Oktoberfest in La Mesa

Today we went to Oktoberfest in La Mesa.  We met up with daughter Vicky and son in law Bill.

The first thing we did was get some bratwurst and beer. The bratwurst seemed exceptionally good this year. I don't know if it was because I was really really hungry or what, but they were really really good. I like mine with grilled onions and sauerkraut with a little spicy brown mustard. I cut the end off to show the bratwurst under all that mess of goodness. See the spices in it mmmmm.

After wandering around for a while I was getting hungry for a little something sweet, and it wasn't a funnel cake I was wanting, and a cup of coffee. I came across the restaurant Tiramisu Trattoria,

they are located in downtown La Mesa, right in the heart of Oktoberfest. I was wanting to sit down in a restaurant and have a cup of coffee and a little dessert. I walked into the restaurant and saw the beautiful decor and the tables covered in white tablecloths with cloth napkins.

Whoa!! I wasn't expecting this, I was afraid just having dessert and coffee wouldn't be looked upon with much favor. I told the man that greeted me at the door that I only wanted dessert and coffee. He happily seated me at a nice booth and a waiter was there quickly with a dessert and coffee menu. I discussed the desserts with him and found that most of the desserts are made right there in the restaurant. They have three different kinds of tiramisu and a baba Amaretto. You have to click on their link and read the dessert menu, it was so hard to decide.
I had a cappuccino

and the traditional tiramisu.

Of course I was taking pictures of my dessert and told the waiter I have a food blog, he thought I said I kept a food log and wished he was so disciplined. We both had a laugh over that after I explained what I meant. The news made it to the kitchen because before long the chef Anna Maria Baslietto came out and introduced herself to me. She was so very gracious and explained to me how she makes the tiramisu. She uses pasteurized eggs and imported Marscapone as well as imported biscotti. The strawberry tiramisu is her latest creation, I need to get back there for that one. She is from Genoa and one of the owners is from Calabria and the other owner is from Mexico City.
Daughter Vicky, and her friend that joined us later, caught up with me in the restaurant. They weren't hungry and didn't order anything, yet they were brought glasses of water and were treated as though they had placed an order.
I was very impressed with the exceptional dessert and service. I am anxious to go back and try some of their pasta dishes.

After this brief respite, off we were to enjoy more of Oktoberfest, which of course included more food. Now the girls that were not hungry for dessert got their appetites back at the beer garden and ate another bratwurst with potato pancakes, hot German potato salad and cabbage. I tasted the potato pancakes and the potato salad. The potato pancakes were delicious and the potato salad was a little flat.

Of course it's not Oktoberfest without having a pretzel with mustard,

or a piece of lingonberry pie,

or doing the chicken dance to an oompah band,

or buying the grandsons marshmallow shooters that came complete with ammunition. 

I did buy two, one for each boy, but I had so much fun shooting marshmallows off in the beer garden that I just might have a hard time giving one up.