Restaurants
First order of the day: Do. Not. Look. In. The. Mirror. Bit too much celebrating lately. So, second order of the day: belly up for a cup of real French coffee at Madeleine’s. Because, well, …
I blame my friend Annie for this. I mean I’ve been around, but she zips about in dizzying circles, social circles, the kind you read about in the glossy magazines. This day, I just had …
I sip my Kyoto Summer. I look down. A steamed burger? It comes out blanched, like a ghostly version of America’s favorite sandwich, but stuffed with a golden-crumbed chicken slab, Swiss cheese, and kimchi, and …
What’s missing? I keep looking at this thing. But nothing’s amiss. It is a complete burger, with slab of meat, slab of red onion, slab of cheese melting over the patty like a Salvador Dali …
The kid stands mesmerized. He watches as Louie picks up his piece of pizza, starts picking off the colorful bits like tomato and cilantro, then crunches at the edges of the crust. Louie’s an Eclectus …
‘I’m from the Northwest,” says Lu Hong. She means Northwest China. “In Xinjiang, people like their food spicy and hot. Same like Szechuan. But this food here is from South-East China. More like Shanghai, where …
Rosemarie is heads-down in her book, Sex, Lies, and Serious Money, by “NYT #1 best-selling author” Stuart Woods. (“Reads like a remake of Family Jewels,” says the dust jacket). She can do what she wants …
What is the difference? I’m sitting here trying to figure it out. Across Park Boulevard, there are two cafes, both smart, cool, new, and library-quiet, except for the piped music. Everyone in the modern building …
Mr. Peabody’s gets right to the point. “Please: No Assholes. No Hookers. No Tweekers.” It’s on signs behind the bar. It’s on the backs of tee shirts the bar crew wear. But up here in …
‘Suck the marrow, drink the beans,” says the guy coming out. “And watch out: the birria squirts.” I’ve just walked the half mile down from the Beyer Blue Line trolley stop. Deepest San Ysidro. I …
Photograph by Matthew SuárezLittle things mean a lot: the first little thing that makes me like this place is the, well, amuse-bouche. Wedges of crisp flatbread stacked vertically like surfboards. They have sesame and other …
Flaco plays the flames like a conductor. He thrusts his hands into them and flips half a dozen patties in short order. Smoke bulges up like a Nevada test cloud. “Sundays are always crazy,” he …
It’s Sunday morning. I’m in this mom and pop diner in downtown Oceanside. My friend Mary told me about it. Said it had won the prize — okay, in 2004 — for best cinnamon bun …
So this young couple slipped into the dimpled red booth. “They sat apart. They were shy,” says Tula. But this is Cafe La Maze. Big portraits of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard and a bunch …
These places! They all look right out of Davy Crockett! Where we’re heading is this 1919 lodge 6000 feet up on Mount Laguna, 100 years old this year, actually serving nosh and hauling grog up …