a return to Kingfisher

Conference started over a week ago.  Wow.  I arrived in San Diego on Wednesday of last week, and my first order of duty (after checking out my enormous suite and unpacking and ironing) was heading out to dinner with some good folks.  Happily, this meant a return to Kingfisher, where Conrad and I had dined with Courtney and Robert earlier this year.  Dinner for four of us:  Sara;

her husband, Peter;

and Amy. 

All of us adventurous eaters and enthusiastic imbibers.  We were going to have a good evening, for sure.

And oh yes, we did!

Cocktails first, with the Saigon Moped for me.  Fresh, a little vegetable-y.  Tasty!

They coursed out the food for us, so here's a rundown of what we enjoyed.

Duck liver pate.  SOOOOOO smooth.

Beef tartare.  Delicious!

Poached shrimp.  Very good, overshadowed ever so slightly by the pate and tartare.

Littleneck clams.  Wonderful broth.

Wild mushroom congee.  Yes, I ordered something with mushrooms.

Grilled Japanese eggplant.  So good, not photographed.

Baja striped seabass.  They told us before it came out that it would be comped because the portion was small.  Thank you to them for that!

Grapefruit semi-freddo.  Refreshing end to an ambitious meal.

Best of all?  Our friend Van, who worked at Maestro for years, was there.  Our server Isaac was terrific, too.  Come for the food, return for the hospitality, I've heard it said, and it's very true in this case.

And then it was home to clutch my belly!