Edible San Diego Setting a Lively Table Winter 2019

SETTING A LIVELY TABLE

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Welcome to our Conscious Living issue! We’re setting a lively table and stepping boldly into 2019 to make some regenerative waves.

Wanna surf with us?

Katie Stokes Head Honcho

P.S. The format for this piece was inspired by one of my favorite companies, Title Nine. Missy Park, I hope you interpret this imitation as the flattery it’s intended to be.

OLIVIA HAYO

Hot Dish

BY MARIA HESSE

Delectable dishes you can only find on Adams Ave.

Adams Avenue has long been touted as one of the best food streets in the city, but here we take a look at truly unique dishes showcasing local ingredients and our food community.

Giddyup and make your day that much brighter by putting the Jimmy Pesto in your mouth. Hawthorn Coffee starts this beautiful toast off with a slice of rustic sourdough from Bread and Cie (a gluten-free toast option from Coronado’s Gluten Free Pantry is available) and tops it with a generous layer of locally made spicy pesto from Baby Clydesdale and crumbles of almond ricotta and blistered tomatoes. 3019 Adams Ave. • hawthorncoffee.com

If eating one of the ultimate original pizzas in this city is your thing, look no further than Blind Lady Ale House. They made this list for always having a local, farm-fresh pizza special on the menu, plus that Mountain Meadows mushroom pizza , and an enticing regional beer selection that includes house brews from Automatic Brewing Co. We also like them for being Agents of Change by donating 20% of

meatless Monday pizza sales to local nonprofit organizations. 3416 Adams Ave. • blindladyalehouse.com

Go for the sauce at Bleu Bohème with a steaming pot of les moules frites au harissa. The classic menu item was created by executive chef and owner Ken Irvine. “Harissa paste is a combination of chiles balanced for flavor, not heat, and adds depth and complexity to seafood,” says Diego Paul Lopez, Bleu Bohème’s chef de cuisine. He sautés Spanish chorizo in garlic, shallots, and a white wine-harissa demi glace with black Mediterranean mussels from the Pacific Ocean and serves them with hot and crispy Bleu pomme frites. 4090 Adams Ave. • bleuboheme.com

If you haven’t seen what a good fluff and fold can do to gelato, we suggest a freshly made waffle cone full of Yarn at An’s Dry Cleaning. What used to be a dry cleaning shop on Adams Ave is now the storefront for a small-batch gelateria that features off-the-cuff fresh and original flavors with seasonal ingredients and a perfect balance of sweetness. We’ve got the scoop on this winter special showcasing the bright citrus flavor of kumquats with honey and tajin. 3017 Adams Ave. • adcgelato.com

Liquid Assets

BY JONI PARMER

Winter blues got ya down? Who are we kidding, it’s San Diego, so whether the sun is shining or we justify donning a Patagonia on those dreary 65° days, craft cocktail seekers can head straight to You and Yours for the urban distillery’s Rye Me a River. The wintry blend of spice, pine, and citrus spirits is equally as swank as their feminine tasting room interior. youandyours.com

Take one sip of Communal Coffee’s calming Lavender Honey Latte and discover a new form of stress relief. Mildly sweetened with clover honey, the pleasing taste of their housemade lavender syrup shines in this soulwarming rendition of a coffeehouse classic. For the creamiest combo, get it steamed with Communal’s scratch oat milk. communalcoffee.com

Nestled in the heart of South Park, this cozy gem serves up a rotating selection of natural vinos from organically farmed wineries around the globe. Uncork the Zorah Karasi from Armenia, a mediumbodied red made from indigenous yeast, a rare practice that yields a unique complexity of aromas and texture. The fruity notes piled on a smoky undertone pair well with their handmade empanadas.

Join their Winter Wine Club for first dibs on exclusive releases and meet the makers behind your favorite labels. therosewinebar.com

Feeding Our Souls

BY JONI PARMER

FEELING GOOD

Something might be in the water with so many SoCal pregnant mommas, myself included. Do your body and budding spud an invigorating favor and head to OH! Juice for the OH! Baby Superfood & Juice

Cleanse, a 100% organic, locally driven, plant-inspired custom cleanse. Begin by customizing flavor profiles and health goals, and leave with a day, week, or even onemonth spread of the freshest juices, proteinpacked mylks, elixirs, and vegan-inspired meals to fuel your nine-month marathon. Available for pickup, local delivery, and airmail. Starting at $75/day • ohjuicecleanse.com

LOOKING GOOD

Just when you thought CBD couldn’t get more creative than cannabis-infused edibles and hempy beers, Kearny Mesa’s Kb Pure Essentials launched an entire business of allnatural wellness and beauty products formu lated with the mega healing properties of the once-forbidden extract. A blend of essential oils, minerals, natural butters, and their most concentrated dose of CBD, Kb’s Eye Renewal Cream is the topical cream your fine lines and wrinkles have been dreaming of!

$35 • kbpureessentials.com

AND READY TO EAT

Sip, nosh, and cozy up with this designmeets-function Mug & Wood Plate set from Clay + Craft, the slow-made ceramic artisan behind a coveted line of minimalistinspired dinnerware and home decor. Perfect to give or receive yourself, the creamy stoneware mug is purposely designed for you to feel the warmth of whatever you are drink ing and comes with a natural birch plate (from local woodworker Grace & Salt) that holds the sweet or savory key to your heart’s desire—at least for that moment.

$60 • clayandcraft.com

Let’s Grow

BY JONI PARMER

KOHLRABI

Brassica oleracea gongylodes. Ya got that? Good, because you don’t want to miss this fiber-rich member of the cabbage family during the winter months. The German term for “cabbage turnip,” this recently revived root is mak ing impressive cameos at farmers’ markets, in home kitchens, and on the menu of some of San Diego’s best restaurants. Shaved, pickled, roasted, sautéed or puréed, Kohl rabi is crunchy, juicy, and mildly sweet. The vegetable is a blank canvas ready to receive almost any flavor, and you can eat the stem, the bulb, and the leaves. The best news? Kohlrabi is easy to grow! Luke Girling of Cyclops Farms recom mends starting your plants indoors about four to six weeks before you plant outside. The Eder variety matures fast, so eager growers can harvest when the first stem is one inch in diameter, yielding a young and tender crop begging to be de voured straight from the ground.

Quick-Pickled Kohlrabi

Recipe by Davin Waite of Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub

2 kohlrabi bulbs

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup white vinegar ½ cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon pickling spice Pinch salt

Peel the kohlrabi bulbs, chop off the stems and leaves (stems and leaves can be saved for kraut or a stir-fry; peels can be saved for broth), and thinly shave root on mandolin or slice very thin with a knife.

Heat vinegars, water, sugar, and spice in a small saucepan and stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat; add kohlrabi. Transfer to a pickling jar and let sit for 2 hours before refrigerating. The pickles are ready to eat once they’ve been fully chilled, 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Where to Buy

Pick up seeds to grow your own kohlrabi at Seabreeze Family Farm, or visit Cyclops Farms for a list of farmers’ markets and restaurants featuring our new favorite crop! seabasstropub.com, seabreezed.com, cyclopsfarms.com

Edible Bookshelf

It’s time for a blanket and a mug of something warm. Here’s a couple books to feed our minds with this winter.

Shine

La Jolla resident Sylvie Coulange self-published a cookbook that shares simple and inspiring recipes, including Power Bliss Balls that will make you, you know, shine. You can find it at local retailers like Native Poppy in North Park and Timeless Furnishings in Solana Beach. Find more locations to buy and the recipe for Power Bliss Balls on ediblesandiego.com.

Community Table: Recipes for an Ecological Food Future

The Ecology Center documents the curation of a series of dining experiences in 2016. Committed to their 10 principles of a regenerative food system, chefs and farmers share stories and recipes from farm to plate. Powerhouse Books, 2018

How to Pack a Bowl

BY MARIA HESSE

I

t is said that Buddha carried a bowl from village to village, collecting small offerings of food along the way. At the end of the day, he would eat his meal, enjoying a variety of flavors that ceremoniously blended together. No wonder the legend inspired the trendy name craze for satisfying go-to meals.

