Some observations from readers and Buzz…feel free to comment.

If you experience issues with your meal or service, please don’t wait til you leave or, as happened at Farm House Cafe, write an anonymous two page scorching letter about the scallop dish they ate.  Had Olivier Bioteau, the chef/owner been aware at the time of the meal, he could have replaced the errant dish and could have dealt with the diner at the moment.  By not expressing (nicely, by the way) the problem when it happens, everyone loses.  And, restaurants and their owners always like to hear good comments also. (Side note:  Farm House Cafe will be closed Labor Day weekend from Sunday dinner to reopen for dinner on Wednesday, September 8).

Shishito peppers seem to be the current darling of local chefs.  The summer pepper is small and thin-skinned, not really hot and usually served in Japanese restaurants as an appetizer (peppers flash fried in a tiny bit of oil and cooked to just barely scorch the skin, then served with sea salt or topped with bonito flakes).  Buzz ate them at Searsucker (called so over cleverly “no shoshiito schoos”)  and heard from a reader about them at Bali Hai.

Trader Joe’s now carries coconut water, a good mix of electrolytes, with no additives that Buzz can attest, tastes good.  It comes from the water of green coconuts and is considered to be quite a healthy drink.  If you’d like to buy fresh green coconuts and coconut trees, check out Florida Coconuts, a company that grows and ships the coconuts nationwide.

The New York Times Op-Ed piece, Math Lessons for Locovores is worth the read and certain to provoke discussion.  If you’ve not encountered an interesting site called Grist, it has a good vitural roundtable discussion addressing this Op-Ed story.

**All three locations of The 3rd Corner (with the very cool redesigned website…) now offer happy hour from 3 to 6pm in the bar only, Tuesday through Saturday.  Note the three venues are closed on Monday.

**That venerable group of local chefs known as CooksConfab will host Camp Confab, a sleep-over at Susie’s Farm in Imperial Beach on September 11 and 12.  Dinner and breakfast the next morning will be prepared by many of the confab chefs.  And you will be able to participate in harvesting, cleaning and preparing the produce from the farm.  Sounds like a hoot with a host of activities that include guest appearances and tastings from such luminaries in their field as Gina Frieze from Venissimo Cheese, MIHO Gastgrotruck, and beers from Lost Abbey and master brewer Tomme Arthur and evening cocktails (after you help harvest) with mixologist Ian Ward of Snake Oil Cocktail Co. Lest you think it’s all veggies, the protein part of the meal is barbacoa of local goat and stick fire roasted local fish.  There’s lots more for the $225 per person. Reservations are limited and so, at 9am September 1, get on the CooksConfab website to register.  100% of the proceeds go to Slow Food Urban San Diego.

**Jeff Rossman, owner/chef of Terra Restaurant, a hidden gem in Hillcrest (on Vermont near the east side of  Trader Joe’s), has finished his cookbook, From Terra’s Table.  Just in time for a holiday gift, the book publishes in November and sells for $32.95 online and at bookstores.  The focus is on Jeff’s passion for local ingredients and the many farms and vendors that supply his restaurant.  You can receive a 20% discount as a foodbuzzsd reader when you buy the book online here and use the code foodbuzzsd20 .

**Gordy’s Bakery sounds yummy and a place Buzz needs to try as she travels the 5 back and forth to LA.  Just east off the freeway at Encinitas Boulevard in the Smart & Final center.  Owner Gordy is born and raised in Encinitas and had a wholesale bakery business years ago.  Sold the business and took a break and worked at the Running Shoes store and trained the track team at San Dieguito Academy.  He has now gone back to his love of baking and has opened a retail bakery in the previous Baskin-Robbins space.

In the world of food, let’s face it, there’s a lot of junk, stuff that kids grow up on because their parents can’t figure out how to cook a simple breakfast, or in this particular case, can’t put bread in a toaster and then top it with any and everything from peanut butter and jelly to a fried egg and bacon.  Instead, they eat Pop-Tarts that are practically a faux food created 40 plus years ago by food giant Kellogg.  These sugary things that many consume for breakfast or snacks now have a brand store.  Yep, a store with everything Pop-Tart(ed).  Should you find yourself in New York’s Times Square, you can indulge a sugar craving at the first Pop-Tarts World store located at  128 West 42nd St.  The New York Times gives you the rest of the story.

Point Loma’s Roseville abruptly closed last week.  Various issues seem to be at the heart of the restaurant’s sudden turn.  We’re hearing that owner George Riffle is trying to work with the landlords but might possibly relocate the restaurant.  So, as with all things in life, it’s a fluid, changing situation.  Stay tuned.

