INCOMING: Muy Bueno Coconut Ice Creams

Bartenders see more faces of adulthood than most of us would care to. Along with the toasts and emotional effervescence, there’s also the unquenchable thirst, the drinking to obliterate undesirable parts of us, the binge and the sour soul odor of belligerence.

Maybe that’s why one of the city’s top bartenders is launching a healthier, gourmet brand of Mexican ice cream. Going from booze to mole banana splits is a bit like going from the stripper pole to the “Hokey Pokey.” And for Ian Ward, who made his name by creating inventive cocktails at places like Whisnkladle, Searsucker and Puesto, that sounds like a great new direction.

Ward recently started writing a book about his own life in alcohol, and its inherent deleterious effects. He’s realized that life behind the bar just isn’t his one true calling.

So, with partner Andrew Schiff, owner of North Park’s successful gourmet peanut butter (and organic food) restaurant/company Spread, Ward will unveil Muy Bueno Coconut Ice Creams sometime around Memorial Day. They’ll start with an ice cream truck, then plan to expand into a brick-and-mortar and beyond.

Why ice cream?

Ward: We were sitting on the beach one day and an ice cream truck drove by—an Astrovan—and they were selling a ton. I thought “Why is there no good ice cream truck in San Diego?” We’re a beach town. Hearing the song and then running to get $1.25 from your mom and then chasing the truck down is one of my favorite memories. So I decided I was going to make it. It also came out of the book I started writing. I was going through the booze industry over and over again and going to AA meetings. Ice cream seemed like a healthy place to get a new start. If you told me I was going to own an ice cream truck as a kid, that’s something I could be proud of. If you told me, “One day you’re going to grow up and be a miserable bartender working for tips,” I’d be a little upset with myself.

Schiff: One of the reasons I started Spread was because I was the antithesis to the organic lifestyle. I had a bunch of nightclubs in New York City. I saw the darkest side that you could ever possibly see. Now I only “run to the light.” For me the challenge was to make something sexier, to blow people’s palates. When Ian came to me, ice cream just seemed like another canvas like peanut butter. Something that could be viewed as so mundane, but then you trick it out and take a healthier approach. It’s a completely different way of eating. Our ice cream will deliver electrolytes into people’s systems.

Electrolytes from the coconut milk?

Schiff: Yeah. We’re looking at a Mexican approach to Ben & Jerry’s. The focus is going to be Mexican-style flavors—horchata vanilla bean, mole ice cream banana splits, strawberry churro ice cream, Mexican wedding cake ice cream, Vera Cruz coffee, fried ice cream.

It’s healthier?

Schiff: There’s zero butterfat because it’s coconut-based, not dairy. So you don’t have any lactose problems. It’s vegan, and it’ll have so little sugar compared to other ice creams. The typical sugar in ice creams run in 20-24 grams per serving. Ours are running in the 8-10 range. That is a manifest difference in the approach.

Why not just stick with the addictive sugar-bomb ice cream model that’ll keep the consumers lined up around the block?

Schiff: The old way of thinking is, “Hey, if there are 84 grams of sugar in our ice cream, that’s OK. We’ll deal with the next generation later.” I mean, goddammit, if there’s going to be an ice cream truck why shouldn’t it be healthier? Kids should be able to go back week after week and not have diabetic fits and hospital visits. Moms can feel better. Everything’s going to be as local as possible. My restaurant has never had a delivery from one company since we opened—all the ingredients are either hand-picked by myself or grown hydroponically in our garden behind Spread. We currently grow 80 ingredients. It’ll be colorful, natural and beautiful. Our coconut milk is high quality, too.

Ian, does this mean you’re done with the booze industry?

Ward: No, I’m not done. It became a sense of who I am or who I’m identified as. I’ll never turn my back on that. It’s still what I do. With ice cream, it’s still developing flavor profiles. This is my penance. Doing something I believe in. Plus, we saw a hole in the market.

What about the truck itself?

Schiff: The truck is a standard ice cream truck, but it’s going to be tricked out. We’re going to be using flip paint. When this thing drives by you, it will literally be changing colors. If you don’t look at it, then you must’ve been looking the other way. Our approach to the auditory experience of the ice cream truck is going to be a reinvention. We’re going to take the ice cream truck song and remix it. It’s going to be so funked out and elegantly approached. Like jazz.