It doesn’t have to be a Buddha bowl or a power bowl to be de licious. Just pack a bowl with some basics for a healthy one-dish breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Start with grains for the base

Here, we have steel-cut oats but use what you’ve got. Other suitable grain bases include rice, quinoa, pasta, and even veggie noodles to satisfy low-carb diets.

Add fresh veggies

This bowl is packed with greens, including arugula, and avocado for some of that healthy fat. We thinly sliced radish to add a little extra spice—but mostly to make this bowl look pretty with those splashes of fuschia. You can try any other fresh veggies you have on hand.

A little protein

Try the fried egg or go for toasted chickpeas to keep it vegan. Seafood or some cubed-up leftover chicken, beef, or any protein will also do just fine.

Some sprinklings

Sprinklings like the everything bagel spice mix, which also hap pens to go with everything, add extra nuttiness, crunch, texture, protein, and flavor. You can also sprinkle with sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, other chopped nuts, and more.

And Special Sauce

What’s a bowl without a little dressing? It can be as simple as a little extra-virgin olive oil and lemon, or a quick take on a nut butter dressing like this one here.

Wait, what kind of bowl did you think we were packing?

Find more nutritionally packed bowl recipes from Bastyr University students on ediblesandiego.com.

OLIVIA HAYO

SERVES 1

More like breakfast all day long, this bowl is so simple and satisfying you’ll want to reinvent it for every meal. Oats for grain, egg for protein, leafy greens, avocado, radish, and scallions all topped with a tantalizing OJ drizzle pack a delicious, nutritional punch. Short on time to make steel-cut oats? Use rolled oats instead, or just reheat plain oatmeal left over from breakfast. Enjoy with a mimosa.

OATMEAL

Make

Make the OJ drizzle: In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients with a fork until combined. Adjust hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste.

Make the egg: Heat olive oil in a frying pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the egg, sprinkle with salt, and cook until egg white turns opaque. Add water and cover pan; turn heat to low and cook until the whole egg turns opaque, about 1 minute.

To serve: In a bowl, layer oat meal, greens, radish, egg, avocado, and scallions. Top with OJ drizzle and finish with a generous sprinkle of every thing bagel spice mix.

Recipe by Fernanda Larson, MS, CN, Assistant Professor, Bastyr University

Five Ways to Cook with Kumquats

BY FELICIA CAMPBELL

Jewel-like kumquats are only in season from January to April. We love to eat them like candy, tender skin and all, with dime-sized slices making great additions to salads and salsas. They also happen to be an amazing ingredient to cook with.

Honeyed

Bring a pound of kumquats to a boil with a cup of honey, ⅓ cup sugar, 1 ¼ cups water, and half a vanilla bean, then turn down to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes or until the liquid is thick and the little fruits begin to melt. Use the topping for ice cream, cakes, or ricotta-smeared toast (find Olivia Hayo’s recipe for hon eyed kumquats on toast from our cover on ediblesandiego.com).

Slow Cooked

Slow-roasted pork shoulder, chicken tagine, and Instant Pot braised beef all benefit from the bright citrus pop of kumquats. Halve a cup or two and toss them in. The result is pure magic.

Baked

When your kumquats are getting a little too ripe, toss them in a blender with a nub of ginger and add the purée to your muffin or cake batter. You can even get fancy and add a few slices to the bottom of your muffin tins for miniature kumquat upsidedown cakes.

Stuffed

Slide slices of kumquat and little pads of butter under the skin of a roaster and stuff the cavity with aromatic herbs, garlic, and a few whole kumquats for a sweet take on classic roast chicken. They also make a great addition to stuffed pork loin.

Grilled

Add a subtle smoky flavor to your kumquats by skewering them with chunks of marinated fish; if you’re grilling steak, chicken, or anything that takes longer than a few minutes to cook, make separate kebabs of kumquats to serve alongside.

BY ERIN JACKSON

Shrub

POST-HOLIDAY SEASON , we’re reaching for refresh ing tonics made with local shrubs—sweet and tart con coctions of fruit, sugar, and vinegar that stimulate the appetite while slaking thirst. Besides being delicious, these tonics are said to contain healthy ingredients that aid digestion and fortify the immune system.

Tonics

Cold Buster

This tropical tonic has ginger and turmeric to help strengthen the immune system, encourage digestion, and ease pain and inflammation, plus a dollop of honey to soothe sore throats. For a boozy version similar to a hot toddy, reduce the water by 1 ounce and add 1½ ounces of warm whiskey.

½ ounce Nostrum Pineapple Turmeric Ginger Shrub

1 ounce fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons honey

4 ounces hot water

Mix first 3 ingredients in a mug and top with hot water to serve.

Cranberry Bubbly

The dynamic duo of ginger and cranberry juice may improve heart health and help prevent infection, making this mocktail tonic tasty and good for you.

1 ounce Nostrum Strawberry Cascara Ginger Shrub

¾ ounce unsweetened cranberry juice

¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

3–4 ounces soda water

Build in a tall glass over ice to serve.

Make Your Own Shrub

Most shrub recipes use a 1:1:1 ratio of fruit, sugar, and vinegar. Macerate acidic fruits like citrus, berries, apples, pears, or stone fruit with white sugar and add your choice of vinegar. Apple cider, champagne, or white wine vinegars are best.

Grapefruit Rosemary Shrub

1 grapefruit

1 cup white sugar

1 cup organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the “mother”

2 sprigs rosemary (optional)

Remove zest from the grapefruit and set aside. Cut away the peel and chop the flesh into large chunks.

Pour sugar into a medium nonreactive bowl, add zest, and massage to extract the fragrant oils. Add the chopped grape fruit flesh and gently toss. Cover with

plastic wrap and store in refrigerator until the mixture resembles a thick syrup, about 24 hours.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup. Press down lightly on the fruit to extract the juices and scrape in any remaining sugar. Whisk in vinegar and pour into a glass bottle or jar. Add the rosemary (if using), cap the bottle, shake well, and store in the fridge for another 24 hours.

Shake mixture before using, as sugar may not fully dissolve for several days. Shrubs can last a few months in the fridge. Over time, the vinegar flavor will mellow out.

Recipes by Nostrum • nostrumshrubs.com

BY NAN STERMAN

Waterwise Gardening Starting a Raised Bed Garden

Winter is the perfect time to prepare for a spring vegetable garden, especially if you are just beginning. There’s much more to growing vegetables than plopping seedlings into the ground. In our hot climate, where soils have very little organic matter and no summer rainfall, the best way to grow veggies is to plant them in raised beds.

What’s a raised bed? The most simple and time-proven raised beds are bottomless wood boxes that sit on the ground. Each is filled with a soil mixture customized for vegetables. Since veg etables tend to be “thirsty” plants, each bed gets plumbed with a dedicated irrigation system on its own valve, separate from the rest of the garden.

Planting in raised beds is different too. The plants can be grown closer together, which means more vegetables in less space.

There are endless variations of raised beds, but here are the basics.

The best place for raised beds

Choose a spot in full sun, near your kitchen, with good access to water. Set beds atop bare soil, NOT on top of grass, landscape cloth, weed cloth, concrete, gravel, or asphalt.

The best materials for raised beds

I am a fan of building raised beds with untreated wood, prefer ably redwood.

Line the bottoms with hardware cloth (not chicken wire, which breaks down sooner). Cut hardware cloth a little wider and longer than the bed, and push it down into the bed from above so the hardware cloth curves up the sides. This helps keep gophers, voles, and other critters from burrowing in through the seams.

The ideal size for raised beds

Width: The ideal bed is four feet wide. At that width, most adults can reach the center from either side without stepping into the bed. Length: Length is not critical, though the most practical length is eight feet or longer. Height: The easiest-on-your-back beds are 18 inches or taller. Cap the top with a horizontal 2x4 or 2x8. Use the cap to set tools, plants, or your rear end on.