It may be early to think about school, but a group led by Alice Robertson and Caron Golden launched the second annual Food 4 Kids Backpack Program that provides food and backpacks for low income elementary kids at risk for hunger, especially on weekends.   NBC San Diego is their partner and they will donate the equivalent of the 7% cut First Giving takes so food4kids gets all the monies raised.

If you don’t want to donate money, then get to the August 21 Little Italy Mercato and donate neutral black or red backpacks (no logos, please) and kid-friendly non-perishable food. And there’s a raffle to boot on Saturday with swell items.

Or you can eat  at more than 40 restaurants this month and choose the “Dollar a Dish” item that features a specific dish for which the restaurant  will donate $1 every time it is ordered during the month. For a list of the restaurants and their dishes, go to San Diego Foodstuff.

Buzz donated…how about you?

Popped into Brian Malarkey’s latest invention, Searsucker, on the corner of Fifth and Market.  With it’s open ceiling, large windows, wood and old brick wall, the place has the feel of an airy, comfortable big country home.  There are sofas where you can eat and drink.  The bar is to the right of the entrance…and aside from backless bar stools and no purse hooks (lots of purses on the floor),  it’s perfect for sipping and munching.

The menu is clever, albeit almost too clever and divided into Bites, Smalls, Greens, Ocean, Ranch, Farm, And…. Buzz popped in this week for a drink and a few Bites that included the simple preparation of  quickly seared and lightly glazed shishito peppers (a staple usually reserved for Japanese restaurants)  topped with a bit of citrus zest ($5) and the duck fat garlic fries with a tomato jam and tiny flecks of bacon and parsley ($6).  In  Smalls  you’ll find spicy Baja shrimp and bacon grits ($12)–the Baja refers to the shrimp’s source, the spicy comes from a hearty Cajun spice blend and the rich and creamy grits make a perfect bed for the five medium-size, perfectly cooked shrimp.  Some of the other menu items include farm bird lollipops and bleu fondue ($8) (Malarkey’s version of buffalo wings), or eggs and bacon ($) (four ounces of pork belly topped with an egg) and lots more such as cheek with goat cheese dumpling ($23) and local Baja scallops, foie gras and figs ($28).

It’s a fun place with good people watching, especially if you sit at the bar or along the high tops that edge the windows.  Be prepared for a $15 valet parking fee.  Open 5pm for drinks and Bites and 6pm for dinner,  611 Fifth Avenue at Market, 619-233-7327.

If you’ve not tried Saffron’s monthly Thai street food extravaganza, you must this Saturday, August 7.   Served from 11 am to 2pm on the patio, you can try these typical foods.  This month a Buzz favorite (that used to be on the regular menu) will be available:  Lao sausage (home made spicy chicken sausage grilled and served with green papaya salad ($5.50).  Try it along with an ear of grilled local corn lathered with grated coconut and coconut cream ($2) or two Thai coconut macaroons ($1.50).  3731 B India Street at Washington, 619-574-7734.

Little Italy will soon be home to a Chicago transplant–Francesca’s takes over in the former Zagarella and Cefalu spaces, at 1655 India Street, about 5,000 square feet on a ten year lease valued at just over $2 million.

Red Leight isn’t a district but is a cleverly named and bottled Rosé.   The vineyards are in Malibu on 37 acres  and they have been producing since 2006.  Howard Leight created Red Leight which is under the Malibu Rocky Oaks Estate Vineyards label that produces award-winning Cabs along with a Syrah and Merlot.  Buzz was lucky enough to taste the Rosé and Syrah along with San Diego’s top sommeliers, wine directors and distributors–and the wines are notable.  You can purchase online at their website and soon (we hope) will have distribution here.

Just opened, Sessions Public, an odd name for a new contemporary place sandwiched next to the retro Catalina Bar at Voltaire and Catalina.  The tavern style food is good and if the Cat Bar (as the locals refer to it) is too retro, the restaurant’s  long skinny contemporary room features  a full bar to go with the eclectic yet approachable food.  There’s a mystery consulting chef who created the menu that includes an additive bowl of tender crispy chicken oysters ($9), duck confit with an Asian flair of udon noodles ($17),  Nueske bacon tempura lollipops ($8),  short rib sliders ($11) and lobster-scallop cioppino ($20). Happily, most of the menu is $15 and under.  Four of us feasted well though we weren’t impressed with the miniscule serving of Serrano ham and artisan bread ($6).

Buzz wonders if the mysterious consulting chef at Sessions Public  could be Jason Maitland who had been at Arterra for ages…until the axe fell on him and others of the dining management team.  Maitland, is  teaming up with Jerome Astolfi who just left the front of the house at Market Restaurant + Bar in Del Mar to become the general manager at Flavor.  They will open late summer in the old Epazote Steakhouse in Del Mar Plaza.

