Tin Fork
Sorry, Carla. I’m in love. With Madeleine. Whoever Madeleine is. It’s Thursday morning, South Park, the sun’s coming and going, but that’s okay. Here on the dogleg between Fern and 30th, life feels good. You …
"Yoo-hoo! Hello?” I’m back behind the gas station here, next to the tire shop…in Mr. Sagmani’s place. Yes, his eatery takes a bit of finding. But, for me, it came just in time. Was getting …
Look at the skyline: this could be the land of Ali Baba. Blue domes, red towers, gold domes. Right now, evening time, even the Food 4 Less looks muy romantica. Or, you could be thinking: …
Aha... There he is. Allen and his ’88 Chevy lunch-truck, parked here on Carroll Centre Road. It’s Monday evening, about dusk. Takes a bit of street-scanning after the 210 bus leaves me. Then I see …
Anybody heard of Castle Park? I sure hadn’t. Everybody except Thomas Bros. calls this part of town southern Chula Vista. Whatever, Castle Park’s where I am, hoofing it up Third Avenue at around eight at …
A rabbit? In Little Italy? Can’t believe my eyes. But there he is, hopping up from the trolley tracks and into the bushes of one of those mega-condos near Date Street. This close to downtown? …
You can try to love this part of town, but it’s hard. I’m at First and Ash. Land of monthly-stay hotels and parking lots. Just a stone’s throw from City Hall and its concourse, the …
"Are you seeing another woman?” It’s Carla, on the cell. “Sweetheart, corazón, what da heck makes you ask that? Seriously.” “You never come straight home these days. You’re always calling from a different place.” She’s …
It seemed like a good idea...a great idea. What can beat sunset, PB, and happy hour at a place where you’re gonna see the green flashes? At a place that’s filled with experts? Because, well, …
Pissaladière? I know. Sounds dodgy. But trust me, this $3 “snack” is sensational. It’s like a pizza, with a filling that looks like tomato, tastes tomato-ish, but ain’t got a single tomato in it. Or …
"See the field?” says this guy waiting for the Number 3 bus. “Your place is just past it. Looks like the Little House on the Prairie.” A field? In Hillcrest? Carla and I have been …
‘Do you have a, like, breakfast section?” I ask because I’m looking at the menu, and it’s either spring rolls, noodle soups, or rice dishes. I know, this is Vietnamese. But, at 10:00 on a …
Decision time: Eddie’s Philadelphia Steaks or Lefty’s Chicago Pizza? I’m near Upas, quarter of nine at night. Got half an hour before the next #2 bus. Oh, what the heck. I’m on Lefty’s side of …
So this is it? The Holy Grail? Where the Beer Capital of the New World was born? I’m fresh off the number 44 bus, searching through a typical Kearny Mesa strip mall. Yogurt World, Tofu …
Sunset’s my kryptonite. Honest. Dusk is my undoing. I’m weakest when Huey’s dipping his tootsies in the ocean. Food and drink-wise, anyway. Here at the Gaslamp trolley stop around six, I can feel the magic …
Arnold Schwarzenegger sweated here. Stern’s Gym, North Park, “California’s oldest bodybuilding gym.” So did half a dozen Mr. Universe winners. So should I, except that right now I’m searching out the North Park Post Office. …