Wildflour

Wildflour, another one of Phillip Esteban’s projects opened in Liberty Station opened at the end of February. I’ll head down to Liberty Station if I’m not hitting up Secret Sister for sourdough and I noticed that the place didn’t look too busy.

JJ enjoys walks along the Esplanade and I thought if I got here early enough, I could grab some breakfast with J and then take him for a stroll along the park. So, we headed on over. The hosts stand is on the patio which makes things really great. I often feel bad taking JJ into a restaurant when it’s just the two of us.

There’s an small indoor section with a bakery/deli area for takeout and some seating.

Though the patio is nice and stretches along Decatur Road.

We checked in and choose a table along the end of the patio. We do this to be mindful of folks who don’t like being in the company of pooches.

There was small and pretty limited menu for breakfast.

The two folks waiting on us were wonderful! They treated JJ so nice….like he was a VIP (Very Important Pooch)!

I thought my Americano was pretty good; fairly strong, but smooth.

Of course seeing Beef Tartare on the menu….well, I just had to try the Ribeye Tartare ($15).

The bread, a Country Levain was excellent…wonderful, more airy than I’m used to with Levain, but really good. A mild sourdough like flavor, it was quite satisfying.

The Beef Tartare was quite over-the-top; the Chemoula Aioli; basically a herb mayo, was fine, but there was just too much of it. The rib eye was nicely chopped, but too chewy for my taste.

The Bearnaise sauce was much too thick and gloppy, thicker than the aioli! It was also too sour for my taste. And like the aioli, there was just too much of it. This was like a mayo on mayo open face sandwich. Quite over-the-top!

Still, the service was so nice, that I decided to bring JJ over for an early lunch; arriving just at 11am.

And we sat on the patio; basically in the same location. The young lady working was quite nice, though not as friendly with JJ as on the previous visit. Still, he had no complaints, having a nice area to settle in the shade.

Having already had my caffeine fix for the day; I just settled on Half a Sandwich and some chips.

I really enjoyed the chips…though at $4 a small bag!!!!

Loved the texture and wonderful salty-sour flavor. I think I’ve seen this at Target, so…..

I had heard some nice things about the Mortadella Sandwich (Half – $10) so I ordered that. I cracked up when it arrived. Man, was it a carb load!

Again, the bread, a nice toasty focaccia was my favorite part of the dish, though there was just too much of it. I had really developed a taste for Mortadella while visiting Emilia-Romagna, gaining a fondness for the oinkiness of the salumi. The entire bread to filling ratio was skewed and the mild Stracciatella, of which there was a small amount really didn’t contribute to the sandwich.

I do think that Mortadella already is fairly mild in flavor and given the amount of carbs…well, it was nullified. I vote for “More – Mortadella” please!

I liked the relaxed and friendly service as did JJ, but having a meal where a bag of chips was highlight…… Though if you do need a “carb load”….

Wildflour
2690 Historic Decatur Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92106
Current Hours:
Wed – Fri 8am – 2pm
Sat – Sun 8am – 4pm
Closed Mon – Tues

At least J got to cruise around Liberty Station…..