Tasty Mediterranean Fare in Mission Valley
Plus: LV News Briefs, LV Park Swing Set Remedy, Greater Civic Engagement Commetary, Book Review, and LV Poem Published
The Linda Vista Update
We spent last week in the Boston area. The reason for the trip we will discuss in a future LV Update issue. However, on the flight back, I looked at the vast number of entertainment options on the plane’s video screen and noticed among the hundreds of movies, TV series, music, news shows, and more, that there was a Cooking Master Class. Although I have never taken such a Master Class, I knew they were videos by experts in various fields who teach classes on line for a fee. They encompass many areas including music, language, cooking, business, government, health and many more. Being a foodie, I thought I would check out the offered Master Class on cooking. It was a class taught by Yotam Ottolenghi, an award winning chef who has restaurants and deli’s in the UK, but who is originally from the Middle East. His recipes in the class were all vegetarian, Middle Eastern/Mediterranean. I watched the class for about 2 hours and it made the trip go by very quickly. Watching him make these wonderfully colorful, vibrant vegetarian dishes including shakshuka, pea spread, hummus with confit garlic, eggplant, tahini, cauliflower, cucumber salads, pita bread, and all the exotic spices made me want to go right to the International Market and buy all the ingredients to make some of these dishes.
I ended up doing the next best thing. We needed a restaurant to review so I looked up Mediterranean restaurants in the area and one that we hadn’t reviewed yet was the Luna Grill Mediterranean Kitchen, located at Fenton Parkway near Costco. I looked at their menu and thought it could get me close to my yearning for the foods I saw on the video, so off we went.
Luna Grill has ample parking and indoor and outdoor dining. You can eat there or order to go. The restaurant is very light and airy with a casual Mediterranean vibe. On the wall is written “The art of real Mediterranean cooking” which I took as a signal that I was at the right place. Luna Grill was founded in 2004 and they are committed to fresh sourced ingredients without antibiotics or GMOs wherever possible. Their grilled kabobs are marinated 8 hours, their hummus freshly made. They have locations in southern California and Texas. Their menu includes plates, salads, bowls, pitas, family meals, desserts and kids’ meals. They have a fair amount of non-meat meals and the staff is happy to help out with questions. They have shrimp plates, falafel plates, chicken, veggie, and beef kabob and gyro meat. You can create your own bowl selecting the protein, base, sides, toppings and house made sauces, or select a garlic shrimp bowl, veggie or vegan bowl, and a few other bowl choices. They have gyro, chicken, falafel, and koobideh kabob pita. Take a look at the on-line menu to see their many other offerings. All items look vibrant and colorful on the pictures and the same in person or even better.
Steve ordered the Luna Vida Vegetarian Bowl ($12.99). It contained house-made falafel served on top of a bed of lettuce with lemon vinaigrette, Greek cabbage, feta, chickpea salad, cucumber and tomato, drizzled with tahini sauce. It was a very large bowl and Steve thought it was excellent. He said it looked and tasted healthy.
I ordered the Veggie Kabob ($14.49). It contained grilled marinated mushrooms, yellow squash, onion and red bell pepper. It came with a side of hummus and a house salad. Also a few slices of warm pita bread and tahini sauce. The meal was visually very appealing and tasted great. The hummus was so creamy and flavorful. The salad ingredients were fresh and crisp.
All in all, it really hit the spot and satisfied my hunger for a Mediterranean meal, at least until I can go out and get the ingredients to make my own. I might add that I bought an Ottolenghi cookbook and can’t wait to try some of the recipes he taught in the Master Class. Give Luna Grill a try if you haven’t been there. There is also another one on Balboa Avenue in Clairemont. It is a nice relaxing place for lunch, and I think you will enjoy it. Besides, we all need to eat more veggies.
