kalypso

Been there/eaten there Marios is still there and it's not bad either, definitely better than Por Favor. It is a converted residential house with the rooms serving as small little dining rooms. I kind of liked it this way except some of the rooms get hotter than others because of the way the rooms are configured which aren't exactly conducive to great air circulation. If the weather is really nice there is a great little patio out back that probably seats about 30 or so. Since the East County can get so hot during the summer, it's more pleasant to sit on the patio than inside. The only drawback being you get a great view of their parking lot. I think Mario's claim to fame is supposed to be some of the seafood dishes he serves. Hours can be sporadic, it took a long time for me to finally eat there because every time I went by it was closed. Definitely closed on Mondays.

I think that's a fair assessment. Por Favor isn't terrible, in fact they do some things pretty well, it's an average to good purveyor of Cal-Mex food. My nephew had the carne asada steak plate last time we were there and it was very good, better than anticipated. Atmosphere is decidedly downscale, a little sprucing up would help. La Torta a couple doors down from Por Favor is good too. My choice for Mexican in San Diego is probably Chilangos in Hillcrest.

Hmmmm....................The State of California is broke, the City of San Diego is broke, and disgraced itself in the process of becoming broke............big contract company from foreign territory - oh, sorry, the East Coast - comes riding in on their trusty kahki colored, buckskin steed with money in their saddle bags? Having once worked for an extremely large, multinational contract food service provider I can only tell you they will extract their gold no matter how hard they have to squeeze that turnip to get blood out of it. The State and Delaware North will end up winning in this contract, the consumer will not OTOH, the indie restaurants in Old Town but outside of the State Park have reported seeing an uptick in their traffic from locals who wouldn't come before because of parking and the tourists. Diane Powers still owns Casa Guadalajara which is right there on Taylor St. on the outskirts of the state park. She also moved some of her retail shops from the Bazaar del Mundo to the complex next to CG. She says her biz is down at CG and the retail shops. She's attributed this to the fact that most locals don't realize that she owns Casa Guadalajara or that she moved some of the retail next to that restaurant. I suspect the article in the U/T yesterday will help her a little with both operations. If not, Casa de Pico can help cover her losses. It's doing booming, land office business over in Grossmont Center. The wait can be 90 minutes to 2 hours on a weekend. I've been in the new restaurant and I can safely say that she did a bang-up job on the remodel of that old Chevy's. Somehow, though, I couldn't bring myself to wait 90 minutes for a table (on a Sunday night, no less), so I left for Por Favor in downtown La Mesa where I had a good, though hardly stellar, meal much faster and for far less dinero.

Two different places. Sushi Ota is an independent restaruant located in Pacific Beach. It is considered by many to be the best sushi in San Diego. The Japanese baseball team that competed in the recent World Baseball Classic final at Petco dined at Sushi Ota frequently when they were in town. Sushi Otta is a chain based out of Mexico City; Hillcrest is one of their branch operations. The sushi at Sushi Otta is not considered to be the best sushi in town, although some people really do like it, and as far as can be determined, the Japanese baseball team did not dine at Sushi Otta when they were in town for the WBC. As for Old Town......there was a huge article in the business section of the U/T yesterday about fallout from the switch to Delaware North. Y-T-D business is down 60% over the same period last year. Business from locals is down even more. Last year y-t-d income was $21 million, this year it's just hitting $8 million. Anyone can do the math; it's not hard to see that both locals and tourists have voted with their feet and their dollars. You can now find parking in Old Town, something that was nearly impossible before. No one is impressed with the makeover of the space. Delaware North committed $12 million in upgrades to Old Town and has spent only $3 million so far. They have had to make concessions because of the poor public reception to their conceptualizaion of what San Diego was like between 1820 and 1870. How a company based in New York would know about San Diego 150 years ago is still a mystery to me. The primary color scheme was khaki. They've had to add color because everyone hated the bland color scheme. They've had to pipe in Mexican Musiak because no one wanted to listen to their original sound track. The restaurants are very easy to get into, no waiting. Even the cadre of local resto reviewers haven't done much with the new eating places. The State Parks department doesn't care because they'll still get their guaranteed money this year and it was more than what they were getting from Diane Powers Tourist are beginning to return, if only because Old Town is in every tourist brochure about San Diego ever printed. Locals are more unforgiving and are staying away in droves. The Gaslamp has been equated to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, but local San Diegans are more willing to frequent the Gaslamp than San Franciscans are the Wharf. I think the better analogy is that Old Town has become San Diego's Fisherman's Wharf attraction. It no longer has any resonnance or relavance with locals, old habits and old memories die hard.

