It had been well over two years since I last plied my hunger at an offer of all-you-can-eat. Back in the 2010s, friends and I would saunter into a place determined to out-eat such offers. …
April 15, 2022
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The all you can eat lessons of Buga Korean BBQ
A poem by Kingsley Amis for his 100th birthday
Something Nasty in the Bookshop Between the Gardening and the Cookery Comes the brief Poetry shelf; By the Nonesuch Donne, a thin anthology Offers itself. Critical, and with nothing else to do, I scan the …
April 15, 2022
A hidden gem at the base of Volcan Mountain
Two hundred years ago, California, along with the bulk of what would become the American Southwest, was claimed by Mexico. The newly-minted country, having just gained independence from Spain, found itself with a problem: much …
April 15, 2022
Kehillat Shaar HaShamayim: “the community of the gates of heaven”
Kehillat Shaar HaShamayim Contact: 3232 Governor Dr., Suite K, San Diego 858-752-1025 www.kshsd.org Membership: 50 Rabbi: Yonatan Halevy Age: 32 Born: San Diego Formation: Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Baltimore, MD; Shehebar Sephardic Center, Jerusalem, Israel. …
April 15, 2022
Stumbled on livestream of Brahms's Requiem
I opened Facebook on Sunday evening, April 10. As I began scrolling as saw a post announcing Brahms’s Requiem at Mission Valley United Methodist with members of the San Diego Symphony at 7:00 pm. I …
April 15, 2022
Drummer Wade Youman’s multi-generational collaboration
“I’ve been seriously, with all heart and soul, committed to my local community for over 30 years,” says drummer Wade Youman (Unwritten Law, Demasiado, North Korea), whose new band Spray Allen is an alternative rock …
April 14, 2022
Robert De Niro’s less-than-stellar offerings
It’s unclear at what point it became my sacred duty to collect the complete works of Robert De Niro on DVD, but the alignment of these three less-than-stellar middle period offerings — shelved side-by-side in …
April 14, 2022
Kansas City Barbecue: when pigs fly
Somehow, I seem to be stuck on a BBQ kick. Just can’t get enough of it. Take tonight: it’s dusk, and I’m looking across the street to the long, low Kansas City Barbecue, the last …
April 14, 2022
A direct reflection of the heavy times
A new single and video were produced for the new Wild Wild Wets track “Say So,” from their upcoming first album in four years, Love Always. The video was created using vintage 1980s video switchers …
April 14, 2022
Herb & Sea’s Mezcal & Spice: seasonal & fresh
The cool, crisp air inside Herb & Sea restaurant rescues me from a warm afternoon in downtown Encinitas. Behind the bar, Laz Jiminez greets me with a spirited smile before recommending the Mezcal & Spice …
April 14, 2022
Joe Garrison’s terrifying reality
Composer Joe Garrison hit a milestone birthday last year, right in the midst of the pandemic, and decided, at long last, that he was sick of music. Or at least, with the piano tuning aspect …
April 14, 2022
Carving Coronado’s Isabella Avenue
My buddy Kevin and I see her just about every time we head for what until recently we called our polar bear ocean swims. Because every day, she’d come swooping around the wide curves of …
April 13, 2022
Kitchen Spanish
A clatter against the window of my second-story room in Golden Hill awoke me. Then, shouts. What the hell? “Eh, Miguel.” “Miguelito.” “Barba de Chivo, levántate, cabrón.” Only Rodolfo called me Barba del Chivo, followed …
What San Diego Reader writers would shell out cash for
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a music writer isn’t going to get rich plying his trade, but at least he’ll get free stuff: albums, concert tickets, swag, perhaps even the occasional backstage pass. …
April 13, 2022
Ben & Jerry's co-founder helps Dave Myers in sheriff race
Anti-cop ice cream What’s for dessert? San Diego politics, judging by a March 30 $1800 contribution by ice cream kingpin Ben Cohen of Williston, Vermont, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. The out-of-town cash went to …
April 13, 2022