Mercy and Michael interview Javier Gonzales of Costa Brava Restaurant and Oz Blackaller of Cueva Bar about tapas – the original “small plates” – both New World and Old in Episode 15 – On Tapa The World is available at the following links: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-forked-up/id1221543146?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-46485143/episode-15-on-tapa-the-world RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/allForkedUp
ALL FORKED UP PODCAST: S1E15 — On Tapa The World
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WORLD FARE: Ignore the hype; Menya Ultra’s really good anyway
I am instantly suspicious when a new restaurant opens to massive hype and is declared “the best” of its kind. I get really nervous when a food TV personality drops in and declares that restaurant’s dish “might just be the best in America.” So when Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern said that about Kearny Mesa’s Menya Ultra (8199 Clairemont […]
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WORLD FARE: A blast from the past at PL Bagels
I was working in the Helmsley Building, a 35-story Beaux-Arts building towering over Grand Central Station. Every morning I’d get off the subway, head straight to the bagel shop for a cinnamon-raisin bagel (with butter) and eat it at my desk with a cup of bad coffee. So, when I stopped at PL Bagels (3704 Voltaire St. #107, […]
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WORLD FARE: Fung Fung Yuen is the big, new dim sum player in town
For decades of my life a week wouldn’t go by without enjoying dim sum. Ever since I moved back to San Diego in the mid ‘90s the local scene has been dominated by two Convoy District dim sum palaces: Jasmine Seafood Restaurant and Emerald Chinese Cuisine. Now, Mira Mesa has an enormous competitor: Fung Fung Yuen (10660 […]
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WORLD FARE: A-Chau proves sometimes you get more than you pay for
“Good” and “cheap” are two words used together more frequently than they ought to be when it comes to food. There is, for example, no such thing as “good, cheap sushi.” People have probably died trying to find that particular unicorn. A-Chau (4644 El Cajon Blvd., Suite 111) in Little Saigon, however, proves there definitely is such […]
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WORLD FARE: The masterful Patrick Ponsaty lands at 1500 Ocean
When news broke that Patrick Ponsaty was out at his namesake Rancho Santa Fe restaurant, it was a shock to just about everyone including, it seems, Ponsaty. While the ouster surely didn’t sit well with him, it didn’t take Ponsaty long to land on his feet at the Hotel Del Coronado’s signature restaurant, 1500 Ocean (1500 Ocean Ave., […]
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EDIBLE SAN DIEGO: Finding the Missing Crayons and Moving Beyond the Latke
Photography by Jaime Fritsch It’s a question faced in just about every Jewish home come Hanukkah-time: how do we do latkes this year? Of all the things we could possibly make it ends up being latkes every year. It’s as if we always choose to color with the same few crayons in the 64-color box. […]
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WORLD FARE: Golden Chopsticks is all about foodie nostalgia, Chinese-American style
Millennial foodies can debate endlessly whether Chinese-American food is “authentic.” That’s pretty much what they do when they’re not taking pictures of food and posting them on Instagram. I’d rather debate the merits of the term “authentic,” because Chinese-American food can be wonderful entirely on its own terms. Golden Chopsticks (1430 East Plaza Blvd., National City) is […]
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WORLD FARE: Roma Urban Market gets close to being something to everyone
It’s a quote someone might find on a poster in the conference room of a small-to-medium size business: “You Can’t Be Everything to Everyone.” It’s a bit of, eh, wisdom variously attributed to Abraham Lincoln (at least by my mother), Bill Cosby and a host of others. The gist of it is the notion that […]
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WORLD FARE: Lobster West rolls a different way
“Authenticity” is a word some foodies love. It’s the magic juice that lends weight to opinion and gives prejudice the power of authority. Calling a place “inauthentic” is almost the equivalent of labeling it “worthless.” Is it just? Is it right? Those are questions raised, and maybe answered, by Lobster West (765 South Coast Highway 101) in […]
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THE ART OF SPOONING: Talkin’ Malarkey, Parts I and II
They say that “Spooning Leads to Forking” and they may be right. But The Foodie Whisperer and I have a different take on the fine Art of Spooning and bring it to you weekly by delving into the corners – bright and dark – of today’s food scene from the business of food to the […]
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THE ART OF SPOONING: Facebook Live Recording on Tuesday, December 12 at 10:00 a.m.
