Such a request led recently to a virtual avalanche of dim sum. One innovation is the introduction of the first dim sum list in North County, reliably available on weekends (when servers push carts laden with the savory dumplings through the dining room) and available to a degree on weekdays if you make it clear that you really want to try at least a few varieties.

All occasionally assist co-owners Nian and Jimmie, brothers-in-law who have installed a new menu with several special features and are gradually refurbishing an interior that still has far to go. The fading Mandarin Coast, long a Solana Beach landmark and long in need of updating in both menu and appointments, was recently taken over by the Cheng family, whose roots are in the Yangtze River Valley in China’s Chiangsu Province, and whose members include a financial consultant, a medical student and a pair of nephews enrolled in master’s degree programs.

Not all of them emigrate, in fact, and international chains, if still rare, are spreading.

One of the more important but less-noticed phenomena of the contemporary restaurant business is the gradual rise of a new type of ethnic restaurateur.Īlthough the majority of ethnic eateries at one time were opened by fairly poor immigrants who offered simple, everyday fare in modest surroundings (and who frequently prospered in the process), it has become more common of late for well-educated, sophisticated entrepreneurs to come here specifically to invest in America’s ever-growing love affair with restaurants.

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