It was a set of images recalled dimly from the early Jimmy Carter years: A restaurant with rustic décor over-stuffed with miscellaneous antiques, saguaro cactus bodies repurposed as lighting fixtures in one room and a faux-tropical garden in the next; an elegant and courtly proprietor who never quite seemed to smile but nonetheless was supremely welcoming; a restaurant in Rosarito, Mexico, that didn’t exactly seem like a Mexican restaurant but, rather, the best steakhouse this particular carnivorous kid had ever enjoyed.

Read more:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13225-rosarito-steakhouse-is-a-carnivores-delight.html

The history of Chinese food in this country is rife with mislabeling. The first “Chinese” food to gain popularity on these shores was “chop suey” which, of course, was never truly Chinese. Next came “Mandarin” cuisine that had little to do with the food actually served in the Forbidden City; it was, instead, a repertoire of dishes originating in Fujiian Province in China’s southeast—the source of a major wave of Chinese immigration—presented as that which it was not.

Read more at:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13204-inconsistencies-plague-fuan-garden.html

The tall-poppy syndrome is a social phenomenon—prominent in Australia, New Zealand and Canada—in which people of distinction (“tall poppies”) are cut down for the simple “crime” of elevating themselves above their fellow citizens through their accomplishments. It’s a syndrome that appears to be alive and thriving in the Baja and Southern California food scenes.

Read more at:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13182-excellence-at-laja-in-the-valle-de-guadalupe.html

Mariscos Nine Seas food truck isn’t listed at sdfoodtrucks.com. It’s a curious omission, considering that Nine Seas (3030 Grape St. in South Park) not only offers some of the best Mexican-style seafood in town but is also one of the best local food trucks regardless of style.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13162-mariscos-nine-seas-is-no-roach-co

Lezzet Café sits below the point where Chollas Creek empties into San Diego Bay and Interstate 15 ends in the least fancied stretch of Barrio Logan (3586 Main St.). It’s the endpoint of a journey, if not exactly a destination. It takes an act of will to get there.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13140-across-the-bosphorus-and-the-tracks-to-lezzet-café.html

Drinks with Tracy Borkum at The Tractor Room in Hillcrest was less about the drinks we ordered and more about what we were not drinking.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13128-boozin-with-tracy-bo.html

Romesco Mexiterranean Bistro (4346 Bonita Road in Bonita) shouldn’t work: a little bit Spanish, a little bit Italian, a tiny bit Asian and alotabit Mexican. At first glance, chef Javier Plascencia’s attempt to be all things to all people had all the marks of a doomed effort. First glance, it seems, was wrong.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13109-romesco-is-bajamed-deconstructed.html

In last week’s San Diego CityBeat World Fare column,  I reviewed Tapas Picasso in Hillcrest. Two of my favorite of Chef Loren Villalobos Alsman’s tapas were the meatballs in spicy chorizo sauce and her superlative albacore mousse paté with chipotle. Following an inspiring telephone conversation with Chef Alsman, I decided to pay tribute to her “authorial cuisine” by combining aspects of these two dishes into a Mexican-tinged tapa of my own.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/blog-1585-recipe-lamb-bison-meatballs-with-tomato-chipotle-s.html

German food sports a bad rap. It’s no exaggeration to say that the term “gourmet German cuisine” is seen as an oxymoron. This is partly because much traditional German food is heavy, perhaps well-adapted to soaking up the country’s justly famous beer. It’s drinking food, if not precisely drunken food.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13090-best-sandwich-on-the-planet-part-3-tip-top-meats.html

I assess the quality of a Spanish tapas bar on two main criteria: creativity of its signature dishes and execution of the core classics. Tapas Picasso (3923 Fourth Ave. in Hillcrest) succeeds brilliantly on the first count, but it’s not nearly consistent enough on the second.

For more see:  http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-13066-tapas-picasso-is-more-creative-than-dependable.html