San Diego Reader

Naomi Wise

Naomi Wise (not her real name) spent her teens living in the Carnegie Hall Building and eating in Manhattan’s ethnic restaurants. She waitressed her way through the University of Michigan (B.A., English lit), then returned to New York. Following a motorcycle-camping trip across the U.S., she and her then-husband moved to San Francisco, where she worked a civil service day-job while writing film criticism for every low-paying publication in the Bay Area, plus a stint as restaurant critic for Francis Coppola’s City Magazine. Meanwhile, she traveled the Pan American Highway from SF to Tierra del Fuego in a '57 Chevy pickup; visited England, France, Italy, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, and Thailand; and made numerous trips to New Orleans, mainland Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Hong Kong, always collecting flavor-memories and scribbled recipes. Switching her “major” to food, she served as restaurant critic for the East Bay Express and the San Francisco Weekly. She has written/co-written four out-of-print cookbooks and an unauthorized biography of Francis Ford Coppola (On the Edge: The Life and Times of Francis Coppola) and has served as consulting editor on several cookbooks, travel, and gardening books. She relocated to San Diego In 2000 when the Reader made her an offer she couldn’t refuse -- a salary.

Recent Stories

Gimme More Turkey
Gimme More Turkey

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Pasha drew my eye with an ad in this paper, including a coupon for a freebie appetizer platter. Hmm...a new ...

Another Side of BBQ
Another Side of BBQ

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
And now, for a completely different style of barbecue: Japanese yakiniku. Sensei Shima, Samurai Jim’s martial-arts teacher, favors Suzuya for ...

It’s Hard to Eat With a Paper Bag Over My Head
It’s Hard to Eat With a Paper Bag Over My Head

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I arrived in San Diego nine years ago, a well-spoiled food snob coming down (pun intended) from San Francisco like ...

Smoking or Non?
Smoking or Non?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Is it myth or truth that white men can’t “Q”? (Got your attention? Kickle kickle.) Barbecue — meaning Southern-style barbecue ...

Arias on the Plate
Arias on the Plate

Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Old-time San Diegans remember when the Gaslamp Quarter was getting over its “Hey, sailor” sleaze-phase and Horton Plaza was new. ...

Cook Like a Chef — but Fast
Cook Like a Chef — but Fast

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
As the economic climate has turned even the well employed into the “working worried,” people accustomed to eating most dinners ...

Pursuit of Happy Hours
Pursuit of Happy Hours

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
“Sometimes life is so good,” I sighed, sipping my dirt-cheap caipirinha. Sam and I watched the ferry pull into the ...

La Mesa Goes Downtown
La Mesa Goes Downtown

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
When the new Gio took over the space of the old Village Garden, the charming neighborhood of La Mesa Village ...

Magic
Magic

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
“There may be trouble ahead/ But while there’s moonlight and music/ And love and romance/ Let’s face the music and ...

For Frugal Foodies
For Frugal Foodies

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Happiness is an ice-cold strawberry Bellini at Bite, made with the first berries of spring, and a $20 four-course dinner ...

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Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, ... More