kalypso

Of course I have to mention you! I wouldn't know any of this stuff if you hadn't taken the time to show/teach me It's important to give the credit where it's due.

Patzcuaro and Morelia in Michoacan might make a good alternative. The tianguis/mercado in Patzcuaro is not as large or quite as diverse as the abastos in Oaxaca, but it's a nice market none the less. It's probably more equivalent to the 20 de Noviembre market in Oaxaca. Here's a link to a discussion about food and eating in Patzcuaro and Morelia that you may find helpful. Food/Restaurants in Patzcuaro & Morelia. Either Morelia or Patzcuaro would make a good home base for day trips to outlying villages and towns such as Santa Clara del Cobre, Erongaricuaro, Ihuatizo, Capula, Tzintzuntzan, the island of Janitzio, etc. Michoacan is one of the only other states in Mexico that can rival - and in some cases exceed - Oaxaca in terms of folk art. I think the food is equal as well. The one thing on your list I haven't found in Michoacan though are cooking classes. Seafood is readily available and it's pretty good, or take a few days and go to Michoacan's famous seaside resort - Zihuatanejo. It's closer to Morelia than Puerto Escondido or Huatulco is to Oaxaca City. I'm not sure what you mean by authentic touristy; Michoacan has it's share of tourists, but is not over-run with ticky-tacky trinkets. Prices on most things are about the same as Oaxaca, maybe a few pesos less. Both are also smaller cities than Oaxaca. There has been a lot of press about the violence in Michoacan - NPR ran a pretty sensational piece recently. By far, the bulk of the violence is almost entirely related to the drug trade and the drug cartels. Unless you're planning to frequent the same places they do, or planning to do business with them, you should be as safe (or possibly even safer) in Morelia or Patzcuaro as you would be in any big city in the U.S. Continental Airlines flies directly into Morelia via Houston. Another option might be Veracruz, Xalapa, Coatepec and Xico. The heat and humidity won't be as much a factor in December and once you start getting up into the mountains away from Veracruz it will probably be very pleasant; lush and tropical.

Thanks for posting the link. My short list would include: 1500 Ocean A.R. Valentien Azul Mr. A's Cafe Japengo Cavaillon La Bastide The Marine Room and Laurel both do nice menus for this week and I'm glad to see some of the better restaurants are doing $40 menus. Hopefully, that might lead to some better meals. I may miss this year since I'll be in Mexico most of January.

I'll second Oceanaire in San Diego. We had dinner there in August for my birthday and it was wonderful. I blogged about it here complete with pictures. (You'll probably have to scroll down, it's the 3rd entry) I was served what was without a doubt the best piece of swordfish I've ever eaten in a restaurant. Service can be a bit spotty and ours started out a little slow at the beginning but imrpoved greatly as the meal went along.

Wow, this must have been the weekend for Pipián. I made it for dinner Saturday night. Here's the up close and personal on it. And the whole recipe in photos from start to finish can be found here

