mmm-yoso!!!

Guanajuato (2022) - Estacion Gelato and Dinner at Mestizo

Our Uber picked us up right on time in SME and we headed off to Guanajuato. Our driver was fantastic and the hour-and-a-half drive came out to around $30/US! Our hotel, the Casona de Don Lucas was located on Plaza de la Paz and our room, which had two floors also had a small balcony with a view of the Plaza.

Our room was ready when we arrived so we quickly dropped off our bags and headed out to do some exploring. We quickly took to Guanajuato as it was less touristy than SME. We loved the everyday hustle and bustle, the city seemed just a colorful and vibrant.

The first thing we did was head off to the Mercado Hidalgo. Much of Guanajuato is not car friendly; in fact, the main arteries are located underground in tunnels. There are many alleyways, no grid pattern, we were told that much of the city center was built along the walls of the canyons which surround the city. So, we'd often be walking down an alleyway, which would then open up onto a plaza!

The Mercado is located in a huge building. According to legend, it is said that the structure was initially designed to be a train depot. We just took a quick look since we'd be exploring a bit further the following day when we had a private tour scheduled.

After our short visit, we decided to check out some possibilities for dinner and also walk past the University before settling in for a short break. We ended up walking down one of the many winding and narrow streets.

 At the curve in the alleyway stood a little gelato shop. The Missus and I decided to take a short break here.

It turned out to be a good choice. The service was very friendly, the gelato refreshing, and the Missus and I enjoyed sitting on the small balcony.

Estación Gelato
Cantaritos 29
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

Once refreshed and relaxed, we strolled over to Positos and looked over the menus of two places I had on my "list". We'd end up eating a both of them on this short trip, but we'd end up returning to one for a second meal!

We strolled on over and took a quick peek at the University of Guanajuato. The University has over 30,000 students......which is why I kind of consider Guanajuato to be sort of a college town....with a ton of history.

We then headed back to the hotel for a short break before heading out for an early dinner. Since we didn't have reservations; we decided on an early dinner and got to Mestizo at 430pm and easily got a table.

The chef at Mestizo is the son of a well known ceramic artist, so the decor of the restaurant is quite lovely.

While perusing the menu, the Missus had the house version of Sangria, while I had an Old Fashioned.

First thing we noticed was how inexpensive items were versus San Miguel. And as is our MO, we found items on the Entrada menu the most interesting and ended up ordering 5 starters for our meal.

Things started out rather auspiciously with the Tostada de Pato ($180/MX)

While the presentation was very nice. The duck was bland, stringy, and dry.

The Ceviche de Robalo ($280/MX) was a slight improvement .

The marinade was bursting with wonderful citrus flavor, the overall seasoning was nice and complex. The fish however had not been marinated long enough and was overly chewy. Still, this was not bad.

Things turned around in a big way when the Chinchulines con Guacamole ($170/MX) arrived.

Perfectly fried and crisp pork intestines; wonderful porky-mild offal flavors, offset with a creamy-mildly sweet guacamole, with pungent onions and cilantro. Not only was this texturally wonderful, the melding of tastes were fantastic. Why haven't I seen this on menus everywhere?

Next to arrive was the dramatic looking Tartar de Atun en Chile Viejo ($200/MX). 

A nice tuna tartare nestled in a smoky, mildly spicy toasted dried chile, this was quite good. The tuna, was of decent quality, nice and meaty with no off flavors, the flavors counterbalanced with clean and briny cucumber and pungent onions, the nutty-sweet pistachios added a nice layer of flavor as well.

And then the show stopper arrived; the Tuetanos Mestizo ($190/MX).

Good lord, this was so delici-yoso, perfectly roasted, the bones were bursting with buttery-beefy marrow, which just melted in your mouth. A perfect amount of salt and the herbs added layers  of flavor. This was so darn good, that we immediately made reservations to return on our last night in Guanajuato.