Why a food truck? San Diego’s not known for being too friendly to mobile food vendors.

Ward: It’s not really a food truck. It’s more of a mobile freezer. There’s no grease traps or fryers. Plus, how are you going to kill the ice cream man? That’s a ridiculous thing to get rid of.

Schiff: We won’t be the problem. We’re not going to be dumping our oil on people’s properties or creating various health hazards. This is the way ice cream has been delivered since the advent of time. I swear in Egypt there was an ice cream truck. Tutankhamun was like, ‘This is my favorite flavor, thanks so much.’”

So there might be some alcohol-influenced ice creams?

Schiff: Yesterday, Ian was sampling a new ice cream I made that’s called The Tequila Shot and you get the salt burst and the lime and you think you just did the shot of tequila. We have to be able to look at our fears and know you triumphed them.

Coconut water is the new holy nutrition savior. How come no one’s done this?

Because coconut is by far the hardest ingredient to make ice cream out of. It has a completely different freezing temperature. It doesn’t have the milk fat. But I understand the chemistry and have figured out the trick, because I’ve spent 10 to 12 years working with flavors in peanut butter and different ingredients. You have to know how the ingredients are going to react when they’re first made, and how they’ll react when they expand over the next 20 minutes, just like wine.

Where are you getting your coconuts? Not locally, obviously.

Ward: We’re talking to a friend right now who owns coconut farms in Thailand, so hopefully we’ll have our own farm.

What about organic?

Schiff: If this were from an FDA perspective, yes we’re organic because most of our ingredients are organic. But at some point, Little Timmy can’t afford a $15 scoop of ice cream. So we have to get ingredients that make sense for both organic and for our customers. The mission is to complete that to be 100 percent organic. The coconut water isn’t going to be organic. But you don’t have the same concerns you’d have with milk. With milk, the question is whether or not this cow had a good life, whether it hung out and ate some grass with its family or whether it’s been fed a ton of hormones and antibiotics and kept in a pen. The difference between organic and non-organic milk is the difference between eating poison or not. With coconuts, well, they’re not being put on conveyor belts and slaughtered.

Price point?

We’re shooting for $5 to $8 a scoop with trimmings. One of the flavors is an interpretation of grandma’s mole—a mole banana split. Something like that is going to be $8.

And the toppings?

This isn’t going to be M&Ms and Gummi Bears. We’ll be looking at live, local honey. We’re trying to find locally a source for churros. Bee pollen. Whatever is literally day to day in season. French strawberries. Passionfuit. Someone is going to make organic Mexican wedding cake cookies for us. Little pieces of those, all hand done. Not out of a bag with a shell that’s meant to last 15 summers.

INCOMING: Muy Bueno Coconut Ice Creams

After 15 years married, my husband and I tend to agree on most things. But there’s one argument we both refuse to bend on—I prefer okonomiyaki Osaka-style, and he’s a die-hard Hiroshima-style devotee. (To be fair, we both adore both styles, but at this point, it’s just fun to have a low-stakes disagreement.)

Okonomiyaki is one of Japan’s greatest comfort foods, a savory pancake that’s about the size of a DVD, if you aren’t too young to know what that is. It’s not terribly hard to make—it’s flour, eggs, dashi stock or water, and a whole heap of shredded cabbage, plus optional fillings like green onions, pork belly, or bonito flakes, all cooked fresh on a flat top griddle. Drizzle some kewpie mayo and okonomiyaki sauce on top, and you’re hot to go. 

However, it’s not easy to make well, and as you now know, people have capital-O Opinions about Osaka-versus-Hiroshima. Hiroshima-style layers the ingredients one by one rather than mixing them together, adding a layer of soba or udon noodles and topping it all off with a fried egg. For Osaka-style,  all the ingredients are mixed together and then cooked on the griddle, so every bite includes every ingredient in a hodgepodge of deliciousness. (One Osaka variation called modan-yaki does include soba noodles mixed in the batter, but they’re not traditionally used in that regional version.) 

