Pacific Coast Grill, nearly ten years old, is a restaurant that, until now, I've passed dozens of times without feeling the urge to eat there. Maybe what kept me away was the sense I had …
April 28, 2005
Back to profile
Stories by Naomi Wise (RIP)
< Newer stories
Older stories >
Moving on Up
Travelin Light
The growing glamour of Little Italy is echoed in the changing incarnations of the site of Voyage. It started a century ago as a tool and die shop, then became a grocery. More recent old-timers …
April 21, 2005
Kiss the Pelican
A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill will hold more than his belican. He can take in his beak Food enough for a week, But I'm damned if I see how the helican. -- …
April 14, 2005
Acapulco Nights
Tesoro (teh-SOH-row), Spanish for "treasure," is a family operation run by the brother-and-sister team of Rosie and Ricardo Vera, with help from their parents and siblings. Open since November, it quickly gained a reputation as …
March 31, 2005
Reveling at Reveles
After a couple of days at Harrah's in Valley Center, my partner and I grew bored with casino clamor and casino fare. At Fiore's, the hotel's top restaurant, our food-savvy waitress was a Valley Center …
March 24, 2005
Stage Irish
In America, everybody is Irish one day a year. Planning for St. Patrick's Day, I headed for what I thought was a new Irish pub. Well, bother and begorrah, I was wrong on both counts. …
March 17, 2005
Your Special Island
"What d'ya call people from Guam?" asked my old friend, actor-singer-songwriter George Gerdes, in his coffeehouse performances years ago. His audience would shout out tongue-twisting wild guesses. Then George would shake his head, lean into …
March 10, 2005
Suburban Grillmasters
"There's the sign," said my wife Grace. "No, Grace, that's the Colonel. No fried chicken tonight. Tonight is all about the grilling." "No, not that sign. The other one. Behind the Chevron." "Good gravy, you're …
March 3, 2005
Gambling Gourmand 2: Go Back, Jack
When the Santa Anas sent the downtown air pollution score to a choking 106, my partner and I drove an hour north for a few days of good country air and culinary research at Harrah's …
February 24, 2005
Gambling Gourmands, Part I
Eight restaurants under one roof! That's what Harrah's Rincon promises not only to gamblers, but to residents of the restaurant-starved area around Valley Center, five miles northeast of Escondido. What drew me northward was the …
February 17, 2005
Big Cheese, Good Times
When the time came for Randy Gruber to name his first restaurant, a corner eatery on Del Mar's main drag, he chose Americana because "the name rolls off your tongue and it works well for …
February 13, 2005
Let Them Eat Cake
"Valentine's Day is our Christmas," says Karen Krasne, chef-owner of Extraordinary Desserts. "It's the busiest day of my year." Her original dessert café on Fifth Avenue has recently expanded into a second, larger location in …
February 10, 2005
Born on the Bayou
Remember the legendary white chocolate bread pudding at the late, lamented Bayou Bar and Grill? Well, it's back, and so is the man who brought the recipe here from his native New Orleans. Bud Deslattes, …
February 3, 2005
Southern Comfort
This restaurant is closed.Mardi Gras always makes me hungry for Louisiana cooking -- not that I require a special occasion for that craving. For months, my partner and I peeked through the windows of a …
January 27, 2005
Local Bars
The Japanese art of sushi was bound to change once it reached the Americas and American-born chefs and diners took it up. How many aspiring local chefs would put up with the rigors of Japan's …
January 20, 2005
Delayed Whomp
I spent all last summer without a lick of barbecue crossing my lips. So by late fall, the craving for the taste of smoke reached a crisis. I began a quest for new "Qs" and …
January 6, 2005
The Year's Best Bites
I eat in at least 50 restaurants a year -- more often, 65 and up. Some you read about; others prove too short-lived or too awful to merit ink.The "Bests" list here reflects only meals …
December 30, 2004
By George, They've Got It!
Normally, if a restaurant sounds too good to be true -- it is. So my group entered George's at the Cove with a high degree of collective skepticism. "George's wins so many awards and popularity …
December 23, 2004
Caviar with a Conscience
I've always preferred to spend New Year's Eve at home with my partner and perhaps a few close friends, enjoying a celebratory supper with sevruga caviar as the star ingredient. But during the fifteen-odd years …
December 16, 2004
Twist of Fate
This restaurant is closed.I have a love-hate relationship with Trattoria Acqua. I love the chef's creativity and the staff's generally competent cooking. I hate the evil twist of fate that compels the kitchen to serve …
November 24, 2004
Thanksgiving on the Town
Is Thanksgiving the new New Year's Eve? Increasing numbers of folks, from empty nesters to newcomers far from home, are opting to have restaurants cook their feasts. Many of you start e-mailing me as early …
November 11, 2004
Not So Crazy
Po Pazzo What would make someone open another restaurant when he's already got three of them -- including two just down the street? In the case of Joe Busalacchi, owner of Po Pazzo on India …
November 4, 2004
San Diego's ten hottest chefs
San Diego is an ocean of pleasures, a paradise to live in or see. Only lately, though, has it started to be a great place to eat. My assignment, should I choose to accept it, …
September 28, 2000