Deck the Halls With Lots of Tuna, fa, la . . .

Ah, San Diego, land of the turkey taco and the peanut-butter bagel and now . . . Christmas tuna.

You may recall that Rubio’s restaurants provided turkey tacos during Thanksgiving at its venues throughout San Diego County. (A turkey taco, a churro and a cerveza, the perfect way to commemorate the Pilgrims’ first winter!)

And did I remember to tell you about the Reese’s peanut-butter bagel being provided at Top of the Bagel in Solana Beach?

My correspondent on such matters, Steve Gaffen of University City, reports that it tastes great: “It’s a toe-curler.”

Amid such culinary diversity comes the “Santa Survival Kit” from Bumble Bee Seafoods of San Diego (never let it be said that your columnist is not, in the current civic argot, “business-friendly”).

The kit contains information on “correct sleigh posture, diet, sustaining jolliness, reindeer care and beard maintenance.” And a hotline number.

“There are a lot of malls, and every one has a Santa,” explains Bumble Bee nutritionist Jean-Marie Bond.

As you might expect, the sleigh, jolliness, reindeer and beard information are for fun. The diet stuff--heavy on the tuna--is for real.

Bumble Bee is suggesting that Santas take tuna breaks. There’s a Santa’s Tuna Sandwich recipe: a pita pocket with tuna mixed with low-fat lemon yogurt and nonfat cottage cheese, and maybe some diced red and green peppers for flavor and “holiday color.”

If there’s any tuna left over, spread a dollop on a wheat cracker. “Tuna is a very ‘90s product,” Bond says.

It’s not as if Bumble Bee sees tuna kicking turkey off the Christmas table. That would not be realistic or politically correct.

“Turkey is all-American,” Bond allows. “The Indians introduced turkey to the Old World. If we lost turkey, we’d lose some of America’s culinary culture, but tuna certainly will play an important part in America.”

One more thing: If straight tuna isn’t regional enough for you, there’s something else: jalapeno tuna for hot tuna nachos.

It’s on the market. The focus groups in Van Nuys have been quite positive.

Market Street Exposed

Seen, heard.

* I don’t mean to be a wimp in these matters, but here’s what I saw in a three-block stretch of downtown Market Street at high noon.

Two women sitting in a car, smoking marijuana and laughing like crazy (and then driving away); a drug deal going down including a seller and several buyers, and a man and woman having a loud argument with pushing, shoving and hot words.

(Two county marshals, lunching at a nearby Mexican restaurant, broke up the argument.)

* Fox TV’s “Code 3” plans a segment Dec. 26 on a San Diego rescue team struggling to save a critically injured construction worker trapped beneath a bulldozer.

* Bravo, the gay newspaper, has endorsed Executive Assistant Police Chief Norm Stamper to become chief.

* Set for ABC’s “FBI: The Untold Stories,” on Dec. 21 is a segment about the 1979 rape-murder of a migrant woman near Tijuana, “Border Kill.”

The story tells of FBI Agent Jim Bird, who was investigating his first homicide when he realized that the killer was from law enforcement, Michael Edwards Kennedy, a Federal Protective Services officer assigned to San Ysidro. (Kennedy’s now doing a life sentence).

* Vanity Fair magazine reports that fallen Wall Street financier Ivan Boesky is living in La Jolla on $180,000 a year in alimony from his ex-wife.

The magazine says Boesky spends his days weight-lifting and partying in his five bedrooms, 6 1/2 baths, sauna, jacuzzi, wine cellar, gardens, four patios, swimming pool, three-car garage and cabana.

Cultured Graffito

George Mitrovich, president of the City Club, thinks maybe graffiti are going high-brow.

He noticed scrawled on a building at 13th and G in downtown San Diego, “GRANTA.” He notes that this is also the name of a literary magazine from Cambridge, England.

It’s dubious whether the spray-painter knew this. Still, Mitrovich is optimistic:

“It’s a measure of progress.”