Photo from searocketbistro.com

Located in the hip North Park neighborhood Sea Rocket Bistro stands apart as a truly unique concept. While North Park is full of great places to eat, no other establishment embraces the aesthetic of serving sustainable, locally grown and harvested foods quite like this place. Sea Rocket not only embraces that concept theoretically, they prove that you can do it well!

On a recent Wednesday night we strolled in at 6 and were very pleased to be greeted with a window table and a comfortable server. Knowing that Sea Rocket specialized in locally harvested fish, we were heavily dependent on our server to act as a guide through the simple, yet ample menu. Likewise, we continued this dependency through a local beer and wine list of San Diego area beverages.

For our starter we enjoyed mussels and clams as well as some fantastic bread and flavored butter. (We chose to skip the house special of raw sea urchin. We were in the mood for adventure, but that was a smidgen beyond our comfort level.) The following two courses, we played it safe and enjoyed the recommendations of our server. We loved that the entrees weren’t so abundant that we had to shy away from dessert. We topped off our meal with a kumquat bread pudding that was both tasty and light. While our meal was full of fresh seafood it is notable that Sea Rocket Bistro offers a full array of vegetarian dishes.

When visiting Sea Rocket you really need to accept that part of the fun is that everything is local. The food is local. The drink is local. The clientele is local. The staff is local. I don’t think their goal is to please your inner food critic. I think their goal is to prove that to prove that you can have a vibrant, great bistro fully supplied and supporting by the local economy. And that is a goal I think they achieve with flying colors.

Geeky side notes: As a social media junkie I was pleased to see that Sea Rocket actively maintains both their website and a blog. Additionally, you can follow them on Twitter. (We actually heard about Sea Rocket on Twitter!) I’ve been especially impressed at how active they are in the community and how well their blog documents involvement. Oh, and you don’t want to miss this little detail. You can go to their food map and see exactly where everything they serve comes from! Transparency in a restaurant? Imagine if that concept took off!

Located in North Park, Urban Solace provides a unique combination of fine dining and American comfort food. That isn’t a combination you often hear about. Yet, it is a fun combination that both warms the heart and satisfies the taste buds.

With unique menu items like Duckaroni (Cheese, pasta, and duck) and “Not Your Mama’s Meatloaf” you know you’re in the hands of an experienced, confident chef. (Both of those entrees are great!) There are just enough menu items here to give everyone in your party something fun to enjoy without overwhelming you with a million choices. Add to that very reasonable prices and live music and I’m confident you’ll be pleased with a trip to Urban Solace.

But this isn’t just a place for foodies to oogle over. This is an approachable neighborhood restaurant which feels miles away from the touristy areas of the city. Located just off of University on 30th Street, it’s really easy to get to. You’ll find a combination of neighborhood residents, tourists, business folks, and locals people enjoying great food, fantastic wait staff, and a fun-loving vibe nestled into an intimate bistro-like setting.

When planning a visit to Urban Solace I’d recommend calling ahead to reserve a table. If the weather is nice I highly suggest being seated outside. Come early, enjoy a pre-meal glass of wine and save room for dessert.

Kristen and I discovered a fun little place in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego called Picasso Tapas. Walking around the neighborhood we settled there purely because it was busy when nothing else was. (Little travelers tip right there.) After wiggling our way past the door we found a nice seat and settled in to enjoy this cozy hole in the wall.

If you’ve never done tapas you need to know this is a place to skip the entrees… tapas is all about ordering several “little plate” appetizers. The owner suggested we get 2 each and share, we were hungry and so we ordered 5. Also, tapas places typically have a European approach to a meal. So if you want something fast and have high expectations for minute attention to detail you’ll be disappointed. Since Kristen and I came with the idea that we’d be there a while so we relaxed and enjoyed their famous sangria. Originally, we were going to grab a bite to eat then head to a movie but we ended up staying so long that dinner was plenty for one night.

A couple of the things we ordered were good. Tasty but not special. But two items really stuck out and are worth the hassle of parking down on 4th & University. First, the turkey meat balls were about the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Full of flavor and tender, not dry, we actually had to cut the 5th one in half and contemplated another order. Second, the almond shrimp was stellar. I’ve had my fair share of shrimp in my life and I’ve never bit into a shrimp to taste almond. It was a great flavor and this order came with an abundance of very large shrimp. Both items were recommendations and I kind of wish we had just asked for more instead of taking chances on some of their other 37 tapas to chose from. One negative, like was mentioned in a few reviews elsewhere, we never got all of our 5th dish. I’d tell you about the mushroom tapas but it never arrived. That didn’t dissuade us though as we just ordered a dessert, flan, and were quite pleased.

The service was quaint and added to the cozy factor. I think midway through our meal we graduated from the owner, a man from southern Spain, to a “real server.” I can’t lie in saying that I preferred the owner talking about his wife (the chef from northern Spain) better than a boring server. All-in-all though the service was very typical of something I expect on the Continent.

The price was right. We ordered a lot and I was stunned that the bill was so little. If you arrive before 7 PM there are some great deals to be had from the $5 menu. I actually suggest coming early as this small place fills up with locals and gets louder as the evening progresses. Also, if you have a party larger than 4 it may be hard to get a table.

Overall, I highly recommend this place. No website and none needed. Check out some other reviews on Google and you’ll get the idea. Locals love it and critics don’t. My kind of place.