How many raised beds

Two or more beds allow you to rotate crops between beds each year. Vegetables in the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, tomatillos, potatoes) are highly susceptible to nematodes, fungi, and other pathogens that develop in the soil. Rotating them from one bed to another helps keep those pathogens at bay. With two beds, you can plant the nightshade plants in one bed the first year, in the other bed the second year, then continue to alternate back and forth.

How to irrigate raised beds

For best success, use in-line drip laid out in a grid atop the soil. I like Netafim Techline EZ 12mm dripline irrigation, with emitters spaced every six inches. Space grid lines six inches apart so there is an emitter every six inches in every direction. With this layout, water spreads evenly through the soil and doesn’t leave dry spots.

The best soil for raised beds

Fill beds with a soil mix (not “potting soil”) that is at least 40% organic matter, 60% soil. Since beds hold a considerable volume— a bed 4’ wide by 8’ long by 18” tall holds just shy of two cubic yards—buy soil in bulk from a soil supplier, rock yard, or compost facility. Mix in two to four cubic feet of compost, plus one or two cubic feet of worm castings (both compost and worm castings are sold by the bag)—the bigger the bed, the more compost and worm castings. Fill each bed to the top. Water two or three times to satu rate the soil and help it settle. I do not recommend using perlite in raised beds, since it eventually migrates to the surface.

Mulch for raised beds

Straw (not hay) is the best mulch for vegetable gardens. Layer on three or four inches of straw to keep soil moist and temperatures moderated. Eventually the straw will decompose into the soil.

For more information, watch my YouTube videos on building and planting raised beds.

Garden expert, designer, and author Nan Sterman specializes in low water, sustainable, and edible landscapes. She is the host of A Growing Passion, a TV show that explores how plants power the planet. Episodes air on KPBS television on Thursday nights at 8:30 and Saturday afternoons at 3:30, and on Monday nights at 8:30 on KPBS2. See past episodes online at agrow ingpassion.com. Sterman’s latest book is the just-released Hot Color, Dry Garden available in bookstores, online, and on her website www.waterwise gardener.com. She runs the popular Facebook group San Diego Gardener and leads international garden tours.

BY CHERIE GOUGH

From Vacant to Vibrant Lemon Grove Builds a Community Garden

When you picture a community garden, you might imagine neighbors gathering, chatting as they water tomatoes and attend gardening workshops. But before the dream of a com munity garden can become reality, a lot of planning, sweat, and persistence goes into it. Lemon Grove’s Community Garden Board knows this to be true. Their garden, which is coming together in stages, has been a dream since 2008. Now, with the go-ahead from the city, along with the support of community organizations and neighbors, they are growing community in a once-vacant lot at the corner of Olive Street and Central Avenue.

Putting Down Roots

Anita Lopez says that in order for the city to lease the property to create the community garden, it wanted commitment from a community-based group. A team of volunteers elected leaders, drew up a business plan, and found a fiscal agent in THRIVE Lemon Grove, a nonprofit grassroots organization that focuses on improving

the public safety and health of the city. In June 2018, the Lemon Grove Community Garden gained approval from City Council.

The community garden is part of the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone Coalition. Kaiser Permanente helps fund the initiative through a grant to help small communities like Lemon Grove focus on reducing obesity. Lopez, program manager of HEAL Zone, envisions a future where plot members can learn new ways to use their seasonal produce through cooking demonstrations at the farmers’ market and monthly Saturday workshops in the garden.

Environmental Sustainability

John Hochman, a key member of the group since its incep tion, is the environmental sustainability officer. “I see this garden as an extension of the world at large and I want to help it grow with the principles by which we should live,” says Hochman, who reclaimed the wood to build the raised beds. He also found a friend and Vista community activist to donate the salvaged

materials for the chain-link fence that lines the garden’s perim eter. “It takes a lot of energy and natural resources to create these materials, so everything that can be reused serves an important purpose,” he notes. Last summer, the group began meeting every Saturday to clear the land and start building beds and fencing that will eventually be surrounded by dwarf citrus trees.

Garden chair Walt Oliwa says that the drip irrigation system will help save water and minimize the frustration often experienced by novice gardeners who may not know how often to water.

Accessibility

“Accessibility is a key factor in the garden’s vision and planning,” says Oliwa. Of the garden’s 40 raised beds, six will be raised higher to provide seniors with elevated access to tend to their gardens, and three beds on the garden’s perimeter will be wheelchair accessible.

Neighbors Come Together

Neighbors in passing have contributed significantly to the garden’s progress. In October of last year, while volunteers took measurements to install the drip irrigation system, a pickup truck stopped by. The community resident was a contractor who offered his time to do the job professionally. Other neighbors have

donated tools that they no longer need. Such small acts are plant ing seeds of success. Locals attend Saturday builds when they can, and engage through an active social media campaign and website.

Logistics

Garden beds are available to interested Lemon Grove residents first, and any excess beds will be available to neighboring com munity members. To make beds affordable, the $100 annual fee can be paid quarterly and includes access to water, seasonal starter seeds, shared garden tools, and monthly workshops. Gar den members will be expected to volunteer for several hours each year to keep the space looking beautiful and welcoming, which will also give them a chance to take advantage of the garden managers’ expert advice on topics such as composting and grow ing organic produce. Monthly newsletters will keep members and interested residents informed about events put together by the group’s program director Kirk Taylor.

“There is a synergy here,” says Lopez. She believes that with the garden’s growing success, neighbors will continue to support efforts that raise awareness about healthy living. A thriving garden yields more than just produce. It means active time spent outdoors, relationship building, and access to healthy foods for all.

Who Cares About Farm-to-Table?

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Remember when farm-to-table was all the rage? Or was it just that “shortening the food chain” sounded cool? I was genuinely excited by the first appearance of Cherokee Purple potatoes, wasn’t I? But then there was that Colin the Chicken bit on Portlandia where it wasn’t enough to know the chicken’s breed, if it was organic, that it was locally raised and from which farm, and whether or not the hazelnuts in the bird’s diet were lo cal—but they also had to know the chicken’s name. I laughed at this. And not ironically.

Such a chuckle suggested that I was not adequately invested, and for that, a friend of mine—let’s call him Colin—threatened to pull my foodie card. “In San Diego, we’re not second fiddle to Portland in farm-totable or beer,” Colin says. He had facts. “San Diego County farms are worth $1.7 billion annually, contributing 16,000 jobs to the local economy, and no other county in the country has more small organic farms.”

I proudly point out that I’ve immensely enjoyed dining at spots like Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub, Garden Kitchen, and A.R. Valentien, who persevere on the restaurant side of the farm-to-table equation. However, despite growing ef forts by grassroots campaigns like Farm to Fork San Diego and the Farm Bureau’s San Diego 365 that verify local sourc ing practices for diners, we both know that these efforts are far outnumbered by restaurants whose commitment to farm-to-table is marginal, at best.

I don’t know what’s worse: greenwashing menus, which undercuts the value of those who walk the talk, or ignoring provenance altogether.

But Colin persists further, the bastard: “Throw a stone and you’ll hit a farmers’ market.”

Yes, San Diego County boasts a bounty of farmers’ markets, but many are overrun with expensive crafts, and produce from as far north as Modesto isn’t what I would call local.

Pressing the point, Colin adds, “Farmers are feeling the pinch of long-term drought, increasing water rates, and regulatory requirements and are struggling to get their crops to market.” Ouch.

So the moral of the story is there’s no single step consumers can take to support local farms, but making the effort matters. If you like looking a farmer in the eye at a market, buy direct from them even if they’re from Modesto. This foodie—yes, I reclaim my card—prefers CSAs. Community Supported Agriculture, at its purest level, is an alternative socioeconomic model in which community members purchase advance shares of a harvest from a farm in exchange for future weekly boxes of fresh produce or goods.

“So, which is your CSA?” Colin asks me. I gulp. “I used to be with Suzie’s before they closed. And I was with J.R. Organics before that.” Colin gives me a dirty look. “Yeah,” I say.

I’ll have resubscribed before you read these words.

A few CSA shares and farm boxes we’ve tried

Garden of Eden Organics

Find pickup locations and add eggs to a cooperative CSA box offering a variety of regional produce at goeorganics.com.

