How the Shutdown Helps One Man Sell BBQ

It started with a grapevine growing over her house in Lemon Grove that threatened to strangle a utility pole. But Noura Bishay didn’t see it as an overgrown pest. She saw it as an opportunity.

“In our culture, we don’t look at grapes as the grape only,” she explains. Her family comes from Cairo, Egypt, where stuffed grape leaves (dolmas) are a common dish in traditional cuisine. What better way to introduce her homeland’s food to friends and neighbors than by taking the bounty of leaves in her own yard and teaching a few classes on how to make dolmas themselves? 

It worked immediately. “There were miracles happening around the table,” Bishay marvels. 

That success led to an idea, which led to a referral, which led to a $3,000 COOK Alliance grant, which eventually allowed Bishay and her mother Samia Khair to open The Hidden Gazebo Eatery, a microenterprise home kitchen operation (MEHKO) in January.

Hidden Gazebo offers a three-hour, seven-course set menu featuring classic Egyptian ingredients like lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, and other legumes; proteins like braised lamb; and microgreens and flower garnishes from Bishay’s garden. “I’d rather use the stuff in my backyard, so I know where it’s coming from,” she says. Whatever’s in season, blooming, and available makes it to the plate. 

Back in Egypt, Bishay’s family planted 30,000 olive trees in the desert to cultivate a farm, creating an oasis that brought dozens of family members and friends to their table at any given time. Preparing a buffet feast for 20-plus guests was a regular occurrence, but California law limits MEHKOs to 30 meals a day or 90 meals per week. “It’s very different from our culture to do the seven plates, but for me, it’s like a journey. I’m taking you back to Egypt and bringing you back home,” she explains. 

In some ways, that’s literal: For the sourdough bites in the first course, called The Pyramid, she claims the starter is 700 years old. (Considering sourdough originated in ancient Egypt around 1,500 B.C.E., I’m inclined to believe her.) 

Fava beans are cooked for at least seven hours, then finished with lemon preserves for a splash of acid, drizzled with parsley oil, sprinkled with black sesame and housemade pickles, and garnished with flowers and microgreens from her garden. It’s the history of Egyptian cuisine and home cooking all in one. 

For now, Bishay and Khair only offer Hidden Gazebo seatings on weekends, certain special occasions, or by private request during the week. They plan to launch brunch service in April and hope to perhaps expand to a bigger house one day, maybe near the ocean. The current space in the family’s backyard is a garden covered with trees, including the pièce de résistance: a century-old Chinese elm tree with a 50-year-old staghorn fern hanging from it. It’s an entirely different world, and that’s the point, says Bishay. “I tell [guests] to make sure to touch every tree,” she says. “Every tree has a story.”

Reservations for Hidden Gazebo Eatery are available here. 

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• It’s a reunion of delicious proportions. On April 17, chef Roberto Alcocer of Michelin-starred Valle in Oceanside will host his culinary school compatriot chef Daniel Romero for a one-night dinner featuring the fabulous cuisine of Puebla in central Mexico. Guests can also add an optional tequila pairing from Reserva de la Familia, and can I just say: That sounds a lot more fun than a wine tasting (but that’s just me). I have a feeling this one might get a little lively.
• The second annual Taste of La Mesa Village hits the streets of La Mesa on Thursday, April 23, at 5 p.m., featuring over a dozen local restaurants of the up-and-coming East County gem. Sold out? Not to worry—there are still opportunities to volunteer, and the waitlist is open. It seems as though the Jewel of the Hills isn’t quite so sleepy anymore…
• Deckman’s North keeps reinventing itself, which seems like a smart move for restaurants that want to stay alive in this tough economy. The latest change is a new “Fire Table,” a two hour, eight-seat, five course chef’s-counter experience around a live oak fire (reminiscent of chef Drew Deckman’s Baja restaurant Deckman’s en El Mogor, which I assume is the point), with (optional) wine from Santa Barbara and Baja California, cold-smoked seafood, grilled veggies, smoked meats, and a slow-cooked main plus a few other fire-kissed surprises along the way. 

---

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].

It’s a dark day in San Diego, and not just because of the rain. Coop’s West Texas BBQ, one of the county’s original Texas barbecue joints, is closing shop after 13 years. 

Coop’s Instagram page announced the news earlier today, days after being mentioned in a praiseworthy feature by barbecue expert Daniel Vaughn in Texas Monthly.