We really enjoyed most of the meal. Service was friendly and professional and the prices were quite reasonable. The tortillas were decent and up to the task of handling the food.

Mestizo
Positos 69
Zona Centro, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico

We strolled back to our room, feeling quite satisfied. As we got to De Paz, we decided to grab a nightcap before heading off into dreamland. We saw this doorway and headed down the stairway from the sidewalk.

And walked into almost a speakeasy like bar bathed in greenish light.

The super friendly young woman manning the bar spoke perfect English. There seemed to be an interesting mix of older folks and students having drinks. So the Missus and I each had a nightcap.....

Along with some gratis chips, before heading back across the street to the hotel. I'm still not quite sure what the name of his place is....I'm thinking it was Don Beni Taberna, but am not certain.

Regardless, we really enjoyed our afternoon and evening in Guanajuato. And of course I had bone marrow dancing in my dreams.....

Creamistry- Ice Cream made in front of you, using liquid Nitrogen

Thanks for stopping by to read this food blog named mmm-yoso!!! Today's short post is written by Cathy.  

Ice cream.  A frozen dessert or snack.   Countries around the world have some version, using various add ins (I did particularly like the Qwality Brand ice creams along with the falooda ice cream based beverage at Cash and Carry on Miramar Road and the Filipino ice creams and Halo-Halo at Snoice in Spring Valley.  San Diego has a few modern ice cream shops as well as some older, established businesses, like Mariposa, Niederfranks and (thank you, cc, for this epic post: Oasis). 

In August 2016, Bing Haus opened, featuring rolled ice cream- cream and other ingredients placed on a 'reverse griddle' (ice pan) and in about two minutes, fresh ice cream is made to your order.

A month before Bing Haus, Creamistry opened on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard.  Made to order ice cream using liquid nitrogen in a mixer. We finally made a stop.

The menu is fairly uncomplicated, with suggested combinations costing less than ordering each ingredient separately. 
Then again, there are quite a few possibilities, based on your particular cravings. Notice the stacked stainless steel mixing bowls in the back, far left.
The chosen ingredients are added to the mixing bowl,
 liquid Nitrogen is pumped in, the resulting ice cream is scooped out  and, toppings of the same mix-ins are added. This was our first visit, we were hungry.  We ordered an "Elvis Presley" ($7) - banana ice cream, bananas, candied bacon and peanut butter sauce. (A plain ice cream is $6 and add ins are 50¢ each, so choosing a pre-designed flavor saves). The ice cream is filled with the ingredients and the toppings were just a delightful, fresh fanciness. The ice cream itself is smooth and rich and so very creamy.  This was enough to share. 

Another concept of this summertime treat.  We will be going back to try more.

Creamistry 7420 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 874-6407 {there are two other San Diego locations} Website Open daily at noon.

Créme & Sugar (Del Mar)

You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk is vacationing and Cathy is writing, again.

After The Mister and I finished lunch at Seasurf Fish Co, we passed this storefront two doors down.We thought we should have dessert here. 
Peeking inside we noted familiar decor, consistent with other dessert/coffee places.
The hot and iced drinks menu is on the wall behind the Ordering area.
But, far more interesting choices are on the wall to the right, behind the ice  cream freezers.(If you can't enlarge to read the handwritten wall menus, here is the two-sided menu you can grab at the counter).  The offerings are "Epic" and pretty much 'County Fair Worthy' (there are some photos on the menu).  We decided to go basic, ordering a single scoop ($3.75) of Butter Pecan ice cream.  The serving is HUGE.  The ice cream was good, but the flavor not as 'buttery'/salty as other versions.  The pecans were chopped small.  It is a quality ice cream, but a different flavor will be chosen next time.  
We decided an Affogato ($5.50) over Sweet Créme  ice cream would be nice. Servings elsewhere are not this large. The espresso here is excellent.  The ice cream was rich and had a ribbon of condensed milk running through.  Quite nice. This will be ordered again.

 There are also cookies and slices of cake available.  Next time.