LV News Briefs
—San Diego River Days 2025: The San Diego River Park Foundation is sponsoring its annual San Diego River Days celebration during May 10-18. Check out the schedule of interesting, enlightening and fun activities along our nearby river by clicking HERE.
—Eloise Battle Celebration of Life: A Celebration of Life to honor Tecolote Canyon advocate Eloise Battle will be held on Friday, May 16th from 2pm-4pm inside the Tecolote Canyon Nature Center 5180 Tecolote Rd. San Diego, CA 92110. Please be advised that parking could be limited due to construction associated with the Trunk Sewer Replacement Project, and nearby baseball practices beginning at 3:00 pm.
—USD Baseball Remains Hot: The University of San Diego Toreros baseball team continues its amazing turnaround story. After beginning the 2025 season with a 6-24 win-loss record (mostly in non-conference play), the team is now in first place in the West Coast Conference with a conference record of 14-4. This past weekend the Toreros swept the University of San Francisco with three victories. This weekend they visit Santa Clara University for a three game series, and then return to Fowler Park May 15-17 to play the University of the Pacific.
—Rite Aid Files for Bankruptcy: Pharmacy chain Rite Aid filed for another Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. This is the second bankruptcy filing in two years. No word yet on how this will directly impact the Rite Aid store located at the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center.
—City Trash Collection Mailer: All property owners in San Diego should be in receipt of a 7-page mailer that allows them to protest the proposed City trash collection fee. Property owners must cut out and mail back a post card located in the 7-page mailer indicating they protest the trash collection service. On June 9, the proposed trash collection fee/service will be discussed at a City Council hearing. If a property owner does not mail in a protest card before June 9, that will be counted as a vote of approval for the new trash collection service Check out what the mailer looks like by clicking HERE. Look for it in your mail.
—Sign up for Inside SDPD: The next Inside SDPD event will take place on Saturday June 7. Inside SDPD, conducted by the SD Police Foundation in partnership with the SDPD, provides San Diego citizens with the opportunity to see what life is like for San Diego police officers. The program enables participants to experience various activities related to law enforcement/police training. Register HERE now to ensure you reserve a spot to attend this unique, fun and informative event. Check out the flyer below for details.
LV Park Swing Set Issue Solution Provided
We have good news to report regarding one of the parks in the Linda Vista community!
In the March 27 issue of this newsletter, we published an article describing the poor condition of the children’s playground area at Linda Vista Neighborhood Park. The article explained how long-time member of the LV Recreation Advisory Group —Margarita Castro — had identified the sub-standard quality and unsanitary condition of the playground equipment and the playground surface. She focused attention on the poor condition of the swing seats on both swing sets (i.e. old, worn and covered with mildew), as well as the dilapidated condition of the mulch covered playground surface which appeared to be coming apart at the seams and seemed a far cry from the soft, foamy modern surfaces installed at newer parks around San Diego.
Fortunately, many people read the article. We had a couple readers offer to donate money to pay for new swing seats. However, in the meantime, part-time Recreation Staff member K.J. LeCesne (who serves as director for the popular Linda Vista Theatre Arts Program at the LV Recreation Center) brought the LV Update article to the attention of his day-time employer— Great Western Recreation and GameTime Playgrounds — and after reading the article the company agreed to donate new swing seat equipment. The new swing seats are now installed and being used by LV children. The company also agreed to remain “committed to partnering with the City to revitalize.that play space when the funding is available.”
Though funding for the installation of a new playground surface is not currently in the works—and due to the current City budget crisis will in all likelihood not be funded in the near future—the new swing seats are a great contribution to the park.
***
We wish to thank the people at Great Western Recreation and GameTime Playgrounds for their generosity We also wish to thank Margarita Castro and K.J. LeCesne for their bold initiative and concern for the LV community, and those LV Update readers who inquired about the possibility of paying for new swing seats.
