French Bistro Vibe in Mission Valley
Plus: LV News Briefs, Kearny High Cheerleaders, Pumpkin Spice Denotes the Seasonal Change, Kearny High QB Recognized, and Pancake Commentary
We ventured to Mission Valley for what has become our regular Tuesday lunch. No tacos for me this time. On Monday our book club met at the University Club in Symphony Towers and I went into the new Kneads bakery (very French) and got the best croissant I ever had, so I was now in the mood for something French. So off we went to Mimi’s Café for the French bistro vibe they are famous for maintaining.
Mimi’s is located at 5180 Mission Center Road and is open Monday through Sunday 7 AM to 9 PM. Mimi’s was founded in 1978 as a neighborhood bistro, featuring comfort food and bistro classics for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurants are located in 12 states with 45 locations. They are famous for their muffins and croissants baked fresh daily.
We made reservations for lunch, but it didn’t seem necessary, although the restaurant started filling up the longer we were there. The restaurant and bar area are very cute, giving off that French bistro vibe that is comforting and cozy. They have a great menu including omelets quiches, crepes, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, meat and seafood entrees, desserts, kids menu, beverages, including a full bar.
In keeping with the French theme, Steve ordered a vegetable quiche which included browned breakfast potatoes. In keeping with my love of tuna, I ordered a half tuna sandwich on grilled sourdough bread and a cup of tomato basil soup.
Steve said his quiche was great. The crust was extra flaky and it was filled with vegetables such as red peppers, onions, potatoes, along with the eggs and cheese. It was accompanied by a nice sized order of potatoes. My half tuna sandwich was overly filled with tuna salad and cheddar cheese inside a crunchy grilled sourdough roll. It also comes with tomato. The basil tomato soup was among the best I’ve had, certainly the thickest. And it was piping hot, like I always want it to me. French fries were included so I did get my French fix.
Our meals were very filling. The service was good and the staff friendly. Although we were not able to eat dessert there, we took a couple of their famous muffins home to eat another time. Their feature muffin was of course, pumpkin, but we also love the carrot raisin so we got one of each. Couldn’t wait to try them later, but alas, carnivore sidekick decided to visit us later that afternoon and goodbye muffin. Oh well. I did hide one, but don’t tell him. Steve had it and declared it really delicious.
I asked the waiter what happened to the bakery case that used to be in the lobby/bar area and he told me it has been gone for over 5 years. Guess it has been a long time since we were there, but we will certainly not wait that long again. Good food, reasonable prices, and a relaxing space to have any meal.
LV News Briefs
—Kearny High School Football: The Kearny Komets football team will host the Southwest High Raiders this Friday September 27 at 7:00 pm. The Komets currently sport a 3-2 record.
—Coffee with Assemblymember Chris Ward: Our state’s 78th district representative Chris Ward will hold a Community Coffee for local residents at the Linda Vista Library this Saturday September 28 (1:00 pm -2:00 pm). Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the 2024 legislative session, discuss important issues in the community, provide valuable feedback on how the Assemblymember can better represent you, and enjoy a fresh cup of coffee! Seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Residents can RSVP for the event HERE.
—Pure Water Project Update: On Sunday, September 29, crews will install the next phase of traffic control on West Morena Boulevard between Buenos Avenue and Morena Boulevard. This setup will be in place 24 hours per day, while work within the intersection of Vega Street and West Morena Boulevard will take place at night between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m Sunday night through Thursday night. Vehicle traffic will be detoured to Morena Boulevard to get around the work zone. This phase of work is estimated to last approximately 6 weeks, though the schedule is subject to change. Working hours for pipeline installation will be between 7:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Welding and other work to finalize pipeline installation will occur between 4:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Work within the intersection of Vega Street and West Morena Boulevard will take place at night between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday night through Thursday night. During non-working hours, the intersection will be open.
—LV Community Clean-Up: Celebrate Clean Air Day by participating in a Community Clean-Up on Sunday October 6 at 10:00 am (check in beginning at 9:30 am). Check-in will occur at 2160 Ulric Street (LV Library). Lunch will be served at 11:30 am. The Clean-Up is sponsored by the Bayside Community Center, in partnership with the County of San Diego Department of Homeless Solutions & Equitable Communities, Jewish Family Services, the Linda Vista Resident Leadership Academy, and California Clean Air Day. For more info, contact Tyana Ortiz at tortiz@baysidecc.org.
Hardworking Kearny Cheerleaders Provide School Spirit
If you attend a Kearny High football or basketball game you will surely see some determined, motivated, and athletic individuals on the field or court. However, if you scan the sidelines, you will also catch some other determined, motivated and athletic individuals in constant motion shouting out encouragement while trying to generate an atmosphere of school spirit. The Kearny High School cheerleader team is comprised of a group of energetic and fiercely loyal students who do their best to keep the crowd in the game while voicing positive support for whatever Kearny team is competing.
They represent a proud tradition of cheerleading that reflects such important qualities as team bonding and camaraderie. The tradition is deeply ingrained in American sports culture. In a country that values the Friday Night Lights tradition of high school football, it is of course hard to imagine a Friday Night Lights without cheerleaders.
The Kearny High cheerleader program consist of 29 cheerleaders with both a Varsity and a JV team. The cheerleaders are selected after going through a tryout and workshop process. They are then selected by a panel of judges.
