Lola 55 was a San Diego tortilla institution before Andrew Bent moved on and opened Papalito — Sonoran BBQ — inside Little Thief wine bar in North Park, which is a very San Diego thing to do and the kind of restaurant idea that only makes sense if you understand that San Diego's food culture is more interesting than its reputation. He took that same sense of place to S27E4 and beat Bobby Flay with fish tacos.
Bent's fish taco technique is a Baja operation: the batter is a thin beer-and-flour mixture that adheres to the fish only because the fish is cold and dry going in. He runs the oil at 365°F, not the hotter temperature that produces a dark crust fast — the lower heat gives the interior time to cook while the exterior builds color slowly. The cabbage slaw is dressed in a crema-and-lime mixture that has been seasoned and tasted as its own component before it goes anywhere near the taco.
Papalito inside Little Thief is the kind of destination that North Park is perfectly constructed to support. Bobby Flay, who has cooked more fish tacos on television than seems statistically likely, lost this one to someone who grew up eating them.
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