w@w Here is the link for Susana Trilling's cooking school Season's of My Heart Her schedule of classes is on the site and it does look like she's teaching in December. I've taken a class with her and had a great time. She's a wonderful teacher and her facility excellent. Both Monte Alban and Mitla are located in (or around) Oaxaca and are well worth a visit. Oaxaca is a destination for quality arts and crafts both in the city and the surrounding countryside. Guides can be hired at Monte Alban and Mitla to explain what everything is and I'd recommend hiring a guide to get the most out of a visit. Shopping for arts and crafts in town is pretty easy, but if you want to go directly to the source a guide is useful. Most hotels either have a guide or can arrange one to take you to local craftspeople. I've used Toni Sobel an American ex-pat married to a Mexican phyiscian and have been very happy with her services. You can find her contact information on theRick Bayless web site. Both Puerto Escondido and Huatulco are located on the Pacific Ocean coast of the State of Oaxaca and neither is exceptionally touristy. They are accessible via bus from Oaxaca A couple days ago I read an account of someone (who lives in Oaxaca) who had just returned from Puerto Escondido and said it had been quite pleasant, very few tourists and remarkably inexpensive. The one thing you do need to be aware of is that there is some political unrest going on in Oaxaca right now. The U.S. State Department has issued travel warnings against travel to that area. You might want to read the thread entitled "Oaxaca" in this forum as well. Towards the end of the thread is a post containing a letter from a woman who actually lives in Oaxaca and talks about what daily life is like. Having previously traveled to Oaxaca and having a reasonable level of understanding about the Mexican political system, I, personally would not have a problem traveling to Oaxaca. I would exercise caution and common sense. However, since this is your first trip to Mexico you might want to factor the political situation into your final decision. An alternative to Oaxaca is the Morelia/Patzcuaro area of Michoacan. Morelia is a UNESCO heritage site and there are a number of Purepecha ruins to explore. Patzcuaro is charming. It is also the only other part of Mexico able to rival (and in some cases exceed) Oaxaca with regard to the folk arts. The food is also pretty darn good in this region as well. And it's got a beach, Zihuatanejo. Continental flies non-stop to both Oaxaca and Morelia via Houston which eliminates the plane change in Mexico City. And you could do an awful lot worse than to simply spend a week exploring Mexico City. Yeah, it's a big, very big city, but it's got great energy, but it doesnt' have a beach.

I don't know how many of you have ever seen this web site Restaurantes de Mexico (pretty much Spanish only) but if you click on the drag down box labeled "Estado y Cuidad" you can bring up 1,734 entries for D.F. Sounds like an awful lot of research to me..........

