When you stumble upon a seasoned restaurant consultant who pokes her palate into restaurants around the globe and reads over 15 food publications a month, you just gotta ask: “How does San Diego’s dining scene compare to rest of the world?”

Pam Wischkaemper knows the restaurant scene inside and out. A resident of Carlsbad, she ran her own cooking schools in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Arizona, founded the Macy’s cooking program in Mission Valley and worked as a food editor for San Diego Home/Garden and San Diego North County Magazine. She is also a former student of the advanced cooking program at La Varenne in Paris.

A critic of critics, the Gay and Lesbian Times caught up with this culinary aesthete to pick her brain on what we might be missing or gaining when eating our way through San Diego.

Pam Wischkaemper: No, I don’t. They may not be the quality of three-star Michelin restaurants, but we have many talented people who have arrived on the scene in the last five to six years…. Chefs now see San Diego as one of the last major metropolitan areas where they can make a statement and name for themselves.

PM: The chef must be willing to try new things and not be afraid if the public doesn’t like them. Restaurants also need to allow chefs to present his/her food without worrying about whether the portions are big enough. Everything needs to be perfect — no wrinkled tablecloths, big cotton napkins, sparkling glassware with no spots and everything fastidiously clean. And service must be impeccable, which is a problem [in San Diego], because we don’t have servers who see this as a career path.

PM: For the most part, no. In the Gaslamp, particularly, there is an abundance of tourists and convention goers. Many are traveling with families and looking for familiar food served quickly. I think that is why Italian restaurants are so popular. Chive, however, is an exception. The restaurant has a very sophisticated feel, as does the new W hotel. I think the closure of Fio’s after 13 years says it all. The downtown crowd wants beer and inexpensive food. It is a scene rather than a dining experience. I love Hillcrest because it is a neighborhood. There are so many wonderful little restaurants that serve great food. Parallel 33 is certainly one. And Jeff Rossman at Terra is doing a great job of serving comfort food at very affordable prices.

PM: Not very good. Again, it is the problem of San Diego servers not seeing this type of job as a career. In New York City you have waiters who have been in the business for their entire life and make a very fine living. They take extraordinary pride in what they do. What bugs me more than anything else is seeing servers clustered around the hostess stand chatting when they should be circling the room checking on customers.

PM: Bernard Guillas of the Marine Room has a Goat Cheese Brulee, which is a take on the dessert crème brulee. He is also using Baramundi, an Australian fish that is becoming popular on the East Coast — as well as lemon myrtle oil, which is going to be hot in the next few months. Maryjo Testa of Laurel has braised veal cheeks and pork belly (in fall and winter). There is also a lot of rhubarb and foie gras combinations appearing on menus. The problem restaurants here face is a public resistance to new, edgy foods. We lag behind the East Coast, Los Angeles and San Francisco because we’re still in the comfort-food stage, which became big after 9/11. But we’re getting back to innovation again. Chefs can only do mashed potatoes for so long.

PM: Ahi tuna