Arts Food and Culture

 January 2023

In the six weeks that we have been here, we have visited two museums, walked by another, visited the Mission San Luis Rey, listened to a band play half a song at the Sunset Market and endured numerous buskers playing under bridges - where we could not linger lest we get a contact high - and more singers on the Oceanside Pier.  We took pictures of the cottage that was featured in the first Top Gun, as well as a picture of me on Tom Cruise's motorcycle. The cottage was moved from Miramar and now houses a shop that makes really good fried fruit mini-pies. Okay, that covers Arts and Culture, now onto food.

But first, an hour’s diversion that combined culture and food. Cindy booked a tour at the Carlsbad Aqua-culture Farm.

(See it has culture in the title). https://carlsbadaquafarmersmarket.com/  

Oh what fun. They took a group of a dozen people and walked us through the entire process of growing oysters and mussels in their fifty foot lagoon, which is fed directly by the Pacific Ocean across the street.  It is a lovely tour led by a marine biologist who really knew her stuff. They can grow an oyster in only about five months and mussels in about eight. They sell all the mussels to Whole Foods and the oysters are all sold locally to folks who drop by to pick up a few dozen. After all the science we were escorted to a boardwalk overlooking the lagoon where barrels had been set up with napkins, plates of lemon wedges, hot sauces, gloves and a couple of shucking knives. Our guide gave us a quick lesson in how to open an oyster and then placed a dozen oysters on each barrel for two. Because of all the rain, these oysters came from Washington State; we were told it would take two weeks for the oysters to cleanse themselves once the rains stopped. The runoff from the rains contains lots of bad things from farm fields and sometimes from sewers, but the oysters can recover well. We had a swell time opening oysters and sliding them down our gullets.  We have had lots more oysters during our visit since many places have a happy hour where you can get oysters for a buck and a half, cheap nowadays. 

We discovered that there are really two areas in Oceanside where you can find a variety of restaurants at a variety of prices. There is the Marina which has seven restaurants and a coffee shop and is a ten minute walk from us, and there is downtown with dozens of restaurants that is a fifteen minute walk. Downtown prices are about 10% to 15% higher than the Marina but of course you have lots more choices. We have mostly eaten at the Marina and usually at the same two restaurants.  Highlights have been Ahi wonton tacos, which is a silly name for a marvelous appetizer consisting of deep fried wontons topped with bits of really fresh Ahi and drizzled with a slightly spicy wasabi sauce with shreds of fresh ginger. Where the taco comes in is something we never figured out. The same restaurant also has really good shredded chicken lettuce cups with sweet Thai chili sauce. You can sit outside and admire all the big boats in the harbor that never seem to be used, but then again it is January and the weather has been awful until just recently.

My favorite meal has been at the Lighthouse restaurant, the closest to the apartment. They have a Sand Dab dinner that is one of the best I’ve ever had. Sand Dabs are delicate white fish in the flounder family and they are lightly dipped in an egg bath, dusted with flour and quickly pan fried in butter. Served with grilled vegetables and wasabi potatoes, it is the most marvelous meal that I have had on the trip.  Cindy has enjoyed a delightful favorite, calamari taco, which is a real taco with grilled calami topped with shredded Napa cabbage and lemony sauce. Neither of us are fond of California wines and being in California our wine choices have been limited but we can usually find a nice New Zealand or Italian wine to savor with our meals.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention one of the best places we have visited. It is Osteria Romantica in La Jolla Shores, a quick ten minute ride from our timeshare where we stayed our first two weeks out here. We were there twice and we didn’t have a bad mouthful. It was the best pesto outside of Genoa, really that good. They have a pappardelle with lamb that makes you want to eat it at lunch and go back for it at dinner.  They also offer pan-seared baby artichokes served with the stem and covered with a butter, garlic and lemon sauce, crazy delicious crispy baby calamari, a spectacular duck salad, not to mention their home made bread and tiramisu for dessert and a great Italian wine served by the carafe. Worth a detour from where ever!

Our kitchen here in Oceanside is more than serviceable which has been a blessing with all the bad weather we had at first. I’ve roasted chickens, seared salmon, flipped omelettes and tossed lots of salads. We have a car so we try to do a week’s shopping at a time which so far has worked out well, enabling us to ignore the foul weather and stay warm and dry with good food and wine.

We have one more week here before heading home. We’ll drive to Borrego Springs in the desert about two hours from here. The place is famous for the "Desert Abloom,"  which is normally in mid Feb but with all the rain there are lots of blooms out now. We’ll spend the night and hope for clear skies for stargazing and perhaps a shot at seeing the Green Comet, which  I’m calling a cultural event!!

Best to all,  Cindy and Wm

Carlsbad Aquafarm