Wired Bistro-another (good)French Cafe

Wired has closed.

mmm-yoso is the blog and Cathy is writing today.  Kirk is on vacation.

Hello, again and welcome back.  The Mister and I decided to "slum" our way out of Santee and visit the UTC area of town yesterday and enjoy lunch where we have enjoyed lunch many times- at Wired Bistro- but this time, with camera in tow. 

I was introduced to Wired by a friend, Miss C, last year when we couldn't decide where to meet for lunch.  It is in the Renaissance Mall, just southeast of the UTC Mall.  I had visited this mall, but had only gone to the Rubio's here.  Wired is one of quite a few restaurants here. It has become a 'regular' spot for me when I dine alone.

It is basically French Bistro style, serving in house baked goods all day and omelettes and bagels for breakfast , crepes, quiches, baguette and panini sandwiches, all sorts of cafe beverages and a daily wine bar serving tapas along with on Friday nights, having a wine tasting of a large selection of French and Spanish wines. 

Here is the menu:

I must say I wish I had a camera every time I have been here, because everything is  just pretty when they bring it to your table.

This time, I decided to try just the soup and quiche combo ($7.50) primarily because the soup of the day was tomato basil bisque, and I have had it before and crave it every so often.  made with fresh tomatoes, light cream and basil, topped with lightly toasted fococcia (herbed) croutons. it was, as always, delightful.

For the quiche, you can chose one of usually four offered per day.  I chose the spinach mushroom.

Usually, during the week, I get a wedge of quiche.  This time it was a small, individual quiche, which was nice.  Made with a puff pastry crust and filled with a *very* nice custard and cheese filling, fresh spinach and flavorful mushrooms. The garnishes vary and this time, as you can see it was shredded carrots with some bean sprouts.  Different, but colorful.

The Mister decided on a panini- the one made with roast beef, roasted eggplant and cheese ($7.95).  Neither of us had ever had this one before. It is the first time we were disappointed in anything here.    

The bread was excellent, as are all of the pastry/baked items.  The roast beef, although plentiful and tomatoes, sliced nice and thick  basically had no flavor.  The cheese and eggplant relish were wonderful.   It isn't anything that would make me not want to go back, it was just not as exciting as we had expected it to be. It was served with a small salad in the center, topped with a very nice house vinaigrette.

Knowing I would be blogging, well, we had to order a dessert.  It was late afternoon and quite a few of the pastries were gone and, well, The Mister had a craving- so we got the Nutella crepe ($4.00). 

Two freshly made crepes, stuffed with Nutella (a spread that is half hazelnut butter and half chocolate butter) and topped with real whipped cream.   Of course this needed a cup of coffee ($1.50), French roast- wonderfully fresh- and we had a nice respite.

During the week, or on Fridays at 6, when the wine bar tastings start, the Tapas menu is perfect.  The $9 cheese and fruit plate or the $9 antipasto plate is a meal for me.  If you are at the UTC mall, just leave the Sears parking lot and go south through the one light and the Renaissance Mall is there on your left-you'll see the Rubio's.

Wired Bistro Wine Bar 8935  Town Centre Drive, Suite 110 San Diego 92122 (858)450-0880 Daily 6 a.m.-10 p.m. (closes Sundays at 8p.m.)

 

Comments

[nhbilly]

Why are panini so expensive?
If I'm ever in the need for a grill sandwich I break out my foreman grill, slice of break some smoked meat, sharp cheese, and some extra virgin olive oil and I am set - well maybe some sun dried tomato and spinach to complete my grill sandwich. Anyways place looks good not to mention the soup too.

[Cathy]

Well, even at the La Jolla Ralph's store they charge $6.50-$7.50 for a panini sandwich, Bill...and here at Wired, I know they make their own bread that is used for the sandwiches, so that is a better touch. Also a "real" panini grill is expensive I suppose..although I think every kitchen in America has a George Foreman Grill nd it works in a similar manner. Your sandwich sounds good, but I like smoked meat and I like sharp cheese, but maybe not together...and, truly, a real grilled cheese sandwich involves butter...and a frying pan...

[nhbilly]

Yes I am missing the butter part of grilling but I make up for it with other flavor inducing ingredients.

[Cathy]

Oh the butter, Bill...oh..that is what makes it...My favorite candy at Sees is a Scotch Kiss. Ask for one. It is a marshmallow laid on a piece of wax paper and then they spoon melted butterscotch over it and wrap it in the wax paper. The saltiness of that soft butterscotch melting in your mouth is the nicest taste and feeling.
...digressing again...

[nhbilly]

LOL - I will try the Sees candy for sure. The round hard yellow candy consider butter scotch too? I love it!

[Cathy]

Yes, the round hard ones, (by Werthers-made with real, not artificial, butter)are butterscotch discs and have gotten me through many long car and airplane rides. But, oh, the soft, fresh made, melty, slightly salty tasting...ooooh! (sorry)

[noromdiam]

Wired Cafe has the best soups, They're always so creamy and fresh too. The chef makes all the stocks from scratch. If he's out of stock, he's out of soup.

Oh, you gotta try the tarte tatin too. It's one of their most popular items, so popular that they don't keep it in the case. Just look behind the barista and you'll see one cooling on the counter.

[Cathy]

Thanks for the tip, noromdiam. I know they run out of soups and quiches...and, depending on the time of day, the pastries. Never saw the tarte tatin...I guess I just see and point in the case.

[Carol]

Hey Cathy! I know this is an older post but I'm slowly moving down my list of new places to try and Wired came up. I met a friend for lunch today and I had a wonderful French Baguette San Diegan. The baguette was perfect and the sandwich is the best baguette sandwich I've had in a long time. My friend had the roast beef panini and she enjoyed it. I should have asked her about the flavor of the roast beef.

I was too full to get a dessert but did get a Carmel Macchiato (sp?) to go. Thanks again for another great recommendation.

[Cathy]

Hi Carol - You found one of my favorites! I haven't been to Wired in a while- and have been *very* ill for the past week (flu- both The Mister and I have it- can't smell or taste anything) but I know we'll be going in that direction soon. Try the soup, quiche and crepes for other lunches...and gosh the cheese platter...and the pastries...ooooh I can't wait to get my taste buds back!

[Carol]

Oh Cathy, I hope you and the Mister get well soon. Whatever bug is going around sure has been nasty. I definitely have it on my list to go back soon and try some of the other items. This is definitely on my lunch rotation list now. Maybe I might even sneak over there for a quick mid-morning snack. :-D

[Cathy]

Its a few days later and we both still have it Carol. So frustrating. We have not had our annual "celebration" which we usually do on about April 16 every year :)...and this weekend for breakfast, Wired would be nice...maybe tomorrow...

[Victor castro]

The service and attitude of staff is terrible. We got our drinks in 10 minutes, ok not bad. But we sat there for 15 more minutes before the manager finally came by to see what we wanted to order. 20 minutes later, the waitress came by to ensure our order had been taken. Ok great follow up, but c'mon, 45 minutes after we got there they're 'making sure'. 10 minutes later the waitress came by to ask us what we ordered because apparently it hadn't been entered in their system by the manager. At this point it had been an hour. We told them to forget it because we had burned an hour with their terrible service. They still had the odacity to drop off the bill for the drinks we had. $9.00 for an apple juice and an italian soda. On top of everything, they still had this snotty arrogant attitude about it. Never going back to this place out of principle. Simply terrible.