Despite a childhood spent in Osaka, Japan, Kumi Alexander specializes in making Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. “Okonomiyaki has been part of my life for as long as I can remember,” she explains. “My parents ran their own business when I was growing up, so Saturdays were often busy, and okonomiyaki was one of my mother’s go-to lunches because it was simple and easy to make.” 

Alexander came to San Diego seven years ago with a desire to bring a part of her culture with her—not just a product, but a feeling. “When I thought about what could do that, the answer was almost obvious: okonomiyaki,” she says. 

She originally launched Surf’n Slaw as a mobile pop-up food stand in August 2025, offering what Alexander calls Japanese-meets-California okonomiyaki. “Our full Surf’n Slaw includes cabbage, noodles, umami dough, beef, shrimp, and vegetables,” she explains. The menu also has a “Green Wave Slaw,” an Osaka-style version that can be made vegan and gluten-free, as well as matcha drinks. 

Currently, Surf’n Slaw pops up at farmers markets in North Park, Scripps Ranch, Hillcrest, La Jolla, and La Mesa, as well as other local markets and community events. Eventually, she may expand to a permanent location, but that’s a future goal. And while Alexander hopes that one day okonomiyaki will be as well-known to American audiences as ramen or sushi, for now, she’s just happy to share a bit of home with San Diego. 

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Izola Bakery announced big plans for a second location and bakery HQ (checks notes) over three years ago and it’s kind of been crickets since then. But there may be movement in the expansion plan—the East Village bakery recently put out a hiring call for “the people we need to help us build what’s next.” Here’s hoping things get cooking (or baking, as the case may be) soon. 
• As a California-born, East Coast-raised foodie, I can confidently say the East Coast has the deli game on lock. So whenever anyone announces they’re bringing an East Coast-style sandwich to the West Coast, I remain cautiously optimistic until proven otherwise. (Big Jim’s in Pacific Beach is a phenomenal example of a transplant done exceptionally well.) Los Angeles-based Ggiata Delicatessen recently announced plans to open a location in Encinitas, promising authentic Italian staples like meatball parmesan subs, cheesesteaks, and Italian cold cuts. Don’t let me down, guys!
• Unfortunately, it’s not all openings and expansions. Nola on 5th in Hillcrest permanently ceased operations without warning or explanation. We can probably pick from one (or more) squares on Restaurant Closure Bingo for the reason (increased costs for ingredients, labor, equipment, etc.), but for the jambalaya enthusiast, it doesn’t really matter why. It’s simply adieu to a slice of The Big Easy in San Diego. 

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].

Tokyo unquestionably holds the title as one of the best, if not the best, food cities of the world. But despite the plethora of Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurants and hole-in-the-wall ramen joints, you’d be remiss in walking past glowing signs beckoning you to enter one of the 56,000-plus konbini across the country.

Konbini cafes like Lawson’s, FamilyMart, and 7-Eleven may look like run-of-the-mill convenience stores, but convenience store culture is a completely different animal there. Absent are the sad, floppy hot dogs sizzling sweatily on a rotating wheel of misery. Instead, konbini are stocked with a bevy of hot and cold drinks in every imaginable flavor, meals like tamago sandos (Japanese egg salad sandwiches) and prepacked bento boxes, snacks like onigiri (handheld triangles of rice and seaweed, often filled with fish or pickled plum), and even limited-edition merchandise (not unlike Wawa’s line of merch). 

Soon, Hillcrest will get a taste of konbibi culture. Hako Hako opens in front of Uptown Inn by Vantaggio, next to Ramen Ryoma, in early 2027.

Kenji Blouin-Ito, a half-Japanese, half-French San Diego native grew up eating Japanese food at home and during trips across the Pacific. “I remember looking forward to eating bentos on the train,” he says, grabbing quick items to munch on without sacrificing quality or succumbing to cost. When in France, he saw a rise of appreciation for casual Japanese cuisine, “long before it happened here.” 