All in all, a lot of dessert, fresh and tasty.  We were stuck in traffic and got home late; neither of us was hungry at dinner time.

Kirbie has been here.

Créme & Sugar 3646 Del Mar Heights Road Del Mar 92014 Website Open Sunday-Thursday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri-Sat 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
 

Up 2 Yoü Cafe (revisits)

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this blog.  It's a food blog.  Cathy is writing today; Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are otherwise indisposed.

I just read this article, which has a mention about Up 2 Yoü in the second paragraph and decided I should get a post out before the changes occur. There are two locations of Up 2 Yoü (I've written about dessert at the first location twice.). With the heatwave we've been having, being able to sit down for a refreshing dessert is so refreshing. 

The other Up 2 Yoü location is in the same parking lot as Homestyle Hawaiian (just behind/around the corner from the soon to be rebuilt K-Sandwiches).      The interior is spacious. The ordering is right next to   the menu on the wall. The choices are varied.
 A simple affogato (espresso and ice cream) (in this case, vanilla) ($3.95) is usually just enough of a dessert.  Unless we also decide to share a crepe. ($4.25)(simply filled with mascarpone cheese ($1)). Fun and filling. A new (to us) menu item is the chocolate sphere ($7.95). That small cup of dark chocolate sauce is very hot and...  when poured over the sphere,   will begin to melt it, revealing the ice cream (chocolate mint was chosen and it was very refreshing, complimenting the fruit and all the other chocolate flavors) until most of the chocolate sphere is collapsed. The ice cream was on top of a cut up brownie.  So many flavors of chocolate as well as fruits. The various textures and temperatures made this a special shared dessert.   

I hope you are managing well in this heat!

Up 2 Yoü Cafe 7510 Mesa College Drive San Diego, CA 92111

7770 Vickers Street (at Convoy) San Diego 92111 (619)663-6388 Website 

Open 11:30 daily closes at 10p.m. Mon-Th, midnight Fri-Sat, 11 p.m. Sun

Bing Haus-desserts

Thanks so much for stopping by mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Kirk is way busy with work and Ed (from Yuma) is kind of busy engaging in things retired people do (in Yuma).  Cathy isn't busy in comparison, so she's writing today's post.

It's back to work time for most of us; the holidays are over.  Even though it's cold and rainy today, posts about soups and stews may be a bit boring.  Here's something to look forward to when our weather gets back to 'normal'.

When growing up, ice cream was a big treat for my brother and I.  Whenever we can meet, its for a meal-and dessert. Always.  Recently Bing Haus opened in the same Convoy street mall as  Grandma's Tofu, a convenient location.  I needed to check it out for a future meet up.  
Stepping inside, the menu is on the wall to the right.

 

There are also some grab and go beverages as well as a pastry case.
Orders are being prepped behind the cash register, but just past that area is what fascinates most.      Those are 'anti-griddles'- steel surfaced flash freezers.  Order a 'rolled ice cream' ($6.25) and a measured cup of heavy cream is then poured onto the surface where it begins to solidify after being evenly dispersed. The cream may then have an ingredient mixed/chopped in and then the thin, frozen layer is scraped into rolls, placed into your cup and topped.

This results in a very fresh ice cream treat.  Today's choice was fresh coffee mixed in to make ice cream topped with Heath Bar candy bits and sliced banana.  The creamy texture along with a bitter-sweet coffee flavor, complimented by the toffee and banana was very refreshing. 
    

That pastry case sometimes has 'day old' items for $1.  Based on past experience, I know that day old scones age well. This one had chocolate chips and coconut as well as almond slices and was delightfully flaky and light. It went well with a fresh cup of coffee.

 

The Mister and I decided to drop in the other day and tried a Chai tea latte ($4.25) and an affogato ($4.50), as shared desserts. The chai tea was subtle in its melded flavors, with a good black tea undertone.  We were curious about the soft serve ice cream made here and it was of high quality, natural vanilla flavored and very smooth.  Pouring the fresh made, hot espresso over the soft serve ('drowning' it) made the resulting flavor of coffee and cream quite similar to our coffee rolled ice cream from the first visit. 

