Two Events you have to go to…North Eats and Feast.:) Also Poke fest..same people. I am there ..Mission San Luis Rey ..please on a sunny day in So. Cal. My article from last year…https://northcountyfood.com/2015/07/16/feast-oceanside-mission-san-luis-rey-parish/
You can argue with me any day of the week…but I am
good at what I do:)
Today I wanted to veer from my usual posts on great places to drink beer in north county and shed some light on one of the best places to buy beer. Texas Wine & Spirits is true gem in downtown Carlsbad. This is my absolute go-to whenever I need to get beer for a party, camping, or just to drink by myself at home… Texas is an absolute Disneyland for the beer love, I can always find something new that I’ve never had before. Basically, anytime I walk in here I expect to spend at least 20 minutes staring at their wide selection and spending far too much money, but man is it worth it.
Though this store does carry liquor and wine also, this is an image just of their beer selection. This doesn’t even cover it. Over the years I have gotten to know the owners a bit and they guarantee that at any given time their selection includes over 1000 different beers from all over the world.
More beer…
Now, I can admit that walking into this can be a little intimidating if you have no idea what you are looking for. Luckily, their selection is vaguely organized by categories and styles, including local breweries, Belgian styles, etc. I will admit though, half of the reason it takes me so long to choose beer here is because it is mildly overstimulating. I want to try them all. Maybe that is their goal….
and still more…
Regardless, they are organized by brewery and they carry a beyond fantastic selection. You will be able to find your go-to brews that you know you love, as well as some absolutely splurge-worthy releases from, say, The Bruery….
The Bruery bottles
To add some icing to that beer cake, the owners of Texas are wonderful, friendly, and extremely helpful. They always try to make sure you can find what you’re after, and are willing to do some research if they don’t carry what you are looking for. Additionally, when speaking to him about this post he let me know that they can also provide alcohol for events such as wedding and parties. I know I would be one happy guest at a wedding with this quality of beer 🙂
The moral of this story is if you want to buy good beer, go here.
Texas Wine & Spirits
945 Carlsbad Village Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Words and Photos by Katie Cobb
So, this is my new jam, you have to drive to find good Jamaican food let alone great Jamaican food. So, we are lucky to have this place land in Oceanside.
If you not familiar with Jamaican food..just like any other true cultures food it is simple at heart. A meat a starch and a side. Ethiopian, Cuban, true Mexican it is all the same when broken down. It is what each culture does with those ingredients that make them distinct.
The signature dish of Jamaican food is Jerk Chicken, unfortunately you see jerk (insert protein here) at way to many places that have no idea.
These guys are the real deal; I will get into that in a bit.
The owners Sean and Cammal Walker are beautiful people. I can spot the fakes a mile away, been too long in the game.
OK, enough of me spouting on to the food.
Jerk Chicken ~ Rice, Mango Salsa
Ok, they kill that Jerk chicken…tender, juicy and a building heat. See that little container?scotch bonnet hot sauce. It is easy to bring heat; it is harder to bring heat and that kind of flavor. This would be my new srirchaha if they sold it by the bottle.
The mango salsa is just fresh cut mango, tomatoes, and herbs. It is brilliant because it cuts the heat.
and now
OX Tail they also serve a goat curry both are excellent. I could go on and on but or fast casual just go here. Its something different it is authentic and it is good.
Total bonus they are at the Thursday Sunset Market.
One Love Island Cuisine
4225 Oceanside Blvd Suite K
Oceanside, Ca
So, I get a few questions about Luke Girling’s Cyclops Farms project daily, so I thought I would do a quick update, since I spent the morning there Saturday.
The farm is up and running and supplying Organic certified Veg. to a number of restaurants including LTH, Wrench and Rodent, Petite Madeline and Real Bar and Bistro. You can also find his product at Cream of the Crop in South Oceanside.
Hours right now are Saturdays 8 am till 12:30 pm and Tuesdays 3 pm till 6:30 pm
Lots of peppers and tomatoes at the moment.
Locals buying local, what is not to love?
The man Ed manning the farm stand.
Sunshine in a bucket.
Farmer Luke Girling in his limited edition Cyclops farms T-Shirt 1 of 1 $250 dollars on Ebay:)
Also, Luke’s wife grows and puts together great flower arrangements right on site.
An arrangement put together for me for Banana Dang! in Oceanside.
If you get a chance take a visit up to the Fire Mountain area in Oceanside, meet Luke and his family and grab some great produce and flowers.
The best way to track whats being sold and stand hours is to follow them on Facebook.
Cyclops Farms
1448 Avocado Rd
Having been a volunteer with Mainstreet Oceanside for about a Year and a half now, I know how much work goes into running the Thursday Markets. There are two the smaller more produce driven morning market and the night “Sunset Market” which features more of a street fair environment with live music, artists, and food. I have been to two over the last month or so and the crowd volume has picked up for the summer.
