No one truly knows whether Russia’s Tsar Nicholas I, in fact, referred to the Ottoman Empire as the “Sick Man of Europe.” But three things are certain: (1) that sick man liked to drink; (2) he liked to eat, and; (3) when that sick man died, he left behind the meze (or “mezze”) he … [Read more...]
WORLD FARE: Ishtar Restaurant: fighting ISIS one falafel at a time
There was once an old Vietnam-era slogan on posters, buttons, bumper stickers and T-shirts. Today it would, no doubt, be a ubiquitous Facebook meme: Join the Army; travel to exotic, distant lands; meet exciting, unusual people and kill them. It had resonance because it … [Read more...]
SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT FOOD ISSUE: Best-kept-secret ethnic eateries
The types of places featured on Guy Fieri’s Food Network show, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, are generally not the restaurants I want to frequent. As I’ve observed in the past, “What makes [the show] work is the sense it highlights examples of a mythical ‘authentic American … [Read more...]
WORLD FARE: You know it when you see it at Kabob House
In Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964), Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart declined to define "hardcore pornography," writing, instead: "I know it when I see it." The same might be said of Middle Eastern food. A good place to get to know it locally would be Kabob House(2479 … [Read more...]
WORLD FARE: Across the Bosphorus — and the tracks — to Lezzet Café
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. Turkish … [Read more...]
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