Commentary
City Government Actions Generating More Civic Engagement
Lately, it seems San Diego resident frustration with a host of City Hall actions has boiled over, causing even usually sedate Linda Vista residents to get excited and protest. However, there appears to be a silver lining to all this reaction to recent local government policies and activities. In several cases, the frustration is causing Linda Vista residents to attend recent local civic meetings in greater numbers and join organizations that play a role in advising the Mayor and City Council. The community can only gain in the long run if all this frustration ends up having a lasting impact on increasing the level of civic engagement in our community.
There are a number of issues that have the citizens of San Diego all riled up. For example, there is the current review of the policy on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) (particularly the policy on the ADU Bonus Incentive Program), the proposed Trash Collection Service Fee, the proposed cuts to the City budget which will inevitably result in cuts to City services, the rise in high density housing complexes and the perceived lack of supporting infrastructure, the poor condition of many City roads, and the growing homeless situation.
In attending LV civic-related meetings during the past few years I have noticed an obvious sense of frustration from residents with all these issues, as well as an overall feeling that little can be done to make City Hall responsive to the concerns of the general citizenry. Most residents attending these meetings have expressed the following objections with San Diego government:
The City government is not a good steward of the taxpayers’ money and there seems to be no way to stop the City from wasting this money.
Wealthy developers have too strong a sway in the City’s decision-making process.
The City’s bureaucracy places too many obstacles in the way of ordinary citizens seeking common sense solutions to more effective government.
The City government takes too long to change course (drags its feet) even when the need for change is obvious.
These objections are some of the major reasons local residents have been skeptical about investing any time in attempting civic engagement via local meetings held by organizations like the Linda Vista Town Council (LVTC) and the Linda Vista Planning Group (LVPG). Fighting City Hall seems too onerous a task. Since the last big local controversy that got residents motivated to vigorously protest in large numbers—the attempted closure of Linda Vista’s Skateworld in 2019—there has not been great attendance at local civic meetings.
However, it seems like things are beginning to change. At a recent meeting of the LVTC, a large segment of those in attendance were motivated to show up because of their concerns about ADU’s in Linda Vista. This resulted in a larger than usual meeting attendance. The additional guests felt so strongly about the issue and the idea that the Mayor’s office was not listening to their concerns that they showed up at the meeting specifically to let their concerns be known. On hand to listen to the complaints was guest speaker State Assembly representative Chris Ward. Also on hand to motivate the meeting attendees were guests speakers Darrel Madison and Shirlie Miller of the Tecolote Canyon Citizens Advisory Committee who spoke about the importance of strongly advocating for City issues like the preservation of Open Space parks. The LVTC can only benefit from a larger attendance of local residents at future meetings.
A similar thing happened at the last LVPG meeting, which found a much larger number of guests than usual in attendance, mainly because they either wanted to express their concerns about ADU’s or the proposed trash collection service. The LVPG was able to take advantage of this increase in attendance by having four enthusiastic guests successfully apply/agree to serve one-year terms as new members of the LVPG. As one long-time member of the LVPG commented…”Members will often join the LVPG because of a single issue, but once on the Group they will continue to serve because they discover other issues that they want to engage with.” During this meeting, the new Group members joined the other LVPG members in voting to recommend disapproval of the City’s proposed trash collection service.
I have seen similar levels of enthusiasm/attendance at recent meetings of the Tecolote Canyon Natural Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee. The large attendance at this organization’s recent meetings—as well as the organization’s protest rally in December—has been largely driven by the City’s controversial trunk sewer line construction project in the Park. Though it initially seemed the City bureaucrats were not listening to complaints/recommendations, the increase in local resident participation/protest has resulted in the City making decisions to modify their original construction plans and reduce the number of trees to be removed.
It is unfortunate that the City’ s policies and actions have raised the ire of so many residents. However, the recent reaction on the part of many residents must be seen in a good light. Let us hope more residents see the need to attend meetings, raise their voice in protest, and then continue participating with great enthusiasm once these issues get resolved and new issues begin to arise. After all, if we want good local government, we have no other choice. We’re not like the rich people in La Jolla who can afford to give up on fighting City Hall, and attempt to secede from the City of San Diego to form their own wealthy enclave.