I don't know that I have insight as much as I have a lot of experience with markets in Mexico. While Sam's, Wal-Mart and Costco have made in-roads in the Mexican grocery business, the local marcados appear to be very much alive, well and thriving. One thing to remember is that the pricing at Sam's, Wal-Mart, Soriano and Gigante can sometimes be beyond what many Mexicans can afford. The tianguis and mercardos are not. It is possible to eat extremely well and economically by shopping them. If you read the USDA rules and regs for organic you'll find that they allow for quite a bit of wiggle room in interpretation. There are a number of organic farmers who feel the USDA rules are very watered down and not true to the roots of the organic movement. I think it's highly doubtful that Mexican farmers are growing to U.S. organic standards. Generally, I've found the quality, variety and selection of produce in Mexican tianguis and mercados to be very, very good. It is usually very ripe and ready-to-eat, not having been picked green or underripe for shipment halfway around the country or the world to reach market. This may actually be the point your boyfriend is making, i.e. that the fruits, vegetables, cheese, yogurts and meats have a better chance of having been produced locally in Mexico than they do in the U.S. (as the recent e.coli 0157 outbreak in spinach has so aptly demonstrated). I think it might be more accurate to equate Mexican mercados and tianguis with the local farmer's markets in the U.S. than to organics. I recently spent a few days in Guadalajara last month in which I visited the Tianguis del Sol in Zapopan, the Mercado del Mar (fish market) in Zapopan which happens to be the 2nd largest in Mexico, and the infamous Mercado Libertad. All of these are extremely well patronized by Tapatios of all social and economic classes. Vast quantities of assorted food products move through these markets. All 3 of these market visits are documented here - The Dining Diva blog. There are photos of the meat stalls at the Libertad, and yes, some of the meat - mostly tripe and intestines - is coming out of boxes labled IBP or Excel, which makes it imported from the U.S., not produced locally. There is also a photo of the chicken vendor at the Tianguis del Sol, probably selling locally produced chickens. OTOH, last year in Michoacan I was driving into the small town of Capula and passed a small cinderblock building that was the local meat packing house. There was a lone cow in the holding pen. It wasn't there on the trip out of Capula a couple of hours later, most likely having met it's fate and ultimately filling a community's carneceria cases. In 2004 I had the opportunity to visit a barbacoa specialist in Teotitlan del Valle in the State of Oaxaca. When we arrived the family was just finishing up the skinning of a cow that had been brought to them to be dispatched and converted into barbacoa for a quinceñara (spelling?). The lamb I had come to see prepared had been killed the day before and was hanging on a hook. As we were leaving another cow was being led down the road to end up as barbacoa for a baptisim. This family's sole source of support was dispatching animals and turning them into barbacoa for family and/or community festivities that mark the passage of time and life in small Mexican towns. Sometimes they kept the skins and hooves, sometimes they didn't, it just depended upon what they negotiated with the person putting on the party and bringing in the animal. And they weren't the only barbacoa specialists in town! Clearly, this activity was the norm. A few days after the visit to the barbacoa specialist I found myself at the Friday market in Ocotlan. Being the week before Dia de los Muertos the market was packed, absolutely packed, with people selling and buying. Women were shopping for new dishware, flowers abounded, and even though the bulk of the produce probably came out of the Abastos in Oaxaca, there were mounds and mounds of it, most of it gorgeous and almost all of it perfectly ripe. Mountains of freshly baked bread and tortillas were being purchased as quickly as it came out of the oven or off the conveyor. The point is that these mercados and tianguis are so ingrained into the fabric of life, even in large cities, that shopping at them becomes second nature to the residents. They patronize one vendor over another, prefer meat from one stall and not another, or the bolillos from this baker rather than that. Interestingly enough, I've found that my own buying habits here in San Diego reflect my Mexican experineces. I buy my meat from a butcher, my fish from a fish monger, visit farmer's markets and specialty produce markets for fruits and vegetables. What is under one roof (or one sky as may be the case) in Mexico, I have to drive all over town to find. This is a generalization, but Mexicans have better understanding of the food chain than do many Americans. There is a line in Tony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential where he says he knows that when he picks up the phone to order products, mostly likely something on the other end is going to have to die in order to satisfy his order. Most American's don't think like that, they go to the store, the nice package is there, no muss, no fuss and meat/poutlry/seafood gets put on the dinner table. More Mexican's understand this type of connection. Yes, there is absolutely big agribusiness in Mexico, and yes, it will continue to grow. I don't think, however, that it will become what you are envisioning. The tianguis and mercados are alive and vibrant, though they may not be quite what your boyfriend remembers. Because of the economic impact and safety net they provide in helping keep the nation fed at a reasonable expense, their demise is not imminent. Reality is probably somewhere in between what you think and what your BF thinks

Applebee's is typical food from Chihuahua? Who knew.............

Addiction. Pure and simple

I can't speak to the tomatillos, but I can about epazote. It's a weed and not that hard to grow. I live in San Diego, CA and think our whether profile is similar to yours. Warm to hot spring and summer, little rain. The soil where I live is dense and clay-like. If epazote will grow in that - and it does very well, in fact - it will grow almost anywhere. There is, however, one thing you need to watch out for with epazote. Once it gets established it has a tendency to want to spread and take over everything in it's way. You'll need to keep it well pruned/thinned. This is not a hard plant to grow. I do know a woman in the Netherlands who has successfully grown tomatillos there using a hot house. She's been so successful she managed to get a bumper crop this year.

Sneakeater, what a great, cogent post!! Your argments makes a heck of a lot of sense. I have been blown away by the contemporary Mexican in D.F. It's some of the most exciting, not to metion creative, food I've eaten in a long time. I hope Sandoval can do the food he wants, the way he wants, without having to capitulate. I believe he also had a branch of Maya in San Francisco when I lived there that, like you described in your post, also opened strongly and then faded some as it settled in. I'm not sure it's still open.

Have you been? I drove by it a couple of weeks ago and thought it looked promising. Haven't found anyone who has actually been there, though.