Okay, so I made the mistake of trying to find a parking place in OB on Wednesday during the farmer's market. Parking karma was not in abundance, but persistence pays off and after 30 minutes of circling I scored a pretty decent space. And am I glad I did because had I given up, I would have missed The Vine a wine bar that opened up last year on the corner of Bacon & Niagara in what used to be Cucina Fresca. What a comfortable spot to chat, have a glass of wine and eat some really well crafted food. The Vine concentrates mostly on small production, high quality wines and beers from around the world. There were 3 wine flights of 4-3oz pours for $17. Wines by the glass were numerous and in everyone's price range. I ordered an Argentinian Malbec and the friend I met, a Petite Syrah from CA. Both of these were in the $7-8 range if I recall. We opened with the Olive sampler which consisted of 4 varieties of olives, 2 black and 2 green. All the olives were good and the nicoise olives very good, but we'd just tasted far better olives from the olive vendor at the farmers market (below). I'd never really considered chopped chicken liver sexy let alone super sexy, so of course I had to order Shannon's Super Sexy Pate to find out. I don't know that I'd call it sexy, but I might go as far as seductive. Silky smooth with no grittiness, it came with thinly sliced apple and perfectly ripe pear. Best of all it came with enough crunchy crostini to equal the amount of pate. The stuff was pretty good and we'd already dug in when I remember to take the picture The Empanadas Verde were equally as good. The achioted flavored pastry crust for the empanadas was light and flakey, something I certainly wasn't expecting. They were stuffed with a mince of beef and pork that had been seasoned with chiles, raisins and a bit of cheese. The drizzle on top is lime crema, along with a salsa verde. I would have liked a little more filling to even out the ratio of crust to filling, but since the crust was so good I didn't mind. For me, the least successful dish of the evening was the Veggie Gratin, and even it was pretty good. The gratin was a layered affair of potatoes and leeks bound together by a Gruyere cheese sauce. Unfortunately, there was just enough too much nutmeg in the sauce so that it was too noticeable rather than just a pleasant accent. The sauteed veggies accompanying the gratin were outstanding. The asparagus, red peppers, red onions and mushrooms had been tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and not overcooked. There isn't a potato on the face of this Earth that doesn't have my name on it, but this is one time when the vegetables (alas) trumped the spuds. Portions are small and can be shared. My friend and I shared everything. Prices range from $6.95 - 11>95 for the savory plates. There are also salads and a soup, as well as several varieities of cheese boards. All the plates that we'd had so far had been good to very good, but the best was yet to come.............dessert And you'll have to use your imagination to get an idea of it because we'd eaten about three quarters of it before I remembers I should have taken a photo. Oh, well. I had eyeed all the strawberries in the farmers market but hadn't purchased any. Lucky for me, The Vine had, and they had sliced and macerated them so that they were nice and sweet without being cloyingly sweet. The berries were used to fill a feather light biscuit, along with some house-made whipped cream that had been flavored with Pedro Ximenex sherry. The combination sherry and strawberries with the elegantly lush mouthfeel of real whipped cream was almost too good to be true. Strawberries are not my first choice for berries, but wow, if I could have berries like this everyday I might just change my mind! If I lived in OB I'd probably end up being a regular here. They've got lots of interesting wine, and beer, imported Belgian beers even. So far, the food I've sampled as all been several cuts above average and clearly well prepared. The space itself if very comfortable and the whole vibe of the place friendly and welcoming, a neighborhood desitnation. As our govenator says........I'll be back.

