When it comes to falling off the dietary wagon, however, nothing is quite so effective as the Hotel del Coronado’s Crown Room Sunday Brunch (619.522.8490, www.hoteldel.com). Seven stations serve up seafood, sushi, Mexican fare, traditional eggs and omelets, cheeses, carvings, fruits and a spectacularly decadent dessert selection that includes chocolate soup and old-fashioned candies. It’s probably owing to the resort’s unimpeachable elegance that this culinary carnival—attended by everyone from families with picture-perfect children to guests old enough to remember the heyday of the brunch’s rock candy offerings—remains impressively civilized.

As at The Del, George’s at the Cove in La Jolla draws on a long history of California-style sophistication. But of its three restaurants, George’s Ocean Terrace (858.454.4244, www.georgesatthecove.com) most seamlessly fuses San Diego’s quintessential culinary traditions: light fare and alfresco dining. The shrimp cocktail and fish tacos, for instance, are as delicious as George’s Famous Soup (made famous by none other than Oprah), and they satisfy without compromising your aspirations to be as trim as the well-heeled diners crowding the rooftop patio. But if you must overindulge, do so on the endless views of the Pacific. This is California at its best: Sun on your back, sea in your line of sight and a menu that draws on San Diego’s tastiest assets.