Holiday Fun 2016 - Taste 'N' Tinis and Toast of Gaslamp

Oh my... what is there to do during the most festive time of year? Why not have a food and drink adventure in San Diego? For the fourth year in a row, we ventured to Hillcrest for Taste 'N' Tinis on December 8th, 2016 between 4-9pm. Event ticket and martini glass in hand, away we went! Not long after, we were out and about for Toast of Gaslamp on December 10th, 2016 between 1-5pm. Suffice to say, it was a fun weekend! Highlights for each event are below!

Taste 'N' Tinis

One thing we noticed this year is that each location had a huge cooler pre-filled with the drink of the night. This kept the drinks flowing quickly so there was hardly any wait! Also, some locations added ice after pouring to keep the drinks refreshingly cool! You can check out our event posts from 2015, 2014 and 2013 as well.

Santa would love this kind of 'milk' and cookies... a little something to keep you toasty warm for the night!

Hillcrest was the place to be on this night!

A little bit of cinnamon was added to this moscow mule at Crest Cafe, plus we sampled their mac & cheese and brisket chili samples. Happy elf was the name of this melontini decorated with a bright red cherry!

There was even a wine sample from The California Fruit Wine Co. I entered their raffle and found out I had won a few days later!

Several retailers participated and had discounts available for that night. This picture seemed worthy of our gallery.

Food AND drink were available at the restaurants! Pardon My French was actually our last and final stop of the night.

Edible Arrangements served a piña colada smoothie to drink and both a chocolate covered strawberry and apple slice of yum. 

One of the newest restaurants in the area was Bull & Grain, whose chef is Daniel Barron (met at Tacos & Spirits Revolution last year). This pork shank was SO DAMN GOOD. I think a revisit is in the plans!

I liked the Rolled Up burrito samples, especially the crunchy roll one. Uptown Tavern had a delicious bread pudding and I need to go back for more.

Tasty noodles at Lotus Thai and a little red sippy for the adults.

We also found santa at Blue Stocking Books!

During the event, we chatted with some of the other revelers and one particular group found out it was my birthday. We heard a greeting of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" every time we ended up in the same restaurants, which was quite often! It made the night even more fun as we hit every spot on the map. Success!

Toast of Gaslamp

Last year I attended this with one buddy but this year it was part two of my birthday month fun. A couple friends came out to hang out as we ventured to 19 different locations for samples! Similar to the other event, we had a printed out ticket that was marked off for the food and drink samples.

Rustic Root had a really good oxtail ravioli sample. Pochteca Liqueurs and Martin San Roman Tequila were both available standalone here and were one of the event sponsors. We also saw St. Petersburg Vodka in a few of the other cocktail drinks. Another favorite was the lemon herb chicken bites from Henry's Pub, which had a thai-inspired taste for me. 

A delicious little cream puff with berry sauce and whipped cream awaited us at Le Parfait Paris.

BIGA is the first wood fired bakery in San Diego and their bread was excellent, especially paired with the succulent porchetta!

Another favorite bite was this excellent Mini Tijuana Dog from Don Chido.

The Field had their yummy guinness beef stew again, which I may have had three samples of. Bandar provided their lubia polo (basmati rice, diced filet mignon and organic fresh green beans) in a to-go box so we munched on this flavorful mix between a few stops.

I am such a fan of the perfectly bite sized mini aloo tikkis (potato pancakes) and the flavorful chicken kebabs from Gourmet India.

I loved the presentation of this seafood tartlet with lobster sauce from Blue Point Coastal Cuisine. It was paired with a vodka cocktail.

Maryjane's at The Hard Rock Hotel served up a meaty grilled cheese with a shot of roasted tomato basil plus a tasty strawberry infused cocktail.

I didn't post all the pictures but we visited every single location in the allotted time. It turned out to be another fun little get-together with our friends and we were stuffed! Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!