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East Village is getting a new food hall. The owners of RoVino Restaurant and Wine Bar in Little Italy are opening The Foodery—an Italian market with a deli counter, pizza oven, gelato and coffee station, and a full-service restaurant—in the ground floor of the Strata apartment complex on Tenth Avenue and Market Street. The grand opening is scheduled for August 23.
2
The chef and owner of Zinque, a French cafe in Los Angeles, is opening a location in Little Italy. Zinque is known for its brunch, bowls, and tartines that are made with bread from Poilâne Bakery in Paris. Zinque has locations in Venice Beach, West Hollywood and Downtown LA, and its Little Italy location is set to open in a couple of weeks in the AV8 complex on Kettner and West Hawthorn.
3
We finally know what’s happening with the old Cafe Chloe spot in East Village. The owner of Tajima Ramen, Sam Morikizono, is going to open an Asian fried chicken joint, Corner Chicken, in its place. We reached out to Morikizono, and he said it will be a casual spot that will serve chicken wings and fried chicken sandwiches from lunch time til late night. It will also have 20 different beers on tap, and should be opening at the end of this year.
4
More East Village news! The neighborhood is getting a new restaurant from a star chef with local ties. Callie is going in the space where Bottega Americano was, and will be run by Travis Swikard. Swikard is from Santee, and he left San Diego over 10 years ago for New York City, where he worked alongside legendary French chef Daniel Boulud. He came back and he spent the past year looking for the right location for his new restaurant. Swikard is hosting a preview dinner of Callie’s menu at a pop-up dinner at Otium in Los Angeles on August 22, and at Fort Oak on September 26.
5
We got on update on what’s happening with Maya, an upscale Filipino restaurant by chef DJ Tangalin. Maya was initially going to open in Hillcrest in May, but has been delayed. Tangalin said he’s still looking for investors for Maya and is currently scouting a new location for the restaurant. Meanwhile, he opened Gaya Gaya in Miramar, where he modernized the menu at the former Sarap Filipino Kitchen.
6
Il Dandy in Bankers Hill has been one of the most talked about new restaurants in town, since the chefs, Luca and Antonio Abbruzzino, have a Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy’s Calabria region. They recently unveiled Arama, a six-seat restaurant within the restaurant that offers an exclusive 12-course tasting menu of Calabrian cuisine.
7
The new Invigatorium from Modern Times is now open in East Village. Modern Times is known for their craft beer, but they also roast their own coffee in Point Loma. They teamed up with CH Projects for this new cafe, which you can see in the cool design, and they’re serving vegan pastries and drinks like horchata slushies and coffee cocktails.
8
The Busalacchi family, the owners of multiple landmark Italian restaurants in San Diego, is celebrating the 35th anniversary of their very first restaurant, Casanova’s Pizza. In honor of the milestone, the Busalacchi’s two Little Italy restaurants, Barbusa and Nonna + Cafe Zucchero, are offering a throwback menu spotlighting some of Joe Busalacchi’s favorite dishes, such as calamari ripieni—squid stuffed with breadcrumbs, shrimp and currants. The three-course menu is $35, and the promotion lasts through the rest of August.
New Food Hall Coming to East Village, and more San Diego Food News
Arama, the restaurant inside Il Dandy | Photo by Luciana McIntosh
