PrepKitchen

The Whisknladle crew brings you a variation on their "slow food movement" theme with PrepKitchen, an express gourmet cafe a few doors down from a baby boutique called Spoiled Rotten, appropriate for the La Jolla scene.

You're truly spoiling your taste buds with PrepKitchen's fancy-without-being-fussy, farm-to-table fare: slow roasted Porchetta ($13.95 pork loin from Niman Ranch), and beer braised beef ($16.50) from that famous NorCal ranch, too. There are artisanal cheeses, seasonal veggies, and plenty of signage inside the small cafe (counter seating along one windowed wall, but you'll want to sit outside on the deck) singing the virtues of eating handcrafted foods made by folks with a conscience. In short, the cooks and the clientele all know who Alice Waters and Michael Pollan are.

For a group of five hungry slow foodies, try the no-fuss family meal ($59) which features a four-course selection of plates dependent, again, on what's in season, locally grown or slaughtered with care. Early November you could’ve had a family combo with Porchetta, mixed greens, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and salted caramel and pecan brownies.

For kids there are cod fish sticks, grilled cheese with homemade potato chips, chicken strips, and mac & cheese ($6.75) made of buttered fusilli pasta and clotted with parmesan. (Keli Dailey, SignOnSanDiego)