The Local Provisions - Temecula, CA

Casual little gastropub in a cute little complex, nestled in the wine-country suburbs. A game plays on sizeable flatscreen, a bar houses bottles and taps, and the menu features local foods and brews. 

Come in for a taste of all that is comfort; good beer that goes good with the food, good food that goes good with beer. 

Start with a steaming Soft Pretzel, speckled with salt, best when alternatingly dipped in earthy mustard and goops of gooey beer cheese.

The Gumbo can be a starter, a soup, or a meal, a thick stew that's a little heavy on the salt. 

If you're always down for a sandwich, check out the Classic Reuben with those layers of tender pastrami and enjoy with a side of fries or chips. 

The Cuban Sandwich is exceptional - I can't get over how savory they get their pork, and serving it on a much-thinner pita keeps that savor strong. 

It seems like simple stuff, but they know exactly what they're doing. The classics are impeccably done, but they throw in a twist here and there to make this pop and make that catch your tongue. 

Temecula Pizza Company - Temecula, CA

I love places like this. Sweet, clean, and homey, with a menu full of good eatin'. 

Don't be shy when you order - the portions are generous, but the food's meant to be shared. The Love Potion #9 Salad will easily appetize a table of four, and maintain a nice balance of romaine lettuce with a rotisserie-quality chicken, with cranberries and blue cheese. They make their own dressing, and it is a sweet delight. 

The decor is simple, but they would hold up against any pizzeria in LA. The White Tiger Pizza features a whole pound of fabulously fresh shrimp, cooked into that perfect al dente (can you use that to describe shrimp??) texture, and that creamy, pesto-speckled white sauce has one heck of kick. 

I left reluctantly, feeling full but like I haven't had enough. Every single item on the menu looked like something I would love, and if I lived in Temecula, I'd have pizza and beer here week after week. 

Hana Sushi - Temecula, CA

You only get one birthday, but every other day is your un-birthday. On this rare occasion the Mad Hatter makes sense. I've never really cared about my one birthday - it's the 364 un-birthdays that add up to so much more.

It's the same with adventures. I loved that 4-day safari, and I'm gearing up for a skydive, but for my one birthday, I wanted a day of unadventures, and that was so much better. 

Hana Sushi was a food un-adventure and I loved every bite. The Garlic Shrimp are super jumbo, an appetizer of fun. What's not to love about garlic and butter?

The Chirashi bowl is the most generous I've ever seen, a thin layer of rice laced with a hint of vinegar, cushioning thick cuts of very fresh fish. There's so much of it, and it's all arrayed in lovely filets. Salmon, snapper, tuna and albacore. The octopus is pretty soft, the whitefish is really tender, and the cooked shrimp is an exceptional surprise. Finish with a couple spears of tamago, but you might need a little help. 

I love adventures, but sometimes I love un-adventures more. I enjoy exploring and trying new things, but sometimes I just want the things I love most, tried and true. Hana Sushi was new for me, and I loved their sushi. I have many adventures left in Temecula, but I'd still revisit Hana Sushi when the craving hits. 

Crush & Brew - Temecula

Old Temecula has its charms. Gaudy but endearing boutiques dot the old-school, wooden sidewalks along the strip, interspersed with tourist-chic restaurants beckoning for brunch.

Crush & Brew is a bit dark inside, but the do have a nice selection on tap. I got a glass of wine, but I put some beer in my soup; the Cheddar Ale Soup, to be exact. A hearty cup of chewy cheese, a hangover cure that rivals as a couple of Advil.

The soup makes a hit-the-spot on-the-dot brunch combo with half a Beet Salad. Props for being perhaps the first establishment to price their half-portions fairly - most places I've seen will charge at least 75% of the full! Not only is the price fair, but the salad is generous. The layer of beets on top is thick, and nothing beets a coat of gorgonzola over arugula.

The Sliders are more substantial if you're not looking to lunch lightly, and it's a sampler of three of their bigger burgers. The Crush Burger crushes it with a sweet onion marmalade, brie and bacon-basically-ham, while the Brew is a bit more basic. Caramelized onions droop over perky shrooms and gorgonzola. The Old Town is an old-school classic, with BBQ sauce and an aged cheese. 

Old Temecula is more accurately described as Touristy Temecula, and the food is as expected. Nothing that blew my mind, but everything to curb my cravings. Crush & Brew isn't the most original of restaurants, but it is a nice place to eat, with not-so-naughty prices, and that's good enough for me.

Cork Fire Kitchen - Temecula

A long December has come and passed, and Travelzoo has a deal. Sunday thru Thursday, Temecula Creek Inn costs $89 a night, and for two nights we can sit on first-floor balcony, watching the golf carts roll by, forgetting the world as we sip on our welcome wine. 

We did that until we got really hungry. Our building is right next to the on-site restaurant, and that's about as far as we're willing to go. And it's so pretty, the Cork Fire Kitchen, with a center bar and a homey fireplace, well-equipped for sitting and sipping for hours on end.  

We're all about some Miso Glazed Diver Scallops to start. The scallops are seared. Can't taste the miso, but the chopped-up mango on top is sweet and fruity fun. Each scallop sits on a crispy cake of onyx rice. They're called forbidden rice cakes, and I am confused. What exactly makes the rice forbidden? And can you eat rice cakes that are forbidden? Apparently, you can because I'm still here to complain about them. This entree wasn't bad, but I probably should have gone with the shrimp & grits.