Yes, people really do eat these in Mexico..........a lot They are an interesting squash to see growing because unlike most other members of the squash family, chayotes grow on staked vines high off the ground much like grapes. Chayotes really do have a mild, neutral flavor. They can be steamed, boiled, or baked, and are used in stews, soups or as a vegetable accompaniment on a plate. I was in Mexico last week and they were served combined with big, meaty carrot slices to complement a fish entree I had in Tlaquepaque, here's a photo of that plate. Just scroll down a bit and you'll come to it. I've cooked them peeled or unpeeled, whole or cubed. I've removed the seed or left the seed in and just diced everything really fine. It's a very easy vegetable to work with and very forgiving. I do find it to be a little bland and prone to being watery, but it does easily take on, or combine with, the flavors with which it is being cooked. I like calabacitas better than chayote. Both of them are far better (to me) than zucchini and I freely substitute both of them in dishes calling for zucchini The Dining Diva In Tlaquepaque last week

I've taken the chocolate making classes at their flagship store in Encinitas. Here's the link to Chuao Chocolates. I think the class information is under the "SHOP" heading. The classes were a lot of fun.

Hi Jason JSix is right in your hotel. I ate there last year and had an excellent meal. However, the opening chef has since left and I have heard reports of inconsistency. There is a new chef at the helm now, so possibly some stability has been recaptured. While the meal was very good, I certainly wouldn't call it the ONE. You are downtown on the fringe of the Gaslamp District which is heavily tourist oriented but not devoid of all possibility. Cafe Chloe is a casual French place within walking distance of your hotel. But it's probably not what you're looking for either. High end French isn't really a staple in San Diego. You might have better luck with Italian. Also within a very easy walk from your hotel is Acqua al 2 which is homebased in Florence, Italy. I had dinner Monday night at The Oceanaire Seafood Room and can highly recommend it. Excellent fish, excellent service. You can cab it up to Parallel 33 in Mission Hills for a really great meal, or try a new place called Modus which has gotten some good press lately, though Idon't think I'd classifyit as "the one". You're also a short cab ride away from Mister A's, which because of it's location on the 5th floor has a tremendous view and (usually) food to match. And if you haven't already checked it out, don't forget to take a look at this link above which has a lot of the previous San Diego threads with info similar to what you're requesting. Above all enjoy your trip. Ms. Kalypso, otherwise known as............. The Dining Diva

Nine-Ten is right in your hotel and well worth a meal or two. The panna cotta for dessert is, hands down, the best version in San Diego. Also within walking distance of your hotel is Roppongi. During Happy Hour all their appetizers are half price, as are the drinks I belive. This is not a buffalo wings and poppers app menu, though. It is creative and leans a lot towards seafood and Asian influences. Plates are large enough to share. This is one of the best values in town. Given the exceedingly warm weather over the last two weeks, the patio seating at Roppongi would be a nice place to while away some time

