In a pig's ear

I went to the atm this morning and locked the key and phone in the car. Took forever for the locksmith to get off his previous call and I had a lot of time to think about my stupidity. He, of course, being Bruce, had it open in seconds. The world becomes a lonely place when you are locked out, or standing on the side of the road with no spare, while the cars go whizzing on by.

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The blog has gone over twelve thousand five hundred unique page views for the third month in a row. That means that somehow or other I have gained four thousand new readers. It is flattering but just who exactly are you people?

I enjoy writing and this blog is a good release. But it can be very personal as well  and I have to question if it is sustainable or not in the long run. Feel the call to write fiction. I wonder why going from 8500 readers to 12,500 has made a psychic difference with me? But it seems to have. Of course there are people with zillions of hits per month and they seem to handle it fine. Mine is big enough. Don't tell anybody else.

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I think about Berkeley Breathed (Opus) and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) and Gary Larson (Far Side). The really great cartoonists all seem to hear the final bell and disappear into the sunset forever. Why is that? Why don't we see this premature artistic arrest in other sorts of art forms? Not that I am any Bill Watterson, mind you. But what I lack in quality I think I make up for in volume. And I guess that cat Rimbaud did stop his writing at the tender age of 21.

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We have a family medical emergency and had to travel south to the hospital yesterday. I saw a building that I think I need to photograph soon, the YWCA in downtown San Diego. We drove by and I had never before felt its beauty as I did yesterday. The YWCA building was designed by Frank Stevenson and C.E. Decker in 1926. It reflects the Spanish Renaissance architectural theme first made popular by New York architect Bertram Goodhue at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. Soft, graceful and tasteful classic lines.

Some of the most beautiful architecture in the world at our park, an aesthetic that reaches back to Spain herself and the Moors rather than the spanish colonial stylizations of the new world. San Diego had some amazing architects, Requa and Gill notwithstanding. I have to feel that the historical architectural beauty of San Diego has not been fully appreciated for its singular beauty and import. Neighborhoods like Kensington, Loma Portal and Bankers Hill, amongst many others. The most beautiful urban park in the nation.

Wall frieze, Temple Beth Israel - San Diego

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We stopped at Cucina Urbana after our hospital visit. I have written about the restaurant before and have frankly gushed. I don't think I have ever been so pleased with a restaurant in the area. Strong, delicious flavors, relatively inexpensive, young hip crowd, great alcohol, the place is just tops with me. I said in my previous review that it was not a restaurant for pussies or the timid. People that shrink from garlic for instance. The place is a culinary orgy for me and I love it. Perfect for my taste.

What is interesting to me is that so few of my friends share my love for the place. I got two did not likes, one too loud and one so-so after my review. This is sort of rare for me, most of my food compañeros and I see pretty much eye to eye on such matters. I can't blame breeding or cultivation, just divergent tastes. (Oh, by the way, R & D went to the Oceanside main operation of Bull Taco and had a horrid meal as did I and as did Barbara and Nancy. The place in Cardiff was good, this place didn't have the same sanitary feel. Caution.)

So we sit down last night at the community table at Cucina Urbana, the restaurant being packed. The other diners sharing our table, at least the men, were kind of ultra square and pushy, had the does not get along well with others stamp all over. They finally let on that they worked for a certain federal acronym agency in Washington D.C. and Colorado, but would not get into the alphabetical specifics. The women were very cool, even let me share their mussels. The men had that Scott Walker type haircut going on. Probably swell guys.

One of the C.U. management staff came over, a very cool guy that I met previously, and we had a small chat. He had read my review and a bit more of the blast and talked about the dinner we had ordered for the night. He stuck up for a restaurant that I had slammed on the blog. Leslie had orechiette (the pasta from Puglia that resembles a small ear) with spicy lamb sausage, roasted artichokes, feta and cherry tomatoes. I ordered a meatball and bufala mozzarella pizza with spinach, fontina and parmesan. We started our dinner with more of their burrata and garlic confit and excellent crusty bread.

Our host sent over a plate of thinly sliced grilled pig's ear in a bed of frisée, almond and lemon. Decorated with delicious wild mustard. I had never eaten pig's ear in this fashion and I liked it. Very interesting texture. Sort of a jerky thing going.

Our meals were fantastic as was the rich Barbera I had ordered by the glass. Leslie had a ginger-pear martini. The wine is expensive by the glass but you are getting a great wine for the money. And he explained that the by the glass selections were in some ways more current and special than the full bottle fare. Couldn't have been happier with the food. We almost got the short rib pappardelle with criminis we got last time but decided on something new. Ben said that the pappardelle was becoming the Urbana signature dish because so many people have written favorably about it but the staff had not intended it to stand out and he was soft pedaling it. So many cool things to try. Hey, take good publicity wherever you can get it.

We were stuffed and left without dessert. I would have had the nectarine rhubarb crisp with ginger, or something similar, I am reciting from faint memory.

Once again we had the awesome meal at Cucina Urbana. A fun evening in a restaurant that is breaking new ground with its new model of foodie food at affordable prices, only one entry on the entire menu over twenty bucks and that is a steak that you would be paying thirty five bucks elsewhere. A place that delivers but doesn't take itself too seriously. What more can I tell you?