As most of my long-term readers know, I grew up on the East Coast. I don't consider myself any sort of expert on bagels or coffee, but I do know what's good (hint: there's no such thing as a bad bagel). Pairing a good coffee with a great bagel is pretty much the perfect wake up. Put yourself in the hustle and bustle of downtown San Diego, and you've got an experience.
The founders of spectacular restaurants The Smoking Gun and barleymash have wowed us again with their take on a coffee and bagel shop, Spill the Beans, located next to The Smoking Gun.
Chef Kevin Templeton has brought his cooking and chemistry expertise to the world of bagels to create and bake some of the freshest, most delicious bagels I've ever had. Combined with fresh coffee from Dark Horse Roasters, it's a no-brainer that this is a place for a morning treat.
The bagels are the star, but the shop also has breakfast sandwiches if you want something more substantial. The simplicity of the concept is really the winner, as it has been in the group's other endeavors. Breakfast shouldn't be overly complicated, and simple, good food is always appreciated.
Let's start out with the coffee. We ordered a couple of espresso drinks, an iced latte and a Livin la Vida Mocha. I couldn't resist the kitschy name. The LLVM was a jazzed up caffe mocha made with Dark Horse espresso, done right. The rich flavor of the dark roast coffee matched perfectly with the warm chocolate flavor.
The iced latte was deep in flavor, with the lightness and fresh taste of an iced drink.
On to the bagels! If you are looking for a breakfast sandwich, may I highly recommend the San Diego, with a fried egg, bacon, pepper jack and American cheeses, and cayenne aioli spread. We swapped out the roll for a roasted garlic and herb bagel, and it was perfection. The spicy sandwich was the best wake-up, and paired perfectly with the cold coffee.
I love the simple, wholesome flavor of a bagel with cream cheese, but I really loved the bacon and cheese bagel with a huge smear of plain cream cheese. It was the bagel that I've ever had, and paired with the sweet (not too sweet) mocha, I was in heaven. I'm actually plotting my return to get this exact breakfast again!
I'm so excited to have a fantastic bagel place here in San Diego!
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