In our previous installments, we have talked about my food heroes (such as Guy Fieri and Andrew Zimmern). This week, we are going to talk about one of Ian’s favorites. Who would that be you ask? None other than Bobby Flay. Ian has a massive man-crush on that red-headed Iron Chef. Do I share his sentiments? Nope, but that is not what this blog is about today. What can I say? I guess we have different tastes in men (and chefs). In our household what Bobby says or cooks is gospel, so when we heard he named the stuffed French toast at Cafe 222 one of the best things he ever ate, we had to go check it out.

Cafe 222 is located in the heart of downtown. It’s a stone’s throw from the Convention Center. You can’t miss it, because its sign is huge and brightly colored! The decor is unique and funky. Think chandeliers made out of teacups and silverware. It’s tiny on the inside and the staff is very welcoming. While you wait, they let you serve yourself some coffee. It’s a small gesture, but it helps the wait go by faster. We also perused the menu while we waited, and tried to narrow down our hosts of choices! Legitimately, everything sounded amazing. Hard choices lay ahead for us. Eventually, we were able to make our decisions and a delicious breakfast ensued!

I can’t even pick whose breakfast was the best. Althea (Ian’s mom) got the blueberry cornbread waffle. It had a slight cornmeal crunch, subtle sweetness, and of course, the tartness of the berries. Don (Ian’s dad) got the pumpkin waffle. Perfect amount of pumpkin flavor.  It tasted like a fall festival in your mouth (in the middle of spring in San Diego– aka a place with no seasons). I was the only one at the table who went the savory route. I got the Eggs Italia scrambler. It had pesto, tomatoes, goat cheese, and a side of potatoes and toasted focaccia. I wasn’t sure how pesto and eggs would work together, but let me tell you what… it does! That dish was different than any other eggs dish I’ve ever had, and I enjoyed every bite! It was… eggscellent. On to the reason we went to this particular restaurant in the first place, the stuffed French toast. It’s a little different than you would imagine. It’s basically like someone decided to make French toast out of a peanut butter sandwich. Oh yeah, and then topped it with bananas. It is 100% an Ian dish. He scarfed that bad boy right up! One of the coolest things about it is it very much tastes like something you could whip up in your kitchen (if you were a kooky imaginative chef that is). The only downside of it? It strengthened Ian’s love of Bobby Flay to a level unattainable by yours truly! Thanks a lot Cafe 222! (No seriously… thank you for a great breakfast!)