Woodies + 3rd Corner = A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Darcy Waits No Comments

Restaurant #12, Eating Up And Down 101

The annual Wavecrest Woodie Meet is happening at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas on a sunny September Saturday. This 43-year-old annual event is the grand finalé of Encinitas Summer Cruise Nights.

The third Thursday of the month from May through September, classic cars cruise downtown and show off their stuff. But in September, it’s all about the Woodies, starting with Cruise night followed by a party at the Best Western on Friday night.

A quick scan of the Woodie-scape at Moonlight Beach.

The Saturday Woodie Meet at Moonlight Beach is for everyone see and appreciate these beauties up close. Then Wavecrest wraps up with a Sunday cruise through town and down the coast.

Woodies 101

Classic Woodies are cars built between 1915 and ’48. Before Ford began to mass produce the 1929 Model A wagon, cars were custom built with wood exteriors. In the mid ’50s, the wood exterior was discontinued in favor of easy-care steel bodies.

However by the ’60s, surfers embraced these unwanted wagons as cheap rides that could accommodate their 10-foot surfboards.

We appreciate the art of classic cars, and especially woodies. Like on the cruise nights, Andy and I love to wander through and groove on people’s dreamobiles. When you factor in the beach, music filling the air, vendors selling their woodie-wares, and the smell of food trucks wafting in the breeze, this is a perfect Last-Weekend-of-Summer Saturday outing!

With all this walking and sea air, we’re working up an appetite! We’re heading to the Lumberyard to check out the next restaurant on our Encinitas eating journey, 3rd Corner Café.

3rd Corner Lore

We have checked out 3rd Corner’s impressive wine selection in the past, but this will be our first time dining here. It’s about 1pm Saturday, and we’re able to walk right in and join the other diners on the patio. Server Eric is prompt, friendly, and informative.

This photo was taken on a different day. We were so hungry after the woodies that we forgot and just rushed in!

3rd Corner Wine Club and Bistro opened in 2010 by restaurant owner Ed Moore. He owned several restaurants before testing a wine club and Bistro. No big surprise that Encinitas would embrace that concept!

We’ll give you details of the wine club below after we talk about our food. Some notable mentions though: 3rd Corner is open till 1am, and at midnight, wine and duck confit is a big thing! (We will also be talking about that Duck Confit below.) Also notable, bottomless mimosas for brunch for only $11.

Let’s Eat!

We checked out the website and menu earlier, but there are so many good choices that we change our minds several times before deciding! I’m really interested in the duck confit, but it’s a warm, sunny day, and we both feel like something lighter, like sea food. And Andy is skeptical about duck.

[Andy Note: I like my meat cooked, and didn’t realize “confit” means to slowly cook for a long time. Most duck I’ve seen is still quacking!]

3rd Corner is known for their wine, but we feel like cocktails. And the cocktail selection was easy. I go for a white sangria with nice chunks of fruit in it. Andy orders a spicy watermelon martini. We’ll sip while we make up our minds.

For Starters

We start by sharing a plate of shrimp taquitos (“rolled tacos” to native San Diegans). These were quite a surprise, with each huge shrimp rolled in its own crispy shell! The dish is served with pico de gallo, feta cheese, and a tomatillo avocado sauce. We love it!

We also can’t pass up the 3rd Corner fries with garlic oil and Parmesan cheese. They are so good! Skip the ketchup and go right for the garlic aioli.

3rd Corner, Second Course

My entrée is one of my favorite dishes, the Cioppino. The sherry lobster tomato broth is loaded with shrimp, scallops, salmon, mussels, and fingerling potatoes. The salmon is a nice touch, especially with fingerling potatoes.

Andy is not a fan of mussels, so I get to have them all to myself. Yay!

[Andy Note: Knock yourself out, Baby!]

He has been trying the risotto everywhere we go lately, so he is doing the sea food risotto. It’s loaded with scallops, shrimp, cream, caramelized onions, fennel, and mascarpone cheese. Having tasted this, I’m going to try adding mascarpone cheese to my home cooked risotto! It’s creamy, tasty, and takes the risotto to another level. Though our dishes are prepared completely differently, both our scallops and shrimp are prepared perfectly.

Perfectly done creamy risotto with shrimp and scallops!

Everything is so good! I am full, but the duck confit is still calling my name. They serve duck confit as part of a cassoulet or as a side dish for $11.95. I ask our server for a side of duck confit to-go. I have a plan for this tasty treat.

Clubbin’

After lunch, we check out the wine club. 3rd Corner has a wide selection of wines separated into regions from all over the world, and a large wine bar area.

We select a couple of bottles we are excited about: Stoller Family Estate 2019 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, and a Stoller 2021 Pinot Noir Rosé, Willamette Valley. It’s great to find wines from our old neighborhood in Oregon.

Sign up for the 3rd Corner email list on their website and you are a member of the wine club. We got a discount on our wine choices right away. If you want to select a wine to go with your meal in the dining room, there is a $5 corking fee. Of course, there are plenty of wines by the glass on the menu.

And here is another fun thing they do: a grab bag of wines, kind of a mystery! It’s six bottles for $66! Sounds like a great way to try new wines or make cool gifts for your favorite wine enthusiast! Hint, Hint.

What About That Duck

I made a pot of homemade butternut squash soup. I lightly warmed up the duck and shredded it, then topped the soup with the shredded duck and fresh parsley. Amazing!