San Diego Reader Best of 2024

Thanks for noticing

This summer, a friend gave me a copy of Daniel Gross and Tyler Cowan’s book Talent (maybe he thought it would help). He also suggested I listen to Cowan’s podcast, Conversations with Tyler. I started with the episode featuring poet, former National Endowment for the Arts chair, and former General Foods exec Dana Gioia...

Lost Abbey finds a new way

It is surely appropriate that Lost Abbey has religion as its motif; in the 18 years since Tomme Arthur’s Vista-based brewery first opened, it has earned a devoted following among beer fans, one that stretches well beyond San Diego County. We locals are fortunate that we do not have to make a lengthy pilgrimage...

Ian Anderson’s apogees

This year makes it 10 that I’ve been visiting San Diego restaurants and writing about it for the Reader’s Feast column, so I’m taking a look back at a few the best things I’ve eaten while on the job. These are my standouts from the past 10 years, by course...

Sea Hive Station – not a Victorian antique store

San Diego’s best antique store isn’t really an antique store — at least, not of the old school variety, the sort of place where the merchandise consists mostly of Victorian dressers, cane-back rocking chairs, Depression-era glassware, and rusty old washboards. Sea Hive Station, in the heart of the city of San Diego’s stunning Liberty Station hub...

When Rafael Payare met with Irwin Jacobs

After decades of limping along with concert venues based on old movie theaters and whatever the Civic Theatre is based on, San Diego now has a world-class classical music hall. For the past three years, Copley Symphony Hall has been undergoing a $120 million transformation into The Jacobs Music Center...

The ups and downs of Del Cerro on a bike

In 2015, my wife and I moved from Los Angeles County to San Diego. The Del Cerro home we picked on Dwane Avenue has a view of San Diego State University. On a clear day, we can see San Diego Bay, Tijuana, and the Coronado Islands. We love that view, and it was one of the main reasons we bought the house...

A rope course designed to resemble the Giant Dipper at Belmont Part

Become a child again — and give your body a workout, to boot. Over on the west side of the 4275-acre beach paradise known as Mission Bay Park, there’s a playground with a lot more than the expected swings and slides...

The Eurovan man can

Two years ago, my wife fulfilled a dream she’d had since she was old enough to drive: owning a Volkswagen camper van. She hunted for a good long while before eventually finding just what she wanted: a 1997 Eurovan Winnebago that had been treated beautifully by its owner in Carlsbad. This was the one...

Peaceful, eaze-y feeling

It’s hard to believe there was a time when cannabis was hard to find. (“Cannabis” — how formal. In my late teens, the references used were “weed,” “herb,” “marijuana,” and “pot.” But that’s what happens when you get legal...