Pretty much this crowded the whole time. I love these two ladies in the second pic…I’m not taking pictures of you get over it, my camera was over my head “say anything boom box style” snapping crowd pics.
Now there are about 180 vendors for the markets and i would say 80% if not more are food vendors. That is a lot. Not all are good and not all are authentic. I will mention three here that are worth your time.
First is Shwings ~ New style Sushi and wings who i have mentioned before. Having been around for 7 weeks now it is nice to see them settled in and upping their game.
The Shwings menu offerings.
Chicken with pickled watermelon foreground and Bacon Avocado roll in the back.
Bacon &Avocado roll…great plating
Right next door to Shwings is flamin’ Salmon.
Hence the name. I had talked with the Owner / Chef about temp control and how the fish does not get dried out..his answer 20 years experience doing this in Germany.
Good stuff.
So the real reason I went down was to talk with Cheryl of Cheryl’s caramels
Cheryl hand makes her candy here in Oceanside in small artisanal batches. They are Gluten, nut, chemical, and preservative free. She makes 9 flavors ranging from Old Fashioned Caramel to Ginger Bread and Raspberry.
Cheryl at her booth.
She used to work in the corporate world doing graphic design and marketing,. you can tell her booth screams vintage quality candy. She is also a great person and passionate about her product. The visuals draw you in and she sets the hook and reels you in with her personality.
Went home with the “Old Fashioned” caramels. Perfect melt in your mouth rich flavor.
Cheryl and some writer hack:)
There will be more about Cheryl and her product soon, also I heard good things about the Perogies near by and did not get a chance to check them out and want to hit up Olivia’s Kitchen for some African food (I love goat and it is hard to find)
The market at Sunsetish.
So, it is hard enough to strike out on your own in the restaurant industry and open your own place, even with years of experience, add moving to a new state and not having a location, that must be pretty daunting.
That is just what Chef Ryan Turk and Nijela Shama have done. Taking a concept they believe in and creating ShWings ~ New Sushi and Wing House. Ryan creates and developes the food and Nijela runs the Marketing and Social Media. I always find partnerships like this work best. Examples would be Mark and Kim Millwood of TBG, Davin and Jessica at Wrench and Rodent and loads of others.
Ryan has years of experience under his belt working as a Chef for the Caesar’s Palace organization in Las Vegas. Rotating around to assist as the “”Celebrity Chef” restaurants come in. Basically being available to fill in to any position needed, when needed, and dealing with extreme volume. Most recently he worked at the Vegas Outpost of famed New York steak house Old Homestead.
Old Homestead Steak House LV
After 3 years in Las Vegas and a little convincing from family and friends Ryan decided to move to San Diego, North County and pursue his passion and ideas.
As a proof of the concept they have started at local Farmers Markets and breweries, like Oceanside’s Thursday Night Market pictured above.
The idea he has is for a non-fish based Sushi and Wing House….now right there the concept makes some people think hmmm…yet the idea is new and traditional at the same time.
Sushi simply means “cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients” though most familiar preparations include some kind of fish, even traditional Japanese Sushi houses have dishes like Tamago (egg) and inventive chefs have pushed the envelope for years to include ingredients like Kobe Beef and vegetables to their rolls or nigiri.
Bacon Roll ~ Bacon, cucumber,ginger,
Gochujang Wings with Asian Slaw
The wing concept is a perfect match as well, as Japanese fried finger foods have been around forever. I mean Chicken Karaage is Japanese fried chicken and an American version of that as a companion to Sushi featuring bacon and other Savory ingredients makes sense.
I have a huge standard for wings and these were great. Panko breaded for a light crispy taste, moist chicken and a sauce with depth. Slaw was on point too.
Ryan will have to explain his concept to customers from time to time, and while I was visiting them at the night-time market he did have to balance the role of Chef and showman. In the end though the food speaks for itself.
Wings being seasoned, sauce going.
I really like these guys and am excited to see where they go. Right now they are at a few North County Markets and breweries which you can track through their web page and Facebook. I will also throw up any info on the northcountyfood facebook page.
Sorry for being AFK for a little bit 🙂
Thanks to all for hanging in there. Some personal health stuff and some family health stuff.
On a brighter note, I still have 200+ pics to go through and lots of food stuff coming to North County…including this.
Lou’s Records, animals, food what else could you want
Here are a few of my go to places for good authentic Mexican food in North County.
No better way to celebrate the Battle of Puebla, victory over the French and taco Tuesday all rolled into one.