When Brad Cooper, a.k.a. Mr. Coop, opened Coop’s in Lemon Grove in 2010, he mixed Texas’ trademark low-and-slow style with his take on soul food, offering classics like beef brisket and pork ribs alongside Southwest jerk chicken, candied yams, and collard greens. Word of mouth quickly spread—the low-key joint on the south side of Lemon Grove was the place to be. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Coop's BBQ | San Diego BBQ Restaurant (@coopsbbq)

“A lot of our business was coming from outside of Lemon Grove,” says Cooper. “We consider ourselves a barbecue destination.”

Even when the pandemic wreaked havoc on the hospitality industry, Coop said they were able to stay afloat. But, he says over the past two years, rising inflation and the cost of gas made business untenable. “When gas went up, the cost of food went up, and we saw a drastic decline in business,” he says. “I’m just like, ‘You know what? It’s time to do something different.’”

Coop says it’s not the end—he plans to continue the catering side of Coop’s, as well as offering pop-ups around town to make sure people can get their Coop’s fix. He hopes to partner with local breweries who don’t have kitchens, and encourages anyone interested to contact him. He’s optimistic about the future.

“I think I’ve carried myself well enough in this community and represented San Diego well enough that my name will carry,” he says. “Once people know what we’re doing, people will be like ‘Oh man, Coop! Let’s go get it!” 

Coop’s West Texas BBQ’s last day in business is Sunday, March 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2625 Lemon Grove Avenue. 

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].

Not all monsters have to be scary. In fact, entrepreneur Pinyada “Ada” Primpray’s is delightful.  Sea Monster, a small cafe that will serve poke bowls, fresh spring rolls, and matcha, will open in Mission Valley by the end of the year. 

“The concept is a Hawaiian- and Japanese-style cafe,” Primpray  explains. She calls it Sea Monster in homage to her friend’s popular restaurant Big Monster Sushi & Thai in Hawaii, but “the idea really started to take shape after I came back from a solo trip to Italy,” she says. The experience inspired her to start her own concept that mixed her culture, experience, and passion for food.

Sea Monster will be her first restaurant as an owner, but Primpray has worked in restaurants for 15 years in places like Kauai, Chicago, New York, and San Diego. She realized a similar health-conscious, seafood-forward, quick-service restaurant could work here, especially in that corner of Mission Valley where pizza and burgers reign. Plus, she points to the massive development plans for the area—between Riverwalk bringing thousands of new homes to the area and even more coming from San Diego State University, there are lots of new locals looming on the horizon.

She brought on Head Chef Wasu Gibb Palipote from Sushisamba in Los Angeles to develop the menu and signature sauces, like ink wasabi and a larb sauce. “Every couple of months, we plan to introduce a new signature sauce created exclusively for Sea Monster by [Chef Palipote],” she says. All the sauces will be homemade, including a basil creamy sauce and sesame vinegar.

Sea Monster’s menu centers around fresh poke bowls—mostly locally-caught bluefin tuna and hamachi as well as salmon, served California-style rather than Hawaiian-style (the sauces are added to order rather than marinating on the fish, which can overpower its flavor). Toppings will range from the usual, like edamame and green onion, to upscale, like uni (sea urchin). She’ll also serve fresh salad rolls, a popular light snack in Vietnam and her native Thailand, with vegetables and seafood like salmon, shrimp, and imitation crab. Everything will be served to-go, although there will be very limited seating for people who want to dive in right away. 

The matcha program will start small, with six iterations planned for opening and potentially more in the future. “I really want to have mango sticky rice,” she adds. Beyond adding items to the menu, Primpray says she hopes Sea Monster will be more than a restaurant. “I want it to grow into a lifestyle brand with its own little world,” she says, pointing to the restaurant’s mascot, Smoo. A monster with aspirations of growing bigger and bigger until it takes over? Yeah, sounds about right. 

