"Dig In!"'s Author Turns to Her Family's San Diego and Mexican Roots in Debut Cookbook

Erin O’Brien, the author of the new cookbook “Dig In! Over 100 Easy, Delicious, and Stress-Free Recipes to Make on Repeat” (Simon Element, $35), may have been raised in Pasadena, but so much of her experience with food originated in La Jolla by way of Mexico. O’Brien’s Nana, Manuela “Nelly” Romera, once owned a popular restaurant called Lupita’s La Jolla. But Lupita’s, now the site of PopUp Bagels, was not the family’s first San Diego eatery. Back in 1959, Nelly’s mother — O’Brien’s great-grandmother, Jesús de Romero, or Guela — moved her family to San Diego from Mexico and opened Lupita’s Cafe in what’s now the Gaslamp Quarter. It was, as O’Brien described it, “a tiny lunch counter serving comforting homestyle Mexican dishes.”

I spoke with the delightful O’Brien about her family recipes and have included three from the book with the San Diego connection in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section: Camarones al Mojo de Ajo, Mom’s Cheesy Calabacitas (Mexican Squash) and to accompany these, her Frozen Coconut Mojito.