Soto, often sweetly referred to as “the tamale lady,” is a longtime Barrio Logan resident. Originally from Colima, Mexico, the 59-year-old immigrated to the United States and established roots in the barrio in the early 1970s.

There are two methods of obtaining food at Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle. One is pretty straightforward. Owner Dennis Borlek demonstrates the other by jumping over the counter of the bait shop, chopping up a frozen shrimp and pushing chunks of the flesh onto several hooks on a line dangling from a fishing pole.

Though I’m no food snob, supermarket fare doesn’t usually tempt my appetite. The beige and boxy grocery stores of my O.C. childhood offered too-sweet cookies, cupcakes and donuts in bright, fluorescent shades. 

Friends, The Food Chain is being held together not with sturdy metal, but, instead, a single frayed thread. It’s a precarious situation, one that I don’t fully understand.