I don't think I've seen a mention of 3rd Corner here on this thread. I had dinner there Friday night. 3rd Corner used to be the Belgian Lion, across the street from Thee Bungalow on West Point Loma Blvd. in Ocean Beach. It's been the 3rd Corner for a few years now, but only within the last year or so has it morphed into it's current format as a wine shop and bistro. With more than 1,000 wines in stock, it really is more of a retail wine shop; one that just happens to serve up some excellent food. The interior has been divided into 3 separate areas. One end of the white wine room contains a row of banquettes, and off of it is comfortable area for lounging. It's set up with deep, soft leather chairs and sofas. Through that room one reaches the patio. Unfortunately, though, it was too hot for patio dining Friday night, even at the beach. The red wine room has another row of banquettes and also contains a full service bar. The menu is short and reasonably priced. The appetizers fall into 2 categories on the menu, small stuff and cheese. The olive sampler was bountiful, especially at $4. The three cheese souffle baked in a crepe was appropriately airy and light. The winner, however, was the stilton and goat cheese terrine with dried fruits (cranberries, apricots and dates in this case), nuts and an extremely good brown bread. I don't think I would have paired pistachios with stilton, but the combination is actually quite satisfying. Other appetizer options include a terrific baked Humbolt Fog goat cheese with wild mushrooms, charcuterie, shrimp skewers and smoked salmon. The small stuff and cheese are mostly in the $9 and $10 range. I had the baked mahi that had been crusted with panko and then drizzled with a lime and jalapeno aioli. My dining companion had the gilled pork tenderloin with mustard sauce. Both entrees were done well, but the mahi was the clear winner. On a previous visit the short ribs were spectacular, but 100* weather just wasn't conducive to short ribs for dinner. The remainder fo the entree selections included mussels, salmon, chicken and a couple of pasta dishes, one with wild mushrooms the other with shrimp arrabiatta. Entrees are either $13 or $14. The dessert menu contains only 4 items. Creme Brulee, a goat cheese napolean which is delectable, fresh berries and gelato and a richly deadent chocolate marquis with rasperry coulis. Desserts are all $6 with the exception of the napolean which is $7. It's an interactive dining experience in that you can get up, walk around, check out the wines. You can select your wine first and then build your menu around it, or vice versa, pick your menu and then choose a wine to compliment it. I haven't decided yet if I like having wine shop patrons milling around while I'm dining, it creates kind of an odd dynamic, or at least it did for me. Not necessarily unpleasant, just odd. But the food is top notch and will keep me coming back. Service is gracious, efficient and no intrusive. I also really liked the portion sizes. Most dishes are slightly larger than tapa size, but smaller than most entrees around town (and miniscule compared to Hash House a Go-Go). Corkage is free during happy hour. And 3rd Corner provides something San Diego has very little of, late night dining. It's open until 1:00 AM. A comfortable alternative to the bar scene and it even serves good food.

There is a discussion of sorts here about this article. Let's just say that the San Diego contingent isn't exactly happy that they were by-passed entirely, particularly since Tacos El Gordo in Chula Vista and a couple of it's neighboring kin serve up truly good tacos to a virtually exclusive Mexican customer base. Nor are some of the Santa Barbara or Monterrey folks entirely happy with the reported selections. Best tacos ever, anywhere? The night time taco vendor on la plaza chica in Patzucaro, Mexico Best oddball taco? The mashed potato fried taco at Mama Testa's Taqueria in San Diego (where they actually serve 26 varieties of tacos, one from each state in the Mexican republic. Didin't make the article either )

A few years ago my alternative medicine doctor put me on a similar diet. We eliminated all wheat, corn, chocolate, caffeine and the entire nightshade (potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants) family from my diet, dairy was still okay because I don't have an intolerance or digestive difficulty with that. I was extremely dilgent with the diet reading labels to make sure that all wheat and corn was removed from the diet as we were trying to determine if I had an intolerance to either of these two items. This is a bigger challenge than you'd think. Who knew wheat was a prime ingredient in that bottle of soy sacue sitting in the fridge. And, of course, corn is in almost everything in the form of high fructose corn syrup. I went on this diet cold turkey. The carbohydrate withdrawal was H*ll. But once I made it through the first week the carb cravings were gone. I was actually amazed at how much better I felt, and, how much happier I was. Good luck on your diet, sounds like you're headed in the right direction.