Other bloggers have been here: CC from Pink Candles has some great 'action' photos and Kirbie has a video on her post.  The experience is fun and tasty. 

Bing Haus 4425 Convoy Street San Diego 92111 (858) 276-9479 Website Open Mon-Th 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri 7 a.m.-midnight, Sat 10 a.m.-midnight, Sun 10 a.m.-10 p.m. 

Kababayan Market and Snoice (inside the market)

mmm-yoso!!! is what you are reading; a food blog.  Usually there is a daily blogpost about food or food related events written by either Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) or Cathy.  Since the guys are out and about (elsewhere in the world and the USA), Cathy is writing a short post. 

More than three years ago,  I wrote a post about a small Filipino market located South of Chula Vista.  That location closed and the new location is closer to home, for me.  

   Walking in the doorway to your right, bakery items are on shelves to the right.     Steam trays are straight ahead and everything is always fresh and being refilled.   This two item tray ($7 with rice, $8 with pancit)(this photo is with chicken adobo and pinakbet).  Adobo anything (meats or vegetables) is a type of preparation: simmered in a sauce of vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, pepper and bay leaves.  Pinakbet is primarily vegetables (almost always, bitter melon and eggplant), but sometimes (in the version here) also has pork, all of it is simmered in a fish or shrimp sauce complimented with ginger and garlic (or onion); usually shrimp paste is a condiment. 

At the end of the steam tray area are fried  things.  Chicken skins, dilis (anchovies), bulaklak ('ruffle fat'-intestines), pig skin plus meat-chicharrones. All the fried items are $8.99/lb.  I try to only buy a small bag, so none of it gets old. It comes with a vinegar-garlic dipping sauce.  Ukoy, a shredded sweet potato/carrot/bean sprout fritter, topped with a whole shrimp are usually in a pan on top of the steam trays, at eye level.  These are great snacks.
      Another item I will drop in to purchase is the garlic salted peanuts ($3.75 for the container).  We both eat peanuts with skins and these are the best version of garlic peanuts we've ever had.  cc likes the 'plain' peanuts from here, and other bakery items. There are also plenty of rice flour based desserts and, on weekends, skewers near the cash register.

A small seating area is just past the cash registers. That area used to be with shelving and refrigerated beverages, but last year a small pop-up stand was set up (see how it looked in cc's post here) and about three months later, it moved into the Water Store which was behind the wall, and is all built in with the bakery.  Snoice is a family run dessert shop, making Filipino-inspired and Taiwanese customizable desserts.  
Here is a better photo of the menu
     These are the prices.



      I've taken many photos of the traditional Halo-Halo here ($4.25+), none of those photos will come out upright.  Halo-halo means 'mix-mix'.  Shaved ice is placed in a cup with with evaporated milk, sweet banana (saging), sweet potato (kamote),  jello (gulaman), purple yam (ube) and topped with a cube of caramel flan and 'toasted rice' (pinipig-young, flattened crisp rice (that green you see on top)).  Basically, you mix all the ingredients together in the cup, so each spoonful is a combination of the flavors. The optional ice cream you see in the first photo is the mais queso- corn cheese; I have always been curious about the flavor but never wanted to buy a half gallon in the store.  The 'traditional' ice cream topping is ube. (This link is what Halo-halo is NOT.)

 Of course, there is indeed Snoice here-shaved snow. This is a strawberry shaved snow (excellent on its own) topped with bananas and lychee jelly (small snow, $4, toppings 50¢ each). Simple and just right.  

This little corner store in San Diego has a couple of great family owned and run businesses with authentic, fresh and tasty food-of all types.

