Finch

Had a fabulous dinner last night at Finch, the place up in Wildomar on Clinton Keith Rd. We went up with Vern and Reneé, took the back road through De Luz, very scenic, spits you out past the Santa Rosa Preserve if you do it right and you are there. Fallbrookians don't make the trip up north that often for food but this one is worth the trip.

Lot of beautiful homes tucked back there in the boonies, some replete with helicopters and their pads. Gorgeous drive. See how the other 1% live.

Finch is a rare bird, a quirky fusion restaurant, expressing disparate culinary influences, including Peruvian supposedly, not that I could necessarily tell. But the food was amazing and I am a pretty critical sort. Decoration is cool, fun and funky, chintz, mismatched chairs and an impala mount. Not sure how long the place has been open.

We started out with a bunch of appetizers including perfectly cooked brussel sprouts, so well done that they were almost purely textural in nature, but very delicious. Tossed with mustard aoli, cooked with shallots.

Fried egg on top for good measure. Menu says it is a farm egg, what other kind do you suppose... Oh, never mind.

We had wild boar sliders and pork ribs, yukon gold pierogies with sour cream to finish off our appetizers.

Everything tres bien except the sliders, which had an annoyingly sweet pinkish aioli. A bit cloying.

On a night of tens it was the only disappointment and honestly, it wasn't too bad! Give it an eight and a half.

The ribs were outstanding and generous for an appetizer plate. Succulent and fatty like a proper pork rib should be.

Served with cashews in a hoisin, cilantro and sesame sauce.

We all split everything, a long standing custom, our friends only too happy to have the requisite onions we both detest served on the side.

For our entrees we had the best chicken I can remember eating, I kid you not. Skewered together like a shish, the skin so crispy, meat so moist, served on a bed of green curry jasmine rice. Whoever was cooking this food was masterful, knew exactly what they were doing. If you visit you have to try this dish. Worth the trip in itself.

Later learned that our chef was a woman, she is great!

We also had a pork osso bucco with gnocchi in a very flavorful reduction. Perfectly prepared once again, falling off the bone.

The men thought it was great the women said it was a bit yang. I loved it.

We tried their dessert sampler to finish up our incredible repast.

Bread pudding, warmed with amaretto gelato, pecan caramel, crushed candied pecans and mint, a smores torte consisting of graham cracker, salted caramel, chocolate, mallow, and more chocolate. Very creamy.

Last but not least, a raspberry crème brûlée.

All divine, all fought over for the last bite. We ordered the perfect amount of food. We are looking forward to going back to try everything else on the menu. They serve a weekend brunch too. Prices were very reasonable, about $35 a head with tip and two of us were drinking.