So he decided to bring it here. After AB 626 passed in 2018 to allow different jurisdictions to permit Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs), Blouin-Ito launched Foodnome, the first legal marketplace for homemade food in the US. Eventually, the national nonprofit The Cook Alliance took over the project, leaving him open to the next new idea but with the experience of running a food-based business. 

“That experience changed how I think about food, not just what makes it good but what makes it work,” he explains. Bento boxes felt affordable in a time of inflation, convenient in a bustling world, and versatile to a variety of palates. When he got the chance to open a konbini himself, he went for it. 

His family runs Uptown Inn, a mix of apartments and hotel rooms that’s seen increased food traffic over the past few years. “We had a small space in front of the building that wasn’t being used, and it just made sense,” he says. Hako means “box” in Japanese, a reference to both bentos and small space from where he’ll sling freshly made bentos, coffee, drinks, pastries, snacks, and a small retail selection.

Hako Hako will initially open for morning and afternoon hours, but you don’t have to wait until next year to get a taste of Japanese culture. Blouin-Ito’s concept is popping up at various coffee shops around San Diego, with a few coming up: Easy Does It on September 19 and Cafe Moto on October 17. Until then, practice the art of gaman: patience with grace. 

Hako Hako opens at 819 University Avenue in Hillcrest in early 2027.

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Sushi Tadokoro held on to its Michelin star for three years—no mean feat for anyone. But now, the Old Town restaurant is changing things up, eliminating lunch and à la carte service at the end of September before transforming into an omakase-only experience in October. The dining room will close from October 1 through October 22 to make the change, but promises it will be “more intimate. More personal. More focused on each guest and every piece we serve.” Sounds worth the wait.
• Bock brought new life to South Park when the German-inspired beer bar opened after a long construction process by owner Brian Jensen (Vino Carta, Bottlecraft). Now, Bock is getting its own shot in the arm with a new in-house kitchen from the people behind Majorette, Love Letters Pizza, and Scrimshaw Coffee. Kurz, or “quick” in German, is already open, serving European-inspired bites like the requisite currywurst, Bavarian pretzel, and schnitzel, along with some newcomers like a pierogi and famous “Majorette burger.” (I can confirm it’s a damn good burger.) Reminder: Bock and Kurz are 21+, so leave the kinders at home.
• The popular Japanese dessert chain Warabimochi Kamakura already has 70-plus locations in Japan, Australia, China, Thailand, and the U.K. (to name a few), but is finally opening a location in Convoy District at 8322 Clairemont Blvd. After a successful pop-up test run at Asa Bakery, Warabimochi Kamakura will bring its signature warabimochi (a traditional simple, jelly-like dessert), plus tea like matcha and hojicha, as well as soft serve as soon as October, but possibly November. (Although warabimochi is sometimes considered a summer treat, I’m pretty sure I can make an exception for autumn.)

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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].

No matter your job, it’s helpful to find some sort of joy in it to avoid going completely insane. Some people savor the variety of personalities when dealing with customers. Others find comfort in the predictability of closing a bar after last call, counting tips and wiping counters. Perhaps achieving Inbox Zero really gets your blood pumping, or shipping a new product design sparks joy.

For Heidi Greenwood and Juerie Masters, work doesn’t get better than logistics and operations.

“[We] both love all the unsexy parts of supply chain and backend management,” laughs Greenwood. Tracking outbound orders? Ensuring compliance? Managing inbound freight? Stop me if this is getting too hot for you!

Not enough people think about the unsexy reality of running a business before launch, but effectively and consistently keeping an eye on operations separates successful companies from out-of-business ones. Both Masters and Greenwood already own their own businesses—Greenwood is behind the wine zine Campestre Mag and runs the online wine shop Esquina, and Masters co-owns Clos Wine Shop and Fintastic Provisions in University Heights with her husband Paul. Apparently, these gigs weren’t enough to satisfy their collective yearning for spreadsheets and inventory maintenance. 

September 2, 2026

A Gluten- and Dairy-Free Bakery Is Popping Up Across San DiegoRELATED ARTICLE

So, they decided to start another business together—Sosal Line, a San Diego-based import and distribution company specializing in global pantry items. The pair launched Sosal Line at the beginning of 2025 and currently only sell three brands of tinned fish, but Greenwood says they plan to expand their offerings as they discover other small or family-run businesses that share their values.