Kababayan Bakery 8423 Paradise Valley Road (at Worthington) Spring Valley 91977 (619) 267-1493 open 6 a.m.-7:30 p.m., seven days

Snoice (inside Kababayan) same address, (619)432-5735 Open 11 a.m. daily, closed at 8p.m. Mon-Thurs, 9 p.m. Fri-Sat-Sun Website

 

EscoGelato (Escondido)

Today's short post is written by Cathy.  It's just too hot to think much about food today.  The mmm-yoyo!!! men, Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) will write about food when they are ready. 

Another hot and humid day in San Diego and not much can keep you cool or relaxed.  Unless, maybe you can find gelato!  ('gelato' means 'frozen' in Italian)

EscoGelato has been in this small storefront for about three years now, serving up coffee, soup, salad, panini and gelato (as well as a few sorbet flavors), seven days a week.  The husband and wife owners are proud to use the highest quality, locally sourced ingredients. This is the view if you are walking South from Grand Avenue, where many nice restaurants are located. You'll probably notice the ice cream cone logo before you notice any signage. Here is a link to cc's 2013 post, which shows a front view of the store.That is the entire menu.  Because we had finished lunch elsewhere, we were only here 'for dessert'.   I will write a post about the panini, soup and salads later.

What is gelato? Milk, cream and sugar, along with some fruits and/or nuts and/or other ingredients for flavors.  Placed into a special machine which cooks, slow churns and then chills.  The product is extruded from the machine into a pan and flash frozen.  Gelato has less fat than regular ice cream, but it is higher in density than ice cream, so it's very creamy.  All the flavors are made fresh daily at EscoGelato.The final product looks like this. Many traditional and some interesting, imaginative flavors.  As I mentioned: locally sourced, highest quality, made fresh daily.Small ($3.50).  Brown Butter Pecan gelato and Apricot Goat Cheese gelato.  We asked for a sample first and each of these were refreshing.  You can taste each flavor, and what great flavors these were! The buttery creamy gelato, crunchy pecans...fresh apricots and, yes, goat cheese, were wonderfully complimentary and great tasting.Salted caramel gelato used for an affogato ($4.75)  ( Affogato is Italian for 'drowned').  Because I know the coffee here comes from locally owned Zumbar and I had a craving for a good cup of coffee, the shot of espresso with this salted caramel gelato was a perfect combination of flavors.  It looks like a small amount of coffee, but because it is so strong, using it sparingly (more like a sauce) was just the perfect amount of espresso with this rather large amount of gelato.

I hope everyone is staying cool! 

EscoGelato 122 S. Kalmia Escondido 92025 (between West Grand and 2nd Ave) (760) 745-6500 Website Open Mon-Fri 8-9, Sat-Sun 10-9

Mucha Fruta -Neveria/Fruiteria/Cocteleria (City Heights)

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! on this warm summer day.  Kirk is (again) busy with work, errands and stuff while Ed(from Yuma) is (still) busy being retired and exploring Yuma and other places while enjoying life.  Cathy is (once more) writing a post.

