San Diego Restaurant Week: Spotlight on Blanca in Solana Beach

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San Diego Restaurant Week enables local fine food enthusiasts to finally try the top San Diego restaurants they've been dreaming of.

Twice a year, every year, San Diego Restaurant Week features 130 of the city's best restaurants and invites guests to enjoy a three-course dinner for either $30 or $40 per person, depending on the restaurant. Now in its fourth year, 2008 San Diego Restaurant Week is the largest and most successful dining event in San Diego. Restaurant Week runs from January 27 - February 1, 2008 - and no event tickets are required.

Discover Blanca in Solana Beach - a top participating restaurant in San Diego Restaurant Week.

Blanca. The classic font of the letters drawn in soft white light and etched in the black mantle of the night subtly command attention. Driving down quiet South Highway 101 in Solana Beach, with its sparse scattering of unremarkable chain stores and family restaurants, one would be tempted to speed right down the secluded neighborhood if not for the sleekly lit promise of edgy Californian cuisine, at a restaurant numbered among the best in steak and seafood.

Despite the Spanish name, Blanca embodies a fusion of cultural concepts taken from the Pacific as well as Europe. Delicately bare branches are gathered into thin trees pressed against a wall near the entrance. Hanging globes of lamps are wrapped in silky white cloth for a trendier, more expensive version of the paper lantern. Waiters are dressed in loose black drawstring pants and black button up shirts that cover most of the neck. Far from becoming overbearing however, these zen inspired details are only a gentle undercurrent in the luxurious western atmosphere when accompanied by a background of smooth jazz tunes, traditional pristine white tablecloths, and the slinky, metal colored fabric stretched over the couches at the booths and over chairs.

The small bar at the very front restaurant is slightly more casual and hip than the dining room, and immediately visible upon entering Blanca. Much of the restaurant, on the other hand, is initially hidden from view by a curtain of orange-yellow glass cylinders that drape across the middle of the restaurant, separating the bar area. A small collection of wine and liqueur bottles, illuminated by neon blue backlights, sit in neat rows occupying the entire length of that wall.

The exclusive dining room is a quiet place, but not for a lack of business. Patrons are older. Parties are kept to two or three people, and the idea seems to be to take the food seriously and relish every bite. Conversations tend to be centered around the enthusiastic description of each delicious plateful that has just been discovered, rather than rowdy business meetings.

The culturally diverse Blanca menu means that American, French, and Japanese influences can figure simultaneously in the preparation of a single dish. Ingredients are imported within the country, assembled in the European style, and given a dash of Japanese flavoring to create a completely unique and ultra modern delicacy. For example, the Kurobuta Pork Belly "En Sous Vide," served with candied ginger, Santa Rosa plum puree, and a side of stir fried vegetables is a rare harmonization of tastes between the three highly dissimilar cuisines.

Another extremely popular appetizer is the Hawaiian Jet-Fresh Hamachi Crudo, which consists of three generous slices of chilled hamachi wrapped around a stick of carmelized watermelon about a finger's length. Each bite is eaten with a slice of pickled ginger so thin it is transparent, a tiny teaspoon of Wasabi Tobiko caviar, drizzled with a light ponzu dressing. The fact that the dainty affair can be devoured in just one or two mouthfuls has deterred few from trying the dish.

Although the menu features seafood heavily, the short list of steak and poultry is also superb. These specialties are not confined to such hum-drum fare as "USDA Prime Rib." Steak at Blanca is delivered in the form of Minnesota Milk Fed Veal "T-Bone," a gigantic slab of tender, juicy meat the shade of creamy pink. The veal is served with a side of sweet potato au gratin, a wafer-like stack of finely sliced white and orange sweet potatoes.

The New Zealand Cervena Venison is the only lamb served on the menu. Two medium sized slices of venison lie atop a hash of shredded savoy cabbaged mixed into a puree of carrots, celery, and apples. A ring of tart blackberry-purple sage demi glace surround the venison and accompanying vegetable blend, interrupted only by a handful of pumpkin gnocchi spaced evenly along the demi glace. While the venison is not as tender as veal, it is more lean and not as heavy when eaten with the sides of fruits and vegetables.

Desserts range from the rich Butterscotch Pot de Creme, to the refreshing Trio of Sorbets, a platter of Granny Smith apple, Asian pear, and crimson pomegrante sorbets. The slightly more complicated Pot de Creme consists of a bowl of single malt Chantilly, which is a creme brulee-like custard but topped with a dollop of rum flavored whipped cream instead of a sugar crust. Salted caramel sauce is poured over the creme and soft double chocolate cookies are provided to dip in the sticky concoction. Although the Pot de Creme is excellent for the first two spoonfuls, the dessert is simply too sweet and thick to fully enjoy after dinner. A better choice would be the mild and fluffy Tahitian Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, encased in a tart Meyer lemon glaze, and Oregon wild huckleberry compote.

Dining at Blanca in Solana Beach is an experience meant not only for food connoisseurs, but for anybody who is adventurous enough to try the unique fusion menu, and be pleasantly startled by the delicious competition of flavors and textures.

Blanca
437 South Highway 101
Solana Beach, CA 92075
858.792.0072
www.dineblanca.com

Visit San Diego Restaurant Week for more event and menu details.