Mike, whether the Mexican food in San Diego is good or not depends a lot on what the person looking for it thinks real Mexican food should be. Honkman has already mentioned two of the better choices. IMNSHO Chilango's probably comes closest to serving Mexican food like you'd actually find in Mexico, and they do it very well. Mama Testa's does 26 different varieities of tacos, plus they have the best salsa bar in town with 10 different salsas all made fresh daily. Neither of these, however, is very close to where you're staying. Super Cocina does the bet homestyle cooking in the city, but it also isn't very close to the Marriott. Old Town is a bit dicey these days since the State Dept. of Parks elected to yank the concessions contract from the vendor that's done the food for the last 30 years and give it to Delaware North. Let's just say the transition has not been smooth. Business is down 60% or more. Old Town is the end of the Blue Line trolley which makes it easily accessible from your hotel; and there are several fairly good Mexican dining options for you there. The most upscale is El Agave which has a great selection of tequilas and mezcals and specializes in moles and other dishes not frequently seen in San Diego. It's probably a 5 minute walk from the trolley station. Bertha's would not be a bad choice either. Zocalo Grille is moderately priced and does contemporary Mexican. It's not bad and the restaurant itself is quite comfortable. Casa Guadalajara is a couple of blocks north of the trolley stop and if you're looking jumbo margaritas and such, this would be the place. Tin Fish is just a short walk from your hotel. They do a pretty respectable fish taco as well as fish, burgers and chicken. Very casual, moderately priced, patio dining. Candelas is located in the Gaslamp and walkable from your hotel. It does "alta cocina" or what would be very upscale Mexican like you'd find in Mexico City. It's actually quite a good restaurant, but if you're looking for tacos, enchiladas, tamles, etc. this won't be the place. Expect to pay Gaslamp prices, meaning high. Also, unless they've changed things in the last couple of years, the room has a tendency to be darkly lit at night. I, for one, don't buy into the "don't go to the Gaslamp" party line. Yeah, it's touristy and somewhat on the pricey side, but locals do go there, and there are some perfectly repectable and decent restaurants there. You're already downtown, so go, walk around and see if you like anything. Most of the restaurants have their menus posted either in a window or on a sidwalk signboard. Croce's has been there since dirt, Bendar does decent Persian, Rama does Thai, the Fish Market; downstairs for casual or Top of the Market for more upscale dining. You can get the fancy, upscale steak experience if you want. House of Blues, the new Confidential, you name it, you can find it in the Gaslamp. If you don't like it, or don't feel like it fits your energy or your needs, you can always hop the trolley and go elsewhere. Oh, there's also a new Brazilian restaurant on the top floor of Horton Plaza doing that all you can eat meat thing. The Blue Line trolley also goes to Little Italy. Just walk up and down the 3-4 block stretch of India St. and you're bound to find something to interest you. Songo di Vino is kind of a cute little wine bar. Pete's Meats on India serves meat sandwiches that are pretty good. Fillipi's is a San Diego institution having been in business in the county for 50+ years. Is it "authentic" Italian? No, but you'll get a decent meal at a fair price, tho' it won't "wow" you. The Princess Pub is on India St. and has a pretty lively clientel. The Waterfront on Kettner is a quasi dive bar that serves a very good burger. Bud's Lousiana Food Shoppe is on either Kettner or India (sorry, can't remember which) doing excellent gumbos, po' boys, cajun and creole food. If you're intrested in Southern/Lousiana cooking, take the Orange Line trolley to the Euclid stop. In the Food 4 Less shopping center is Magnolia's. They also do a Sunday jazz brunch. Take the water taxi across the bay to Coronado. Peohe's is without a doubt the best bay view restaurant in town. Menu is mostly seafood and ranges from okay to very good, but can be erratic. Service is young, very casual and sometimes not that efficient. But there is also nothing quite like sitting out on their veranda at Happy Hour with a some liquid libation and a few apps. Enjoy your visit and let us know what you find.

I recently got an invitation to attend the dinner that's going along with this 19th anniversary celebration. $650/person. A little rich for my blood these days.

