A good piece of sausage is hard to find if you’ve emigrated here from points east. It’s one of the culinary hypocrisies of Southern California, where we litter our car seats with French fries and taco cheese, yet the thought of eating meat piped into intestinal pork casings is a demerit toward healthy living.

Leave it to San Diego native Jay Porter to defy the dietary establishment. In February he opened The Linkery, a North Park bistro specializing in homemade sausages as well as craft beers, international wines, artisan cheese plates and savory meals. Porter pollinates the neighborhood’s slow-going renaissance with something of a delicious Bohemia for those seeking a comfy break from cookie-cutter cuisine and starchy atmospheres.

Assorted sausage links are made fresh on the premises, and then poached (sometimes in beer) before they’re tossed onto a flame grill when ordered. About three or four different varieties are available daily from a repertoire of nearly 20 recipes developed by Porter and his “link-maker” Michael McGuan.

My dining companion and I eagerly sampled from the day’s sausage offerings scribbled on a chalkboard. The Wisconsin Bratwurst made with pork, veal, ginger, allspice and milk was outstanding. McGuan pre-poaches it in Milwaukee’s Best beer. The rustic-tasting Weisswurst contained the same meats, which were more delicately flavored with parsley and onions. That link paled in comparison, however, to the tongue-popping Kaser Krainor stippled magnificently with cayenne pepper and sage.

“We’re constantly looking for new sausage recipes,” says McGuan, whose fate brought him, coincidentally, to The Linkery after he had just left Philadelphia, where he worked for a deli that specializes in homemade Polish sausage. Instead of landing a quick job waiting tables upon arriving here, he ended up manning The Linkery’s 24-pound electric meat stuffer.

The kitchen staff also includes Chef Mars Wasterval and Sous Chef Carrie Whealy, who oversee a variety of comforting dinner entrées such as Braised Lamb, Grilled Salmon with lemon-honey marinade, Pork Chop with apple salsa and more. There are also salads, wraps and vegetarian entrées using homemade tofu, which seems an obligatory offering in a place where the links are so loved.

The kitchen’s char broiler stays busily engaged for preparing a few side dishes as well, such as Ginger-Soy Green Beans, Asparagus Spears and the tantalizing Gorgonzola-Stuffed Romaine. Kudos to whoever thought of giving lettuce a fine-flaming finish. The balsamic-drenched Sun Salad we also tried, sprinkled with sunflower seeds and blond raisins, was in comparison just OK.

And though I’ve never met a cheese plate that I didn’t like, the one we tried after devouring our “link starter” reigned supreme. It came with three farmstead curds, including Winchester Gouda and Point Reyes Bleu, which paired lovingly when eaten in conjunction with the accompanying dried cranberries and apricots. A plop of onions caramelized in wine and sugar, plus some fresh walnuts imparted a generous twist to the plate.

So thoroughly content with the first half of our meal, and still reeling over those godly charred sausages, the Surf & Turf entrée I chose seemed upstaged. It featured a lean, pliant cut of Omaha flat iron steak that tasted vaguely like liver, and a few plump shrimp laced in chili-lime sauce. Though satisfying and tastefully presented with grilled pineapple and corn-mint puree, I felt it potentially detracted from the restaurant’s principle theme.

My companion’s choice, Link and Choucroute, better complimented our desires. Her plate came with a heaping of sauerkraut (a little too undercooked for our taste) topped with a link of choice, bacon and slice of Gouda cheese. A hunk of artisan bread rounded out the meal’s hardy essence.

If you’re coming for the sausage, like we did, the menu also offers a Link Sandwich, or Picnic Plate with a choice of two links and two cheeses – perfect chow for slugging down some of the imported German beers available.

One of the fun ways to sip wine here is from little six-ounce jars, priced at only $3.50 apiece for various house varietals. The concept fits the restaurant’s socially relaxed atmosphere, which falls somewhere between a refined downtown café and side-street pub. The regular wine list offers a few novel choices from Argentina and Mexico, as well as California, Italy and Australia.

Our desserts may have suffered from taking them to go. Both the Banana Cake, a family recipe of Chef Whealy’s, and Mango Cheesecake tasted day-old. But the fact that everything is either homemade or of artisan quality puts The Linkery at the top of my list for favorite and most original neighborhood restaurants.