Osteria Panevino

Osteria Panevino
722 Fifth Ave., Downtown
619-595-7959
www.osteriapanevino.com

There was a time, not too long ago, when every other restaurant in the Gaslamp District seemed to serve “the city’s most authentic Italian cuisine.” The ranks have definitely thinned in favor of steakhouses, American bistros, seafood joints, and Irish pubs, leaving fewer Italian cucinas to compete for your date night dollar.

One of the restaurants that’s done well in this arena is Osteria Panevino on Fifth Avenue. With hearty Tuscan fare (though a bit pricey), a comfortable, rustic look, and knowledgeable servers, Panevino (“bread and wine”) is great for families with older children or couples and small groups out for a bite. Folks with younger kids might want to look elsewhere in the Gaslamp for dinner options, however.

Splitting glasses of sparkling mineral water and pinot grigio, my wife and I chose to start our meal with the Bruschetta Toscana ($8.95). Though this was on a flatbread instead of a crunchier traditional bread, the appetizer was very flavorful with its topping combination of cannellini and garbanzo beans, olive oil and thyme. In addition, we enjoyed Panevino’s house-made table bread with butter and herbed olive oil. It was hard to stop eating it!

Next, we sampled the Buffala Caprese ($18), a salad off the nightly specials list. Fresh, soft mozzarella, huge tender heirloom tomatoes, fragrant basil and basalmic—what’s not to like?

Scanning Panevino’s extensive menu of pizzas, meats, and pastas, we both chose the latter for our entrees. My wife chose the Malfatti Genovesi ($20.95), homemade spinach ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese, and covered in a silky pesto. Though the ravioli itself was a little more al dente than she expected, it was satisfying and tasty.

I had another special—Fettuccine Isola ($32). This dish promised crab and lobster in a succulent red sauce covering homemade fettuccine. Although I dug in heartily, I did notice the sauce was a little fishier-tasting than I would have liked, and the lobster wasn’t nearly as prevalent as the crab.

After all this food, we were no match for Panevino’s dessert menu. Though we were tempted by the tiramisu and the chocolate hazelnut cake, we passed gracefully so we’d be able to walk back down Fifth Avenue to our car.

Check out Panevino’s happy hour from 4–7 p.m., featuring $3 glasses of house wine and special appetizers.
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Ondine Brooks Kuraoka writes from her home in San Carlos. Her family enjoys culinary adventures of all kinds.

Smashburger

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Smashburger
Smashburger.com
Locations in Del Mar, Downtown, Kearny Mesa, La Jolla, Mission Valley, Rancho Peñasquitos and opening soon in Oceanside

My husband, John, sons Roy, 11, Leo, 9, and I reunited after work on Friday at Smashburger. We were curious—Smashburger’s name describes its proprietary method of smashing and searing the fresh, never frozen 100-percent certified Angus beef on the grill. The atmosphere was inviting, with friendly greetings, slick red décor, peppy—but not hyper—music and high-backed, cushioned booths. Shaded, outdoor seating is available.

We wavered between tried-and-true combinations and bolder flavor options. Our burgers and salad were delivered to our booth in about 15 minutes and the hot fries arrived minutes later—impressive, considering the quantity of our order.

Leo ordered the Create Your Own Burger ($4.29) with BBQ sauce, grilled onions (no extra charge) and Swiss cheese (extra $.75). Roy ordered the Classic burger ($4.99). Both boys declared their burgers among the best they’d had and after they shared a bite with me, I agreed. The patties and tomatoes were juicy and flavorful, the lettuce crisp, the butter-toasted egg buns super fresh. We used lots of napkins; these are whole-face-messy, generous-toppings-falling-on-plate burgers.

I had the Black Bean Veggie Burger ($5.29), and can vouch for the superiority of this handcrafted patty seared on the grill compared with the prepackaged frozen variety. The veggie burger can be ordered as any of the burger or chicken recipes. I chose the San Diego with fresh avocado, cilantro and onions, pepper jack, sour cream and spicy chipotle mayo on a torta roll. Yum!

John ordered the Sunset Salad ($5.99; add chicken for $2.00), and was pleased with the mix of fresh greens, tomatoes, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and blue cheese with balsamic vinaigrette. John and I shared the veggie burger and salad, enough for a satisfying meal. My only complaint was that the salad was overdressed for my taste. The abundant blue cheese, though, was a plus.

My nitpick about the salad was more than forgiven during our delectable feast of fries. We ordered the signature Smashfries and sweet potato Smashfries (both tossed with rosemary, olive oil and garlic), classic French fries (sea salt seasoned, shoestring-cut russet potatoes) and Haystack Onions (served with spicy chipotle mayo), all devoured with abandon to the very last. The Haystack Onions were the biggest hit—super-thin-sliced and crispy—they are a different animal from standard onion rings.

Good news! All menu items are low in trans-fats, and the fries, dipping sauces and dressings have (gasp) zero grams of trans fats. The haystack onions have one gram of trans fat.

For dessert we shared two shakes—Chocolate with Oreo topping and Strawberry—and a root beer float, served with a bottle of IBC root beer. We were most impressed with the frosty mug root beer float. The milkshakes were pretty good, but the taste was puzzlingly reminiscent of powdered breakfast drinks.

Smashburger has gourmet-quality food and superb customer service without feeling pretentious or breaking the budget. Our total for four came to about $45, and we feasted; we could have eaten very well here for less. Smashburger was the perfect place to reconnect and relax. When the burger urge strikes again, we’ll be back.
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Ondine Brooks Kuraoka writes from her home in San Carlos. Her family enjoys culinary adventures of all kinds.