The hulking, shattered shell of a building that loomed over the most marquee corner of North Park for years is finally, finally alive again.
Chef Brad Wise’s long-awaited take on a French brasserie, À L’ouest, opens this Wednesday, February 11.
À L’ouest is lucky number 13 for Wise, whose Trust Restaurant Group made its name over the last decade with Fort Oak, Cardellino, Carlo, The Wise Ox, Trust, Wild Child, and six locations of Rare Society. A French brasserie has been on Wise’s mind since the beginning of building his empire. So has this location—it was where he wanted to put his first restaurant, Trust, when it opened in 2016.
He just couldn’t afford the rent back then. He also wasn’t sure until now that San Diego would be as tolerant of his French rendition. Now he feels locals have the proper context to understand the hybrid brasserie-meets-steakhouse approach he’s going for.
“The true French folks will probably be rolling over in their grave, if they’ve seen what things we did,” he laughs. À L’ouest’s food retains a French heart, but with a Wise pacemaker. Take the French onion soup, for example. “There’s massive chunks of oxtail in that soup that some places in France use—it’s just not common,” he explains.
Cooking over charcoal—the group’s signature—isn’t a classical French technique, either. But steak frites is a ubiquitous dish at most French brasseries now, and if there’s anything Wise can knock out of the park, it’s a slab of meat.
Don’t worry. It’s not that out there (probably). “You’re going to know it’s a French place,” he promises. “It’s just a French place done by us.”
Part of the delay between idea and launch was to give Wise time to visit Europe a few times to nail down his vision. Studio Rallou designed the 4,387-square-foot-space. What had been studs and rubble for a decade is now lively, elegant, and timeless.
Masculinity has historically been the coin of the steakhouse design realm, but Wise went the opposite direction. Utilizing the sinuous curves and free-form femininity of Art Nouveau, À L’ouest incorporates warm white oak and mossy green details throughout, with fanned-out tile patterns at the entrance where two fountains flank the host stand. It seats about 209 guests, including two patios that wrap along 30th Street (the bar side) and University Avenue (the dining room side).
The menu melds familiar French bistro staples with Wise’s wood-fired finesse. Instead of moules frites, À L’ouest cold-smokes mussels with sesame chili crunch and Vadouvan, an aromatic French-Indian curry. A raw bar will be a centerpiece, as will classics like a salade de laitue (bibb lettuce salad); beef tartare; steak au poivre; and desserts such as a soufflé, banana mille-feuille, and a traditional sundae.
Wise brought in quite a few familiar names from his Trust team. Beverage director Jess Stewart and bar lead Chris Dunsmoor put together the martini-heavy cocktail program and spins on classic cocktails like Bon Chic Bon, a brasserie-style cosmopolitan with lacto-fermeted cranberries and housemade meyer lemon vodka. Wine director Ben Zuba and sommelier Patrick Holihan built a Franco-centric list (with plenty of input from California). Chef de cuisine is John Tubolino, who trained in the Michael Mina world. GM is Christina Strange from Rare Society Solana Beach and San Clemente.
Opening hours will be Wednesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to close, but Wise says within a few weeks he plans to expand to seven days a week, introduce weekend brunch, and launch apéro hour from 3 to 5 p.m. It’s not quite happy hour, he explains. It’s a lively French take on pre-dinner drinks, but a little earlier to accommodate for American schedules.
“It’s just more of a vibe,” he says.
À L’ouest opens on Wednesday, February 11 at 3002 University Avenue in North Park. Reservations are available via OpenTable.
PARTNER CONTENT
Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
