Let's Do Lunch

Dish

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, pragmatists go to lunch. With little effort, the hour or so of respite can be manipulated into a satisfying sliver of vacation. One ploy: Skitter off to a restaurant in a distant part of town (or county). Rest assured that a good reason to do so always can be found.

For example, when did you last explore the business climate in Chula Vista? Buzz down I-805 to the Bonita Road/E Street offramp, glide west for one block, and hang a tight right at the Ramada Inn sign, which also marks the driveway to Los Arcos. The Mexico-spanning seafoodery recently delighted aficionados by crossing the border, bringing bold flavors paired with a fiesta-bright décor. If you like it hot, tell the smiling server, “We’ll start with the ceviche especial Los Arcos, please.” Served with tostadas, it’s a sizable plate of lime-juice-marinated, chopped raw shrimp spiced with diced onions and smoked chili de arbol. You’ll feel the heat, so order some guacamole on the side — and maybe a Bohemia, too (89 Bonita Road, Chula Vista, 619-934-3517) ... When a new barbecue joint with Chicago roots claims the house sauce is “famous,” the obligation to investigate arises. Near the Washington Street terminus of India Street, the amiable House of BBQ features good pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches with a sweet-kicky sauce that seasons the meats just right. The Chicago-style coleslaw piled on the upper half of the bun can be scraped off and eaten, San Diego style, on the side (3659 India Street, 619- 298-7176) ... The desire for a deeper understanding of Windy City cuisine justifies jaunts to the Golden Triangle’s Renaissance Towne Center, where Chicago On A Bun serves ne plus ultra hot dogs loaded with chopped onions, handmade relish and pickled sport peppers. Why the name “sport peppers”? Go ask, and while there, feast on freshly fried potato chips.

BEACH BURGERS BOOGIE: San Diegan William A. Harper wrote a letter to The Union-Tribune complaining that new bridge tolls considered by the Coronado City Council seem designed to “drive out the great unwashed” who find Coronado irresistible. A key phrase read, “forget Hodad’s in Ocean Beach, the burgers at the beach bar of the Great Hotel are audaciously appetizing and, more to the point, filling.” This inspired a cruise over the still-free bridge (there’s always a good reason to go to lunch), and one Thursday noon, Hotel del Coronado executive chef John Shelton waited at the Sun Deck Bar to give a guided tour of his handsome white Cheddar burger. Given the chance, he’ll rhapsodize. “We grate the aged white Cheddar and pile it on after the burger is cooked, so it doesn’t melt,” he explains, adding, “You taste it better that way.” Audaciously appetizing indeed, the well-garnished burger nestles inside a brioche bun beside a nearmountain of crisp fries. A bargain for the Del, the $12.75 price includes a vista of ocean, Point Loma and ships at sea. Wear your swimsuit and hit the beach afterward.

LIFE AFTER LUNCH: The new “Happier Hour” at downtown’s decadent-by-design Ivy makes the hotel’s extravagant restaurant and lounges affordable between 4 and 9 p.m. weekdays. Grey Goose cocktails and some specialty drinks sell for $5, and bar snacks (Kobe beef sliders, popcorn shrimp) are half-price ... Through Labor Day, Rancho Valencia celebrates its 20th anniversary by offering a $19.89 menu of two-course meals created by new executive chef C. Barclay Dodge. Among the imaginative possibilities: chilled almond soup with crab and “watercress pilfered from our neighbor’s stream,” followed by orange-scented lamb shank with homemade noodles and Moroccan pickled carrots ... New at 421 Market Street: Funky Garcia’s, a Tijuana-style “street food” eatery where nothing costs more than $4.99. It sounds like the real deal; you can order molletes, the toasted rolls topped with frijoles and shredded cheese ... The classy new El Vitral inside the boundaries of Petco Park serves good chow (huitlacoche-stuffed chicken breast in hibiscus sauce) in choice digs, but charges $2 for an order of tortillas. No bueno!

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Side Dish

“IT IS AMAZING to think you can put 10 different parts of a pig in one dish, but somehow I did it,” confesses Jim Phillips, long a quiet powerhouse in San Diego cooking and now executive souschef at Barona Resort & Casino. Phillips, who helped create several stylish, about-to-debut restaurants at Barona (“We serve La Jolla food at Lakeside prices,” he says), used his French training to devise the “Chop en Crepinette & Lattice Pie,” a presentation that won him a berth representing Southern California at the 2009 Taste of Elegance competition, sponsored by the National Pork Board and held in Baltimore June 28 and 29. The beguilingly porcine, utterly rich dish pairs an elaborately wrapped chop with a lattice-topped, puff-pastry pork pie. Should the dish be available at the new version of the Barona Oaks Steakhouse (downstairs, in an elegant “restaurant row”), diners will learn that some chefs can coax pigs to fly.

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