The Birdman’s tasty tricks

TONY HAWK wasn’t around in 1964 when Jan & Dean were singing about “Sidewalk Surfin’,” and by the time he was born four years later, the skateboard boom had busted. But when the second wave hit in the ‘70s, Hawk was ready, and since then he’s been riding it like no one else.

Hawk has three sons -- Riley, 12; Spencer, 6; and Keegan, 4 -- and a fiancee, Lhotse Merriam, whom he’s marrying in January. From his home in Encinitas, Hawk presides over a multimedia empire that includes his latest video game release, “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland.” But “the Birdman” doesn’t let his weekends go to waste.

Finest dining

On a Friday night I’d go out to dinner in Del Mar to a restaurant that I think is probably the best in Southern California -- Arterra in the Marriott. It’s sort of an Asian-fusion place, and we usually get the tasting menu so we can try a lot of different things. We went to it on the recommendation of a friend who kept raving about it so much that we couldn’t believe it could be that great. But we believe it now. One of the things I like is the blue cheese souffle. I usually hate blue cheese, but I love this dish, that’s how good it is. After dinner, my fiancee and I might go to the Saloon in Encinitas, which is really nice and always has a line outside. Then we’d head home.

Eggs and Legos

On Saturday morning we’d go to the Pannikin for breakfast in Encinitas. It’s right next to a boutique my fiancee just opened, Clover Lingerie, so I find myself going to the Pannikin a lot more often. I order the Super Steamer, which is steamed eggs with turkey and jack cheese.

Then, if I have the boys with me, I’ll take them to Legoland, which is the perfect place for kids their age. We’ve got an Ambassador Pass and go there a lot, so they kind of look at it as their local playground. It’s got a couple of roller coasters, but they’re for kids around 8 to 10 -- it’s not Magic Mountain. I have generally learned to avoid large groups of kids between 10 and 15 years of age because it can turn into a scene, but it hasn’t been too intrusive.

In the evening, we might go to dinner at a tiny place in Encinitas called Amici, which has great Mediterranean food with sauces that are insanely good.

Later, we might go into San Diego; I went to see Devo a while back at the House of Blues there. But generally I like to come home and catch up on some DVDs. I have a pretty heavy movie theater set up and Netflix shipments arriving about every other day.

Into the city

On Sunday, we’ll take the boys up to meet my mom for breakfast in Vista at the Original Pancake House. We’ll get the 2 by 4, two eggs and four pancakes. Then, although I usually only go up to L.A. for business, we might take the boys to Universal Studios or Hollywood Boulevard. They think the Walk of Fame is great, and then there’s Ripley’s and the giant King Kong and all the other crazy stuff. They are fascinated with all that.

For dinner, my fiancee loves Katana on Sunset. They have a special type of open grill there where they cook the meat and vegetables that you see in Japan but not so much here. It’s called robatayaki. And whenever we are in L.A., my fiancee always breaks off and goes into the garment district to look around.

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-- Mark Sachs