Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

What French Cooking Can Learn From TJ’s Tacos

Oh man. Having an erotic dream…shrimp tacos with pineapple inside and raspberry sauce on top and walnuts on top of that…

I know a place that does that. Honest.

And I’m thinking about it ’cause I’m reading about…well, the French Revolution.

I mean the one going on now. Between the old-school French cooking (frog legs, goose livers, snails), and the “Young Turks” (okay, Young French) who’ve launched “Le Fooding,” a bust-out philosophy that’s got Gauls aghast and gastronomes agog.

Or so I read. Yes, I’m actually reading a book the lovely Carla bought me. Crazy expense! No pictures either. It’s called The Table Comes First, by Adam Gopnik, New Yorker kinda guy. Loves Paris. French. My weakness too, from afar.

But he goes the Full Monty on what it is about the French and food, and that image of sitting around a big table just like in Le Divorce," wondering aloud whether the roquefort is supposed to smell like that or is just, like, off. ’Course they have the income to make these long languid lunches possible. Me, I'm more Sideways, with food.

Whatever, Le Fooding is out to “save the preeminence of French cuisine from going the way of the Roman Empire.” Whoa. The main thing they seem to be saying to the traditionalists is “Lighten up, for Chrissakes. Come down off your French Cooking pedestal.”

Feels like a gastro-truck movement, French-style. Like, Le Fooding's into picnics, prepared by 3-star chefs. “The atmosphere is somewhere between a buffet dinner and the Woodstock festival,” he writes.

Is Le Fooding happening here? I say yes. Take this whole gastro-truck idea: it’s about bringing good food to “the people.” Taking the mystique and BS out of fine dining. And the whole rediscovery of Mexican cooking is part of it. The Street's our energy source for new and interesting and – yeah! – cheap ways to fill our bellies.

Maybe next time, Gopnik should abandon Paris and let us show him some jewels in this Garden of Eatin’, San Diego/Tijuana.

…Which brings me back to that taco fix I was drooling about: shrimp tacos with pineapple inside and raspberry sauce on top and walnuts on top of that…

They come from Tacos La Ermita (officially known as Tacos Salceados, Avenida Ermita Norte 30, La Mesa, Tijuana ) which to my humble mind is the taco gastronomical capital of the world.

So Adam: open invitation! Git out of tired ol’ Paris and come on over to this hot energy center of street food – gastro trucks here, taco pioneers in TJ - and great culture con-fusion.

Le Fooding will never look the same.

Meanwhile, guess I’m going to have to get back down to La Ermita myself for a very delicious update.

Stay tuned.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate

Oh man. Having an erotic dream…shrimp tacos with pineapple inside and raspberry sauce on top and walnuts on top of that…

I know a place that does that. Honest.

And I’m thinking about it ’cause I’m reading about…well, the French Revolution.

I mean the one going on now. Between the old-school French cooking (frog legs, goose livers, snails), and the “Young Turks” (okay, Young French) who’ve launched “Le Fooding,” a bust-out philosophy that’s got Gauls aghast and gastronomes agog.

Or so I read. Yes, I’m actually reading a book the lovely Carla bought me. Crazy expense! No pictures either. It’s called The Table Comes First, by Adam Gopnik, New Yorker kinda guy. Loves Paris. French. My weakness too, from afar.

But he goes the Full Monty on what it is about the French and food, and that image of sitting around a big table just like in Le Divorce," wondering aloud whether the roquefort is supposed to smell like that or is just, like, off. ’Course they have the income to make these long languid lunches possible. Me, I'm more Sideways, with food.

Whatever, Le Fooding is out to “save the preeminence of French cuisine from going the way of the Roman Empire.” Whoa. The main thing they seem to be saying to the traditionalists is “Lighten up, for Chrissakes. Come down off your French Cooking pedestal.”

Feels like a gastro-truck movement, French-style. Like, Le Fooding's into picnics, prepared by 3-star chefs. “The atmosphere is somewhere between a buffet dinner and the Woodstock festival,” he writes.

Is Le Fooding happening here? I say yes. Take this whole gastro-truck idea: it’s about bringing good food to “the people.” Taking the mystique and BS out of fine dining. And the whole rediscovery of Mexican cooking is part of it. The Street's our energy source for new and interesting and – yeah! – cheap ways to fill our bellies.

Maybe next time, Gopnik should abandon Paris and let us show him some jewels in this Garden of Eatin’, San Diego/Tijuana.

…Which brings me back to that taco fix I was drooling about: shrimp tacos with pineapple inside and raspberry sauce on top and walnuts on top of that…

They come from Tacos La Ermita (officially known as Tacos Salceados, Avenida Ermita Norte 30, La Mesa, Tijuana ) which to my humble mind is the taco gastronomical capital of the world.

So Adam: open invitation! Git out of tired ol’ Paris and come on over to this hot energy center of street food – gastro trucks here, taco pioneers in TJ - and great culture con-fusion.

Le Fooding will never look the same.

Meanwhile, guess I’m going to have to get back down to La Ermita myself for a very delicious update.

Stay tuned.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.