Charlie’s Best Bread’s new location is the former Con Pane space in Point Loma.  Con Pane, for those of you who missed it, is now in a spacious new space at Dewey and Historic Decatur Streets (in the same  building complex as Ace Hardware, Tin Fish and Point Loma Sports Bar) with lots and lots and lots of free parking.  It’s a short walk to the park if you want a place to relax with a coffee, sandwich or just a slice of artisan bread.

The just renovated Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant in Old Town San Diego  State Park is destined to be a hit.  Most will know the spot as the former Casa Bandini restaurant.  But oh what a cool place it is now with a second floor of ten hotel rooms and some familiar faces to welcome you for drinks and food.  The proprietor is Joseph Melluso well-known for his Tin Fish restaurants in San Diego and around the country, the chef is Amy DiBiase formerly of Roseville and bar goers will find  Sheila Tracy mixing drinks.  The entire venue is set in the 1870′s, complete with period costumes for the staff and victuals that reflect a modern take on those from earlier times.

Chef Amy DiBiase has landed at the soon-to-open historic Cosmopolitan Restaurant (the old Casa Bandini) in Old Town.  The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner and opens at the end of the month.

Newlyweds Wade Hageman and his wife Kristi open their Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria on Friday, June 18 at 5pm.  897 So. Coast Hwy 101, Ste. 102, Encinitas, Ca 92024, (760) 634-7671.

Maria Hunt, ex U-T food writer/critic has relocated to the San Francisco area.

The Hard Rock Hotel San Diego has a new executive chef.  Jon Eyer joins the property with skills honed at the prestigious Westin La Paloma in Tucson as well as the Westin on Hilton Head Island.

Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe artisan bakery opens Wednesday June 16 in their new home at 2750 Dewey Road in Liberty Station.  The location is around the corner from Ace Hardware and in the same block as Tin Fish restaurant.  NOTE:  The bakery’s last day in the old location is June 13, and they will reopen on the 16th.  Buzz has peeked at the new digs and there’s a large patio, a much bigger counter, new oven and they’ll even take credit cards!

Chefs Confab (a group of 14 very good San Diego chefs)  hosts a week of sustainable seafood events that include dinners, talks, and more.  Check the website for information on the series that runs from May 31 to June 6  ending with a $125 dinner at 1500 Ocean created by many of the Confab chefs.

Executive chef Matt Smith, will move from Winesellar & Brasserie to The 3rd Corner’s soon-to-open third location in Palm Desert.  Smith is from Indio and this move will let him be closer to home as well as run Ed Moore’s newest restaurant that opens late June. Desert goers will find the restaurant at the junction of Highways 111 and 74 in the old Palomino site.

Blanca lost chef Jason Neroni who quickly realized that San Diego diners weren’t ready to expand their eating habits to include pork in a various ways or foods cooked sous vide, so he packed up and went back to his New York roots.  In his place,  Gavin Schmidt who just arrived from San Francisco with a resume that includes work as executive chef at the highly rated  Campton Place and chef de cuisine at the two-star Michelin rated  Coi.  We wish him well.

Executive chef Bernard Guillas of The Marine Room , just returned from New York where he launched his cookbook: Flying Pans: Two Chefs, One World.

Buzz fav, Avenue 5 Restaurant & Bar on Fifth between Nutmeg and Oliver, decided to take on the burger craze in a more interesting way.  Every Wednesday is Bodacious Burger night from 5pm to close.  What kind of burgers?  Interesting round-the-world flavored burgers that arrive with six ounces of protein, a small salad, truffle fries and a dill pickle spear and range from $10.95 to $14.95 and include the Aussie lamb burger, the Scottish salmon burger, the Frenchie burger, portobello burger and others.  Closed Monday.

Tuesdays at Jayne’s Gastropub in North Park features a Jayne burger and any draft beer for $15.

Roseville in Point Loma has a new menu created by chef Chad White with prices $20 and under along with bar food choices and nightly specials.  They do need to get their website updated however, as former executive chef Amy DiBiase now heads the Glass Door (with a great view of the bay and Little Italy) at the Hotel Porto Vista.

Tommy Pastrami, with some of the best pastrami and corned beef on corned rye bread is finally opening this summer.  Buzz mentioned them a year ago but they clearly had some problems getting the space finished downtown at 555 West C at Fifth between Broadway and C.

The recent Union-Tribune front-page story by Peter Rowe features a good insight about the sad state of San Diego’s fine dining food scene.  It’s worth the read along with the eight comments and three letters to the editor including one from a guy who writes about restaurant management and service.

