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Entries
Tour de Cheesesteak: final stage
The Tour rolls into El Cajon for the last steak sandwich I'll eat for a good while
The final stop on the Tour was a hard one to make. Philly Steak Subs in El Cajon closes early--7PM on the weekdays — and getting out there in a timely fashion proved difficult for me as I’m accustomed to …
Million dollar java
Encinitas coffee shop validates prime real estate with fine espresso
Condominium’s in the lofts at Moonlight Beach (intersection of the coast highway and Encinitas Blvd) were/are being offered for well in excess of a million dollars, or so I heard from a friend up in north county as we hit …
It’s a Proper pity
"Time, gentlemen please!" for Proper Gastro Pub
Sad to say ta-rra: Proper Gastro Pub (right in the Ballpark park area at 795 J Street, at 8th, 619-255-7520). Walked past the other day and the big arched cream stone and brick portico with “Simon Levi Company” etched into …
Kiwi invasion!
First PB, then downtown, then OB, now Little Italy: Kiwi-style pubs are taking over, mate
Something great is happening to that rambling old house across from the Firehouse Museum at Cedar and Columbia in Little Italy. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/11/36838/ It’s already well-known. Dede Alpert had her offices here... http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/11/36841/ ...Lori Saldaña had her offices here too. It’s …
Tour de Cheesesteak: stage 9
Nearing the end, the Tour heads north for a good sandwich, under the wire
Responding to the umpteen different assertions that I had to go there, I rolled in to Philly Frank’s in San Marcos at about thirty seconds to closing time with my sheepish request for a sandwich before they kicked me out. …
Toma Sol: Seekey's a find
Literary cafe spawns writers (and sustainable panini) on West Washington
Was almost tempted. A Starbucks, shining out from the second level of the new Von’s on West Washington. So glad I didn’t. Because a block further up I hit this booky nook of a coffee-panini place with some kind of …
Plancha Baja Med: a popup dinner
A popup dinner by Chad White highlighting the world famous Baja Med cuisine of Northwestern Mexico
Informed by his world travels and feedback from peers, chef Chad White is hosting his second installment of a popup dinner called Plancha Baja Med at Carnitas’ Snack Shack (2632 University Ave) this Tuesday, December 11. White, whose resume includes …
Green Chefs?
"Top Green Chef" competition raises questions about the future of restaurant energy consumption
A week ago, the Port of San Diego’s Green Business Network (a mouthful of a name, that) staged a competition between a few chefs who work in portside restaurants. The challenge was a conventional, Iron Chef-style throwdown, the only catch …
Best Dim Sum in Town?
I go through dim sum phases -- for about a year, Jasmine was at the top of my list. But, after so many sloppy shells in my shrimp dumplings, the smell of mildew emanating from the old carpet, the rickety …
Nautical nosh
Cozy Wine Pub could be good for going out before you go out
Point Loma’s Wine Pub bucks the trend of giving wine bars cutesie names. The space, however, is quite precious with its modern accents and vaguely nautical trim that seems appropriate to the neighborhood. The entire dining area is one, sweeping …
Cauldron of Flavor
The name Tofu House is mildly misleading, as this Korean restaurant on Convoy in Kearny Mesa is not fit for vegetarians. Though extra-silken tofu can be found in each boiling pot, most selections come with some kind of meat, and …
Southern comfort in Poway
Luc's Bistro offers southern style comfort food with a bit of European flair
Southern style comfort food is not what you would expect to find in a nondescript strip mall in Poway. In fact, when I stopped at Luc’s Bistro for dinner after a beer tasting foray in North County, I was under …
Solace in Encinitas
It was back in October, when I was in the area to be a guest on David Boylan's KPRI radio show, Lick the Plate, that I first became aware of chef and restauranteur Matt Gordon's North County restaurant and bar, …
Blind Burro: Busy being born
Latest in good-time cluster expanding again at 7th and J
"We've been working on this ten weeks," says Pat Gallaher, the foreman. "I'd give it another ten days we should be good to go." http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/07/36646/ Pat This is a few days ago. He's talking from a little crane inside this …
Tour de Cheesesteak: stage 8
Just as things are getting difficult on the Tour, a surprise stage victory by an unlikely contender!
I didn’t want to leave the house and go down to Point Loma. It was cozy at home and I could have gotten into bed and stood a chance of finishing Dead Souls before the library sends a death squad …
Snail Pizza? Si!
On a moonlit night in TJ, Baja Med delivers a whole 'nother gastronomic world
Snail pizza? I check the menu again. Oh yes. There it is under “Pizza Baja Med.” “Escargots,” $12 for the chico (“small”) size. I’m here, nine at night, sitting in a converted warehouse. OK, not really converted. The big ol' …
Izakaya Masa, Japanese Treasure in Mission Hills
Friends and foodies have been telling me forever to check out Izakaya Masa -- the little Japanese restaurant with no sign that is tucked into the corner of a strip mall on Fort Stockton Drive -- but it wasn't until …
Tour de Cheesesteak: stage 7
"I'll have the cheesesteak...with the works...and a hooker on the side."
I won’t mince words, Ultimate Philley’s looked like a shithole. It’s on the “wrong” side of the 805, in the no man’s land between that and the 15, and it almost looks like a pawn shop or a sketchy cell …
Breakfast? Honey-Do!
At Honey's in Encinitas you can do healthy and wicked at the same time
Up here in the land of nuts and twigs and Swami surf breaks, you kind of expect to combine good-for-you and good-to-taste in every menu item. So I hive into Honey’s Bistro (632 South Coast highway 101, Encinitas (760-942-5433). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/05/36497/ …
Tour de Cheesesteak: stage 6
A trip to the land of exact change and substantial sandwiches
The Tour wasn’t slated to stop at Giorgino’s until later, but complications in the world caused things to go all haywire and I found myself madly dashing to Golden Hill in search of cheesesteak on a foggy evening. I’d been …