Italian with a twist: Herb & Wood.

Located in the Little Italy area of San Diego, don’t be fooled by the Uber drop off at Herb & Eatery….the entry to the restaurant is on the south side of the same building.

The space is very open and offers a variation on alfresco dining….outside but not really. This night they were offering a tasting of Iberico Jamon aged 4 years and carved right off the source.

Started with the grilled avocado with trout roe, nuoc cham and burrata…….best dish of the night! The combination of nuoc cham, roe and avocado was special. It seems like “toast” as an appetizer/small plate is becoming very popular on menus and there were multiple options on this one. I chose the chicken liver…..can’t help it but I like liver prepared any way and from any animal. The pickled chard stems added an interesting flavor.

Mains include branzino, chicken, pork and venison….as well as pasta and pizza. I was intrigued by the bone marrow and escargot pizza….the couple sitting beside me took the dip….but I decided to go with fettuccine and clams topped with a bit of dungeness crab. The crab add was recommended by my server. The dish was solid but was a bit too light for my palate this night.

I could not pass on dessert nor the offering of PB&C. It was quite remarkable…..peanut butter mousse and peanut brittle sandwiched between two layers of chocolate whiskey cake, with salted caramel; all topped with chocolate gelato…..unbelievably decadent! If you like peanut butter you gotta try this.

Service was excellent.

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