Buzz would add to Rowe’s story the elements of restaurant management and service (far too casual and rarely spot on), local media that rarely critically evaluates a restaurant and the many wannabe inexperienced “reviewers” who populate Yelp and Chowhound–many with price and quantity their only markers. As a result, diners miss understanding the finesse a chef needs to execute something more than a burger or what elements make truly fine service–and mediocrity becomes the given. Some of this may also be an issue of age and demographics, as baby boomers seem more interested in trying new foods as this article notes.

Service, in many cases, tends to be better at our ethnic restaurants where rarely a server announces his name A savvy diner (or an out of town food critic) with knowledge of superior service would likely cringe if the server introduced himself to the table with a “hi, my name is…” as continuously happens in San Diego. Even at a recent dinner at 1500 Ocean (a Buzz fav) that featured a high understanding of quality service and top-notch food, that one seemingly trivial and irritating announcement came from our server.

Sure we live in a casual spot, but that doesn’t mean the service needs to be on a first name basis.  The month-old Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern, a casual, comfortable and bustling dockside eatery comes with good tavern food and a five-star management team (Royal Hawaiian, Ritz-Carlton).  Service is attentive and in the five times Buzz visited, the server never mentioned his name.  You can ask if you choose to know.

Then there are the awards Rowe doesn’t mention.  San Diego’s idea of restaurant awards centers on two mainstays: San Diego Magazine’s yearly mentions with the critics and people’s choice awards…some hit the mark, though others are nothing more than a popularity contest.

Consider also the hilarious Gold Medallions given by and for members of the San Diego Chapter of the California Restaurant Association. A restaurant must be a member to even think about being nominated—and the same ones are nominated year after year. There’s nothing wrong with handing out insider awards such as “best hamburger” winner In-N-Out one year, though the next year the category changed and they won for “best fast casual”.  It’s ok to be part of a club, just don’t advertise it to the world so that diners believe these restaurants are the best in the county. Buzz wrote about this in 2007 and not much changed in 2008 or 2009.  The 26th Annual awards dinner will be held June 1.

Nor does it help that the few talented chefs mentioned in Rowe’s piece get very little, if any, local critical reviews. Good reviewing helps the dining public gain knowledge of food and service. That barely 100 people showed up to hear Frank Bruni (the ex-food critic for the New York Times) seems to indicate how so many care so little about how San Diego is seen (or not, as is the case) as a national player in the restaurant scene.

Some chefs, such as executive chef Bernard Guillas at The Marine Room, write a book, Flying Pans: Two Chefs, One World and then do their own PR for the restaurant as well as the book. Guillas just returned from New York events where he launched the book at a dinner for top dining and hospitality editors at the renowned Café Boulud (where ex-San Diego chef Gavin heads the kitchen). Most restaurants in San Diego do not have public relations firms (or a budget for such) to consistently pitch national media.  The standout is, as Rowe mentions, Addison where the chef was among twenty semi-finalists for the Beard Awards this year–due in great part to the hard work of a good PR firm that enlightens the national restaurant media.

Ask any public relations person in this town how many meals they comp to reviewers, and most will say they comp all the time. If not comped, then the reviewer may let the restaurant know they will be in, allowing the restaurant to put its best food and service forward—not necessarily the same for the general public.  (Full disclosure:  Buzz always pays for meals and expects the same service as the rest of the restaurant).  Steve Silverman, a longtime San Diego reviewer, believes “locals who moan that we’re not like New York should get over it and embrace the restaurants we do have.” Others say our food fits the laid back culture of the city and we ought not worry about national media recognizing our chefs.  What do you think?

The newest place for Mexican food on Fifth Avenue at Nutmeg is an Isabel Cruz creation, Barrio Star, previously mentioned here.  The tag line on the menu:  “Mexican Soul Food” and Buzz would agree.  Let’s be clear here, tacos are a dime a dozen all over the city. And some would whine that they shouldn’t be more than a few bucks apiece.

If, however, you want house made tortillas from corn freshly ground daily to become masa for tortillas and tamales, or chunks of oven cooked pork for greaseless yet flavorful carnitas, or tamales with moist masa and lots of chicken, or fresh made salsas or interesting black beans and rice and even greens, then this is your place.

The brightly decorated room with a bar is modern with light from the windows that face Fifth Avenue. The attention to and use of high quality ingredients such as Brandt beef and local suppliers make all the difference from the run of the mill taco joint. Two street size tacos piled with carnitas and a side of beans $9.50 at lunch $13 at dinner with three tacos, or the chicken tamale loaded with succulent chicken  $10.  Open for lunch weekdays from 11:30 to 2:30 and dinner daily from 5 to 10pm.  Reservations accepted. 2706 5th Avenue San Diego, 619-501-7827