)

The menu read: "Ravioli of game from the border"

I (stupidly) asked: "which border?"
The waiter looked at me. "The England-Scotland border."
Oh, right, silly me. I was in Scotland.

Having survived on grilled sandwiches (sorry, "toasties") for lunch that whole week and dining at bars/pubs with friends (which were awesome) after my conference sessions, I treated myself to one nice lunch: The Kitchin. The Kitchin was opened by husband and wife Tom and Michaela Kitchin in 2006 and six months later, in 2007, won a Michelin star.

Gougere and an assortment of vegetable chips

Their tagline? From Nature to Plate. Meat sourced from a local game-keeper, hand-dived scallops, and mushrooms from around Edinburgh hunted by the Kitchins themselves.


Dining at The Kitchin is pretty expensive, but luckily they have a three-course lunch prix fixe for £24.50. The wine list was also notably expensive. The cheapest glass I could find was £9.50 (almost $15). Regardless, a glass must be had.


As an amuse bouche, I started with a bowl of Langoustine Bisque over tomato. It was cold in Edinburgh, and this bowl warmed my body right up as I hunted for the langoustine pieces.

Read more »

Dec 8: Pig Out in Tijuana, Head to Tail

Mexico? It ain't that far, and this Wednesday is the perfect time to cross the border. How does a pork feast, from head to tail, with paired wines for 350 pesos (about $35) sound? Talk about a deal! Yup, on Wednesday December 8, you can partake in 5 Chefs, 5 pork preparations, 5 Baja wines at Villa Saverios in Tijuana.

Here's the chefs' lineup:
Chef Max Bonacci from The Linkery and El Take it Easy (San Diego,CA)
Chef Benito Molina from Manzanilla and Muelle Tres ( Ensenada)
Chef Jair Tellez from Laja (Valle de Guadalupe) and Mero Toro (Mexico City)
Chef Paul Zamudio from Peacocks(San Jose del Cabo)
Chef Javier Plascencia from Villa Saverios, Casa Plascencia, and Mision 19 (Tijuana)

Paired with wines from Valle de Guadalupe:
Adobe Guadalupe
Aborigen
Sinergi VT
Tres Valles
Vinisterra


For reservations, call Villa Saverios, from the US dial 011-52-664-686-6443,ext. 104.

Wednesday, December 8,2010, 7PM.
Villa Saverios
Blvd Sanches Taboada
Esq. Escuadron 201
Zona Rio, Tijuana, Mexico