Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
SAN DIEGO — Cubs right-hander Javier Assad grew up going to games at Petco Park. It was the closest MLB stadium to his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico.
His dad, Javier Sr., was a Padres fan, but the rest of the family had rallied around the Dodgers because of Fernando Valenzuela. The younger Javier followed suit. He remembers his dad making a nonnegotiable stipulation before taking him to a game between the Padres and Dodgers in San Diego as a kid.
“He told me, ‘The only way I’m taking you to the game is if you wear the Padres jersey,’ ” Assad said Tuesday through team interpreter Fredy Quevedo.
Young Assad agreed. He put on the Padres jersey, but he kept rooting for the Dodgers.
“Everyone would be asking, why is he cheering?” Assad said. “And my dad had to explain the situation. But that’s just one of those really beautiful, neat moments that I remember.”
This week, Assad’s family is in town to watch him and the Cubs take on the Padres.
“It’s super exciting, I’m super proud, I’m super happy for his trajectory,” the elder Assad said Tuesday, through Quevedo. “It was a long road in the minor leagues, but I’m really happy to see where he’s at right now.”
Assad’s start Monday marked the fourth time his dad had watched him play in person since he broke into the majors. Assad also had family in town for his major-league debut in 2022, the World Baseball Classic and his first outing in San Diego.
Assad made his first Petco Park start on Monday, limiting the Padres to two runs in five-plus innings. Members of both his immediate and extended family traveled to see him pitch.
“It definitely is a different feeling being a starter out here, knowing that my family knows I’m going to pitch and having them here,” Assad said.
They’ve witnessed his whole journey.
When Assad was about 15, scouts were beginning to take notice of him, and his dad realized a career in baseball was possible. So, the elder Assad sat down the younger and asked him whether he wanted to keep studying or commit to a future in baseball.
“He told me, ‘If you choose to pursue baseball, though, you’ve got to focus and really go all in on it,’ ” Assad said.
He signed with the Cubs a few years later, days before his 18th birthday.
Though Assad is now pitching in a different country, his parents have a large reminder of him close to home. There’s now a mural of him in Tijuana, and it just so happens to be located on his father’s route to work.
Javier Sr. said that when Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero’s office first reached out about having the mural done after the WBC, he thought it was a scam. It’s not every day that the mayor tries to get in touch about honoring your son.
“It’s something really special,” Assad said. “It’s something really neat, especially because it’s located in my hometown. And now the fact that I have so many friends and family sending me messages and videos randomly that they see it, it’s really cool that my family and my friends and my loved ones get to experience that as well.”
San Diego Padres (14-7) at Los Angeles Angels (11-11), April 19, 2026, 1:07 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
Advertisement
Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
Sign up for a user account and get:
Comment on articles, community posts
Rec comments, community posts
New, improved notifications system!
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
When John Resnick opened Campfire on a quaint little street in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016, some locals weren’t sure what to think. The coastal enclave wasn’t exactly awash in innovative, chef-driven establishments, so it was a shock to see the dining room consistently full. Early on, one woman wondered aloud to Resnick, “Where did all these people come from?”
It’s a moment he remembers vividly. “I was struck by her statement, because I think she was surprised that so many other people in Carlsbad were there,” Resnick says.
The rest of the culinary world would take some time to catch up to what was happening. In 2019, when Michelin expanded to rate restaurants throughout all of California—not just the San Francisco area—Addison was the only one in San Diego to earn a star. But since emerging from the pandemic, the region’s food scene has grown dramatically. Driven by outstanding farms, ingredients, a bumper crop of talented chefs, and a G.D.P. approximately the size of New Zealand or Greece, San Diego County has become one of America’s most underrated dining destinations.
Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
Perhaps no single restaurant is a better emblem for this shift than chef William Bradley’s Addison, which opened in 2006. After landing his first star, Bradley knew he wanted more. To get them, he transformed his French-leaning fare to serve what he calls California Gastronomy, which combines the cultures of SoCal with impeccable ingredients and wildly impressive techniques, prizing flavor over flair. Michelin responded, awarding Addison a second star in 2022, and making it the first Southern California three-star restaurant just a year later. The accolade has created a halo effect, attracting culinary tourists from around the world.
Berry beet tartlets at San Diego’s three-star stalwart Addison.
Eric Wolfinger
“Earning three stars forces the global dining community to pay attention to a place that may not have been on their radar before,” says chef Eric Bost, a partner in Resnick’s four Carlsbad establishments.
Resnick recruited Bost, who spent time at award-winning outposts of Restaurant Guy Savoy, to run Jeune et Jolie, which he led to a star in 2021. They’ve since taken over an old boogie-board factory down the street and converted it to an all-day restaurant and bakery, Wildland. The space also hosts an exquisite tasting-counter experience called Lilo, which was given a Michelin star mere months after opening in April 2025. And as Resnick and Bost grew their successful Carlsbad operation, chef Roberto Alcocer earned a Michelin star for his Mexican fine-dining spot Valle in nearby Oceanside.
The stylish tasting counter at Michelin one-star Lilo in Carlsbad.
Kimberly Motos
About 25 miles to the south, another affluent coastal community is going through its own culinary glow up. In La Jolla, chef Tara Monsod and the hospitality group Puffer Malarkey Collective opened the stylish French steakhouse Le Coq. Chef Erik Anderson, formerly of Michelin two-star Coi, is preparing to launch Roseacre. And last year, Per Se alums Elijah Arizmendi and Brian Hung left New York to open the elegant tasting-menu restaurant Lucien, lured by the ingredients they’d get to serve. “A major reason we chose San Diego is the quality and diversity of the produce,” Arizmendi explains. “San Diego County has more small farms than anywhere else in the U.S., and its many microclimates allow farmers to grow an incredible range of ingredients year-round.”
Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.
Gage Forster
Chef Travis Swikard has also been a tireless advocate for the region’s ingredients since he returned to San Diego, his hometown, and opened Mediterranean-influenced Callie in 2021. There’s no sophomore slump with his latest effort, the French Riviera–inspired Fleurette in La Jolla, where he’s serving his take on classics like leeks vinaigrette and his San Diego “Bouillabaisse” with local red sheepshead fish and spiny lobster. Its food is bright, produce-driven, and attentive in execution, while the dining room maintains a relaxed and unpretentious style of service. And Swikard sees that approach cohering into a regional style with a strong network of professionals behind it.
“It’s really nice that we are developing our own identity, not trying to be like L.A. or any other market, just highlighting what’s great about the San Diego lifestyle and ingredients,” he says. “Similar to New York, a chef community is starting to develop where chefs are supporting each other. There is a true sense of pride to be cooking here.”
Top: In La Jolla, Lucien serves ocean whitefish with tomatoes turned into concasse, sabayon, and other expressions.
Florida Lottery Fantasy 5, Cash Pop results for April 19, 2026
Gaudette & Patel Pitch Past No. 3 UNC, 5-2
A Deep Dive into Hawai‘i’s Shell Jewelry Industry – Hawaii Business Magazine
Idaho Lottery results: See winning numbers for Pick 3, Pick 4 on April 19, 2026
Multiple people shot in Centralia, Illinois: REPORT
Indiana mother charged with neglect after baby’s co-sleeping death
Former Iowa State star, All-American Audi Crooks announces transfer destination
Tyler Reddick needs OT at Kansas to claim fifth win of NASCAR season