It’s the return of Mercy Baron as Michael and Sheen interview the Kansas City Master BBQ Judge and grill master Billy Joyce, a soon-to-be BBQ Competition circuit contestant. The fun starts tomorrow on Facebook Live on (for now) my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/michael.gardiner.790 Come be a part of the show!
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WORLD FARE: Pork fat rules at Porky’s Lechon
A generation or two of TV-food-types have sold viewers on the notion of “pork fat rules.” They’re not all wrong. However, if pork fat rules, then Filipino lechon is the king of kings, and Porky’s Lechon (1430 East Plaza Blvd., Suite E12) in National City may be its palace. Read more at http://sdcitybeat.com/food-drink/the-world-fare/pork-fat-rules-at-porky’s-lechon/
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WORLD FARE: Dae Jaeng Keum keeps it real
“Fire,” Richard Pryor quipped, “is inspirational.” The resonance of the joke was not limited to the fact Pryor had very nearly burnt himself to a crisp while freebasing. It captured a far deeper truth than that: Our relationship with fire is very nearly instinctual and elemental. It’s that feeling we get at backyard barbecues, and […]
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San Diego CityBeat: New Year’s Eve Guide 2018
Every year San Diego CityBeat puts out the definitive guide for coming New Year’s Eve festivities. This year’s is at http://sdcitybeat.com/culture/features/new-year%E2%80%99s-eve-guide-2018/. Every year I’m the tour guide for where to go out for your New Year’s Eve celebrations: New Years Eve parties rock. Champagne’s great, caviar is awesome and Sinatra’s wonderful (even if only in an […]
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WORLD FARE: Red Cate is the hot pot spot
As the calendar turns, there’s a hint of cold in the air (or at least the 619’s rather lame concept of cold). That’s when soups begin to sound like a good idea (even if the weather isn’t all that cold in the first place). Red Cate (3860 Convoy St.), the Convoy’s newest hot pot destination, provides “warming” […]
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WORLD FARE: Frankie’s fame and flavor at Fishmonger’s Market
In today’s overheated food world, a platform counts. Whether it’s opening a restaurant or publishing a book, “followers” and “friends” matter, sometimes at the expense of flavor. So, when Frankie “The Bull” Terzoli—of Bravo TV Top Chef fame and Food Network Cutthroat Kitchen glory—opened a new restaurant inside 57 Degrees in Middletown, I was dubious. Fishmonger’s Market & Seafood Bar(1735 […]
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A Wedding Reception Meal for the Indulgent
Our daughter, Gwennie Gardiner, is getting married this coming September 1st to Ben Venerdi. Like any father-of-the-bride-to-be the entire process is, it’s safe to say, not my favorite thing in the world. It’s also safe to say that I was always going to be in charge of figuring out what to do for the Wedding […]
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WORLD FARE: Time traveling on a boat of romaine at Caesar’s Restaurante
When the successful restaurant group Grupo Plascencia bought Caesar’s Restaurante Bar (Av. Revolución at 5th, Tijuana), it certainly wasn’t predatory business opportunism. It was a bet on Tijuana’s future, on themselves and on a salad. This was in 2008, at the height of Tijuana’s dark period. A drug war raged and the traffic flow of gringos that […]
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SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT: The Ensenada Streets are Hot
My idea of a vacation involves heavy doses of street food, and my staycations are no different. Baja is the usual destination with Ensenada the focus even more often than Tijuana. After all, we’re talking about the beach town that is the supposed origin place of fish tacos and there’s a mariscos stand that Anthony […]
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