New 52 | Week 13: Poncho Sanchez at Anthology

Todd is a big fan of latin jazz music, and through him, it has grown on me a lot too.  So when he found out that Poncho Sanchez, the Grammy-winning latin jazz percussionist, was coming to Anthology in San Diego to play a concert, he quickly got tickets.  We had heard so much about Anthology too.  It is located in San Diego's Little Italy area and it's a combination of concert hall and restaurant.  You get to eat good food while watching/listening to a great concert!  Now that's my kind of place!  :)

So on Thursday, 3/24, we worked from home, ate a small early dinner, and headed down to Anthology.  There was plenty of free street parking because it was after 6pm, which was really nice.  We were able to park right near the back entrance to Anthology.  We got there right before the concert started.  The only picture I got of the place was a quick photo of the front, right before we went in.



We had never been there before, so we didn't know what to expect. The inside was really nice! We got the cheap seats so we didn't have a direct view of the stage, but they had flat screen monitors every few feet so you still got to see everything. If you paid more for better view tickets, then you would also have to spend at least $15/person on food/drinks. We did end up ordering some fried calamari and a Coke though. The food there is really good!

From our little round bar table and seats, we got to enjoy great latin jazz music. I loved the energy and the rhythm! I love that this concert venue/restaurant's main crowd are adults. It really makes for a nice evening of dinner and music out. Some people got up to dance and it was fun to see people getting into the music. Anthology was a lot nicer than we had imagined.

While there, we found out that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing there in April. So as soon as we got home, Todd got online and ordered tickets. Next time we'll be sitting in the nicer seats! :D

After the concert, we walked two blocks down to Extraordinary Desserts. This is a really famous dessert place that we went to six years ago and haven't gone back since then. Not because we don't love the desserts there, but it's always VERY crowded with a long wait! Last Thursday was no exception. At 9pm, it was packed and the wait for a table for two was 30 minutes. So what did we do? We got in line for dessert take-out!

While in line, we checked out all the goodies behind the counter. Everything looked SO good!










We ended up sharing a piece of Truffe Framboise, which I now think I did not take a photo of! The menu description: Fresh raspberries and kirsch moistened chocolate cake layers are surrounded by bittersweet Valrhona chocolate mousse, with fresh raspberries bursting inside and out. The quintessential marriage of chocolate and raspberries! And it really was one of the most delicious chocolate truffle cakes I've EVER had!

Poncho Sanchez at Anthology was definitely a night to remember! The "icing on the cake" was going to Extraordinary Desserts afterwards. We loved the experience so much that we're ready to go again next month to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.

Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the link list below. You can also post images to our New 52 Flickr Group! We would love to see what you were inspired to do.