“We want to work with brands and with products that really have a sense of place and actually tell a story—not just the product, but the people behind it too,” she says. 

Masters and Greenwood are both Korean-American and named this burgeoning business after Haenyeo, the legendary free-diving women of Jeju Island in South Korea. Traditional Haenyeo equipment and garb include oribal (swim fins), yeoncheol (lead belts to help them sink), and the company’s namesake sosal, a hand-held fishing spear (sometimes called jaksal). 

The average person, if sitting completely still, can stay underwater for up to a minute and a half at most. Haenyeo can hold their breath for up to three minutes while actively foraging, harvesting, and swimming. Scientists say these diving women spend more time underwater than any other group of humans on earth. Not badass enough for you? The average age of Haenyeo is around 70.

“Fishing is a strong heritage for Koreans, and it’s the same here in San Diego with the Portuguese settlers,” Greenwood explains. (We aren’t the tuna capital of the US for no reason.) 

Sosal Line carries 100 percent traceable, wild caught fish from Galicia in Northern Spain and the Pacific Northwest, all family-owned companies who don’t compromise on sustainable practices. Tinned fish has never been more popular—or more debated—but there’s more to it than cute labels designed for maximum Instagram reach. “I want to know who I’m purchasing from,” says Greenwood. One of their suppliers, Craft Fish Co., which is based in San Diego but fishes in the PNW, is run by JJ and Jessica Gerritsen. JJ catches, Jessica packages, and it’s a business relationship on a first-name basis. “You can’t find that when you’re working with some nameless brand.”

San Diegans can find Sosal Line products at local retailers like Clos/Fintastic (obviously), allmine in Oceanside, Always Hungry Grocery & Goods in Carlsbad, J. Brix Wines in San Marcos, Collins & Coupe/Tablespoon in North Park, and Green Acre in La Jolla. They’re also available in select retailers in Northern California, Oregon, Arizona, and strangely enough, South Carolina. Expanding its client base is, of course, a goal. But not at the expense of quality or joy of discovery.

“I would love to see people try food from different cultures and be excited about it,” says Greenwood. “Maybe make them want to travel to experience different areas of the world.” 

San Diego Restaurant News & Events

Manna Coffee Co. Is A Family Affair  

La Mesa: a bucolic, hill-dappled city long regarded as a somewhat frumpy, never quite trendy bridge between the urban cool of Mid-City and the rural sprawls of East County. La Mesa’s population clocks in at around 4 percent of the city of San Diego’s—fewer than Chula Vista, Oceanside, Escondido, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Vista, San Marcos, and Encinitas, in that order. It’s home to a killer Oktoberfest, one of the best charter high schools in the state, and a theatrical mayor who tools around town in a golf cart (and so far, hasn’t cut any arts funding or closed public bathrooms). 

But any area that’s only 20 minutes from downtown San Diego and under 20 miles to Mission Bay will only stay under the radar for so long. Slowly but surely, bits and bobs from San Diego’s cultural tastemakers have been popping up all over town. Dark Horse Coffee and the boutique Small Batch both opened in La Mesa in 2018. Stella Jean’s and Pop Pie are coming later this year. Native Poppy is building its new headquarters and studio this fall. After a year in business, the new owners of JK’s Greek have established themselves as one of the best Greek restaurants in the county. 

Next year, La Mesa will get one of its most ambitious projects yet. Billy and Suzanna Beltz, owners of Lost Cause Meadery and Oddish Wine, are pouring everything they have into renovating a 5,000-square-foot building between the Village and MacArthur Park to open a wine/beer bar, coffee shop, all-day cafe, and wine shop. 

September 2, 2026

A Gluten- and Dairy-Free Bakery Is Popping Up Across San DiegoRELATED ARTICLE

The concept doesn’t have a name (yet), and Bica in Normal Heights will come on as a partner to run the restaurant aspect and coffee program (which also won’t be called Bica. Still lots of naming decisions to be made). But the Beltz’s vision is to create something in La Mesa that doesn’t exist yet—a community gathering space open from morning until night that’s family-friendly, creatively designed, and well… cool. 

