The Linkery (yeah, one more time) - SD
San Diego doesn't get mentioned much in the New York Times when food comes up. But it did today in their sunday Magazine section which was devoted to food, by way of an article about The Linkery. Here's the link - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/mag...
The rest of the sunday Mag section offered some other interesting reading about food as well. Worth taking a look.
(List mods - I am going to post the link above to the Not About Food Board as well since it deals with tipping. Please let us discuss a local restaurant on the local board. Thanks.)
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I'm embarrassed to say we finally ate at the Linkery last week for the first time. We hoped it would be a standout, and a place that would last. You know, a quintessentially SD kind of place. I didn't post anything, because our sausages were not great. Both kinds were mealy and dry. And isn't that what the Linkery is about? Good luck to this guy in SF.
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re: pickypicky
Oh my. I live 3 blocks from the Linkery and I wanted to enjoy it too. I gave the sausages two tries, one being at a food festival. The sausages I had were actually awful. Dry and mealy as you said. A case of the "emperor's new clothes." When I posted that some time ago, the general reaction I got was that the place does not really focus on sausages anymore...??????
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re: wrldtrvl
Stiflers_Mom
Dec 7, 2012 09:09 AM
@wrldtravl perhaps your post was made at a time when it wasn't cool to bash the Linkery on this board. I would imagine, now that Mr. Porter "has left the building" so to speak, we will see a little more negative sentiment regarding his establishments.
The last part of the Eater interview seems to echo some of the posts he has made here on this board in the past. Good luck to him in the Bay Area.
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honkman
Dec 6, 2012 03:21 PM
Eater SD has an interesting interview with Jay about his decision to move to SF soon. Linkery and El Take it Easy will stay open but to be honest our last few meals at Linkery were a bit disappointing - food was OK but the service was unfortunately really bad. I hope he will still be enough involved that they go back to their old levels.
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re: honkman
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re: honkman
He's going to have to compete on a significantly larger turf, not only in the sheer numbers of establishments and diversity of cuisine. I like The Linkery, but he's got to offer much more that what is currently offered here in SD. In SF, there's an expectation of excellence, which I believe The Linkery has, but there also must be great value in order to build a following. The service level at The Linkery in SD will not cut it in SF.
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re: cstr
DiningDiva
Dec 7, 2012 08:53 AM
cstr, I understand the point you're making. But the take-away I got from the article is that Jay & Katie's move is more about "reinvention" than recreating the same thing in a new location.
Having lived in the Bay Area for 10 years, I can attest to the fact that the dynamics of the food industry up there are substantially different than they are down here. It sounded to me as if that's part of the challenge they've decided to undertake. I don't think Jay will get "eaten alive" as was suggested in other post, but I do think it will force him to alter what he does and how he does it. And in the long run that may end up being a good thing for us down here. If, as Jay indicated in the interview, he eventually ends up spending half his time here in SD (or Baja) I can't help but think his restaurants here will see the influence of lessons learned in the Bay Area. I think it will be an interested experiment in living and lifestyle for he and Katie and I wish them the best.
As another native San Diegan, I can say that no matter where you go, the pull to eventually come "home" is strong. I'm betting that when the do come back more permanently, they'll be a more interesting couple with a more interesting style.
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re: jayporter
RhonelyInsanediego
Dec 7, 2012 10:14 AM
We'll miss you Jay. We have had some very memorable meals at ETIE and really hope the quality doesn't suffer in your absence. It will be a challenge to be sure, to try to stir so many pots in so many locations at once. Wishing you and Katie all the best!
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re: DiningDiva
Beach Chick
Dec 7, 2012 09:55 AM
From the Linkery website:
'Our biggest and most sincere thanks go to Troy Johnson of San Diego Magazine for honoring us as his “Critic’s Pick” for Best Neighborhood Restaurant in San Diego. '
We work hard to craft food worthy of our patrons, and we are grateful for the kind words, support, and good vibes.'http://thelinkery.com/blog/best-neigh...
Wishing Jay and his wife all the best.
My take is I would of gone the Javier route, since he has a proven track record and could of learned from one of the best, whom has become the darling of the food world.
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re: DiningDiva
'A reinvention' sounds like you had a nice discussion with Jay & co. As far a sourcing produce, meats etc, he should have access to the best of the best. Also for wines, the availability of Napa, Sonoma etc should be quite helpful as well. The real test will be jumping back and forth from SD to SF, no easy task. For experiementing in the new 'hood, there's not much better within the contiguous 48. I hope they do well.
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re: cstr
DiningDiva
Dec 7, 2012 04:39 PM
Actually, I haven't seen Jay since one of his Baja dinners at ETitEZ. It was mentioned in the Eater interview several times.
Reinventing ones self is not necessarily a bad thing :-)
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re: cstr
DiningDiva
Dec 7, 2012 08:19 PM
cstr, I'm not following you?!?!??? Speculating about what? Did you read the Eater interview? I'm not sure what you're asking, and I'm not speculating about anything.
Having had to reinvent a life myself on mulitple occasions and most likely will have to again in a couple of years, I was merely making a comment that it can be a good thing...
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re: honkman
He is going to get eaten a live up there. Every place up there does the same type of concept with the true locavore/seasonal thing up there EXCEPT they also provide good service in most cases. Really nothing to make him standout, minus the greyed Yahoo Serious hair of course. Linkery has always been a high on concept poor on execution place and thats before you consider that it might be the worst place in town for even mediocre service. That crap is not going to fly up in SF. I like El Take It Easy much more but still a lot of consistency issues there. I've been burned way too many times at the Linkery with crap service, meh food and friends wondering why the heck I ever convinced them to check it out to ever go back.
