Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
San Diego, CA
Point-in-Time Count shows homeless realities in San Diego’s North County
It was a 4 a.m. start Thursday for nearly 60 volunteers in Vista who took part in the one-day “snapshot” of the region’s homeless population – known as the Point-in-Time Count.
Before they headed out, they got a briefing from Daniel Sturman, a management analyst overseeing homeless contacts for the City of Vista.
“You’re looking for people that are covering their windows at night, so somebody that might have a sunshade up. Somebody that has a bunch of trash in the back of a vehicle,” Sturman explained to the group.
KPBS joined a team of three volunteers — Catherine Manis, Joan Faus and Alicia Tabares — as they set out in the dark to cover their assigned district along the Vista-San Marcos border.
Tabares was driving the vehicle to cover the large area. She is a school social worker with Vista Unified.
“I work with a lot of families who unfortunately don’t have a house or are living in their vehicles,” she said.
Tabares led the group through business parks, canyons and almost everywhere in between as they searched for people without a proper home.
It was very hard to see at times. The group used flashlights in dimly lit areas.
Admittedly, it’s far from a perfect system. Volunteers look for clues to give them insight on where people may be sleeping.
“We did find several families living in their rvs and cars, individuals that are working also,” Tabares said of the early morning tally.
During the four hours of searching, the team encountered numerous people without homes and interviewed those who were willing to talk.
“There’s some good people out here. Trying hard, working hard, doing their part,” said Jason, a homeless man who didn’t want to use his last name.
He was a longtime Oceanside resident, and became homeless in the city six years ago. Now Jason sleeps in a van near his place of work in Vista.
“I’ve always paid taxes, I’ve always held a job, I’ve never taken a subsidy from the government, never taken food stamps. Always supported my children, always done that – all the time,” he said.
Jason said the cost of food, gas and housing are just too much.
“Prices were going up in rent, especially here in San Diego,” Jason said. “My wife at the time was permanently disabled with asthma, had two children, on a single income – just couldn’t afford it anymore.”
The data from people like Jason during the Point-in-Time Count really matters – it’s used to determine how to distribute federal homeless relief funding.
The city of Vista’s Sturman said those funds should go towards a regional solution.
“North County homelessness isn’t necessarily a singular city problem,” he said. “We have the SPRINTER line up here, the 78 corridor right. And so a lot of our clients travel across that 78 corridor. One night they may be in Escondido, the next night they may be Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad.”
As for Tabares, who grew up in Vista and was forced out of the county due to cost of living, it’s personal.
“The concerns that I have for the community where I grew up in, it’s been a lot of just not having access to affordable housing,” she said.
Official numbers for the full count are expected in late spring or early summer, but Tabares said solutions to the affordability crisis are needed now, or the problem will get worse.
“The displacement of families is what we’re seeing here,” she said.
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San Diego, CA
Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com
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.
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.
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