Sea Monster will open daily for lunch and dinner in late 2026 at 6110 Friars Road in Mission Valley.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by shio (@shiolajolla)

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Oktoberfest season is closing in fast, and one of the first dirndl-laced events of the year kicks off at AleSmith Brewing Company this weekend. AleSchmidt Oktoberfest runs every Saturday from September 12 through 26, and the family-friendly event is chock-a-block with German food vendors, live oom-pah bands, stein holding, and a whole lot more. The free event starts at 11 a.m. each Saturday, and from personal experience, I recommend posting up on the early side to snag a seat.
• Japanese fine dining restaurant Shio soft opened in August, bringing elegant plates and sunset views to La Jolla. (The area was hardly hurting for either, but I think we could always use some more sushi in our lives.) Has anyone checked it out yet? Let me know what I should order by dropping me a line at [email protected].
• Restaurateur brothers Danny and Dante Romero have been on a tear the past few years, consulting at places like Una Mas and taking over The Lion’s Share last summer. It’s understandable to see they recently decided to pause their recurring pop-up concept Two Ducks to recalibrate and figure out its future in a permanent location, but it’s still a bit bittersweet. If it’s “see you later” and not “goodbye,” I can live with that (for now).

---

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].

“A sharp knife is a safe knife,” says Joshua “Jhun” de Andres, owner of Kuya Sharpens. It only takes a light touch to guide a properly-sharpened knife, while dull knives require much more force to cut through an object, increasing the likelihood and severity of an injury. “If you slip, that’s a lot of force that is now going into your finger, your hand, and that’s where it becomes extremely dangerous.” 

De Andres started sharpening knives as a meditative practice during a time of personal grief, a way to zone in on a task with a useful and satisfying outcome. “[It was a] reminder to myself that you can fix something that’s broken and give it purpose again.” Once he ran through his own collection of knives, he started asking friends and family if he could sharpen theirs. When he’d sharpened everyone’s knives he could think of, he started posting videos on TikTok, where his first professional chef customer found him: Chef Tanner Stanich, chef de cuisine at Michelin-recognized Bib Gourmand Mabel’s Gone Fishing.

“That’s when things really started to take off,” he laughs. He uses whetstones rather than motorized belt sanders to sharpen, which gives him the ability to make microadjustments during the process for a more customized and controlled result. Whetstones also preserve steel more efficiently than other mechanical processes, which are faster, but take off more of the knife’s edge in exchange, reducing the lifespan of the knife. 

Learning how to master whetstones takes a lot of time and practice, and while de Andres specializes in sharpening Japanese knives, he’ll sharpen a knife from anywhere. “Every knife deserves to be sharp,” he says. 

Japanese kitchen knives are designed for extremely specific purposes: there’s a knife to break down a fish (deba), cut through boneless raw fish for sushi and sashimi (yanagiba), slice vegetables (nakiri), carve meat (sujihiki), debone poultry (honesuki), and even knives only the executive chef can use (kiritsuke). Few other culinary cultures utilize such ultra-specialized tools, and Japanese steel is prized for its extreme hardness and ability to maintain a razor-thin edge for decades when properly cared for. 

De Andres is still figuring out different ways to expand his business: hosting workshops at Home Ec on Adams Avenue, creating knife restoration tutorials, and launching private lessons, all while continuing to sharpen knives people bring to him or even send from across the country. And he knows that for both home cooks and professional chefs, sharpening a knife that may have cost hundreds of dollars on a whetstone can feel overwhelming. Will I ruin it? Will I break it?

“You’re most likely not going to break it,” he promises. “But you are going to make it yours, and you have to kind of be okay with that.” Knives age and change just like humans do. Sharpening is an essential part of maintenance, and shaving away the dull edges to restore a shine takes care. And de Andres cares a lot.

“It’s just been really life-giving to me,” he says. “I know it seems really silly that taking a knife and putting it on a whetstone can change your perspective on how you view the world, but for me, it came to me at a time when I needed it most.”

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Mesa Agricola, a tiny taqueria in Escondido, made this year’s New York Times 50 best restaurants in the US list. If you’ve had the privilege of eating the guisado delicacies from chef Juan González and Megan Strom, you’ll understand why. Congrats on the recognition—and happy first birthday!
• Kids Free San Diego is about to kick off, and if you haven’t already taken a look at all the month-long deals on food, activities, and hotels, you have two more weeks to make a game plan. Between kids eating free at places like Crab Hut and the Waffle Spot, staycation deals at places like San Diego Mission Bay Resort, Belmont Park discounts, free fishing, whale watching, and more, I know that my dance card for the month is pretty much full. 
• Ranchito Milkyway, a farmstand in Bonita, also has plenty of events to pencil into your calendar, starting with an Indian cuisine-inspired farm-to-table dinner on September 19 with chef Kanta from Sattvik to an Italian cooking class on October 17 with chef Elisa from Balsamico Italian Kitchen. If you’re chock-full of things to do over the next few weeks, there’s always the option to snag one of their CSA boxes for an abundance of winter greens, vegetables, and herbs for home cooking.