I think what you saw were probably his Rationale Combi Ovens; a very expensive but versatile piece of kitchen equipment. You're right his meats are par-baked, cooled and then finished over wood. (My source is someone who knows Phil and has been in his kitchen literally thousands of time) There are reasons it's done this way, not the least of which may be legal. It wasn't that long ago that Phil's was closed for 9 months because of complaints (potential lawsuits?) from his neighbors there on Goldfinch about smoke and other BBQ nuisances. Additionally, the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health (aka the Health Department) has long been one of the toughest in the State. The recent inspection changes now focus on the primary risk factors of temperature, handling and storage and the penalties for violations (even a first violation) are pretty stiff. So some of Phil's process may also be driven by having to comply with local health regs. Not trying to excuse it, just putting some possibilities on the table. But...........there are some changes for Phil's coming down the pike. Nor sure when, and not sure how public these plans are, but there a relocation is in the works. Bret Harte said to "go West young man" and that's what Phil's doin'. Parking should be better and there won't be as many residential neighbors to complain or be bothered by odor, smoke and traffic.

Well, I'll delurk here for a minute to confess to being - a 1,000 Island loving, mixing, Leo, which I guess just makes me a social manager who likes to take risks. But seriously, I really am a semi practicing astrologer (meaning I don't make my entire living from astrology but when I do a consultation I do get paid, and paid well, for it). And over the years I've kind of developed a little concept called Astro*Food - where food and astrology meet for a tasty trip around the zodiac. You can't really determine eating habits or preferences by Sun sign, but you can get an idea from the Moon sign, but most people don't really know their Moon signs. I've just started working on the Astrology of Mixology; the research is quite entertaining...............

Do you mean Seisel's??

I saw it, in fact I've seen it twice KPBS here in America's Finest City doesn't do much with the PBS cooking shows (but they run 72 hours of PBS cartoon programming. Go figure), and their scheduling of the cooking shows can be odd. It was actually pretty good, mostly street food. Started poolside at a hotel, segued to lunch (bistec mexicana) at a market fonda, to a mid afternoon snack at a tamaleria, to a hamburgesa stand outside of town for a quick dinner and ended up at a taco cart for a late nigh nosh.

Hopefully, I'm getting this in right under the wire Yes, you would need to have someone in your party that is able to read Chinese to order off the table tent Chinese menu. Thankfully, at Ba Ren the menu is anything but dumbed down and ordering off the regular menu provides a wealth of wonderful dishes.

Wow Ellen, impressive, most impressive. Looks quite tasty.

Hmmm.........Supermercado Murphy's, I haven't been there. What's the cross street on University. I really like Pancho Villa Market on El Cajon where the 805 crosses under it. Really wonderful produce section with pretty decent pricing. The produce department here is run by the Bony family, who used to own Henry's before they sold out to Wild Oats, and who still do run Windmill Farms in Del Cerro and Coronado. Prices are substantially cheaper then Windmill Farms for the same items. I also like the meat counter here because they have all the Mexican cuts of meat rather than the American ones. So when I want to do Milanesa I don't have to hassle with cutting the meat myself. They also sell chicharrones at the meat counter Not so wild about the fish selection. There's also a prepared foods section which I haven't had the opportunity to try yet, but which does appear to hold some possibilities. And it's probably not on your diet, but the bolillos here are really good. Good selection for dairy and Mexican cheeses. Prices for staples, though, are pretty high. If beans are allowed on your diet, or you go the vegetarian/vegan route every now and again, you can't make a pot of black beans without epazote. Be forewarned, however, a little goes a very long way, even in beans. It's what makes black beans really special, I can't imagine them without it. Epazote has a resinous, strong flavor that some folks say tastes like turpentine. Personally, I think it's an acquired taste. The other thing it's good in are esquites, also probably not diet food. Have you ever seen the Mexican corn-on-the-cob that's slathered with mayo (or crema), cotija cheese, lime juice and chile powder? Esquites are a kissing cousin. You start with good old field corn, slightly chewy, fairly starchy. Cut the kernels off the cob and then make a stock using the cobs. This is where the epazote comes in, you add it to the corn cob stock. Saute the corn kernels off in some butter and onions and yet more epazote if you want it. Add the stock and simmer until they stock begins to evaporate and the mixture thickens. Drain off the excess liquid, then serve the corn, hot, in plastic cups and adorn with the same add-ins as for on the cob. Clearly not diet food, sorry. Epazote matches well with cheese, particularly goat cheese, and Mexican goat cheese is milder than American goat cheese. Cheese (like Oaxacan string cheese) and epazote is a common filling in Mexican quesadillas, which are made with masa (not flour tortillas) and toasted on the comal. These are pretty heavenly and depending upon what your starch/carb limitations are, you could probably work real quesadillas into a diet. You can dry whatever epazote you don't use, though it will loose some of it's pungency. Since the farmer's market in La Mesa was something of a bust, would you consider going to Hillcrest on Sunday, next to OB that's the next best I think. Where is Cosmo located in La Mesa?

