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In San Diego, Fine Dining Doesn't Mean High Cost

Rodrigo Muñoz, M.D., is a local arrangements consultant for the 2005 Institute on Psychiatric Services and a past president of APA.

The San Diego area can satisfy the most demanding palate in every price range and many traditions.

Many San Diego–area restaurants serve up beautiful waterside views along with their carefully prepared dishes. San DIego Convention and Visitors Bureau

Some of us can't believe that APA's 2005 Institute on Psychiatric Services is our 57th. Community psychiatry has come of age, and we are enjoying our performance. Community psychiatrists share a lot in many ways, such as support of community efforts, interest in new ideas for better clinics in poor areas, casual clothing, and, of course, casual eating. While I intended to write only about high-end restaurants in this article, my resolve didn't last long. I grew up on rice and beans and still relish going to places where I can enjoy a simple but delicious meal.

Expensive restaurants in San Diego are keeping up with expensive restaurants elsewhere. Not being used to them, I usually avoid them. To the contrary, places that offer sound, decent, reliable food are close to my heart. Take the case of Chuy's in National City. It was there for migrant neighbors when they couldn't pay, and it is still there today, offering the same carnitas, tacos, enchiladas, and tamales to a more prosperous but equally selective clientele. I want to invite you there. Next door is Family Health Centers, the clinic for Latinos where I have been involved for almost 30 years. Come and see a center run, staffed, and enhanced without control by the local government. (Viva la Raza!)

Our very special import from Georgia, Jimmy Carter (no relation, but same politics), runs the community center, political forum, and best restaurant in my neighborhood downtown. For a while we had Howard Dean campaign meetings there every Wednesday. Jimmy offers typical American, Indian, Chinese, and, of course, Mexican fare. My Latin friends, my friends from elsewhere (Harold Eist), and my patients have declared that Jimmy's carne asada is the best on the planet. My discriminating friends encourage me to ask for the Indian dishes, which I consider superb.

I highly recommend the Prado. It has the best cuisine of many of the high-end restaurants and a distinctive international character (try the international drinks). The restaurant is located in the House of Hospitality, a classic example of the Spanish Colonial Revival–style buildings constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Wrote one restaurant reviewer about Prado, "Yes, a restaurant can have brains as well as beauty." You can come with a few friends at minimal cost by taxi and open yourself to all the amenities of Balboa Park, ending with one of the best dinners in town. Balboa Park is the home of more than 85 performing arts and international cultural organizations, 15 museums, the San Diego Zoo, and extensive gardens painstakingly maintained.

San Diego has been enriched by the industrious Thai and Vietnamese cuisine masters who have come to our city determined to succeed. Many of their restaurants are very good and not expensive. My favorite is A Taste of Thai. The delicacy of Eastern cooking and the excellent quality of the basic products used in its dishes work together to satisfy the taste of even the most demanding Californians.

California is a melting pot, and unusual events occur in the pot. Take the case of the Mexican chef who comes to California, works at a Mediterranean restaurant, and produces incredible Mexican-Mediterranean dishes. That's the case at Candelas.

Perhaps you want a completely different experience. If you want to drive north to be in communion with the ocean while enjoying your dinner, just take Highway 5 to Solana Beach, go to the venerable Highway 101, continue north, and soon you will see the Chart House and the Poseidon a few inches from the ocean. If you decide that you would rather see than feel the ocean, come back to Del Mar and be dazzled by ocean as far as you can see while enjoying the wonderful hospitality and good food of Pacifica Del Mar.

I have been at Jake's in Chula Vista and Del Mar. Jake's is a charming waterfront restaurant specializing in fresh seafood. I appreciate the restaurant's attention to quality, good service, and great vistas, along with its open space and elegance.

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