Dickinson Farm

CSA shares are available quarterly for the finest selection of heirloom varietals. Their Farmacy offers chefmade meals at dickinson.farm.

Be Wise Ranch

Checking out their online harvest calendar works up an appetite. Sign up for quarterly shares at bewiseranch.com.

Eli’s Farms

Get the Farmer’s Pick Plus CSA box with 13 to 15 items from this Fallbrook farm at elisfarms.com.

J.R. Organics

Get a free box for every 12 boxes purchased at jrorganicsfarm.com.

Wild Willow Farm

Support regenerative agriculture and one of the most significant educational farms in the region by purchasing a $25/week full share or half share at sandiegoroots.org.

Da-Le Ranch

The Inland Empire ranch offers CSA shares for their variety of ethically and sustainably raised meats at da-le-ranch.com.

Farm Fresh to You

Flexible box options range from traditional CSA to fruit only to organic snack pack at farmfreshtoyou.com.

Imperfect Produce

This San Francisco-based company is buying ugly fruits and veggies from organic growers and selling them in customizable boxes that can be delivered straight to your door at imperfectproduce.com.

Specialty Produce

The farmers’ market box is a great deal for $20, with options to add local favorites like PB Peanut Butter and Chuao Chocolatier for when you’ve had too many vegetables, at specialtyproduce.com.

Food to the Rescue

How six San Diegans changed their lives by changing their diet.

BY DEBRA BASS

As in most things, intent makes all the difference. Making dietary changes to punish yourself typically leads to failure. But if your objective is to feel better, you can make the same changes with less resistance and more long-lasting positive re sults. It won’t feel like a sacrifice because you have a greater goal.

If your diet makes you miserable, then it’s not the right op tion for you, no matter what anyone says. Your happy medium might be more animal protein, less animal protein, or no ani mal protein at all. And your preferred diet doesn’t have to have a name. Maybe you’re 80% vegan and 20% carnivore, or 60% keto and 40% fruitarian. Don’t let labels dictate your lifestyle; experimenting with different eating lifestyles, however, can serve a purpose. It can help you determine what satisfies your body and what satisfies your soul—or it can help you determine what doesn’t.

Mentally and physically, there is no one way to eat healthily. And it should go without saying, but we’ll say it now: If you can honestly say that you feel great, sleep well, wake up ener gized, and you’re happy with the condition of your body, skin, hair, and nails, then read no further.

You don’t need to adopt a specific dietary preference to live your best life. But if you’re curious about how these San Diegans turned their lives around with wildly different dietary styles, read on.

This article shares the dietary experiences of six individuals and is not in tended to make medical claims, provide dietary advice, or suggest treatments for health-related issues. Consult a qualified healthcare provider with any questions regarding treatment for a medical condition.

Christina Kantzavelos

30, GLUTEN-FREE

Christina Kantzavelos would like to officially apologize for all the eye rolls she gave people on a gluten-free diet.

“I learned the hard way that gluten intolerance and celiac disease are very real,” she says.

Kantzavelos admits that she ignored her symptoms for years. She was at her worst in graduate school, but she assumed that stress was the obvious cause.

She suffered through bloating, swelling, migraines, and cramps and took it all in stride. The last straw for her was acne.

“It sounds vain that it was acne that sent me to the doc tor and not the other stuff, but, well, it was a lot of acne,” Kantzavelos admits with mock horror. She never had acne as a

teenager, so developing blemishes after graduate school seemed a cruel twist of fate.

Visiting dermatologists didn’t yield a solution. The lotions and potions didn’t help, so a friend recommended she see a naturo path, something else that Christina would have normally greeted with an eye roll, but this time she was desperate. The naturopath diagnosed her with celiac disease almost immediately. Later tests confirmed her condition—and then everything changed.

Her gluten intolerance made her a lot more tolerant of gluten-free enthusiasts.

“Yes, it’s a fad diet for some people, but the fact that it’s a fad drives up demand, which means that there are a lot more options for people like me,” Kantzavelos says. Besides, going gluten-free won’t harm anything but your tastebuds.

She’s found many gluten-free options, including some things that rival their gluten-laden counterparts. But occasionally, she starts raving about a product that she thinks must taste as good as the original and she presents it lovingly to her spouse or family for confirmation.

“The response is usually, ‘um, no, I can tell it’s missing gluten,’” she says. “So my baseline has definitely shifted.”

The good news is that she doesn’t care and she doesn’t feel like she is sacrificing. Her diet is stricter than most because of other dietary issues, but she says that it doesn’t feel limiting since she fo cuses on what she eats that makes her feel good.

She’s gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. She keeps her sugar in take to the bare minimum, doesn’t drink alcohol, and mostly follows a low-histamine eating regimen as well. When she “cheats,” she eats lentils, nuts, other legumes, avoca dos, and sometimes eggs.

Go-to snacks

Laiki Crackers Gluten-Free Rice Crackers

NuGo Egg White Protein Bar

Justin’s Peanut or Almond Butter Packets

Crunchmaster Protein Crackers

Lark Ellen Farm Grain Free Bites

Bubba’s Snack Mixes Bhuja Snacks

Favorite Restaurants

Nectarine Grove in Encinitas

Starry Lane Bakery Plumeria (Thai vegan)

Instagram @ buenqamino

“I know it sounds really sad that those are my cheats, because most people think of those things as really healthy, but they don’t agree with my body. So if I eat them, I do it in moderation,” Kantzavelos says.

A licenced psychotherapist by profession, Kantzavelos is also a writer. Her favorite topics are wellness and mental health.

Esperanza Peralta-Guerrero

69, KITCHENISTA

As a first-generation Mexican-American, Esperanza PeraltaGuerrero spent most of her life cooking a traditional Mexican diet—lots of flavorful pork dishes cooked in lard and supple mented with processed sugar. She had a desire to eat and cook healthier meals, but she didn’t know where to begin.

A friend invited her to her first yoga class at Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center in National City. That day, they were also doing cooking demonstrations. Peralta-Guerrero was immediately interested and signed up for the Kitchenista program. It took a year for her to get through the waiting list, but she says the program changed her life and the life of her family.

“I’m most proud of my mom,” she explains. Her mom is now 90 years old and at the time that Peralta-Guerrero started the program, her mother was pre-diabetic. She shared all the information with her mother who was initially skeptical, but gradually, her mother changed a lifetime of cooking habits and started eating meatless meals, eliminated processed foods, and switched from sugar to Stevia.

“She really accepted all of it and started eating more vegeta bles and more salads, which are not traditional in a Mexican meal,” Peralta-Guerrero says. “I think it’s because she felt the difference, not just saw the difference in me.”

The Kitchenista program stresses the benefits of cooking with organic foods and shares meatless recipes and ways to incorporate healthy substitutions into traditional meals.

Peralta-Guerrero says that her husband grumbled a little about missing red meat at mealtime, but he had faith that she was looking out for his best interests. She says that he too noticed a difference in himself.

“I don’t know how to describe it, but for me I felt not so heavy,” Peralta-Guerrero says. “I feel like I have more of a balance in my body. I don’t miss the meat or any of the foods that I used to eat.”

Though she concedes that she didn’t give up tamales, she now eats them with chicken, not pork, and she only eats those from her own kitchen or her mother’s so she knows what they are made with.

Three years as a Kitchenista has changed her entire eating life. She now has a small garden at home and grows many of the fruits and vegetables that her family eats most. Her husband has planted tomatoes, zucchini, chiles, and bell peppers, and they also have nectarine, peach, golden mandarin, apricot, and

lemon trees. She says that it sounds like a lot, but you don’t need much space to start a fam ily garden.

As a volunteer educator at the center she learned that food gardens aren’t so difficult to maintain. Having fresh produce is also a great motiva tor to use it in meals and share them with family.

After Peralta-Guerrero finished the program, her 47-year-old daughter did the same. Now, when her family cooks together, they are creat ing healthy meals that everyone enjoys. Peralta-Guerrero hopes this cultural shift will mean that she will be preparing nutri tious meals with her mom and daughter for years to come.

