Somehow, I came upon this—the Studio Diner—www.studiodiner.com/index.html. What makes this place interesting is that their claim to fame is having a real, working TV studio in the back lot. In fact, their website proudly notes that the “Renegade” and “Silk Stalkings” were both shot there. So that was enough for me. Punching the address into my GPS and picking up my camera (to record this brush with fame of course), I set out to find tonight’s kill.

Imagine my surprise when I got there. There was an equally proud sign announcing the fact that the Studio Diner had been on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives! One of the greatest TV concepts of all time! So now I was really ready to experience the greasy delights that would be diner fare! Here’s a link to the episode: www.foodnetwork.com/food/where_to_find_guide/episode/0,,FOOD_10336_54832,00.html

Just to prove that I’ve been there, here’s a picture of me I made the waitress take.

Here’s what I ordered (waaaaay too much food): a Double Diner burger, consisting of two ½ lb. patties in between a roll (yes, a full 1-lb burger!); a side of homemade coleslaw (really tasty); a cup of beef brisket chili; and, an order of onion rings. The Delsym didn’t come from the diner. I bought it at a Rite-Aid (for $9.99 plus tax!) just before dinner to ensure that I could enjoy it without hacking through it.

I took this next picture for Rachel. Interestingly, just across the street is the Jack-in-the-Box Innovation Center! Yes, they really do have a place to dream up new foods to kill you! If you click on the thumbnail (or any picture in this blog), it will open into a full photo where you can clearly see the Studio Diner across the street.

It reminded me of my San Diego steak experiences on this trip though. So, here’s what I’ve done this past week:

The Butcher Shop: Decent ribeye in a traditional, overstuffed, dark oak, smoking room type atmosphere—with a fireplace in the main dining room. As I said, a good, if not great, ribeye. The best part of the evening was the old couple at the table next to mine—hanging all over each other. After a while, it was like “Get a room!” kind of action. My boss thinks they were in love. I agreed, but I think they were lovers—definitely having an affair!!!!!

The Red Fox Steak House: Another old-school steak house with a famous history. Apparently the dining room has had several assemblies, disassemblies, relocations, and reassemblies. It was definitely dark, with traditional atmosphere, and traditional limited menu. The menu was so limited as a matter of fact, that ribeye wasn’t even on it! So it lost some points right from the get-go. I went with the sirloin–extra rare. Again, okay, nothing to write home about as they say.

Finally, last night the Turf Supper Club: Of the three, this was probably the best, but for a very special reason. It was one of those “you cook it yourself” places!!! So I happily headed off for a finely prepared steak, only to find out that the small place only has booths for parties of 2 or more—I had to take a place at the bar—which wasn’t a problem really. I spied a ribeye on the menu; chose it naturally, and added a 1/2 order of skewered veggies. The reason for the veggies? They don’t really have side orders at the Turf Supper Club; a garden salad, and veggies on a skewer that you cook alongside the redmeat.

Armed with my prize, the veggies, and a piece of raw toast (you grill that too), I set out for the charcoal grill and within about 5 minutes was chowing down. Except for the fact that it was cooked to perfection, I must say that the steak was just okay, the veggies a nice change, and the toast excellent. One nice surprise though: the total bill, $24.00 out the door. At that price I really can’t complain.

So that’s it—my foray into three of the best steakhouses in San Diego. And they are—all listed on many of the “best of” lists of steak places in town. At this rate, I’ll move on to other cuisines for the rest of my stay in town, but maybe on the next trip, the Greystone, where a 32 oz. bone-in ribeye can be had for only $42! I might just go ahead and spend my per diem on that badboy!

Since I was in the area (or so at least I thought), I decided to take a ride out to Julian, CA, described as a real gold mining ghost town, now famous for its apple pies(!) On the way, I ran across the Cleveland National Forest, and thinking that it was funny to be clear across the country and still ending up in Cleveland, I decided to stop and take a picture to prove it.

What I saw as I had to snake back and forth along California Highway 79 through the forest was much more interesting. This area was apparently one of the wildfire areas from last year, and the landscape was entirely dotted by burned out hulks of trees. The ones standing all had blackened bark; the rest black as well, but neatly cut down into chunks of burned out logs.

After an eternity of winding roads along near cliff edges, I finally arrived 90 minutes later in Julian. The historical society was closed; the “gold mine” was closed, and I didn’t see even a single ghost. The center of town was a like a tourist mecca though, as it was overrun by (presumably) Californians scurrying about from boutique to boutique in their winter parkas. Now that’s important–their garb that is–because while it was a bit chilly, around 55 degrees, everyone was wearing winter gear while I wore only my Ohio University t-shirt. Funny what you get used to when it comes to “cold.”

Oh yeah, I did have a slice of apple pie ala mode, and it really was pretty good!

The Jasmine Bistro is an “asian-fusion” restaurant in El Cajon, CA. It’s supposedly run by the same people at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant. Too bad they didn’t bring the food along too. I chose to do the dim sum on Sunday, figuring that it would keep me over most of the day until dinner time. The menu said “Dim sum daily 11am-3pm” so when I arrived at noon, I figured that I would get the best stuff—no leftovers, and food aplenty. Well, the food I did get was okay—really nothing special. Har gow, sui mai, tarot, sticky rice. But guess what? No egg custard tarts! Not a one! The guy tells me at only 1pm that they’re all out! I’m not even sure they ever really had them, as they weren’t listed on the menu to begin with.

Come on though, on a Sunday, a busy dim sum day, at the self proclaimed “best dim sum in San Diego”? Out of egg custard tarts mid-day? By the way, there were only about a half dozen customers in the place while I was there, and they didn’t all have dim sum. So this place definitely gets my thumbs down. Fortunately, I wasn’t ever planning on going back there again anyway. Still, it should have lived up to its namesake!

In a town where 800 sq. foot homes go for $1-million dollars (note the listing for one reduced to under $1-million!), the last thing I expected on Coronado Island was a laundromat.

Lucky for me though, that the Surf and Suds Laundromat is right there on the northern tip of the island. So just like when I was in London, and not like when I was in Bangkok (dragging 3 weeks worth of clothes around), today was laundry day to get me through week one of this three week journey. It was pretty weird thinking that just outside the laundromat are homes that run from $900,000 to $11-million–literally across the street!

Maybe the most interesting thing is this view of San Diego across the bay from the island, taken just outside the door of the laundromat.

As I always say, “I escape bad weather and bring the good with me!” So if you want nice weather, invite me over!

Here’s the first stop on the Jasmine world tour–tour of restaurants named Jasmine that is. One day I was playing with my Garmin GPS and found a Jasmine restaurant; then another; and another; and another… With that many Jasmine’s around, I thought it would be cool to see how many I could get to. This is the first stop.

Now technically, I’ve been to this restaurant before, so it does violate my rule of never going to the same restaurant twice (other than the “A Christmas Story” restaurant that is), but that was before the tour, so I’m not counting it.

As you can see from the outside shot, it’s a pretty upscale place, with seating for about 400 at one time (kind of like the Chinese restaurants Sharon went to in China!). The menu was kind of hefty too, with many, many items “market price”d, especially the seafood. Speaking of which, I thought it was a seafood restaurant as the name implied, but while I was there, 3 tables ordered Peking Duck (at $32 a head), so go figure.

I, instead, held true to the concept, and as you can see in the second picture, the standard  chinese cabbage with oyster sauce, and steamed sea bass was my choice. Take a good look–that little repast set me back $47.13 before tip. I used up my entire per diem on this stuff, and some of tomorrow’s too! As this stuff goes though, it was pretty good, so tomorrow it’ll be Jack In The Box to get back on track.