What does it take to be a good cheerleader? According to Kearny High Cheer Coach Jocelyn Lonzo, it takes a combination of “athleticism” and “confidence” and “school spirit.” As explained by Lonzo, some cheerleaders come to the team with no prior experience, while others have previously participated in youth cheer programs associated with Pop Warner football leagues, or from competitive cheer programs. Lonzo describes her cheerleaders as “talented,” “self-driven,” “very responsible” and “very disciplined,” as well as “fun,” “friendly” and “respectful.” She also expects them to serve as “school leaders” on campus.
Being a cheerleader also requires quite a bit of practice. The team practices three days a week during the fall and winter sports season. Additionally, the team practices during the summer months from late June to early July, attends a cheerleading camp during a week in July, and then resumes practice from late July to the start of school in late August. Team members do not cheer during the spring sports season; they are, allowed to participate in varsity sports during this timeframe.
In addition to performing at games, cheerleaders can also be seen dancing, jumping, flipping, and flying at school pep rallies, club expos, fundraisers, and other school spirit events. They also participate in cheer clinics like the one that will be held for the public this Saturday (see flyer below).
The next time you attend a Kearny sporting event, take a look over in the direction of the cheerleaders. You will be amazed at how much energy they expend during game time, and what poise, discipline, and athleticism they constantly exhibit while performing for the school.
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We invite our readers to spread the word about the Future Komets Cheer Clinic being held this Saturday. Kids in kindergarten to 8th grade are invited to attend. The clinic serves as a fundraiser for the Komet Cheerleader Team.
Fall is in the Air and It Smells Like Pumpkin Spice
Fall arrived this past weekend, and it might so happen you didn’t notice what is supposed to be an accompanying change in weather. But that’s what Fall is like here in San Diego. After all, we had a day this week where the thermometer reached 81 degrees. Not exactly the kind of weather associated with typical autumnal characteristics.
We in Linda Vista recognize the change in seasons not so much with the turning of leaves or a dramatic change to cool and crisp weather. It’s more about the return of pumpkin spice and other assorted seasonal pumpkin items. I guess we can credit or blame Starbucks for starting this popular trend. Driving around the area these past few days we saw the arrival of signs denoting that pumpkin spice and pumpkin products in general have become a fun and delicious Fall tradition for many Americans. Below is a small sampling of what we found:
Kearny Football Player Recognized
Kearny High quarterback Brodie Stump was recognized this week by the SD Union Tribune as one of six SD County Athletes of the Week. Brodie has been a starting quarterback for the Komets since his freshman year. We at the LV Update offer our congratulations to him and highly recommend that local residents attend a Kearny High football game to see this talented senior athlete in action.
Commentary
Pondering the Paucity of Pancakes
Upon learning that National Pancake Day is celebrated every September 26, we immediately began thinking of how many Linda Vista establishments we could visit for the purpose of trying out their respective pancakes. We envisioned honoring the day by taking advantage of the insight gained by all these visit and publsihing an official newsletter ranking of LV pancakes based on different criteria, (i.e. fluffiness, taste, airiness, thickness, brownness). Our hungry Carnivore Sidekick was so motivated when he learned about our plans to celebrate National Pancake Day by trying out all the different pancakes in Linda Vista; he got ready to temporarily become an Omnivore Sidekick just so he could participate in our LV pancake eating sojourn.
Unfortunately, we eventually learned a sad fact about Linda Vista and pancakes. It turns out Linda Vista is practically a pancake desert. Yes, there are plenty of places around the greater Linda Vista area where one can find a great stack of pancakes. We have reviewed several of these places in the past few years, to include The Original Pancake House up on Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa, the Waffle House down on Hotel Circle, the Broken Yolk in Mission Valley, and Denny’s located on the Mission Valley segment of Friar’s Road. Of course, at one time there was also the now closed Perry’s Cafe next to Old Town that offered up some tasty pancakes. But we had trouble finding pancakes within the official community boundaries of Linda Vista.
What we discovered in the process was that if you want to find a good breakfast burrito, then Linda Vista is definitely your kind of place. There are plenty of places that serve this dish every morning. And if you are looking for a waffle, then Mr. Peabody’s might be the place to go for their Breakfast Waffle. But pancakes? It was as if some city official or organization had issued an edict banishing pancakes from our geographic space.
After much searching, we finally did discover the one place in Linda Vista that offers pancakes. Good ol’ reliable McDonald’s serves “hotcakes” in the morning, and as we learned from Wikipedia, “hotcakes” is merely another word for “pancakes”, as is “flapjacks” and “griddlecakes” (which are served at Mimi’s in Mission Valley).
So, for 2024 we have no choice but to recognize McDonald’s as the number one place for pancakes in Linda Vista. Should readers inform us of another pancake establishment in Linda Vista we might have missed, we will keep it in mind for next year’s National Pancake Day ranking process. And in the meantime, we will start preparing for April 5, 2025, which is National Burrito Day. On that day we plan to celebrate the occasion by inviting all LV Update readers to join us on a lengthy Linda Vista Breakfast Burrito tasting tour.
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The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities. We welcome ideas for stories. Let us know about any interesting people, places, or upcoming events.