Go-to breakfast

A slice of Ezekiel bread with coconut oil, plus yogurt and fruit, usually a mix of strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, pecans, almonds, cinnamon, and a teaspoon of maple syrup

Go-to snacks

Raw mango

Homemade coconut balls and chocolate peanut butter balls

Handful of nuts

Orange slices with chili powder and pink salt

Go-to salad

Greek salad with Napa and green cabbage, tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, cilantro, thin slices of red onion, kalamata olives, and extra-virgin olive oil

Colleen Someck

58, FLEXITARIAN

Before Colleen Someck could start dancing in the kitchen, she had to learn to like food again. She survived an eating disorder that escalated when she was 19.

“I knew I had a problem because I was binging and purging and feeling guilty and ashamed,” Someck recounts. “I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t fix it.”

She had semi-successful recoveries but always relapsed. When she finally attempted to get help at a rehabilitation center, they turned her away because she wasn’t thin enough. So you can guess the damage that wrought.

“I can look back in hindsight and see that I wanted to punish myself. I felt less than, like I had no value,” Someck says. “Food … food was bad.”

She used extreme diets to mask her dysfunctional eating. She was macrobiotic for a while because it gave her an excuse to make small meals and avoid most readily available foods.

Someck describes her routine as exhausting. She was moody,

hungry, and lonely. She didn’t have the energy she needed to get through the day, but she was still running miles every day in order to lose even more weight.

She doesn’t remember a last-straw or rock-bottom moment, but she remembers deciding that food is not bad. In the days that fol lowed, her only goal was attempting to not purge or binge. The suc cessful days stacked up, and eventually she knew her life had shifted.

“I think I was in recovery for 20-some-odd years,” Someck says. “So now, all food is good.”

Dancing in the Kitchen was her first cookbook in 2016. Her second is currently in the works. Most of the recipes are vegan, but she includes tips and suggestions about adding meat or eggs to certain recipes.

“You have to listen to your body. I’m not going to tell anyone that they can’t or shouldn’t eat something,” Someck says.

She describes herself as a flexitarian because she eats mainly vegetarian, but she no longer gets stuck on labels. If she orders soup and it turns out it was made with chicken broth, or if there’s birthday cake and everyone is celebrating, she doesn’t flip out or exclude herself. She says that if something doesn’t fit into what she normally eats and she wants to eat it, she does.

“I can’t play those mind games. I won’t do it,” she says. “I choose food that makes me feel the best that I can be. That’s it.”

Instagram @colleensomeck

Branden Williams

38, VEGAN

“I like to say that I went cold tofurkey,” Branden Williams ex plains in a manner that sounds like a joke but implies that he’s dead serious. “Vegan and sober. Everything happened all at once.”

He says that he looked in the mirror and knew that he could do better.

“I was like, I’m not going out like this,” he says.

He was 5’10” and 270 pounds. “I ate lots of food that came out of a box, I wasn’t active, and I didn’t know how to be myself with out alcohol,” he says. If he was going out with friends to a concert,

he’d drink before going out to loosen up. If he was home, he’d drink to relax. If he was out, he’d drink to enjoy himself.

“One day, I realized that everything I was drinking and eating was making me feel bad,” Williams says.

He went to the doctor to figure out why he was suffering from horrible migraines, irritability, and poor sleep. After lots of testing and a CAT scan, there was no clear diagnosis. No one told him to change his diet. He figured that out on his own.

“I just thought, I’m already living in one extreme and it’s clearly not working for me, so why not try the reverse,” he says. Williams was also motivated by his aunt who had been follow ing a vegan diet for more than 30 years. She was 62 years old and had none of the health complaints he was dealing with.

“It saved my life. Really. I can’t imagine what I would be like if I

Instagram @onedopevegan_

Favorite restaurants

Loving Hut in Mira Mesa Donna Jean

Evolution Fast Food

Plant Power Fast Food Mission Square Market for the vegan deli

Go-to salad

Spinach leaves, diced bell peppers, diced black olives, diced red onions, diced tomatoes, avocado, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans with Annie’s Goddess dressing

Go-to snack

Lenny & Larry’s Complete Cookie

hadn’t made that change,” Williams adds. Now, he says there is no going back. When he switched his diet, he also started going to the gym regularly to lift weights.

“I didn’t know what I was doing the first three to four months but I kept going,” he says. The same was true of his new vegan diet, but he studied and gained expertise about vegan cooking, animal cruelty, and the physiology, psychology, and politics behind veganism.

He’s now a personal trainer and he’s committed to being a lifelong vegan. His son and his fiancée are also vegans. When Wil liams and his fiancée first met, she was skeptical about vegan diets.

“She was saying the same thing everyone else parrots: ‘I could never,’ ‘What about your protein?’ ‘Aren’t you hungry all the time?’ And I was like, damn, you’re cute but you just don’t get

it,” he says. They didn’t talk again for months. When he saw her again, she looked different and her skin was glowing. She had switched to a vegan diet on her own.

Williams says that his son saw the change in his dad and embraced vegan food without much resistance.

“He could see me as an example. He saw the before and the after. He saw round, unhealthy, angry dad,” Williams says. He’s lost more than 80 pounds, although that’s not as important as how he feels.

“I’m calmer. It has changed my overall mental and physical health,” he says. “But no one could have come to me the day before I started and forced me to be vegan. I had to be ready. So I don’t preach to anyone, I just live as an example. People will change when they are ready.”

Tony Cohen

54, KETO DIET

Tony Cohen, founder of the San Diego Keto Club, calls him self one of the first human guinea pigs for exogenous ketones. He received a FedEx package filled with two clear sandwich bags of white powder from a friend in San Diego. There were instructions about how to pee on a ketone testing strip (a prac tice that is no longer in favor) and more instructions on what to eat and when.

It says a lot about Cohen’s life at this time that he started ingesting the mystery substance without knowing much about how the keto diet worked. He was living in New York and he was broke. “I probably suffered from some type of depression, although I wouldn’t have said that at the time,” Cohen admits.

He lived in a tiny studio above a pizza and ice cream parlor in Spanish Harlem with no natural light and was teaching Krav Maga, a relatively obscure mixed martial art, at the time. While he previously trained to be a chef in Northern Thailand, he didn’t have a kitchen, so most of his meals were of the typical New York commuter variety. He had a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel for breakfast, a slice or two of pizza in the afternoon, more pizza for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. Every day.

“It was a downward spiral that I couldn’t work my way out of,” Cohen says. “So when that package came in the mail, I was ready to make a serious change.”

He says that timing is everything. It also helped that he didn’t consider it to be a “diet”; it was more of an experiment. It wasn’t a fad yet, and Cohen, a born contrarian, seemed to embrace it.

“When I started three years ago, people thought I was an idiot,” Cohen says.

But it was the right diet—or should we say eating regimen— at the right time.

“If you had told me to diet, I would have told you where to go,” Cohen says. “Gradually, I only had pizza and ice cream a few times a week instead of every day. Then I’d eat the pizza and skip the ice cream or eat the ice cream and skip the pizza, and then I just stopped eating them both altogether. But it didn’t happen overnight.”

The keto diet consists of eliminating refined sugars and eat ing low carbohydrates with a proper balance of high-fat foods. Ketosis occurs when there isn’t enough glucose, the body’s pri mary fuel source, so the body starts to break down fat stores to produce energy. There’s a lot more to it, and taking exogenous ketones is entirely optional. Tony recommends starting with small changes, such as cutting down on processed food.

“It can be really overwhelming. You have to do it in steps,” he says.

Favorite restaurants

Bare Back Grill in Pacific Beach for burgers

Second Nature North Pacific Beach for clean steak and bacon

Cívico 1845 in Little Italy for great cheese and salami plates

Wheat and Water in Bird Rock for bulletproof coffee

Shops

Sprouts

Little Italy Farmers’ Market

Treats

Yez Foods, local keto bread and cookie company

Dry Farms Wine

Instagram @steph_gaudreau

Steph Gaudreau

39, PALEO

Steph Gaudreau thinks the “caveman diet” analogy is the worst thing to happen to Paleo dieters.

