04/17/07

Nothing to write home about

by epv

With a name like Tartine, I expected to be delighted by the namesake menu item, but was extremely disappointed by the elemenatry nature of the Gorgonzola tartine I tried. It could have been put together by a 4th grader. it was simply gorgonzola cheese crumbles, pear slices and a little dressing drizzled on top of a roll (that wasn't even crisp like a baguette). Boring. This was accompanied by a simple salad. So basically, I had a salad in a roll accompanied by a salad. Lame. I tried my fellow diner's quiche. Again boring and relatively flavorless, but better than the Tartine. I thought, ok maybe dessert will redeem this restaurant, but again disappointing. We had a guava cheesecake which didn't have an inkling of guava taste to it. Perhaps drizzling a guava coulis on top would have brought out the guava flavor more or been a better accompaniment, but no, they drizzled this cheesecake with a carmel sauce. Completely overpowered the dessert and didn't work. Some positive notes: nice wine list, beautiful view and pretty atmosphere. The best quiche, desserts, & artisanal bread, and overall casual breakfast/brunch/lunch place I have found in SD so far is Bread & Cie in Hillcrest. Not as pretty of a locale as Tartine, but the food is beyond compare.

• Pros: view, atmosphere, wine list
• Cons: food, dessert