Noma-Inspired Dinner
WHEN: September 27
WHERE: Puesto Headquarters, 789 W. Harbor Dr., Downtown
San Diego’s got a few ties to one of the world’s greatest restaurants, Noma. The most recent was Puesto’s sous chef Edgar Chuong, who staged (interned) at Rene Redzepi’s famed Copenhagen restaurant, and then also took part in Noma Mexico—a pop-up concept in Tulum. For this dinner, he’s using the inspiration of his time with the Noma crew to create an eight-course feast at their communal table. Dishes include scallops, shrimp, squid ink, jalapeno, onion and garlic; octopus with aged cheese, epazote and corn; Veracruz-style red snapper; beef tongue with tomatilos and maize; partridge in Oaxacan mole; nopales gelato, and a deconstructed version of tascalate, the famous sweet, vanilla-corn drink of Chiapas.
COST: $65 (plus $35 for wine pairings)
Borderless Dine & Wine
WHEN: September 29 & 30, 5:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Westgate Hotel, 1055 Second Ave., Downtown
Mexico, especially Baja, is an essential part of San Diego’s food heritage—from the peppers to the octopus and yellowtail and salsas, you name it. And Baja is having a serious culinary renaissance of its own, with world-class food being made in kitchens from Tijuana to Ensenada. One of the drivers behind the renaissance is the Culinary Art School of Tijuana, which trains aspiring chefs from all over Mexico (and some Americans who travel south to learn the cuisine). For this two-day event, Friday will be a poolside smattering of small plates created by the school’s students, with Baja wines and beers, and jazz singer Lorraine Castellanos. Saturday will feature two of the border region’s most well-known chefs—Javier Plascencia (Mision 19) and MasterChef winner Claudia Sandoval—creating two dishes each using sustainably sourced ingredients. Proceeds will benefit the Culinary Art School of Tijuana.
COST: $40 for Friday, $130 for Saturday
MORE INFO
Culinary Cinema
WHEN: October 8, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
WHERE: ArcLight Cinemas UTC, 4425 La Jolla Village Dr., La Jolla
Cinematic treatment of food will never get old. From Babette’s Feast and Like Water for Chocolate in the past, to great new series like Chef’s Table and Mind of a Chef, watching the fire and the thought and the food and the art is a simian thrill. It’s like the Nature Channel for our hungers, and damn near sexual. For “Culinary Cinema,” the San Diego Film Festival will screen 42 Grams, a documentary about a couple who started doing 15-course tasting menus out of their apartment until the popularity of it all lead to a real-deal restaurant. After the screening there’ll be a Q&A with local chefs and food minds, then tastings from local chefs, including Claudia Sandoval (MasterChef winner) and Whet Noodle, among others.
MORE INFO
The Best Food & Drink Events in September and October
Chef Javier Plascencia | Photo by Jaime Fritsch
