Jimmy Love’s in the Gaslamp needed an overhaul, and it’s getting it. Owners Jimmy and Kathy DiMatteo opened the spot in the Old City Hall building 1995. Staying relevant in the big-dollar, next-new-thing Gaslamp is a tough gig for five years, let alone two decades. Bill Gates once reportedly did the Macarena on the bar; the Bush family held a private party in its confines. But the time for corrective surgery was nigh, and they’ve pulled in some talented partners to do it. Those partners include:
Chef Richard Sweeney: The former Top Chef contestant has his own successful Hillcrest joint, R Gang Eatery, but has started expanding his work to other venues. Always the most likeable guy in the room and a good chef, Sweeney’s food has really jumped up a few notches in the last few years. He won last year’s “Chef of the Fest” at San Diego Bay Food & Wine Festival.
Designer Michael Soriano: Soriano’s one of the most whimsical and creative designers in San Diego. He and his Onairos Design put shag carpet and plant walls in The Pearl Hotel, grass walls and secret doors at Vin Di Syrah, sheep on the ceiling at Queenstown Public House…. the list goes on. Given the resources, he’ll make it an attraction.
Scott Sanders: Partner in Whiskey Girl, Bootlegger.
The team is looking at a spring, 2014 opening date. No word on name or direction of Sweeney’s menu yet.
(NOTE: My apologies to the GM and partners for their short bios. The reality is that designers and chefs are 300% more fun to read and think about than the hard-working, indespensable, business cornerstones of the world).
Where to Eat in San Diego: New Restaurant Openings
White-Hot Tanner’s Burgers Readying First San Diego Location
Tanner’s Burgers is going to be very, very big. Possibly Crack Shack big. And they’re about to open their first brick and mortar in San Diego—in South Oceanside at the Freeman Collective. Chef/partner Brandon Rogers worked at French Laundry, then was chef de cuisine at Benu when it earned its three-star Michelin. But he cut his teeth in San Diego, and came back to partner with family-run good-meat company Brandt Beef for this project.
The burger was the runaway hit of last year’s Del Mar Wine + Food Festival, winning the culinary competition. The debut spot is set to open March-ish. Listen to the podcast where Rogers and Brandt co-owner Eric Brandt explain the whole project to food critic Troy Johnson.
Hotel Indigo in Gaslamp Getting a Redesigned Rooftop Restaurant
Hotel Indigo San Diego – Gaslamp Quarter’s Borrego Kitchen and Cocktails Rooftop Restaurant is in the middle of a revamp and is expected to open in May, just before the summer rooftop season kicks off. The ninth floor rooftop restaurant will focus on American Southwest flavors like yucca, prickly pear, and candied desert flowers. As for the cocktails and mocktails on the menu, the bar will carry the same desert theme and blend ingredients like aloe, sage, cacti, and even frybread.
Rendering courtesy of The Amalfi Llama
Next Big UTC Thing: Live-Fire Restaurant with Patagonia & Mediterranean Bend
The Amalfi Llama is debuting its first San Diego location at The Collection at UTC (second location after Miami) in March and adds to the live-fire scene (using wood instead of gas, a la Fort Oak, Sandpiper, Herb & Wood, etc.). Menu and ingredients are inspired by coastal cuisine from Patagonia to the Mediterranean. The large 7,000-square-foot space, with an outdoor patio, will let guests see their food cooked in real-time as the chefs use a live-fire grill and a wood-burning oven.
Choose your meat to cook over the wood fire, like a Wagyu tomahawk or a Patagonian roasted chicken. Or, try one of their wood-fired pizzas like the Positano using soppressata, finocchiona and hot honey. They’ll also have some woodsy cocktails (along with lighter options)—like Woodland Place using a Buffalo Trace palo santo-infused bourbon, amaro nonino, cacao, bitters and smoke.
Courtesy of Cardiff Farmer’s Market
Where to Eat in San Diego: Restaurant News & Food Events
Cardiff Farmer’s Market is celebrating its one year anniversary on Saturday, March 2 with a special birthday celebration between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The first 150 people will get a free sweet from Chaupain Bakery and each purchase you make will give you a chance to win $100 in “Market Bucks” to use at the farmer’s market.