Ellen "The Boulevard" isn't a term that was used to describe El Cajon Blvd. with any frequency when I was growing up here. We didn't say "I'll meet you up on The Boulevard" or other unseemly phrases. Usually it was just "it's on El Cajon around (fill in the blank for the cross street). Mostly El Cajon and University were just referred to that way, no street, boulevard, avenue, etc., modifiying it. Have you been up to the end of El Cajon where it dead-ends at Park? There's a huge sign proclaiming THE BOULEVARD a couple of blocks east of that intersections, can't miss it. Even though the sign looks dated, it isn't. That wasn't there when I was growing up and I'm not that old. Did you know that Saigon used to be a car dealership. Probably why it's so spacious with nice, big windows

The Friar's Y runs membership specials a few times a year where the initial fee is either waived entirely, or seriously reduced. As a member I get announcements about such things. When you're ready to think about their pool, let me know and I'll keep my eye on my mail for the membership flyers. Monthly dues are $36 I think, plus it gives you access to the Mind/Body classes (i.e. yoga, pilates, Feldenkris, Nia, and such) at their Hazard Center satellite. The one thing I really like about this particular Y is the diversity of their clientele, especially, the diversity of body styles, sizes and shapes you see there. There are women of far greater proportion than you in bathing suits roaming the halls of the Y and few people, if anyone give them much mind. The body intimidation factor here is the lowest of any gym I've ever been in. But I'm on the same page with you as far as exposing one's body in a locker room. Kids can be so nasty to each other making gym class all that much more brutal. Some day when you're out and about with time on your hands and fee like it, stop by and they'll give you a tour of the facility with no pressure to join. I don't mean to sound like an ad for the Y, but I've been going to Friar's pretty regularly for a little over 4 years now and that's a record for me. I've never stuck with a gym or a workout program this long. They don't care what you look like, they just want you to move your body and be okay with it, and that's okay in my book

Actually, yes, the pool at the Friar's Y is heated (thank god) They also offer an amazing array of water related classes. They've been so popular in fact, that the Friar's Y is putting in a new pool just for people that want to swim laps! 10 minute drive for MizDucky down Friars from her current digs if she's interested.

No, but if you go to his web site Frontera Kitchens there's a link where you can submit questions. From the wordiness and syntax of the responses, it seems he's really answering inquires.

Here are a couple of interesting little bits of information about the S.D. dinding scene. The exec. chef at El Biz in RB won the American competition for the Bocuse d'Or and will represent the U.S. next January in Lyon. Rather nice achievement for a chef from a city that doesn't usually register on the map for fine dining Then scroll down to the info on the chef change at Arterra in Del Mar. The chef has moved on, Bradley Ogden's lease is up.........what happens next

