Posted on February 12, 2010.
North County San Diego Restaurant: Blanca Blanca, one of the most recent North County San Diego fine dining restaurants is definitely suitably named. With patches of snow white dining table linen, hanging lanterns, and a bar leading concrete Blanca is elegant, chic and cool, just like Solana Beach and the surrounding North County area.
Proprietors Seth Bass and Debbie Hugonin named Blanca restaurant for this reason. They envisioned an establishment with the same hip sophistication that Solana Beach restaurants carry. Their vision "was to bring together all that [they] cared about into one place, family, friends, good food and good wine. [Their vision] became Blanca."
The kitchen Blanca fuses innovative contemporary California cuisine with the sensibility of traditional French technique. Blanca uses local organic and local produce, sustainable seafood whenever possible. Executive Chef Wade Hageman is constantly adding new menu items and changing the General Manager and Sommelier Zubin Desai serves up charisma and top notch wine pairings in front of the house.
The quiet, minimalist dining room has perfectly dimmed lighting, comfortable seating offering both booths and tables, and can accommodate up to twenty-two persons. Blanca boasts a private outdoor terrace complete with fifty-two inch plasma screen and iPod docking port. With polished servers, a magnificent bar and lounge and a chic clientele, Blanca is easily holding its place as one of the restaurants in North County San Diego's most desired to eat local.
Beginning with the starters, appetizers Blanca offers moderately priced such as Heirloom Wisconsin Black Popcorn finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and truffle salt, truffle French fries with mayonnaise with black truffles, crispy baby artichokes with purple baby fennel and garlic aioli, Tempura Salt and Pepper Jumbo Prawns with Tellicherry Pepper-Lime Dipping and green onions, Deep Fried Baby Zucchini with Fresh Tomato Sauce, and Dungeness crab deviled eggs.
Inputs include raw oysters on the half of the market in Champagne Mignonette and Lime Cocktail Sauce, Hawaiian Kona Kampachi Yellow Shell and radish salad and candied ginger vinaigrette or Sushi Rice Cake and fermented black bean vinaigrette and Niman Ranch Filet Mignon Tartare with quail egg yolk and oil roasted peanut served Thai style. "
traditional starters vary from a Young Greens Salad with toasted pine nuts, goat cheese Laura Chenel, and oven-dried tomato vinaigrette, linguini with clam sauce Clams, Monterey Bay Calamari, and Sweet Butter-Chili Flake Emulsion , Summer Watermelon Timbale with Micro Cilantro, Greek Feta Vinaigrette and Champagne, Crispy Petaluma Quail with Haricot Verts, mashed potatoes with butter, and Red Eye Gravy, to Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with grilled strawberries Strawberry Gatrique Broich, Squash Blossom Soup with Zucchini and Chive Essence Baby, and Chino Farms popcorn with black truffle cream.
At this point, you'll probably be ready for a signature martinis or cocktails Blanca. Try the "Peach-Pom," made with Absolut Vodka Apeach, Pama Liqueur, and Peach Purede, or "Lemon-Ginger Cooler, made with lemongrass infused vodka, confused with cilantro, and Schweppes Ginger Ale.
Other irresistible libations include the 42/43 "," made with Don Julio 1942, Licor Cuarenta Y Tres Cazadores, vanilla and sweet-salty, "Feng Shui", made with love-Infused Vodka and Crystallized Ginger, the "Blackberry Mojito," Fleur de Lys, "made from Skyy Vodka, St. Germain Liqueur, Chambord, Champagne and a float, the" Perfect Gentleman ", based on Hendricks Gin, Essence of Noilly Prat and Lemon confit stuffed olives, or the "Desert Rose", based on Prickly Pear-Infused Vodka, and Strawberry and Vanilla Essence. Blanca.