Elena Gomez is an Emmy-nominated reporter who has spent much of her journalism career working in broadcast news in San Diego and Los Angeles. She joined the San Diego Magazine team as a freelance writer in 2020.
Underground 1920s NYC-style social club is now open
By Troy Johnson | Photography by Paul Body
Two months ago, we showed you the first half of the ambitious Gaslamp project, Queensborough, an ode to 1920s cocktail culture from the Brethren Collective. Designed by Bluemotif Architecture’s Matthew Ellis (Cowboy Star, Kettner Exchange), it’s a classy throwback to F. Scott Fitzgerald romanticism. But the downstairs, deemed Downtown Queensborough, is even more elaborate, and is now open.
Here we’ve got the first photos of the 6,000 square-foot underground social club designed like an NYC subway with white tiled walls, subway-inspired signs, metro booth seats, a custom DJ booth, private whiskey lockers, full-service bar, roving cocktail cart, live jazz (starting in October, on Wednesdays), and build-your-own barrel-aged cocktail program. It’s a beauty. Take a gander. Queensborough, 777 Fifth Ave., queensboroughsd.com.
Many might say the Ra Sushi chain was one of the first to do “social dining,” in which loud music played in a place where reasonably high-end/gourmet food was sold. Some loved it for the party. Some loathed it for the party. And now it’s gone. We’ve been unable to reach Ra, but our sources confirm that, after 10 years in the Gaslamp, Ra has packed up and left its location at 474 Broadway. The Gaslamp isn’t an easy place to make a living for a restaurant, as recent years have seen. Many have just been trying to hold on until the Horton Plaza Park opens. Looks like Ra stopped holding its breath.
A perfectly designed home rarely happens by accident. Those kitchens that feel effortless and rooms that seem to tell a story the second you walk in? They’re usually the work of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing.
It’s knowing which ideas will actually work, which materials will hold up over time, and how to turn a collection of choices into a space that feels intentional. That’s where a professional interior designer comes in.
For the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) California San Diego Chapter, the goal is to help people see interior design as more than just the finished look. Behind every well-designed space is a process built on technical expertise. Designers are educated in everything from professional software and construction details to building codes, space planning, materials, and functionality.
Courtesy of ASID
“People don’t always realize how much goes on behind the scenes,” Kirsten Recce , current president of the ASID California San Diego Chapter, says. “Our designers are not just doing furniture placement and color selection and picking out new fluffy pillows. That’s not what they’re trained for.”
ASID members bring formal education, continued learning, and industry knowledge to their projects, helping create spaces that are not only beautiful, but designed to work. A paint color that changes completely depending on the lighting. A material that looks beautiful in a showroom but doesn’t make sense for everyday life. A layout that photographs well but doesn’t function for the people living there. These are the details where professional guidance can make all the difference.
Still, one of the biggest misconceptions about hiring an interior designer is that it’s reserved for massive renovations, luxury homes, or people who already know exactly what they want. The process can feel intimidating. Where do you begin? Is a designer worth the investment? What if you only need help with one room?
ASID’s answer: start with one hour.
ASID’s Spruce Up events break down one of the biggest barriers between homeowners and professional design: knowing where to begin. Held twice a year, the community program gives homeowners the chance to work directly with an ASID designer through a one-hour, $125 consultation in their own home. Whether you’re looking for advice on furniture placement, window treatments, kitchen and bath updates, remodeling ideas, vacation rentals, color selections or something else entirely, the upcoming September 2026 event offers an approachable way to get expert guidance before committing to a full project. Signups are open through Sept. 7, with consultations taking place Sept. 21 through Oct. 31. Proceeds benefit ASID San Diego’s educational and community programs. Register here!
Courtesy of ASID
“It’s a great opportunity for people who are in that exploratory phase,” Recce says. “Maybe they’re not sure they want to hire an interior designer yet, or they think it sounds daunting or expensive. This gives them a chance to discover what working with a designer is actually like.”
Design is personal. A good designer isn’t just creating a beautiful room; they’re helping create a space that fits the way someone lives.