Stop in at the Four Seasons resort and visit Aviara for the Friday night seafood buffet, includes all the high end stuff like lobster, oysters, scallops, etc. You can also check out some of these places - The Red Dahlia Currently getting some buzz; reviews have been somewhat mixed though generally positive. Bellefleur Tip Top Meats Some people swear by this place, some think it's overrated. It's more of a butcher shop/grocery type of place that also sells food. Not a bad option for lunch, stop in for a meat (of your choice) sandwich Le Passage French Bistro Blue Fire located at the La Costa Resort & Spa For pizza in Carlsbad check out Pizza Port, which quite a few people think has the best pizza in San Diego. Sammy's Woodfired Pizza is a local chain, but that shouldn't put you off, their pizza is quite respectable and not a bad choice for an easy, enjoyable lunch. I don't believe there is a web site but Vigilucci's is one of the better choices for Italian in the North County and they are located in Carlsbad. Moving south into Encinitias - Meritage Meritage is located in the Lumberyard, which is really a mall, but it's a pretty trendy, beach, upscale mall. NOT a Macy's or Nordstroms type of mall. And Meritage is pretty good, nice wine selection, waitstaff is knowledgable and engaging. Don't have dessert at Meritage though. It happens to be almost next door to Chuao Chocolatier which is marvelous. Since you'll be there in January and it might just rain and be cool, you can also buy some of their Spicy Maya Hot Chocolate mix to take with you. Chuao does fabulous chocolates, some of the best in the U.S., this is a "don't miss" stop. They also offer chocolate making classes on some evenings at their new location in, where else, Carlsbad. The classes end with chocolate and wine pairings/tastings. Also located in the Lumberyard is St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro which would be a nice stop for breakfast or lunch. For the funkier, beachy side of Encinitas Swami's/Honey's Bistro & Bakery/Beach Grass Cafe Swami's has been around a long time and is extremely popular with surfers and the non-surfing locals alike, especially for breakfast. Then we come to the Italian contingent - Firenze Trattoria Trattoria I Trulli which some think is the best Italian restaurant in the entire county or San Diego, which is a pretty large place. However, Best being subjective, there are also those that swear by When in Rome for great Italian. Savory opened a couple of years ago in Encinitas and generated a great deal of very positive buzz, including best new restaurant awards. If you want to venture south into La Jolla, the best deal in town can be found at two of the better restaurants, Fresh and Roppongi. Both offer their entire appetizer menus plus drinks for half price for Happy Hour from 4 pm - 6 pm. The appetizers are substantial enough to be shared by more than 2 people and lean heavily towards creatively done seafood, especially at Fresh. And finally, since you'll be here in January you might want to check out the Marine Room in La Jolla for one of San Diego's oldest food traditions - High Tide Breakfast or High Tide Dinner. The Marine Room is located at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club and sits directly on the sands of the beach. Twice a year the tides get exceptionally high and come right up to the restaurant, and occassionally, when the tide has coincided with fierce winter storms, the restaurant windows have given way to the sea. Back when SD was still a sleepy Navy town, getting dressed up to go to The Marine Room was a big deal. The food is excellent here and whether you go for breakfast, which is a buffet and exceptionally well done, or dinner, it's rarely a disappointment. Hide tides in January vary, but usually it's the first and/or last week of the month. The schedule for Hide Tide Breakfast and Dinner is usually posted on their web site in early to late Fall, meaning check it around October. Because of the explosive growth in the North County over the last 10-15 years, the restaurant business has developed right along with all that growth. It's not that hard to find good to very good, to even extremely good food in the area. Just cruising up and down PCH will yield you more choices than you could possibly try in a week's visit. Good luck, enjoy your visit and then report back to us what you found and how it was.

Oh my god, Barbara, don't let that put you off It melts and lubricates the meat. I know it looks suspicious, but I've never had a tough or gristly. They've always been very tender. Slice against the grain as for flank steak.

Hmmm.........I live in San Diego which is hardly the culinary capitol of CA. I've had no problem at all finding flatiron steaks. In fact our local butchers push it as an alternative to, and better choice than, flank steak. And, FWIW, Sysco distributes flatiron steaks either through their own system or through the small meat purveyors that partner with them. I'm surprised you had so much difficulty finding them, you shouldn't have because it's not that much of an unusual cut here on the Left Coast.