Trending

It’s a thing: Jetpacking

The next water sport has officially landed in San Diego. The new flight center at Mission Bay Sportcenter offers private lessons as well as the typical souvenir tees and video add-ons to document the experience. Prices start at $159 for 15 minutes on a weekday and run up to $549 for a 50-minute “Rockstar VIP experience.” 1010 Santa Clara Place, jetlevsouthwest.com

Having a moment: Scotch

This classic is coming back—with style. Places like Seven Grand Whiskey Bar in North Park celebrate the Scottish whisky, and this month, the Keating Hotel downtown debuts the Macallan Suite. Dedicated to the premium liquor brand, it features the world’s most expensive minibar, with its own ice ball machine, and, of course, Macallan single malt Scotch whisky.

Bottoms up!

For Photography Fans

View portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Truman Capote, Salvador Dalì, and more in Arnold Newman: Masterclass, the first retrospective since famed photog Newman’s death in 2006. The San Diego Museum of Art, June 29–September 8.

The Border Report

The Little Taco Cart That Could

When Sabina Bandera took over La Guerrerense, the mariscos cart her in-laws opened in 1960, chances are she never imagined the Ensenada eatery would one day rank among Newsweek’s list of 101 best places to eat on Earth. Or that Anthony Bourdain would track her down with his No Reservations crew and crown her array of 15 ceviches—which include sea urchin, bacalao, sea cucumber, and mussel piled heavily atop corn tostadas with any of her 16 homemade salsas—the best street food in the western hemisphere. 

In fact, when first arriving in Baja California from her home state of Guerrero, she apparently didn’t know much about seafood at all. Hard to believe for the tiny lady with the boy cut and big smile who’s now arguably the toast of Mexico’s northernmost port town and gastronomic mecca—at least as far as its sidewalk cuisine is concerned. Parked within view of colossal cruise ships at the corner of Alvarado and Adolfo Lopez Mateo, two blocks east of the Mexican flag that marks Ensenada’s port, you’ll find her all but buried by a thick swarm of foodie pilgrims, popped-collared locals, and flip-flopped cruise-goers alike. 

Lately it seems Bandera has been reeling in only good news. Her sea urchin ceviche tostada took first prize at the 2011 installment of the L.A. Street Food Fest, followed by her sea snail ceviche tostada in 2012 (both are a more-than-appropriate sampling for any first-timer). 

In early June, she will travel to Singapore to represent Mexico among some 40 street food vendors from around the globe at the World Street Food Congress 2013, a 10-day food jamboree and two-day conference that features a roster of speakers including Bourdain. Alongside daughter Mariana, Bandera will dish out some 1,500 servings daily, and while the ceviche will be crafted from local stock, she’ll pack the tostadas and an ample supply of salsa from home. 

Just how does it feel to be handpicked off the streets of Ensenada and flown 10,000 miles to southeast Asia to share her ceviche at a $750-a-head event? “Very happy, mijo,” she says. “Very happy.”

Avenida Adolfo Lopez Mateo and Alvarado, Ensenada. Open 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Wednesday-Monday. laguerrerense.com

—By Derrik Chinn

Hot Topic

San Diego, it’s time to find ourselves

On April 7, the New York Times published a travel story called “36 Hours in San Diego.” New York-based freelance writer Freda Moon observed, “If San Diego has a cohesive identity at all, it’s a shared embrace of an easy, breezy Southern California casualness.” She went on to describe us as a “Pleasantville—a bland, happy place….” What-ever. Still, we might take this as a cue to think a little harder about our identity. To get the conversation started, we asked noted San Diegans to describe our city in three (or six) words. Tweet us yours @SanDiegoMag!

How would you describe San Diego’s identity?

“Cultured. Relaxed. Layered.” —Yuseff Cherney, chief operating officer and head brewer/distiller, Ballast Point

“Inspirational. Innovative. Naturally climatized!” —Iris Engstrand, professor of history, University of San Diego

“Dynamic. Diverse. Athletic.” —Taylor Knox, professional surfer (retired)

“Sun. Surf. Serenity.”—Mark Kotsay, Padres outfielder

“Perfect weather. Perfect people. Perfectly exciting.” —Former mayor Jerry Sanders

New app

Ever stopped to smell the roses and wondered exactly what kind of flower you were looking at? With the Garden Compass  app, you can snap a pic of any bloom, plant, or insect on your iPhone and find out what it is and where to buy it. 

Try it now

Surf fitness

You could attempt to ride the indoor SURFSET craze at a few studios around town, but it’s kind of poseur when you can get in shape with a real surfing champion (who is also a local, having lived in Carlsbad for the last 30 years). Taylor Knox, a 22-year veteran of the World Tour, is in better shape than surfers half his age. After he had major back surgery at age 15, doctors told him he would never surf again. Enter cross-training, which he has been doing ever since. As for giving him his edge, he says: “Surfing is always the best thing for surfing, but it wasn’t enough for me. I always want more out of my surfing and to see how much better I can get from year to year. This is the best way to do it.” His SurfFit DVD, dropping this month, was developed with longtime trainer Paul Hiniker, and filmed in Cardiff. surffit.com —EM

Oyster Boys

When La Costa residents Chris Reid and Rhett Melbo aren’t supplying shellfish to 150 local restaurants, they’re catering under the name The Oyster Boys. Look for them at wine shop and brewery food pairings, or at private events (they’ll shell 30 dozen oysters for $550). And cheer them on at the “Shuck and Suck” competition during the June 15 Oyster Fest at the Embarcadero. theoysterboys.com

books

Your Shelf Life

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

By Karen Joy Fowler

A middle-class family raises a chimpanzee as one of their own. This heartbreaking and funny novel, by the author of The Jane Austen Book Club, is narrated by Rosemary, the youngest, as she tries to make sense of her childhood and the loss of her chimp sibling.

Flat Water Tuesday

By Ron Irwin

This story’s young protagonist, Rob Carrey, heads off to boarding school on a rowing scholarship. Tragic events unfold on the water and resurface years later during a reunion. It’s as much about the sport of rowing as it is about finding oneself in youth and again in middle age.

Big Brother

By Lionel Shriver

Talented cook Pandora is shocked when she arrives at the airport to pick up her brother, a once slim and hip jazz musician, to discover he’s gained hundreds of pounds. This is a witty but sensitive book about overeating, extreme diets, and what we’ll do to save our family members.

Taipei

By Tao Lin

Lin’s most personal novel to date follows protagonist Paul as he explores the New York art and literary worlds and then to Taipei as he uncovers his family roots. Be warned, this book includes a lot of drugs, a Vegas wedding, and a shoplifting spree through the South.

In the Shadow of the Banyan

By Vaddey Ratner

A seven-year-old girl struggles to survive life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, just after her father is executed. The writing is gorgeous, full of a child’s fanciful imaginings, but such language doesn’t mask the atrocities recounted in the book.