I'd heard what a great new place Vagabond was. That it was packed every night. That the food was "really, really good". So when a friend proposed checking it out, I jumped at the chance. It's not fusion cooking, it's more like taking some of the best things from around the world and trying to pull them together into a cohesive context. World kitchen is what they call it, I think. The meal ended up being something of a mixed bag. Vagabond is located at 30th and Juniper in South Park, a neighborhood undergoing a renaissance of sorts. The space is small, the surfaces hard, the crowd trendy and local. While the restaurant has a lot going for it, it's also got a couple of real glaring problems. The first is that it's exceedingly noisy. Three of us were seated at a standard sized four-top and by the end of our meal we could not hear each other at all..........and we were there early. I don't mind normal dining room buzz, but deafening roar does not translate into a great dining experience. The bar area is snug and it was even noisier in there. The other problem was that the space was hot with very little ventilation. Granted yesterday was a warm day in America's Finest City, but when the weather really heats up, without some air circulation that room is not going to be pleasant place to eat. 2 of us started with very respectable, refreshing and generously sized Pisco Sours. Our 3rd had a Campari & Soda. We ordered 2 appetizers while finalizing our selections from the short list of entrees. The deep fried calamari was a stellar rendition. The rings (and tenacles) had been very lightly battered and were crispy and amazingly greaseless. They really didn't need the aioli that was served with them. Our other app was the charcuterie plate. It arrived with an assortment of 3 cheeses, some dry/hard salami, country pate, duck liver mousse, olives, gerhkins and, of course, chewy country-style bread. The duck liver mouse and the olives were addictively outstanding. The salamis could have been a little more flavorful and there should have been greater distinction between the cheeses. The blue veined cheese on the plate lacked the usual assertiveness and tanginess of blue cheese and tasted remarkably like the other 2 cheese on the plate. All three cheese were actually pretty good, they just tasted a little too similar to each other. I would order the charcuterie plate again, especially as a lunch entree. The mussel entree has, apparently, become something of a signature dish at Vagabond, and sure enough, one person at our table ordered it. The Prince Edward Island mussels arrived in a 2 qt. (or maybe it was a 3 qt) souffle dish; and the portion is generous! They had been steamed off in a tasty broth along with onions, celery, fennel, spices and finished with a health dose of cream. The resulting sauce was pretty rich and tasty and really good with bread. The mussels were nice and fat, though a bit gritty. All the presentations at Vagabond are interesting and fairly well thought out, carrying the theme of each dish through without being over the top. One of the best presentations is the Vegetable Stew, which comes in it's own tajine. The generous bed of couscous was topped topped with chick peas and a variety of stewed vegetables. All of it was set off by a yougurt sauce and harissa. I managed to snag a taste and it was pretty good. The person who ordered it really liked the hit that the harissa added. The least successful dish of the evening was my entree, which was the paella. It arrived in it's very own paella pan looking very seductive. This kitchen is not afraid of spices and using a good amount of seasoning in what it cooks. Unforutnately, the seasoning they decided to use in abundance in the paella was salt. I like salty food - in fact, salty snacks are my downfall - but not to the degree present in this dish. The excessive salt was also not the only problem with the dish. One of the clam shells had cracked into several pieces which were scatter throughout the dish, one of the mussels in the dish was shriveled up and there was far too much grit in the shellfish. The shrimp in the paella, OTOH, where tender and succulent. The morsels of chicken breast meat tender and not overcooked. I just wish I could have enjoyed it more than I did. The salt I can almost forgive, the broken clam shell, shriveled mussel and grit I can not. We passed on dessert, in part because we were full and in part because it was too hot in the room and we were tired of yelling at each other to be heard. The waitstaff is young, fairly well trained, efficient and attentive without being intrusive. Our bill for 3 Pisco Sours, 1 Campari & Soda, 2 appetizers and 3 entrees, including tax and tip was $90. Would I go back? You bet. Vagabond has only been open a couple of months and good restaraunts aren't exactly built in a day. They are doing a lot of things right. Drinks, appetizers and service are strong. The salads I saw at other tables also looked very good, and I might be more inclined to order and app and a salad instead of an entree. Some of the entrees we saw going to other tables - most notably the rack of lamb (the entire rack) and the filet of beef - looked like they might have been better choices than our own. The neighborhood is already embracing the place and the longer it's open the better it will become. Vagabond is definitely worth a visit, just know that it's still evloving and deciding what it wants to be when it grows up.

Melissa, thanks for the suggestion. I tried Fabreze yesterday and while it made progress, my clothes now merely just smell rather than reek. I was going to try Simple Green this afternoon followed by another round of Fabreze. Maybe I'll give the vinegar treatment a try first and see what happens.

Of course, I ate the tuna. Yes, it was good. A little on the strong side, but tasty none the less and surprisingly tender. I've read some much about the virtues of ventresca tuna packed in olive oil that I wanted to give it a go. I wasn't smuggling, this was a legal import. I declared it an no one batted an eye clearing customs. If you're interested in some good tuna packed here in the U.S. try The Tuna Guys out of Gig Harbor, WA. Love their tuna. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions, I can see I have a date with my washer and dryer this weekend. I've used Simple Green before, not had much luck, but will try again. Having bred and shown pedigree cats for 18 years I should have though of Nature's Miracle myself. Never had much luck with it either, but I can there are other similar products out there.

