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For Wade's birthday this year, Kimberly went all out and got a biplane aerobatics experience for Wade. Here's the hangar with the blue plane...
...but we are taking the red plane, "Marilyn".
The lovely young maiden sending the brave pilot off to war.
Earl the pilot showing Wade the proper way to enter the plane.
Wade gets to sit in the front seat.
Make sure Wade is fastened in well, so he doesn't fall out when we go upside down.
Ready for takeoff.
Earl hops in the back...
...and we are ready to taxi off.
Montgomery-Gibbs Airport in San Diego is mainly small planes and pilot training.
Back in the hangar, Kimberly hangs out and takes some pictures of the setup they have there.
You can't have a bar, but you can have a Flight Service Station.
A coffee table map of San Diego.
Wade finally makes it back from the flight...
...and extracts his weary (and a little queasy) body..
...slowly out of the plane. We head back to the hotel for a shower and rest, and then off to...
Addison Restaurant in the Grand Del Mar Resort. You get to order either "The Ten" or "The Five", and they don't give you a paper menu, so you just get surprised each course.
A little palate cleanser of fermented pineapple juice and a hint of spice.
Here is a prelude, and it's not even one of the courses. Counter-clockwise from right, potato rosti with serrano ham, foie gras "churros" with a spiced shell, greens in and on a crisp shell, uni on a cracker, and in the back a kumamoto oyster.
On the left with have raspberries and sweet tomatoes and basil in a gelee. On the right, an olive oil gelato in a tomato broth.
The sashimi course of kanpachi, rolled into a flower shape and sitting on an astounding combination of sauces.
Best bite of the night, and maybe in life: risotto with smoked sabayon, which ate like a cheese, with chilled caviar on top as a contrast in texture and flavor.
A strange little "potato chip and dip" combo, that seemed out of place because it looks like bar food, but was actually quite tasty.
Mushroom and scallop soup, almost like a congee. Wade liked it, but it wasn't Kimberly's favorite.
The attention to detail includes two waiters setting down each course in precision timing together.
Another best bite: caramelized cod in another amazing set of sauces.
Oh boy, we get a bread course, too! This served with goat milk butter in front, and a honey apple butter to the right.
Their signature dish: barbecued squab served with the leg and breast, and a demi-glace poured over it tableside.
We should have taken this picture before we had eight paired wines; we look a little wasted (and we are).
A palate cleanser which is a yuzu bomb: a yuzu gelee with yuzu foam on top.
The dessert courses: in front is crystallized hazelnut torte with chocolate paste on top, with a bruleed marshmallow on the side. Going counter-clockwise, little ice cream cones with a caramel gel, and some one-bite treats including a "honeycomb" cookie, and strawberries in a chocolate boat.