Next entree...really should have gone with the shrimp & grits...or anything else. I can sum up the Tangerine Glazed Duck Breast in one short acronym: W. T. F. Made by someone who can only cook duck crudely; the middle of the breast is bleeding, and it has the density and texture of a smoked Christmas ham. Don't know where this glaze went either - do they actually know how to glaze? All those sauces, especially the amorphous mess of cherry sauce and hash, take away everything that makes duck taste like duck. I liked the polenta, but otherwise I really don't know what to do with this dish.

I sipped my wine a little faster, and moved on to dessert. Some of us drink to forget, and some of us have to drink to forget the previous dish. Then comes the daily special Crostata. The special is the part where you have to guess what's in it as all three staff members we spoke to were unable to tell us. "I don't know". *Shrug*. Absolutely no effort to find out. And this is from two servers and the floor manager. No regrets, though. A nice flaky crust and sweet apples with a hint of cinnamon and an almond finish.

We're finished too. Finished with a low-mediocre meal, and finished with the staff who don't give a... We're too wined up to whine much, but I'd whine a lot if I had to come back sober.

Snow & Crab Lounge - Temecula

Snow & Crab Lounge is the very definition of potential. Brand new and still finding their way on skinny, spindly legs, they haven't even had a chance to take down the "Noodles of the World" sign yet.

Sign or no sign, they made quite an impression. The Cajun Snow & Crab Style sauce ranks among the best I've tried. It burns just right at medium, and the unexpectedly sweet undertones soften the sting. The corn soaks the sauce right up and is the best part by far.

My pound of Crawfish and a pound of Mussels were fresh and fairly-sized, but there were clearly more claws than there were crawfish.

Decorated like a bar-turned nightclub, the casual counter-top seats almost mandate pitchers of sangria and beer. Their website speaks of their desire to be a nighttime hot spot, and they do have a good-sized selection of wine and beer for those who are looking for a no-frills, finger-lickin' time. They also maintain a menu of flavored tea and smoothies for teetotalers and their kids. I opted for Passion Fruit Jasmine Tea with boba because it wasn't quite noon. The boba were rock-hard and regrettably undercooked.

We ended with Matcha Green Tea Snow to soothe the burn. I wish the green tea syrup was more evenly distributed, but the green tea mochi and granola rounded it out just fine.

The combination concept of steaming shellfish boils followed by a chilly shaved ice cool-down is genius, and the execution will improve as this place grows into itself.

Snow & Crab Lounge is still rough around the edges to say the least, but I wouldn't write them off just yet. The seafood is solid, and the ambiance makes for a chill Friday night. If nothing else, the sauce will be its saving grace.

Bluewater Grill - Temecula

There must be an unwritten rule that all tourist-towns must have a restaurant named Blue Water Grill. NYC has an overpriced chain, and even Belize has a bank-breaking seafood shack on the sandy shores of San Pedro. Not to be left out, Temecula got one too. 

We had a great time being tourists in Temecula...the parts we could remember, anyway. We went up in a hot air balloon, we drank and we were merry. Unfortunately, we forgot to eat, and four full wine tastings had us doing the reverse. The next morning, we found ourselves fighting the inevitable, the dreaded...the hangover. 

The mere thought of food was enough to set me gagging, but my headache started to subside in light of a cool Ceviche. I didn't expect much from inland seafood, but the fish was firm and fresh, and the sweeter marinade tasted like a Belizean breeze.

Still keeping it light, the Crab BLTA was a good idea. The thick layer of crab was a bit heavy on the mayo, but it seemed soothing after being gutted by wine. Bacon, crab, and avocado is always a winning combination.

Even my unshakeable nausea was lifting ever so slightly after the Top Sirloin. The slight smear of shallot butter made for a happy medium rare, and even the heavily-scalloped potatoes slid down smooth.

When you're 22, your worst nightmare is not being able to drink on a Saturday night. When you're 30, your worst nightmare is Sunday morning after drinking on a Saturday night. Temecula was all I'd hoped it would be and more, and I even took some home to share. I'll be back for more soon enough, but next time I'll be going to Bluewater Gill before the wine tasting starts.

Whining at Bouquet Restaurant at Ponte Winery Inn – Temecula

I spent a day with three married couples. At a vineyard in Temecula. Because for some reason I thought that this wouldn’t be awkward. After all, sometimes you need a 7^th wheel. Like on a tractor trailer. Which is a very awkward vehicle, btw. But my bff was among them, and I figured, single or not, I wasn’t all that different. They’re cute together, and I’m just plain cute. Cupid helped them find each other, and I found okcupid…dot com. One of the couples has a cat for company, and I’m looking at a lifetime of cats for company. Same same, but different.

If I’m 7^th wheeling with 3 kissing couples, there better be something to amuse my mouth as well. I spent all my time lip-locking with my Melon + Prosciutto. The melon is ripe, the prosciutto is perfect, and the sweet and savory combination will trump any sloppy kiss. And the bites of burrata on bread are the perfect union of mozzarella-married-mascarpone.

My plate of prosciutto was much more positive than my attitude that day, but the Short Rib Sandwich fell almost as short as my expectations as some of the conversation. The short rib was full of lip-smacking flavor, but it was on the drier side when topped with thick ciabatta and fried onions.  And the not-so-sharp cheddar on top didn’t help. It was bland, but not nearly as bland as a married woman who stays at home all day and has nothing to say. I only had one bite of that sandwich, but I was stuck with her all day.

I complain about company I was keeping, but I had no complaints about Bouquet. My friends have their husbands to give them flowers, but I had my own Bouquet in the form fine fare. My friends had their handsome husbands to look at, I had my view of vineyards as far as the eye could see. Their hands travelled up a leg, my eyes travelled up a vine. 7^th wheel or not, at least we all enjoyed the view.