When Larry Hodgson was in the Peace...

When Larry Hodgson was in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, he dreamed of opening an international restaurant with several rooms, each featuring a different cuisine. Thirteen years later, after working in many kitchens and taking a master’s course at a

culinary institute, he made his dream come true when he opened the Beach City Grill in San Pedro.

This week, Beach City Grill is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and although it has only one unpretentious, cheerful room, the cuisine spans many continents to bring customers a variety of fresh and tasty foods.

While there is a printed menu, most customers forgo it in favor of the daily chalkboard specials. A good way to start a meal is with the turkey sate ($1.75), a bamboo-skewered breast of turkey with a spicy Indonesian peanut sauce.

Be sure to consider the soups of the day, perhaps the black bean with a cilantro-lime-sour cream topping ($1.95 a cup, $3.75 a bowl), or the excellent corn chowder, a chicken-stock base flavored with cumin, coriander and nutmeg. The chalkboard almost always lists blackened salmon taco ($4.95), which features a fresh, four-ounce piece of king salmon blackened with Cajun spices and bursting with flavor.

Pasta lovers also will find something appealing. Recently, a pasta St. Tropez ($10.95) was offered that features shrimp, salmon, broccoli and snow peas with a Dijon mustard cream sauce atop a bed of your choice of linguine, spinach fettuccine or whole wheat spaghetti.

The Beach City Grill is definitely a place to splurge on desserts--behind the main chalkboard lurks another board with 10 desserts. The chocolate Reese’s peanut butter pie ($4) consists of a chocolate cookie crust, chocolate silk (half mousse, half fudge), peanut butter silk and a topping of dark and white chocolate. The turtle pie ($4) also features a chocolate cookie crust, with chocolate silk, loads of caramel, almonds and a white chocolate topping. Both are outstanding.

Beach City Grill is at 376 W. 6th St., San Pedro. (310) 633-6345. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. No alcohol.