The building has been around since the 1940s, first operating as a neighborhood market, then butcher shop, secondhand children’s store, electronics store, dry cleaners, and bike shop. The Beltzses say they plan to keep the “soul and character” of the space as much as possible, highlighting original details like a barrel-shaped wooden roof, brightening up the corner building by utilizing the large front windows, and eventually building an outdoor dining/drinking space and kid-friendly area—a must for the neighborhood’s plethora of young families. They tapped all locals for the design and build: Tecscape Design, design consultant Carly Miller-Chen (who owns Ayi boutique in South Park) to create the space, and local contractor CLTVT. 

Starting in the morning, the space will offer coffee and light breakfast items before transitioning to lunch and dinner menus, plus a full bar that will feature Oddish and Lost Cause products as well as other local wines, beers, ciders, and other beverages alongside an aperitivo program and low-ABV cocktails and spritzes. Food-wise, they plan to install a wood-fired oven and rotisserie, but expect more menu details to be revealed closer to opening. 

There will also be a small retail space focused on natural wines and ciders from places like Raging Cider & Mead in San Marcos and other San Diego and Baja California makers. But don’t expect run-of-the-mill options from the guy who makes weird wines and mead, the oldest alcoholic beverage in human history (hardly TikTok trend material). “We have a unique perspective… Hopefully we can expand some palates and minds in the process,” says Billy.

Community is the heart of the project, more than food, more than drinks. “We have a young family. [Bica owners] Manny [Da Luz] and Charlie [Knowles] have families,” says Billy. Suzanna adds: “People want a space that they know they’re going to get really amazing food, really fun drinks, but they can also feel like they can bring their kids during the weeknights.” It won’t be North Park 2.0, although many families now living in La Mesa came from various neighborhoods across Mid-City (like the Beltzes). It’s filling a void. It’s something they can build from the ground up. And just maybe, it’s something that will surprise people who have yet to discover La Mesa’s potential. 

Oddish Wine/Lost Cause Meadery’s new concept is projected to open by the end of 2027 at 8495 La Mesa Blvd.

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• For as long as I can remember, my favorite animal in the world has been bunnies. (You’d think I would have been cured of the notion after adopting an adorable, but absolutely diabolical rabbit in my teens, but alas, it did not.) If you, too, love gazing at cute little cotton tails and velvety-soft ears, then join me for Bunnies & Brunch on Saturday, September 26 at Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter’s Wild Hare Bar Garden. (I had no idea that downtown San Diego was once home to a robust rabbit population in the mid-19th century, but today I learned!) Yes, there will be a bunny petting farm from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Take a number, pal.
• Keeping with the animal theme, there’s a new snake in town. Serpent & Stone, a Greek-inspired restaurant and lounge opened this weekend at 750 Front Street with Mediterranean classics like falafel, Greek meatballs, skewers, Greek salads, and mythology-inspired cocktails like “The Aphrodite” (pea-flower-infused Ketel One vodka with passion fruit, Madagascar vanilla, Passoã, lime and champagne). If you didn’t make it to Mykonos this summer, this sounds like a decent alternative. 
• Mat Robar, Jesse Pine, and Winslow Sawyer launched Pure Project in 2016 with the idea of centering a brewery around sustainability, rather than leaving it as an afterthought or bonus. Most recently, they released Closed Loops, a collaborative murky IPA with Societe Brewing Company and Dalum Beverage Equipment, the latter of which installed CO2 capturing machines at both breweries earlier this year. Since February, Pure Project has recaptured and reused over 74,500 pounds of CO₂ emissions, keeping all of that out of the air and staying on track to hit over 119,000 pounds by the end of the year. The hazy IPA brewed with Tropical Fusion, Mosaic, and Strata Cryo hops is now on draft and in to-go four-packs at all five Pure Project locations, and I’ve got to say, it’s really nice to see environmental enthusiasts doing their part. 
• Cheerio, California English. The Sorrento Valley British restaurant launched by celebrity chef Richard Blais will close permanently at the end of September. May your prime rib “proper roast” and Scotch eggs live on in another realm somewhere.

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].