Spotlight on SD Area Author
LV Book Review
Editor’s note: We always like it when one of our readers reaches out to us to contribute an article or idea. In this case, LV resident Janet Tiger submitted a review of a memoir written by San Diego area writer Jennifer Silva Redmond. Janet T. is herself a prolific writer of plays and screenplays whose work has been performed at various locales in the country as well as here in San Diego.
Honeymoon at Sea by San Diego native Jennifer Silva Redmond is the perfect wedding gift. A funny, moving and always entertaining account of her first year of marriage and what led up to it.
This award-winning memoir describes the adventures of Jennifer and Russel Redmond, who decided to take an unusual honeymoon--on a boat! It includes some fantastic written visuals of places that they went throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Baja California - the friends they meet, the adventures they experience- and the love they share.
You might want to get two copies-one for yourself to read and one to give as a gift for someone you know who's getting married! Five stars and two thumbs up!
Jennifer still works at Sunbelt Publications as their editor-at-large and teaches here in San Diego; she will be teaching via Zoom at San Diego Writers, Ink as part of their pay-what-you-can "Spring into Writing" weekend May 16,17, and 18th.
Poem Published in Local Literary Journal
We are happy to report the below poem by LV Update co-editor Steve Rodriguez was published in the recently released local literary journal Sunshine /Noir III (Writings from San Diego and Tijuana). The publication is produced by San Diego City Works Press. The prose and poems contained in the literary journal attempt to go beyond the San Diego “narrative written by real estate developers and public relations specialists” and shed “a dazzling light on a city that many visit but seldom understand” through “voices of protest and insight, humor and rage.”
The below poem — “An Old San Diego Neighborhood” — addresses the complexities of the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) controversy in Linda Vista in a slightly metaphorical manner. It was inspired by listening to a variety of Linda Vista voices heard at local civic meetings during the past couple years.
An Old San Diego Neighborhood
…is teetering on the precipice
of change. Hot demand for more housing
is causing a real estate upheaval.
Picture some fantastical entity,
with the ultimate power to unload
a box of huge Lego bricks, stacking
dull colored ones throughout the area’s
properties, with no regard to order
or respect for the previous decades.
Imagine the entity working hard.
Bland bricks are positioned in backyards,
or piled on top of single story
dwellings; the long-time homeowners watch
in wary amazement as renters take
up occupancy. They refer back to
a time when no one was a stranger,
or so it seemed for scores of years.
Familiar faces remained in place.
An old San Diego neighborhood is
observing the descendants taking charge
of units handed down generations.
Hard to keep them in the family.
New owners don’t hesitate to make
a buck — selling to the highest bidder.
Long-time homeowners ache for old times.
Big time investors see the dollar signs.
Prospective renters seek a place to sleep.
Imagine the entity as an
accessory to a real estate
umbrage. Muted Lego bricks keep popping
up, assembled in close proximity
to long-time homeowners who yearn
for days since vanished when street parking
was a common commodity, and
no one else in the city valued the
view from this once overlooked locale.
An old San Diego neighborhood sits
atop the flat mesa, awaiting
its fate. The house that granny purchased
is eyed by hungry speculators.
A long-time homeowner raises a fist
to the sky. The entity responds by
placing one gray Lego brick upon
another in the adjacent yard. New
renters feel lucky to find a home.
Long-time homeowners let out a sigh;
two-storied tenants can now stare across
fences, delve into windows with one eye,
and gaze at the ocean with the other.
Change is coming — everyone admits.
But does the change have to be so great?
Can’t a block built in Roosevelt’s time stay
somewhat intact? The entity throws down
another big vanilla Lego brick. Subscribe to the Linda Vista Update
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