One day not long ago, The Mister and I were driving down University Avenue and noticed this signage, located in between Tu Thanh which Kirk has posted about twice now.The business on the other side used to be (another) Ali Baba, but now is City Heights Cafe.The menu is pretty much standard.  There is a sign in the window for churros with cajeta (caramel made with goat milk) for $1.25 as well as large plantains for $1.50 with but those are fried and aren't being made in the these days of heat.  The glass case you see in the above photo shows some of the Thrifty brand ice cream flavors available.The wall opposite has photos of some of the menu items.The glassed in refrigerator displays most of the fresh fruit available that day.One day I was craving a coctele and ordered the shrimp version ($7.75).  Only one size and this was plenty.  The large shrimp are cooked in the lime/tomato juice to which is added cucumber, onion, cilantro and slices of avocado. There were at least 12 (and I think 15) large shrimp in this cocktail, which was more than enough.Another version of chamango (small, $4) was tried here.  Since mangos are in season and available fresh (instead of being frozen), the drink wasn't as cold or icy, it was merely tasty and wonderful.One other visit had me craving the shrimp again, so I ordered a tosti-ceviche ($4.50).  It was a great ceviche (again with large shrimp) on top of spicy lime Tostitos (which are only sold in Mexico).  It is $2 more than a plain tostada and the melding of flavors is good/unique, but I can now go on with my life and order a regular ceviche tostada next time.Pretty much any visit to a Fruiteria includes a fruit salad (small, $4.25) and our visits here are no exception.  Papaya, banana, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and apples along with cottage cheese, granola and honey made this hearty meal a good (and refreshing) choice.The tortas here are wonderful.  The fresh bread and plenty of quality ingredients have simple sandwiches being a fancy meal for us to share.  Above, a Lomo torta($5.25).  Plenty of beef tenderloin, a thin layer of good beans and cheese, Romaine and avocado on the fresh, toasted torta bread.  It's great.Then there's the ice creams.  Usually we share a two scoop cup ($1.25) but one day, The Mister thought we should share a banana split ($3.95).  Who am I to argue.  Best part, you choose the ice cream flavors and don't need any sauce to disturb those flavors.  Our usual ice cream choices: pistachio, butter pecan and cherry. A perfect snack on these hot days.

I hope your week is going well!

Mucha Fruta 4804 University Avenue (Between Estrella and 48th) San Diego 92105 (619) 282-0282 open 8-8 Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat and 8-7 on Wednesday, 9-7 on Sunday  

 
Go ahead, click on it; the photo will go upright.  I still don't know what I've done to make my camera phone go goofy. 

Miramar Cash & Carry Market- Indian treats

mmm-yoso!!!  is a food blog.  Three friends share the writing responsibilities here.   Kirk, who is busy with work right now, Ed(from Yuma) who is busy with retirement right now and Cathy, who is blogging this post for you right now.  

I've written a good portion of the posts on this blog about local Markets and Grocers, usually mentioning that most have in store restaurants...and then showing you some of the meals from those restaurants.  

This Indian grocery store doesn't have a hot foods area.Located on Miramar road, just West of the 15 between Black Mountain Road and the North entrance to MCAS Miramar, the signage caught our eye.

The "Simply South" advertisement of 'fresh batter made here' is why we began shopping here regularly. This very clean, well stocked, quite large Indian grocery has been here since 2011.  There's a good selection of fresh produce, yogurts, pre-packaged naan, a whole aisle of just coffees and teas and malt beverage drink mixes and an open refrigerator of various roti. Rice of all types (and brands) along the far wall, frozen foods(35 doors) along the entire back wall.Other brands of dough (in addition to the Simply South brand) for making fresh Dosa, Idli and Uttapam are also sold in the refrigerated area.  Sweets and kitchen/household items are also sold here. There are also aisles of sauces, spices, mixes and snacks, none of which did I take photos...it's almost overwhelming for someone who doesn't know brands.  I must say that everything I have purchased here has turned out to be very good...but I've spent a lot of time reading the labels for ingredients.Beverages (Indian beer in the refrigerator), syrups...pretty much a regular grocery store...with the most interesting area in front of the cash registers. 
Yes, I'm pretty certain the words "Kwality Ice Cream" on the storefront signage caught your eye in that second photo.  The Founder of Kwality, a Food Technologist and Flavorist, pretty much began the company while studying at Rutgers University. The photo above, my first taste of 'pistachio nut' had such a complex blend of other flavors (saffron, cardamom and others) all complementing the nutty pistachio flavor.This Falooda Drink for $6 is probably the most wonderful and decadent flavor blend I've had in a very long time.  Falooda noodles, watercress seeds, rose syrup, rose kulfi and malai kulfi.  The flavor mix was refreshing and cooling and so very different.  

The ice cream here makes shopping so much fun.  

Cash & Carry 9252 Miramar Road San Diego 92126 (858)566-4819 Open Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sat-Sun 9-9 Website

Lil' Farmers Cafe-fresh. (Kearny Mesa)

Thanks for stopping to read mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is writing today; Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are busily researching places and food items.

