We went to our illustrious eater, GLT dining critic Frank Sabatini, Jr., to get his thoughts on food: what’s in, what’s out, what San Diego gets right (and not). He emailed us his candid food creeds, as follows:

“Chefs in San Diego have historically succumbed to conformity. In the early ’90s it was shark and garlic mashed potatoes. Now it’s ahi tuna, which has become the ball and chain of most menus. Yet I think we’ll start seeing the horizon stretched with things like monkfish cheeks, Kobe beef, more venison and exotic, hybrid vegetables.

“Innovation is key for chefs wishing to make a name for themselves in San Diego.

“And there are a fair number of them in town pushing the culinary envelope in daring new ways. At Region, for instance, I applaud Michael Stebner for presenting dishes that are clean and rustic in nature, yet made flavorful with the support of homemade cheeses and select produce. I’m also a fan of Chef Bernard Guillas at the Marine Room, who accents his dishes with scarce ingredients such as Lemon Mrytle oil from Australia and fennel pollen from the Central Coast.”

“I think that wait service in San Diego has improved greatly over the past few years in restaurants where diners pay $20 or more per entrée. It begins to suffer, however, in casual eateries where the guest-to-staff ratio is too wide. And in places where takeout food is involved, the approach to service remains largely unstructured and disengaged. The onus for bad service falls partly in the laps of passive consumers who fail to complain when a broom mop appears at their ankles in the middle of a meal, or when that medium-rare steak arrives too tough around the edges. Diners can directly improve the service standard in our establishments when they speak up to managers and proprietors. The ultimate travesty in service occurs when waiters begin stacking up chairs or removing table linens in eyeshot of late-night customers who are still eating. It undermines any amount of good service that came with the meal. And I’m astounded at how often it occurs.”

“San Diego County’s mom-and-pop restaurants have become precious commodities since many of them die at the hands of trendier establishments as well as the burgeoning number of big-name franchises. Fortunately, there are some very homey and unique eateries still to be found, such as Café Caspian in University Heights, Pomegranate in North Park, Cottage Café in Middletown and Aswan African Restaurant in La Mesa, to name a few.”

“Hillcrest is becoming more appealing to foragers and wine connoisseurs with the recent arrivals of Mama Testa, Margarita Mary’s, Med Grill and Wine Steals, all of which are helping to stimulate the area further with their own unrivaled concepts. Places like California Cuisine, Antico Tuscano, Terra and The Abbey still serve as wonderful foundations to the neighborhood, as do several of the Thai restaurants sprinkled around. But in a perfect world, I would love to see most of the chain eateries along University and Washington swept out to the burbs.

“The Gaslamp Quarter, I feel, has grown into something of a schizophrenic monster with too many ‘get ’em in, get’ em out’ theme restaurants mixed in with finer places such as Nectar, Blue Point Coastal Cuisine and Bandar. Generally, the Gaslamp is a fun place to eat and drink provided you’re not looking for a tranquil meal.”