“It’s a trope that has not done us any favors, but it’s an association that sticks,” she says. Even though it’s ridiculous to think that we can or should eat like a prehistoric human with a 30-year lifespan, we can eat simpler food, she says. As famed food writer Michael Pollan would say, “Don’t eat anything your greatgrandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”

Even though the Paleo name hails from the Paleolithic era, she says that we shouldn’t pretend that the dietary needs of the modern human haven’t evolved since the Stone Age. Among other innovations, our crop-growing skills and cooking technology allow for a more appetizing and nutritionally balanced year-round diet. We can do better than caveman meals.

“I’ve tried every diet under the sun and I always fell back into old habits,” Gaudreau explains. Starting the Paleo diet was inci dental. In 2009, she was active in the mountain biking and racing community. She needed a way to fuel her body and she stumbled upon a way of eating that provided the fuel that increased her performance and satisfied her cravings.

“For years, I had digestive problems and weird menstrual cycles. I was hangry and had sleep issues, and I thought, I guess that’s just how I am,” Gaudreau says. “But so much of that was governed by my diet and how I was eating.”

When she started the Paleo diet, it was the first time she started a diet that wasn’t about losing weight. It made all the dif ference, she says.

“People saw that I was changing, and I don’t just mean losing inches. I was different and thinking differently, and that’s what got me into starting the blog,” she says. At first, it was just recipes, but soon she was explaining what she could about her journey and how others might experiment with the diet for their own health.

Gaudreau went from teaching high school chemistry and biology to blog ging full-time in 2012. The blog was how she met her husband, who was living in Scotland at the time. They bonded over Paleo and racing, dated long distance for a couple years, then married in 2014.

Go-to favorite foods

Batch-cooked sweet potatoes

Safe-Catch tuna Homemade hummus Go-to meal InstaPot beef stew

“It’s great to have a partner who was already committed to Paleo,” Gaudreau says, but she’s really referring to conscientious eating.

She says she understands that some people are really adamant about not eating meat and she assures them that she doesn’t want animals to suffer either. Ethical eating is a lot more dif ficult than eat this or don’t eat that.

“I don’t think anyone has a simple answer, but I know that if we eat less meat, and better meat, we could support a more sustainable, ethical, and environmental process,” Gaudreau says. “There will always be death associated with the way we grow our food unless we start growing it in a lab, and that has its own ethical problems.”

BY BETH DEMMON

Friends with Benefits Frank and Rick

“My family has always been in the dairy business. It’s a... different sort of business,” laughs Frank Konyn of Frank Konyn Dairy. Established in 1962 by his father, Konyn’s 250-acre dairy farm is nestled on the San Pasqual Valley floor 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. With over 800 cows, he estimates his monthly feed bill to be over a quarter of a million dollars. As land costs increased alongside agricultural regulations, Konyn realized that in order to survive, he’d have to diversify.

“In California, you’ll find the same thing among most dairy men. It’s not a standalone business. Throughout the state, they grow almonds and walnuts, own real estate, maybe they do hay sales, etcetera. But for a standalone dairyman to survive is prov ing to be very difficult,” he explains.

Even on farms, opportunities to turn wasteful liabilities into

profitable assets are hard to come by, but as Konyn searched for a profitable new venture, he realized he was sitting on a veritable gold mine—or more accurately, a brown one.

A dairy cow can eat over 100 pounds of food in a day and gen erates over six yards of manure per year. Cow manure happens to be very rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, making it a perfect source for mixing rich compost for growing crops or flowers. In 2007, Konyn launched the dairy’s sister company San Pasqual Valley Soils to combine landscape trimmings with manure in order to provide greenhouse gas-reducing compost available for sale. It remains one of the only approved organic-use composting sites in the county.

Rick Sarver, vice president of sales and operations at San Pasqual Valley Soils, describes some of the unique challenges they

face as unfortunate. “Composting is a heavily regulated industry, and we’ve spent a lot of money on permitting, and spend a substantial amount annually on regulatory compliance. And the rules are getting more stringent. This dynamic makes it hard to make ends meet. Since composting and use of the end product actually reduces greenhouse gas emissions, we think the regulations should take that into account and soften up on activities that are moving our environmental goals in the right direction.”

Despite these roadblocks, their compost ships to every one from local landscapers to the Carlsbad flower fields and even California State University, San Marcos for use on the baseball field. Konyn also uses it on-site to help his alfalfa fields grow, generating an additional feed source for his cows in order to reduce his monthly expenses.

The symbiotic benefits were immediate. “The compost site helps the dairy survive, and consumers get the benefit of microbially rich soil amendments as well as locally produced milk,” says Sarver.

As the businesses grew, costs for transporting materials across the county grew right along with it. Thus, the third leg of the cooperation “organically” emerged in the form of KD Farms Trucking, Inc.

“The trucking company started out as a pickup truck with a dump trailer. Now, we have a fleet of eight trucks,” says Konyn.

Today, the trucks deliver their compost all over the region, but Konyn saw a greater opportunity. With no shortage of local beer being brewed in San Diego, KD Farms Trucking, Inc. is now one of the biggest users and transporters of spent grain from local breweries. Konyn estimates they’ve grown from picking up two to three tons of grains at a time to over 250 tons per week (50 tons alone come from Karl Strauss).

“[We] collect more than 1,500 tons per month of food waste, including spent brewery grains, bakery products, and pressed fruits and vegetables from juice manufactur ers. All of these materials are diverted from landfills and converted into feed for the cows,” says Konyn.

Sarver sees the relationship between the companies as “a win-win, but not without its costs, hard work, and diligence to bring to fruition.” He urges those interested in establishing the same type of dynamic to follow the proper channels in order for small operations to continue delivering consumer benefits.

When it comes to benefits, Konyn acknowledges that CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) concern animal welfare advocates, vegans, and environmentalists, but contends that diversifying his dairy operation enables him to produce milk while recycling food waste into ani mal feed—plus it produces soil-building compost. “We’re taking refuse from urban centers and converting it into feed for our animals. Those animals in turn create highprotein, human-consumable foods. By co-composting the manure with landscape trimmings, we create soil-building products. How can you create a more sustainable closedloop cycle than that?”

TAPROOM & RESTAURANT

north park • san diego

Locally owned & operated, Featuring our own hand-crafted cider, made in-house. Serving

OLIVIA HAYO

Getting Away at the Rancho Bernardo Inn

BY OLIVIA HAYO

We set off for the weekend with little more than a duf fel bag and plans to relax away from the hustle of Little Italy. Heading north on the 15 freeway for only 30 minutes, our destination was the Rancho Bernardo Inn.

I grew up in the lush suburb of Carmel Mountain Ranch, attending many special events at the Rancho Bernardo Inn over the years. One of my earliest memories is being a flower girl in a family wedding, tossing rose petals between olive and cypress trees. Returning to RB usually feels like going home—but this time it felt like getting away.

Friday

We arrived on Friday just in time for the farmers’ market at the 130-year-old Bernardo Winery. With coffees in hand from Manzanita Roasting Company, we wandered through the es tate’s dozen shops and galleries before stopping into the tasting room for a few sips of wine.

Back in the car we continued through the residential neighbor hood until we reached the Rancho Bernardo Inn. Its Spanish roof and cream exterior standing out amongst rich greenery and terra cotta accents. The lobby is welcoming with warm earth tones, exposed beam ceilings, and a cozy fireside nook.

The resort is part of a 265-acre property that includes 287 rooms and suites, multiple dining options, a luxury spa, and an 18-hole championship golf course. Rooms are elegantly up dated in cream and olive-green tones that make for a traditional Southern California take on Mediterranean style with patios and balconies overlooking the golf course and courtyards.

We enjoyed glimpses of ivy-draped buildings through weep ing willow branches, shimmering olive trees, and cypress tree spires on an evening stroll. The peaceful trickle of more than a dozen unique water features completed the distinctly Mediter ranean atmosphere of the property.

We followed one of the lantern-lit paths and arrived right on time for a dinner reservation at AVANT. A warm fireplace greeted us inside, along with a glowing sunset streaming in through the windows. The wraparound bar was filled with guests and locals chatting over cocktails, while others finished happy hour on the vibrant patio just beyond. Dark beams and wood paneling framed the dining room furnished with intimate booths, tables, and banquette seating, all tied together with Spanish iron accents.

