It’s finally happening. Rumors of an almighty food and culture juggernaut—chef Andrew Bachelier and some lanky, amiable hero guy (and former pro skateboarder) named Tony Hawk—have been swirling for two-and-a-half years. They call it Chick & Hawk: a fried chicken sandwich and casual gourmet what-chefs-eat spot in Leucadia.
Bachelier was the founding chef at Jeune et Jolie. He left during the pandemic to be with his family and then resurfaced with the absolutely killer open-air brunch patio called Atelier Manna (get the blue fin tiradito and the porridge).
Tony Hawk skates, impersonates himself on social media, gives noogies to the laws of aging, and is quietly one of the most prolific restaurateurs in San Diego, having supported many of the city’s top chefs.
Then their dream was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. Problems with the city and permits and gods.
They have finally been approved to start construction. Chick & Hawk should be open in six-ish months—heaven and sign-this-in-triplicates willing. And, this week at Callie, chef Travis Swikard invited the whole Chick & Hawk team in to show off the food they’ll be cooking.
They did housemade sour-cream-and-onion chips with creme fraiche and caviar. And there was that sandwich. Dear god, that sandwich. A craggy-moist beautiful thing that will be a rave of the city, even in a city that is now 30 feet deep in hot chicken sandwiches.
Half the city’s food scene was in Callie that night. There was a table of tee shirts and sweatshirts and hats for sale (hey, you gotta pay rent somehow, even if you’re not allowed to build yet). And there was Swikard, giving a damn about the local food ecosphere and people, supporting a friend in a holding pattern.
That’s what it’s all about. That’s how a food scene becomes a food cult.
