The Main Dining Room
A couple of years ago the excellent restaurant and wine bar, Crush, on University Avenue near Sixth, simply disappeared. A short time later,
a new eatery, Café Bleu, opened its doors there, quickly earning a reputation for its classic French Bistro fare. It seems no amount of great food and beverage can overcome the liability of the location, no parking. While previous efforts there just went away, savvy San Diego restaurateur Rick Libiran moved his Café Bleu to Mission hills—to both more parking and better fortunes. Nothing breeds success like success. With Chef Brian Johnston, formerly of Star of the Sea and Top O’ The Cove, among other fine restaurants, joining the team, they took on the former home of Parallel 33 and Blue Lotus on Washington.
Two restaurants, The Wellington Steak and Martini Lounge and The Red Door Restau-
rant and Wine Bar, flank either side of a shared kitchen, and each has its own distinctly different personality, The Wellington a stylish formal dinner house, and The Red Door a more casual, yet still elegant restaurant specializing in refined comfort food and a great wine selection. On the night we visited recently, the effervescent manager, Justin, greeted us with a smile and promptly escorted us to a window table. The cozy dining rooms and lounge at The Red Door are much brighter than the previous establishment. White wainscotings and pale tones reflect light from the large exterior windows. One diner was overheard remarking that he was reminded of visiting his grandmother’s place in New England. The straightforward one-page menu has two sections: “Starters & Appetizers” and “Main Course.” The other side of the page lists specialty cocktails, sparkling wines, and over 40 red and white wines from around the world. The selection of whites is an interesting mix, mostly imports, while the reds appropriately bow to California, with several imported offerings. Fitting the “Wine Bar” aspect, each is available by the bottle, glass and half-glass, ideal
for designing your own tasting flight. Our server, Frances, greeted us with a smile and listed the evening’s specials, refreshingly including prices for each offering. The ap- petizer special, called “Flatbread,” was really a pizza-like, crusty rectangle, on this night baked with a topping of chewy smoked provolone, bits of fragrant chorizo, and roasted heirloom tomato slices, finished with a road map of cilantro pesto that provides the high notes in this symphony of flavors. Pork cheeks have the richness of belly (the source for bacon) and the tenderness of a filet. Here they’re braised in white wine and veal stock, then baked into a tube of puff pastry. The pork practically melts in your mouth. With a garnish of perfectly caramelized onion marmalade and reduction of the cooking liq- uid, it makes for a classy and comforting starter. With some of the other enticing items from this section thrown in, one can easily compose a great meal. Westerners rarely
think of cooking lettuce; but Romaine is particularly good if cooked just right. Chef Brian offers a “Flash Grilled” heart of Romaine with Apple, Roquefort Vinaigrette, and Candied Walnuts that one diner called exquisite. Main Courses selections are hearty and homey comfort all the way. Braised Meyer Beef Short Ribs are very slowly braised in red wine and stock, making them succulent and very tender. Paired with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and fresh vegetables, they’re as good as you’d find from your Grandma’s kitchen. But the presentation, including a nest of crispy fried onion straws and rich Cabernet sauce gracing this dish, reflect the chef’s refined sensibilities. If you are one of those people who never much cared for catfish, The Red Door just might change your mind forever. An absolute standout is the Cornmeal–Crusted Cajun Catfish. Thin and very crisp
jackets of cornmeal encase moist, sweet filets cooked to perfection, and without even a hint of the “funky” taste so commonly associated with catfish. The accompanying sweet potato-crab hash and creamed house-made BBQ sauce are a knockout. Again, with this meal, the kitchen has started with the mundane and transformed it to the sublime. This restaurant is definitely and omnivore’s haven, with a menu that also in- cludes pork, lamb and turkey, But the Chef hasn’t ignored the vegetarian in your group. Rich three-cheese polenta is paired with fresh asparagus sautéed in extra virgin olive oil, and the whole is drizzled with the earlier mentioned cilantro pesto and garnished with white corn relish. If you have room for dessert (we didn’t), there’s a great selection including fruit cobblers, bread pudding and Belgian Chocolate Pot de Crème. You can even order an IBC Root Beer Float served with warm Chocolate-Chip cookies. The Red Door also serves delicious house coffee, which you can modify into your favorite coffee cocktail, or sample a dessert wine from the menu, which even includes the famed Tokaj (Tokay) from Hungary. Once you see for yourself what’s behind The Red Door, you’ll surely want to explore sisters Café Bleu and The Wellington, too.
JUNE 2010 | RAGE monthly 79
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