North Park exploring

And Hillcrest too! Yesterday a local librarian took my lament (that all food in downtown San Diego comes on the same Sysco truck) to heart and came back to me an hour later with a long list of places to explore and eat last night.

So I cabbed to the Hillcrest neighborhood and, not being hungry at her first recommendation (a lovely-looking Mediterranean place) set off on a rather epic walk. Up to University, across to 30th, and the back down to Upas. There, found via Google, was Zensei sushi. Ate at the bar, had a nice chat with the chef who made my dinner, and even got a free piece of nigiri at the end (because he said I looked "like a hamachi kind of guy." How could he tell?).

He was really surprised when he found out I was a tourist. But he totally got it when I told him about the flavor of the Sysco truck clinging to everything I ate downtown. Still, I guess North Park is not a neighborhood that most visitors make it up to. That's too bad: it looks diverse, affordable (unless those little houses are deceptively expensive), and fun. And well served by the bus I took back downtown.