The drink menu offers New and Old World wines, hyper-lo cal beers, and cocktails crafted with regional touches. Partial to gin, I ordered The Flying Dutchman, a refreshing combination with spicy ginger beer, tart pomegranate, and aromatic mint. We turned our attention to the dinner menu, organized by sea, garden, and land. The dishes can change daily for seasonality, with many ingredients sourced from the on-site chef’s garden.

We enjoyed the salmon belly crudo served with creamy avo cado, briny seaweed, and crunchy radish along with Dungeness crab elegantly wrapped in sheets of avocado and cucumber, and topped with crispy potato wafers. The Wagyu beef duo of petite tenderloin and braised brisket with roasted young squash and zucchini purée was a definite highlight of the evening. We con sidered whether we had room for dessert as live music played in the background and couldn’t resist the house-favorite cinnamon sugar doughnuts with Irish coffee affogato as the sweet end to our evening.

Saturday

We’d ordered room service the night before and woke up to take advantage of a lazy morning breakfast on the balcony and coffee in bed while making plans for the day. I was excited to be staying near my hometown where I could revisit some of my favorite places like the Blue Sky Reserve. We tackled the two-mile hike through live oak

trees and sagebrush, finishing just in time to stop for a quick lunch at Brothers Provisions. This artisan market and deli is part of the 3 Local Brothers restaurant group, which started with RB favorites The Barrel Room and Urge Gastropub, just down the street.

Back at the inn, we spent the afternoon lounging at the adultsonly pool, our noses in books and palm trees swaying above. As the sun set, we returned to our room to change for dinner. We began the evening with fireside drinks at Veranda, the patio lounge and restaurant on the property, before catching an Uber to our dinner reservation at The Cork and Craft. Located in an unassuming business park, this hidden gem cultivated by local talent shares space with urban winery Abnormal Wine Co. and craft brewery Abnormal Beer Co.

Sunday

We started the day with coffee in the room before heading back to Veranda for a patio brunch. While sipping on a fresh strawberry lavender lemonade, we decided to spend the day in the lush alcoves of the award-winning Rancho Bernardo Inn Spa. Its natural beauty was instantly therapeutic. Fragrant herbs, flowers, and fruits are freshly picked from the chef’s garden next door and used in spa treatments to create a truly grounding experience.

We left feeling not only rejuvenated by our stay, but relieved that we can easily return—maybe even next weekend.

Neighborhood Dining Guide

NORTH COUNTY

A.R. VALENTIEN

11480 North Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla 858-453-4420 • lodgetorreypines.com/ar-valentien

The Torrey Pines Lodge’s signature restaurant, A.R. Valentien, highlights regional San Diego cuisine served in an elegant, timbered indooroutdoor dining room overlooking the 18th hole of Torrey Pines Golf Course. Executive chef Jeff Jackson sources only the best local provisions, and the menu changes frequently based on seasonal fare available. The restaurant takes its name from a talented early-20th-century California artist whose works are exhibited throughout the restaurant.

MISSION BEACH

ESCOGELATO

122 South Kalmia St., Escondido 760-745-6500 • escogelato.com

Located in the heart of Escondido, EscoGelato is made fresh daily using the highest quality ingre dients and fresh fruit sourced from local farmers. The result is a luscious, super-creamy gelato that’s full of flavor. You will taste the difference. In ad dition to the main event, enjoy a nice selection of paninis, soups, salads, coffee, and tea.

JUICE WAVE

3733 Mission Blvd., Mission Beach 858-488-0800 • juicewavesd.com

What began as San Diego’s first organic juice truck now has two happy homes in Miramar and Mission Beach. Still, their commitment rings true: “Refresh and nourish the soul by using the best quality farm-fresh ingredients from local farms that reflect the radiant growing season in Southern Califor nia.” Check out their creatively named cleanses, like Lettuce Love, Turnip The Beet, and Kalefornia.

POINT LOMA SOLARE

2820 Roosevelt Rd., San Diego 619-270-9670 • solarelounge.com

Solare is an authentic Italian restaurant with a special focus on southern Italy and Sicily featuring a menu made with fresh ingredients selected daily. Blending modern and traditional tastes, the results are light and healthy dishes brimming with natural flavors. Complement your meal with one of 2,000 bottles of wine from the cellar or 30 wines by the glass. Solare is committed to serving the cuisine of today, created with all the love and attention to detail from generations past.

DOWNTOWN / LITTLE ITALY

Bivouac Ciderworks

OCEANA COASTAL KITCHEN

3999 Mission Blvd., San Diego 858-539-8635 • catamaranresort.com/dining-entertainment/ oceana-san-diego-restaurant

Oceana Coastal Kitchen features chef-driven California cui sine and a modern, ocean-inspired design. Oceana offers bayfront dining at an iconic Pacific Beach hideaway. Executive chef Steven Riemer’s playful interpretations of classic dishes highlight the purity and flavors of California local produce and a commitment to sustainable ingredients. A cold bar with sushi options, small bites, and main dishes includes the fresh est seafood available from the coast of Baja and the Pacific.

3986 30th St., San Diego 619-725-0844 • bivouaccider.com

As a center for experimentation and camaraderie, Bivouac Ciderworks is a welcome home for active, crea tive, and outdoorsy cider and food enthusiasts alike. Their goal is to inspire curiosity and foster a passion for what craft cider brings to the table.

The outdoor-inspired tasting room, right in the heart of North Park, features a full menu of food options. Don’t miss the Impossible Burger, award-winning tuna poke, and vegan jackfruit sliders.

These restaurants are either locally owned, passionate about local sourcing, or both. Enjoy a delicious meal and make sure to tell our advertisers that Edible San Diego sent you!

BY JONI PARMER

San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum

Remember watching Mrs. Frizzle on The Magic School Bus on Saturday mornings? This children’s museum is the magic school bus in living color, bringing scholastic entertainment to life with endless interactive opportunities for your kiddos to explore. With the massive Magnetic Ball Wall and Magnification Station to Farm Animal Friday and the museum's Nature Make & Take projects, you will be begging your toddler to head to Escondido for an educational adventure.

Check the museum’s calendar for daily programs—and my favorite, World Culture Wednesdays—to travel the globe through fun stories, art, and engineering.

General admission $8/person

IN SEASON

California Spiny Lobster

California spiny lobster season runs October–March, but crustacean lovers throughout the states are hard-pressed to find this elusive favorite due to a high demand and price tag in overseas markets. Sweeter than their East Coast counterparts, these pincer-free bugs are soft in texture and delicate in flavor, allowing culinary creatives to go wild in the kitchen. Try yours at Mitch’s Seafood or get to the market early to take one home from Tuna Harbor Dockside Market. Both San Diego establishments make a point of selling locally harvested seafood. Adventurous types can throw on some diving fins and try catching their own. It’s far more complicated than that, so beginners should do some research and find a buddy.

Events JANUARY

Every Saturday, 8am–1pm, rain or shine, visit the Tuna Harbor Dock side Market and get the freshest selection of San Diego seafood direct from San Diego fishermen. » thedocksidemarket.com

Get an anniversary Teku glass and sample rare beers at the third anniversary party at Pure Project Brewing on Jan. 12 from 1–5pm. » purebrewing.org

Farm to Fork San Diego presents Local Libations Week, starting Jan. 13 with the third annual BIGA Hog Roast. Deals at participating restaurants run through Jan. 19. » farmtoforksd.com

San Diego Restaurant Week features specials from over 180 participating restaurants for eight tantalizing days from Jan. 20–27. » sandiegorestaurantweek.com

FEBRUARY

Random Acts of Kindness Week is the third week of February, and we will be sharing ideas for you to spread kindness early in the month at ediblesandiego.com.

