The Best Things I Ate This Month: June Main Dish

POKE @ KITCHEN 4140

You may not be able to get this dish, because it was a special one-off for the recent I Love Poke Festival. Regardless, it was a reminder of the talent in chef Kurt Metzger and his team. They soaked ahi overnight in hibiscus tea and cherry blossom, then strained it and marinated it in Kentucky whiskey and shoyu sauce, tossed it with mango relish and finished with coconut shavings and coconut foam.. The 4140 chef was in an awful car wreck last year and lost most of his memory as a result. His instinctual skills, like cooking, are helping him get back on his feet. And this dish wasn’t good for someone who’s been through an awful car wreck. It was simply great. For a proximal experience, go to 4140 and try the “Surf and Turf”—ahi, braised pork belly and cilantro-citrus sauce. 4140 Morena Blvd, 858.483.4140, kitchen4140.com.

CORN DOGS @ CRAFT & COMMERCE

Food has largely taken a back seat to the cocktails and the self-mocking décor at this Little Italy standout. It’s simply one of the best places to hang out and have a cocktail made with some rare whiskey made in a performance artist’s bathtub or something like that. But I forgot just how good those little corn dogs are until a revisit this month. Lumpy, squat little dogs wrapped in bacon and served with whole grain mustard and a jalapeño-cheddar sauce that’ll give you the same are-you-really-gonna-eat-that thrill of the SD County Fair, minus the money-conning carnies. 675 W. Beech St., Little Italy, 619.269.2202. craft-commerce.com.

RIB EYE CAP @ SEARSUCKER

With chef Brian Malarkey set to close Burlap and reconcept it as San Diego’s second Searsucker, I felt it was time to reacquaint myself with Downtown’s biggest success story. What we found? This rib-eye cap. Sprinkled with a little porcini dust and served with an elderberry pinot noir reduction, that’s one hell of a combo. Mushroom dust gives it the umami, elderberries give it the acid. Fantastic.