“We’re a resource to all of San Diego County,” Recce says. “It doesn’t cost anything to pick up the phone and call and ask. We’ll answer.”
THE SPOT: Top of the 14th floor of the new Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Gaslamp/Convention Center Hotel. It has a long name and a nice roof. The Nolen will have its own entrance.
THE CONCEPT: Named for John Nolen, one of San Diego’s earliest city planners. Cocktails will be throwbacks to his time (Old Fashioneds, Boulevardier, Vieux Carre), plus modern riffs like “Dirty Girl,” an near-Old Fashioned with rye, bourbon, coffee liqueur, spice chai syrup and orange bitters. Cocktails will be split into seven categories, including “Barrel-Aged,” “Hoptails” (beer cocktails) and “Draft Cocktails.” They’ll use local distilleries like Ballast Point and Malahat Spirits Company. They’ll barrel-age cocktails in oak for a minimum of two months.
THE REAL CONCEPT: Realize you’re in San Diego and have a rooftop. Realize the weather in San Diego is pretty nice. Realize putting a bar on that rooftop in that famous weather is a pretty good idea.
THE PLAYERS:J Street Hospitality and Azul Hospitality. Their most recent collaboration: SpringHill Suites Hotel and Union & Vine restaurant in Paso Robles. Azul also opened Le Meridien hotel in Indianapolis, while J Street Hospitality has developed San Diego hotels Residence Inn Gaslamp and Hotel Z, and is currently developing Moxy Hotel, Canopy Hotels and Hampton Inn & Suites.
THE FOOD:Upscaled comfort dishes like chili glazed meatballs, jerk chicken quesadilla, a kale Caesar, herbal shrimp flatbread and crispy tots.
THE DESIGN: San Diego’s Matthew Ellis and his Bluemotif Architecture handled it. They build pretty places, as evidenced by their work on Cowboy Star, Kettner Exchange and Juniper & Ivy. The 2,500 square-foot space is open-air. It has two fireplaces, and six-foot glass walls that let people soak in the view. There are “oculi” (fancy word for a circular fixture), lanterns, eight seats at the bar with plush leather and brass barstools. Graffiti-style art pays homage to the key architectural icons in San Diego.
Enough words. Please enjoy the first photos of The Nolen. Then go enjoy a drink. The Nolen opens Thursday night.
Take a gander at The Gaslamp's first dedicated rooftop restaurant
By Troy Johnson | Photography by Paul Body
As a local, the Gaslamp doesn’t always tickle me. The high rent leads to high prices, which doesn’t always translate into high quality food and drink. Regardless, the city’s main tourist nightlife attraction has just about everything a person could want. Except a dedicated rooftop restaurant—until now.
How the hell is Rustic Root the first and only dedicated rooftop restaurant in the Gaslamp? With that expensive sun, the entire Gaslamp area should just be retractable shade tents. Less ceilings, more sun. Someone must have been very nice to the zoning officials.
Rustic Root is the newest opening from RMD Group (FLUXX), hospitality guy Ken Lovi and chef-partner Antonio Friscia (who also runs the adjacent restaurant, Don Chido). Friscia’s always been a multicultural chef. Whereas Don Chido is Mexican, Rustic Root is Americana-based, with Asian, Mexican, French influence. Elk chops with Mexican mole, Fried chicken with habañero honey mustard. Bison meatballs with whiskey sauce. BBQ fries. BBQ chicken liver pate. Furikake-crusted Hamachi with Israeli couscous.
You get the idea.
Handling the bar program will be a familiar and well-loved name to craft cocktail nerds. Garth Flood, formerly “the man” at Cowboy Star for years, is doing time-machine throwbacks like mules, daiquiris, sazeracs, Manhattans, Negronis, and even a “1980 Cosmopolitan.”
The ambiance? Well, if you know Fluxx, you know they’re not a shy wallflower with design. Davis Ink Ltd. designed both the 3,000 square-foot downstairs and the 2,500 square-foot rooftop. Gaslampy lamps. Life-size animal topiaries. Market lights.
Open for dinner (and brunch), it’s worth a look. Speaking of… below is the first photos of the Gaslamp’s first (how the hell did that happen again?) dedicated rooftop restaurant.
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
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