I am in desparate need of either a cleaning product or laundry method to remove the very strong, very pungent odor of tuna from several pieces of clothing that fell victim to a punctured can of tuna packed in olive oil on the return flight home from Italy. Repeated trips through the washer with Tide, OxyClean and a couple of other products has been ineffective. The odor is impervious to everything I've tried thus far. In fact, it seems to have gotten strong with each washing. Help? Anyone have any ideas - sure fire or not - for removing tuna odors from clothing, they pretty much smell like a tuna packing plant (List mods, if this post is in the wrong place, please feel free to move it to whereever it shoud more appropriately be.)

Drat! Chalk it up to jet lag and crossing 9 time zones in one day. Yes, it's Just Fabulous, not Just Desserts. And it really is worth a visit if you haven't tried it yet. I think a lot of the chocolate desserts are outstanding.

Buon Giorno........ I just returned from 2 weeks in Italy last night -- and am awaiting the delivery of my wayward luggage Extraordinary Desserts is actually quite good, but I can do without the attitude. I much prefer Just Desserts in Kensington, on Adams Ave, just East of the I-15. The ambiance is terrific, kind of a pastel, retro, Alice in Wonderland, through the looking glass sort of feel. The desserts are spectacularly good being neither too sweet, nor too overly wraught. There is also a well designed, small menu of non-dessert foods including a better than average Kobe burger. Chef Beryl has been featured on Food Network several times and will be participating in one of their baking challenges soon. Her other claim to fame is that she does Fabrage Egg style confections out of chocolate. ForgPrincesse, welcome, I loved your description of your meal at Tapenade, it is indeed a wonderful restaurant, as are many of the others you've listed. If you haven't been to Asia Vous, by all means go, it's delicious and creative. I did a post here on eGullet about it back in December 2005. It's truly a family affair, Riko's wife decorated and runs the front of the house, while he concentrates on the cooking. BTW, Congratulations on the pending addition Honkman's right about Aniata Cheese Shop in Del Mar. Fantastic selection - and they'll let you sample any, and everything - with a well educated staff that can answer seemingly any question related to cheese. They also have an interesting selection of American artesianal cheeses, many from outside of California that are well worth investigating. Has anyone tried Modus yet, the new place in the old Belgian Lion space. I'm having dinner at Vagabond in South Park next week, anyone have feedback on that for me?

Chilango's at 1st & University in Hillcrest is a terrific upscale, casual Mexican restaurant that serves really good food in the style of Mexico City. Ortega's is almost across the street and does Puerto Nuevo style food, meaning it features PN style grilled lobster, rice, beans, salsa, tortillas, etc. El Agave in Old Town is fairly upscale and features moles and other sauces, plus one of the largest selections of tequilas and mescals. Service at El Agave is supposed to be good, but I've heard that it's been spotty lately. Candelas downtown in the Gaslamp District is the most upscale Mexican in town and serves Mexican with continental influences from Mexico City. For the most authentic homestyle Mexican in the city try Super Cocina at 37th and University. This is definitely downscale and not fancy, but the food is good. The food is served from a steam table but do not be put off by this, many wonderful Mexican dishes are based on, and benefit from moist heat and long, slow cooking. This is a transitional neighborhood and probably better as a lunch spot than dinner.