Learn how to grow your farmers’ market business at the InTents Conference reconvening for its third annual year Feb. 24–26. » intentsconference.com

Farm school at Wild Willow Farm will offer a series of three classes on holistic winter orchard care taught by Paul Maschka Feb. 12, 19, and 26. » sandiegoroots.org

Monday

Escondido—Welk Resort †

8860 Lawrence Welk Dr. 3–7pm, year-round 760-651-3630

Tuesday

Coronado

1st St. & B Ave., Ferry Landing 2:30–6pm 760-741-3763

Escondido * Heritage Garden Park Juniper btwn Grand & Valley Pkwy. 2:30–6pm 760-480-4101

Mira Mesa * 10510 Reagan Rd. 2:30–7pm (3–6pm fall-winter) 858-272-7054

Otay Ranch—Chula Vista 2015 Birch Rd. and Eastlake Blvd. 4–8pm (3–7pm winter) 619-279-0032

Pacific Beach Tuesday *† Bayard & Garnet

2–7:30pm (2–7pm fall-winter) 619-233-3901

UCSD Town Square UCSD Campus, Town Square 10am–2pm, Sept to June 858-534-4248

Vail Headquarters * 32115 Temecula Pkwy. 9am–1pm 760-728-7343

Wednesday

Grantville 4647 Zion Ave. Noon–4pm 619-550-7180

Little Italy Wednesday *† 501 W. Date St. 9am–1pm 619-233-5009

Ocean Beach 4900 block of Newport Ave. 4–7pm (4–8pm summer) 619-279-0032

People’s Produce Night Market *† 1655 Euclid Ave. 5–8pm 619-813-9148

Farmers’ Markets

Santee *†

Carlton Hills Blvd. & Mast Blvd. 3–7pm (2:30–6:30pm winter) 619-449-8427

State Street in Carlsbad Village State St. & Carlsbad Village Dr. 3–7pm (3–6pm fall-winter) 858-272-7054

Temecula—Promenade * 40820 Winchester Rd. by Macy’s 9am–1pm 760-728-7343

Thursday

Lemon Grove 2885 Lemon Grove Ave. 3–7pm 619-813-9148

Linda Vista *† 6900 Linda Vista Rd. 3–7pm (2–6pm winter) 760-504-4363

North Park Thursday *† North Park Way & 30th St. 3–7:30pm, year-round 619-550-7180

Oceanside Morning * Pier View Way & Coast Hwy. 101 9am–1pm 760-791-3241

Friday

Borrego Springs Christmas Circle Community Park 7am–noon, Oct to May 760-767-5555

Horton Plaza † 225 Broadway Circle 11am–2pm 619-795-3363

Imperial Beach *† Seacoast Dr. at Pier Plaza 2–7pm, Oct to Mar 2–7:30pm, Apr to Sept info@imperialbeachfarmersmarket.org

La Mesa Village * La Mesa Blvd. btwn Palm & Allison 3–7pm, year-round 619-550-7180

Mission Valley *† NEW! Civita Park 7960 Civita Blvd. 3–7pm 760-504-4363

Rancho Bernardo Winery 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte 9am–1pm 760-500-1709

Saturday

City Heights *†! On Wightman St. btwn Fairmount & 43rd St. 9am–1pm 760-580-0116 Del Mar 1050 Camino Del Mar 1–4pm 858-465-0013

Rancho Penasquitos YMCA 9400 Fairgrove Lane & Salmon River Rd. 9am–1pm 858-484-8788

Temecula—Old Town * Sixth & Front St., Old Town 8am–12:30pm 760-728-7343

Vista *† 325 Melrose Dr., South of Hwy 78 8am–1pm 760-945-7425

Sunday

Allied Gardens Sunday Lewis Middle School 5170 GreenBrier Ave. 10am–2pm 858-568-6291, 619-865-6574

Hillcrest * 3960 Normal & Lincoln Sts. 9am–2pm 619-237-1632

La Jolla Open Aire Girard Ave. & Genter 9am–1:30pm 858-454-1699

Leucadia * 185 Union St. & Vulcan St. 10am–2pm 858-272-7054

Murrieta * Village Walk Plaza I-15, exit west on Calif. Oaks/Kalmia 9am–1pm 760-728-7343

Rancho Bernardo 16535 Via Esprillo btwn Via Fontero & Via del Campo 11am–2pm 619-279-0032

SDSU Campanile Walkway btwn Hepner Hall & Love Library 10am–3pm, Sept to June www.clube3.org

Sleeves Up Horton Plaza 199 Horton Plaza 10am–2pm 619-481-4959

Valley Center 28246 Lilac Rd. 3–7pm (2–6pm, Nov to Mar) vccountryfarmersmarket@gmail.com

* Market vendors accept WIC (Women, Infants, Children Farmers’ Market checks)

† Market vendors accept EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer)

! Currently only City Heights accepts WIC Farmers’ Market Checks and the WIC Fruit and Vegetable Checks.

Kearny Mesa NEW! 8725 Ariva Ct. 9:30am–1:30pm 858-272-7054

Little Italy Mercato *† 600 W. Date St. 8am–2pm 619-233-3901

Pacific Beach 4150 Mission Blvd. 8am–noon 760-741-3763

Poway * Old Poway Park 14134 Midland Rd. at Temple 8am–1pm 619-249-9395

North San Diego / Sikes Adobe † 12655 Sunset Dr., Escondido 10:30am–3:30pm, year-round 858-735-5311

Rancho Santa Fe Del Rayo Village 16079 San Dieguito Rd. 9:30am–2pm 619-743-4263

Santa Ysabel Hwy 78 & 79 21887 Washington St. Noon–4pm 760-782-9202

Solana Beach 410 to 444 South Cedros Ave. Noon–4pm 858-755-0444

All San Diego County markets listed except SDSU and Seeds @ City are certified by the County Agricultural Commissioner. Visit ediblesandiego.com and click on “Resources” for more complete information and links to farmers’ market websites.

BY MARIA HESSE

How to Conquer the Spaghetti Squash

Tempted by the Pinterest-pretty carb-free pictures of roasted halves of spaghetti squash (Curcurbita pepo) forked into appetizing strings that look like guilt less spaghetti, you start by following blog directions that insist “it’s so simple” and preheat your oven to 350°.

To prep the squash, you proceed to cut the squash in half—or, at least try to cut the squash in half. In 10 minutes’ time, your heart rate is up and you’ve nearly missed severing three fingers. There’s nothing in that blog about what to do if cutting a spaghetti squash open is like sawing through concrete with your bare hands, but you got this. About 40 minutes later, that sucker is halved, seeds removed, set on a baking sheet, rubbed down with extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and peppered. You’re panting, but it’s ready to go in the oven.

The timer is set for 30 minutes and now you wait, hanxious (hungry and anxious) for your hard work to deliver a golden roasted pasta substitute packed with potassium and beta-carotene. The timer goes off and you pull the sheet pan out of the oven and start at the squash with a fork. But nothing’s happening. It’s not turning into pasta like magic because it looks raw, no golden brown roasting

marks in sight. You put it back in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Blast, it’s still raw—and looking a little dry. You burn your hand adding a little more olive oil and it goes back in the oven. You sit intensely in front of the window watching for this thing to turn perfect like it’s your final bake. Another 45 minutes and it’s ready, but you’re not hungry because you snacked on a pack of cookies and ate all the chips with salsa during that extra hour.

Next time, conquer the spaghetti squash by preheating your oven to 425°. Rinse under cool water and dry the entire squash to remove any dirt and debris. Pierce the skin four times with a fork and toss the squash into the oven on a cookie sheet. That’s right, you’re baking

it whole. Bake smaller squash for about 40 minutes, up to an hour for a larger squash, and flip the squash over halfway through cook time for even baking. You can tell it’s done when the squash feels soft under the push of a wooden spoon. Remove and cool the squash enough to handle with a hot pad or glove, about 5 to 10 minutes. Effortlessly slip a chef’s knife right through the center, end to end, and stand back to let it steam once it’s opened. Use a metal spoon to easily scoop out the seeds, and pull with a fork to separate the squash into al dente strands. No handsawing required.

Toss the squash with a little salt, pep per, grated romano, and olive oil to serve cacio e pepe style, or incorporate into another favorite pasta recipe.