Some days, I just want a simple meal-sandwich or salad, maybe a coffee.  Ending up at Panera, Subway or Starbucks makes for a dull post.  I've taken photos of every food item consumed for almost a decade, those don't necessarily show up on the blog but this time, simple foods from a locally owned place are worth sharing. Just a few weeks ago, while driving along 163 South, we noticed this signage over what had been a Starbucks, turned briefly into Pizza Studio (another one of those 'customizable' pizza places) (which, after six months, had a 'Closed for Remodeling' sign on the window). (I did write a post about Pizza Studio, but it was very negative and proven by the sudden closure so it was deleted).  Lil' Farmers Cafe is in the same parking lot as Mitsuwa Marketplace, Chopstix Too and (soon to be open) Nishiki.The ubiquitous, hipster, reclaimed wood wall was already there......as was the walk along refrigerated glassed in area.The simple menu (nothing is priced over $5.99 except for the 'to go' organic beverage packs which serve 12) is pretty much all customizable.You can choose your bread and toppings for a sandwich......as well as salad ingredients if you want something added or not included in the menu selections.The beverage selection is interesting (as is the pricing variance between 12, 16 and 20 ounces) and I really like the organic coffee. The concept of a Bacon and Bean salad ($5.49) is interesting.  For the first order, I wanted my personalization to be the lettuce choice and the salad dressing (Oil and vinegar, which was mixed thoroughly and in a perfect proportion).  Lettuce, bacon, garbanzo and kidney beans, fresh tomatoes and Parmesan.  This was very large, very fresh and just right (I am always afraid when the lettuce is already mixed in with dressing, but the technique used here is correct, with no excess 'pooling' at the bottom of the bowl). The Mister ordered a Farmer Panini ($5.49) Roast beef, cream cheese, tomato, onion and (our addition) sprouts.  Panini'd and on sourdough, this was a really good sandwich.  We ended up speaking with the manager, a very nice lady, who told us the owner is a former San Diego Socker.  We've seen him in the restaurant the times we have visited; he is keeping an eye on things and looking for feedback and ways to improve the menu.Another visit had me craving a simple salad.  Farmer Greens ($4.49), a nice mix of arugula, spinach, red pepper and roasted tomatoes (I chose sesame dressing) is very good (roasted tomatoes would be a great salad add-on in the future; such great flavor) and hit the spot.   The Mister had another menu item in mind, the pesto-chicken flatbread ($5.99). The flatbread (a whole grain dough; very nice) is first warmed, then the items placed on top, then it's all placed back into the small oven for about one minute to melt the cheese and warm the chicken and the flatbread gets a bit crispier.  Pesto, chicken, Mozzarella and shaved Parmesan are the only ingredients and truly is all that are needed needed.  Again, the flavors are just right.You may or may not have noticed a small area at the bottom of the small menu.  Ice cream. 99¢ a scoop ice cream.  Only chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors (which can be made into a shake).  Excellent, extra creamy, 'old fashioned' (to my tastebuds) ice cream.  It reminds me of the 10¢ squared/not round scoops of wonderful ice cream from Thrifty's. The bottom of the menu 'flatbread' choice is a sweet version ($4.99).  Again, the bread is first warmed, then spread with Nutella and sliced banana, folded over itself, warmed a bit more (the bread is almost toasty) and topped with caramel and chocolate sauce.  This was good, if not a bit too sweet (I think a dollop of fatty whipped cream might cut the sweetness, but really have no complaints).

Each visit we've shared a cup of the organic coffee, which is very good.  There are no claims made about other organic items here; the freshness on each visit has been remarkable.  It's nice to have a local place to enjoy a good, simple meal.

Lil' Farmers Cafe 4240 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego 92111 (between Ross and Trex, just across from the In-n-Out) (858) 430-6554 Website Open Mon-Fri 8-6, Sat 10-6