Reach on in…You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get!
Food is a universe of its own, much more than what we get served in a restaurant or serve up from the kitchen. All of those things that don’t fit on the plate will be right here. Reach on in and see what sweet morsel is waiting for you in The Candy Jar.
The Wedding of French Master Chef Patrick and Bonnie Ponsaty

It should be no surprise that when a French Master Chef who has cooked and created some of the best meals in the world gets married, the wedding is a casual affair, in his backyard, on his day off, with an emphasis on love, laughter, friends and food, in no particular order. Here’s to the…
‘Til later, Kat Humphus, Waterbill Dinner 9/8/18, Cyclops Farms

On an unseasonably cloudy, post Labor Day evening in San Diego’s North County, the latest in the series of Waterbill dinners was an all-star chef studded event attended by about 30 more guests than were actually on “the list.” Chef Kat Humphus, beloved by any who’ve ever received one of her warm embraces or a…
Sabor de Baja 2018

If white is the absence of all color, it is also the singular indicator of light. As a Summer swan song, Sabor de Baja, bedecked in light, and white, checks all the right food and wine boxes on a late summer night. Originally conceived as a late summer party in the beachside ville of Rosarito, Mexico…
The Latin Table, by Chef Isabel Cruz

There’s an elegance and thoughtfulness about Chef Isabel Cruz that flows seamlessly into her food. In her latest cookbook, you’ll experience what she experienced, cooking at home, enjoying food with family, the simplest pleasures. You’ll get the sense that the restaurant business was simply a way to have more people eat at her table… The…
The Demise of Ponsaty’s, the Restaurant?

Less than ten minutes after walking into Ponsaty’s last week, I walked out. Something fishy was happening and it wasn’t the special Spanish Tuna dinner I had been looking forward to for over a month. Instead, I left the restaurant far hungrier than when I arrived. But, now, I was craving answers after ingesting a crudo…
I Love Poke…It’s Ohana

There was a moment or two in the last year that I wondered if I would ever write this article about I Love Poke, based on last year’s event, in preparation for this year’s event (’cause no one likes hearing about a food event they just missed). In fact, a few months ago, I asked Nino…
2017, The San Diego Food Scene Has a Message For Ya’

Transition is such a mild word to describe tumultuous, pivotal events in our lives. It’s tough moving forward to embrace new, unknown things while leaving behind the familiar. If there were a poster child for transition years, 2016 would be it across all fronts – socially, economically, politically, et al. For me, mainly because of the election cycle,…
Ashley Drake – Living the Dream

The American Dream of yesteryear is a fossil, relegated to the status of poignant lore and the occasional reminiscence of now extinct white picket fences, accessible home ownership and lifetime security at a steady job. It’s still out there, unicorn-like in its elusiveness, occasionally spotted dashing through a forest wooded with student loan debt, a decade of economic sluggishness…
Just Call Us Volunteers – A Decade of Serving

Well over half my lifetime ago, I spent some damn fine time doing man stuff with my brothers in the United States Marine Corp. My Vietnam era Drill Instructors and older brother added to the WWII and Korean experiences that my Dad had imparted on our family, which was almost its own branch of the military, and the…
Maria Hesse – Maestra of the Perfect Evening

In an election year where it feels like the fate of civilization as we know it hangs in the balance, if you believe the “experts” barfing their opinions in all corners of Internetlandia, it can be hard to remember that there are real people living real lives all around us who don’t just debate or…