Brooklyn Girl=Great Food, Ambience

From the minute I walked into Brooklyn Girl, I knew it wouldn't be my only visit to the trendy Mission Hills eatery.  Established in 2011 after the close of their very successful Trattoria Acqua in La Jolla, Michael and Victoria McGeath wanted to open a neighborhood restaurant fashioned after what was happening in Brooklyn.  Brooklyn has been leading a culinary, artistic and creative revival in our nation and the McGeath wanted to take this trend to Mission Hills.  Along with chef Colin Murray, the McGeath's have created a truly neighborhoold restaurant, open for brunch, lunch and dinner.  Mission Hills reminds the McGeath's of their native Brooklyn, with an old time spirit, and a comfortable feel.  This wonderful vibe that I felt when I walked into the restaurant makes this a place in which you want to hang out.

No matter how good a restaurant makes you feel, if the food isn't good, you won't be back.  Not a problem at Brooklyn Girl.  The food is delicious, the menu is creative, and the ingredients are top quality.  Menus change with the seasons and what is available each day at local markets.  Everything is farm to table.  Their charcuterie choices come from MeatMen, and the cheeses are from Venisimo.  Here's some of what we had.
As soon as you sit down, a bowl of spicy, buttery popcorn is placed on your table.  Drinks are ordered, and you and your party are ready to drink, snack, and peruse the short menu.  The menu begins with small plates, or as they call them "Street starts."  Roasted stuffed bone marrow (stuffed with mushrooms, blue and goat cheese, fresh herbs), bacon wrapped Vietnamese meatballs, oyster tacos, chilled gazpacho, and black mussels, Thai style are just some of the starters.  I enjoyed a beet salad, which included yellow and red beets, fresh Burrata cheese, avocado, almonds and a shallot dressing.  I ate every bit of it.  Richard had the all kale Caesar, which was a Caesar salad using kale instead of romaine, and included bacon and hard boiled eggs.  It was wonderful too.  I enjoyed a pizza, topped with littleneck clams, bacon, fingerling potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, in addition to cheese.  It was most unusual, but the mixture worked.  The pizza was a little thicker than I like, but the dough was delicious.  Richard and Laura each ordered Mary's free range duck.  You can order one full duck and split it, or order two halves, which is what they did.  It was very crispy, with a ginger and honey glaze on the skin, served in a skillet with wonderfully cooked winter veggies, including sun chokes and carrots.  It was a delicious dish.  Ron ordered the pork chop, so big he brought half of it home for dinner tonight.  It was served with with baby carrots, braised collard greens, apple pear spiced chutney and pork jus.  Fantastic dish.

We were too full for dessert, but I noticed a caramel budino on the menu that I will make room for next time.  The restaurant also has some interesting art on the wall.  We liked it so  much we asked our waitress about the artist, and it turns out he is a server in the restaurant.  His name is Patrick, he came to our table to meet us, and tell us more about his work.  The piece I especially liked was a portrait of Scarlett Johanson, a huge painting, which felt like she was looking right at you.  After dinner we walked across the street to look at the other hot restaurant on Goldfinch, The Patio.  That will be our next dining out experience, so you can look for that review shortly.  All in all, Brooklyn Girl was a wonderful dining experience, and one I will visit again and again.