Primos’s Market ~ Oceanside
606 Morse St
Oceanside, CA 92054
b/t Freeman St & Alvarado St
Oceanside
Great street tacos, regularly $.99 on special
$.69 . They have great Fresh made salsa and guacamole to accompany them.
Go to Dish: Any of the street tacos. Pick up a carton of their home made guac. to go at the market.
Mariscos Ensanada ~ Oceanside
Aguachile ~ Shrimp, avocado, red onion, in a jalapeno broth.
Go To Dishes: Best Carnitas in North County, any shrimp dish (though potions are kinda small), Aguachile and ceviche
Lola’s 7 up Market and Deli ~ Carlsbad
3292 Roosevelt St,
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Hole in the wall Mexican restaurant inside a neighborhood market.
Go To Dishes: Carne Asada anything (They get all their meat from Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad) and fish tacos.
Karina’s Taco Shop ~ Encinitas
916 N Highway 101
Encinitas, CA
Authentic Mexican Seafood
Go To Dishes: Spicy Shrimp Taco and Octopus Taco
La Especial Norte ~ Encinitas
664 North Coast Highway 101
Encinitas, CA 92024
Lots to Like here,. larger menu selection at dinner.
Go To Dishes: Any of their moles, the chicken tortilla soup, and I’m a sucker for a good shrimp cocktail.
So there are some places I like for Mexican food. Not all inclusive and I left out some Americanized places like Haggo’s in Cardiff, Puesto in La Jolla / San Diego and Grubby’s / Los Tacos in Carlsbad and Oceanside that are all great in their own right.
So a few of these are substantiated and some are through the industry grapevine. until the building permit or liquor license goes up I would treat them as “could be”. Though most come from reliable sources.
Downtown Oceanside.
1. Swami’ plans to expand into the now vacant comic book store space adjacent to the current location.
2. Swamis’ has purchased the old gun shop and space next door (contradicts 1)
3. Barrel republic is opening one of two North County locations. Unlike their original PB location these will serve food. (confirmed construction underway)
4. Some sushi restaurant that is taking forever to build out. i know you can tell I’m excited about this one.
?. Map insert..I walked in on a meeting and have seen build out plans for a North County outpost of Heaven Sent Desserts in the old market near Harbor Freight tools. The building would contain a space for dessert and coffee with possible space for independent wine and cheese shop(s)
Middle Coast Highway
1. An out post of Board and Brew is moving in and in addition to their regular restaurant will include a brewery, which is a first for their concept I believe.
South Oceanside #1
1. An unknown, and new to the game, brewery plans to open in the Harley shop caty corner to The Privateer. They will not serve food.
South Oceanside #2
1. Revolution Roasters will open their first coffee shop and eventually move their roasting facility to Oceanside. (Confirmed)
2. Urge Gastropub will open their next location (confirmed) They have been trying to team up with a brewer for a while and this space has enough room to serve as a brewery restaurant (unconfirmed)
So there you go possible and known goings on. Another busy year for Oceanside.
Farm to Table is an over used, over played phrase. I use it all the time and cringe when I do because I then have to explain it. When it is used the right way it is a testament to the ethics, care and sourcing of the Chef and the quality of the produce. Basically everything grown is Farm to Table when you think about it. The real thing is the time-table from grower to plate that makes the difference.
All of this is no better capsulized than in the video link below.
The great thing is the implication and impact it will not only have on Oceanside’s food scene but north County’s in general.
So, I met Luke Girling about a year ago when I was asked to tour West farms in Carlsbad. I dragged along Chef Davin Waite and Chef Beau Bonham. You can see that article here.
West Farms March 11, 2014
Funny how things come full circle.
All this time later I get a message from Davin about Luke’s new project and I have been in full support from word one.
This time I invited Chefs Beau Bonham, Christine Loyola, and new friend and Chef Annalise Brolaski (trust me more to come on her later…up and coming superstar) as well as her father, who has an impressive background in farming in his own right. On the business side Leslee Gaul CEO and President of visit Oceanside (great organization BTW and true supporters of our city). also Tracey Bohlen was nice enough to take time out of her day as economic developer for the city of Oceanside to join the fun.
The Gang ~ Left to right, Farmer Luke, George (Annalise’s Dad) Chef Annalise, Chef Beau, Chef Christine, Tracey, and Leslee far right.
So the day started out at Luke’s Home where he has an impressive garden..
This is just the front yard.
More of the front patch.
Luke explaining his home garden and growing technique.
Luke’s backyard
Fresh Strawberries
Padron Peppers in the backyard greenhouse.
The future home of Cyclops Farms. Already leased, the kickstarter campaign is killing it, myself and everyone I have involved is in.
You can be a part of this…if you can not donate spread the word…local, community driven…everything I love and work for.
North County Food 