San Diego isn't exactly a bastion of "hypermarket" activity. The primary grocery chains are Von's (owned by Safeway), Ralph's (owned by Krogers) and Albertson's (currently for sale). How well a market is stocked depends a lot upon where it is located within the city. Here are a couple of suggestions for markets that might meet your needs -- Albertson's - in Mira Mesa at the intersection of Mira Mesa Blvd. and Westview Parkway. It's pretty big, offers an extensive choice and just got out of the business of selling large appliance. Ralphs - at the intersection of Friar's Rd. and Hazard Center Dr. This is my favorite Ralph's, particularly in terms of variety. A block south of Friar's Rd., on Mission Center Dr. is a Food 4 Less. This is a pretty big store that's kind of a hybrid between Costco and a grocery store. In terms of hypermarket, what you really might be seeking is the Wal-Mart store that sells groceries, and there is one of those right off the I-15 and Aero Dr. Whole Foods Market probably doesn't have the diversity of product that you're looking for, but it's an extremely successful grocery chain in the organic/natural foods niche. There is a Whole Foods Market at 7th and University in Hillcrest. It includes a fish monger, meat counter, bakery, an array of prepared foods (hot & cold) for bulk purchase as well as hot and cold food bars. It's also referred to as Whole Paycheck because it's very pricey to shop there. Downscale from Whole Foods are Henry's and Jimbo's as has been mentioned before. Some of the specialty markets in San Diego are by far more interesting than the traditional grocery stores. North Park Produce on El Cajon Blvd. around 34th or 35th St. offers unusual produce, a halal butcher, 10 varieites of feta cheese, and an incredibly large selection of unusual dairy and frozen products and more bottles, cans and jars of Middle Eastern and Eastern European products than you can imagine. The facility itself has seen better days and is pretty frayed around the edges, but it's worth a stop if for not other reason than the novelty of it. Vine Ripe Produce in La Mesa, on Fletcher Parkway between Baltimore and Jackson Drives, is similar to North Park Produce but cleaner. Their produce is usually dead ripe, bordering on almost too ripe, but usually dirt cheap. In addition to the same 10 varieites of feta cheese, Vine Ripe has a really cool olive bar. Not to mention a Halal butcher and bakery specializing in Middle Eastern and Greek pastry items. It also has the largest selection of Patak indian products that I have ever seen anywhere in California. There is a small restaurant - eat in or take out - attached to the market which is actually pretty good. There are many small markets that cater to the latin trade, but it helps to either know what you want or speak Spanish. Here are 2 latin markets that are easy to shop at for the non-Spanish speaker Pancho Villa Market on El Cajon Blvd where it cross the I-805 has lots going for it. You can buy fairly good quality dried chiles in bulk here as well as the usual array of fresh chiles. You can get jamaica (dried hibiscus flowers), tamarind, rice, beans, all staples of the Mexican kitchen. It's one of the easiest places in San Diego to find a ready source of epazote, Mexican cheeses, cremas, a butcher selling Mexican only cuts of meat and a chicharrone case on the meat counter. There are aisles of hot sauces, Knorr-Swiss seasonings (quite common in Mexico and actually quite good), salsas, pastas, Mexican cookies, candies and condiments. It's got a small hot food area selling food to go. The other option is El Tigre Market. There are 3 locations in San Diego County. One is in the south bay an exit or two north of the Mexican border, the other two are in the North County in Vista and Escondido. These stores carry just about anything and everything you can think of that's related to Mexican and Centeral American food/cooking. You can probably Google for El Tigre's web site. A visit to Ranch 99 is an experience. You may not be that interested in Asian products, but this is a fun store in which to shop if for not other reason than almost everything in it is exotic, uncommon and unusual to those of us living here. Plus most of the small food vendors inside the market are pretty good for a quick meal. Lots of weird and wonderful vegetables, lots of live fish swimming around in tanks, that their fishmongers will clean and dress for you in one of 5 ways, lots of staple items with labels you can't really read. It's easier to get in and out of Ranch 99 on a week day than during the weekend, and if you're going to buy the fresh fish, it's better to go midweek in the morning. There is a farmer's market every day of the week in San Diego. Two of the best are the Wednesday market in Ocean Beach (OB) and the Sunday market in Hillcrest People's Co-Op in OB is worth a stop and even though it's a co-op it's open to the public. They cater primarily to the organice/natural foods/vegetarian/vegan/beach population with lots of produce, health aides, prepared foods, etc. If you're in town on a Wednesday, it would be very easy to stop by People and then proceed down the street to the Wednesday market which is on Newport Ave. just west of Sunset Cliffs Dr. Also in the beach area, close to the Sports Arena is a market called Baron's which is kind of like Jonathan's in La Jolla in that it services an upscale customer base with expendable income that they don't mind spending on food. Most of the vendors from the OB farmers market will also be at the Sunday market in Hillcrest, but the vibe of the market is way different because the clientele is different. Iowa Meat Farms on Mission Gorge Rd. and Siesel's off Morea Blvd. are specialty meat markets selling good quality meat and every imaginable sauce and rub. Okay, I think that's about it for markets in San Diego