---

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].

Tickets to the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival get you in the door. The real fun is figuring out who you’ll run into once you’re there. This year’s weeklong schedule of exclusive events, running September 30–October 4, includes dinners, tastings, and loosely-supervised chaos where celebrity chefs and local icons finally let their hair down.

The festival has a track record of the unexpected: Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul once toasted their mezcal brand Dos Hombres with an intimate dinner at the Lodge at Torrey Pines (and then, evidently unsatisfied, kept drinking it on the cliffs above Blacks Beach with a rotating cast of San Diego and Food Network chefs. Alex Morgan showed up for a dinner under the lights honoring the country’s most badass women chefs). Drew Brees ran a celebrity pickleball tournament where the guy from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia got absolutely humbled by locals.

If you scored a ticket to last year’s Grand Tasting, you might’ve caught Guy Fieri doing exactly what Guy Fieri does: strolling the grass, signing t-shirts and foreheads, and hanging off the DJ surf van like it was built for him. Meanwhile, local chef Ethan Yang of Glass Box walked off with the Chef Competition surfboard.

So whether your plan for 2026 is to corner legendary San Diego chefs like Victor Jimenez of Cowboy Star and Jon Sloan of Juniper & Ivy in person, or just aim for a spontaneous golf cart ride with a Food Network star—here’s your cheat sheet for where to run into a celebrity chef, TV personality, award-winning winemaker, or pro athlete at this year’s Del Mar Wine & Food Festival.

Troy Johnson, Karen Krasne

Signature San Diego Opening Night Party

September 30 | 6 – 9 p.m. | Monarch Ocean Pub 

Consider this your soft landing into festival week—the walk-around tasting that eases you in before things get chaotic later on. Monarch Ocean Pub hands its patio over to the flavors that define San Diego eating: Baja seafood done right, coastal bites, Mexican flavors with some heat behind them, all the staples locals will fight you over. 

The celebrity sightings here lean more “bump into” than “spot from across the room.” Troy Johnson—Food Network judge, San Diego Magazine chief content officer and co-owner, Emmy-winning host, a man who has eaten his way across the entire country professionally—is the type to materialize at whichever station has the longest line, because he already knows it’s worth the wait. Ask him what he’s had so far. He’ll have opinions.

Then there’s celebrity pastry chef Karen Krasne, owner and executive pastry chef of Extraordinary Desserts, James Beard House alum, and a woman Forbes once ranked among the top 10 pastry chefs in the country—which tracks, because you might find her holding court next to a tray of her roasted pecan shortbread dipped in white chocolate, explaining exactly why this is the flavor combination. You will listen to every word, too, because you’ll want to try that cookie.

This is an opening night party where the person next to you in line might just be the one who baked the thing you’re about to eat.

Bryn McArthur, Mawa McQueen

Chateau Montelena’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

October 1 | 6 – 9 p.m. | Fairmont Grand Del Mar

Fifty years ago, a Napa Chardonnay beat France at its own game and rewrote what the world thought it knew about wine. This dinner is that legacy, poured by the family who built it, course by course.

Under the arches at Fairmont Grand Del Mar, Ernie Hahn and the Hahn family, who partnered with the Barretts to revive Chateau Montelena into the Napa powerhouse it is today, host an evening built entirely around the winery’s most iconic pours. Every course gets its own pairing straight from the Montelena portfolio, so you’re not just hearing about the Judgment of Paris, you’re tasting the wine that started it.

Chef Mawa McQueen, a former James Beard Best of the West winner out of Aspen, brings globally inspired cuisine and serious technique to the table. Alongside her, Fairmont Grand Del Mar’s executive chef Bryn McArthur leans into farm-to-table sensibility shaped by a career of global kitchens. Together they’re building a menu meant to hold its own against wine that already changed history once.

This is the rare dinner where the wine isn’t just accompanying the meal, it’s the reason the meal exists. Fifty years after Paris, the rematch is happening right here in Del Mar.

Karen Krasne, Martin Munguia

Rioja Uncorked

October 1 | 6 – 9 p.m. | Rancho Valencia