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re: Josh
Its not really but it is one way he will stand out in a crowd of restauranteurs who are doing the same concept. Bringing authentic baja med up there would probably be a good idea. As far locally sourced meats, I grew up in the area and there are a good amount of farms producing pig, lamb, ect ect. north of SF and in the central coast/inland. Beef is a little bit more trickey as it has to go to one of the few processing facilities in the state. I'm willing to bet - in fact I know for certain - there are a wide variety of places using these types of products across the spectrum of restaurants in the city so don't know what to tell you other than maybe if you got off the high horse you might take notice of these places.
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I like the Linkery but it's pretty clear they lie on their receipts when they claim they don't accept tips. All they do is automatically charge you an 18% tip which really irks me because I want to control whither I give a tip or not. If I get good service then I tip generously but if the service sucks then they get stiffed.
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re: oerdin
The Linkery is up front about the mandatory service charge - you can't leave less, and if you leave more they give it to charity. It's non-discretionary, so it's not a tip. You may not like the policy, and you certainly can choose not to go there because of it, but it's not a lie - it's perfectly open and honest how it works.
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re: juantanamera
PommeDeGuerre
Feb 12, 2012 01:14 AM
Just bump the posted prices by 18% and post "Gratuity included" then.
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kare_raisu
Jan 10, 2009 11:48 AM
I went last night with a friend and everything we had was deilicous but I left dropping 80 dollars for 2 and still hungry. My only criticism of the food was the tripe and farro dish I had.There was hardly any tripe in it and almost all sausage. The soy grilled green beans brought out were outstanding as was the tres leches flan with fresh guava. I like the atmosphere and idea behind it, I just wish I could go more often!
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re: kare_raisu
foodiechick
Jan 11, 2009 12:03 AM
Was there for lunch today. Love the place and concept but I think I am done ordering the sausage. I just feel their prep leaves them too dry, and some of the flavor profiles are a little funky. I am going to stick with other menu items. My better half has been ordering off the "other bits" part of the menu with good luck, except for today. He ordered the country fried pigs ear sandwich on fresh bolillo with black pepper mayo, arugula and tiny tomatoes. Flavor was great, but forgot how much cartilage there is in that part. We would have been there for 2 hours if he chose to chew through the whole sandwich. Specialty item, just should have thought it out and ordered differently.
The new meat counter looks promising with beautiful pork belly bacon from various sources, whole country ham and house smoked whole mexican halibut. Was going to invest in some of the bacon, but everyone seemed too busy after our lunch to help us out.
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re: foodiechick
The Chowhound Team
Jan 13, 2009 01:42 PM
We've moved a digression about cooking and making your own sausage to the Home Cooking board at http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/587626
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So how is the food at the Linkery, who cares about the newfangled tip practice, but at the end of the day is the food itself good?
Also, what other restaurants are good? The restaurants mentioned on the website for the Linkery sound pretty good, but then again he may be giving a shut out to his friends.
Is the Bud's Louissiana Food Shoppe still there?
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re: kevin
DiningDiva
Oct 13, 2008 12:26 PM
The food at The LInkery ranges from good to very good, but can also be a bit inconsistent. And it isn't always about the food. Sometimes it's about the source(s) and sustainability of the ingredients. Do a search of the board and you'll turn up lots of information about The Linkery and it's food.
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re: kevin
30th St. has some incredible gems from Adams Ave all the way down to Juniper in South Park with some additional gems on various side streets.
Yes, the SD Toronado is open. Excellent beer. None of the charm of the original location, but 3 pints of Pliny the Elder, meh, who needs charm...
DD, yep saw the piece in the magazine. Showed it to my wife and the only thing she could comment on was the bottom of the receipt - $168.00 -- for what looked like lunch for 3. She reminded me that's why we don't go to the Linkery. She has a point...
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re: Ewilensky
yeah, i thought it might have been lunch for two even.
but weren't at least half the items on the $168 bill for alcoholic beverages.
since i'll be a tourist, i gues it's worth at least one try.
here's another thing on the 18% service charge, that is still tipping in my opinion. a mandatory enforced version of tipping. i would just rather they included it in the already expensive entree prices. Soon enough they will add a water charge and eco-friendly charge to the menu too. And that sausages sandwich will go from $14 bucks per (and already pretty pricey if you ask me) to about $25 with all the extra charges.
So in conclusion, I believe the Linkery is not a neighborhood restaurant, but is it worth it and good enough as a destination restaurant?
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re: kevin
Kevin,
I'm a bit biased since it is in my neighborhood and I'm not a fan. I like the Linkery for the fact they've been responsible for gentrification in my neighborhood.
I'll echo another poster that Hamilton's is my go-to place as well for a pint. I like the selection at the Toronado but in reality all I need is one tap of good craft beer and Hamilton's offers me plenty to choose from with a nice neighborhood ambience. If you see someone reading a book wih a boxer and a mutt, stop by and say "hi."
Desitnation restaurants I can suggest, are The Better Half, Cafe Chloe, C-Level (I love love love the view).
If you want to experience 30th St. however my picks would be do down to University to 35th and order some street tacos from the Mariscos German truck, walk it off by making your way back down 30th to the Toronado and finish off with dessert at Heaven Sent.
Have fun!
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re: kevin
Along 30th you'll find: The Linkery, Ritual Tavern, Urban Solace, Apertivo, Lefty's, Jayne's Gastropub, Vagabond (meh), Rebecca's (coffee), The Daily Scoop (ice cream and cupcakes), Toronado, Hamilton's, and I'm sure others I'm forgetting right now.
Yes, Toronado recently opened on 30th pretty close to The Linkery. I'm still not sure if the atmosphere has settled in but the beer selection is great. Alternatively I prefer Hamiltons which is a few miles south on 30th; not quite as many taps but just as good of a selection (probably better for local and specialty beers) and a better atmosphere.
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