One year after opening their inaugural tasting room and brewing facility in Barrio Logan, Kové Hard Yerba Mate is ready to open their second location in Miramar. Yerba mate, an herbal tea popular in South America, has yet to achieve mainstream popularity in the American alcohol industry, but as the world’s first 100% organic, gluten-free, vegan hard yerba mate, Kové hopes to introduce the lightly caffeinated beverage to more people through distribution and expanding roster of San Diego locations.
The new space—which lies smack in the middle of a fermentation hub that includes Pure Project, Duck Foot Brewing Company, Ballast Point, Cutwater Spirits, and more—is the first of several planned outposts for Kové.
Alex Montelbano, Kové co-founder & CEO says with this new location, they aim to transcend the standard taproom setting, calling it a “unique visual experience” complete with artist collaborations and an emphasis on greenery.
“Visually, it is more of an artist curation space with botanicals weaved in, rather than an outdoor botanical experience,” Montelbano says. “Customers will have access to exclusive varietals from Kové’s expert brewer while enjoying beautiful art in various forms from local artists.”
Collaborations with artists, cocktail experts, yoga teachers, professional snowboarders, and other brand ambassadors have been a defining part of Kové’s ethos since its original launch in 2021. Montelbano says these partnerships are “incredibly purposeful” and a key part of their lifestyle image. Plus, as one of the few alcoholic drinks that naturally contains caffeine, their 5-percent-ABV cans are specifically designed to be enjoyed any time of day to complement any activity. “Party with a purpose!” Montelbano laughs.
The 720-square-foot tasting room will also feature a small batch brewing facility. Guests can expect 14 taps with core offerings, rotating specials, and seasonal flavors, as well as plenty of cans, growlers, and variety packs for to-go purchases. Plus, Montelbano promises, they plan to announce several partnerships and new flavors for release later this year. With the added brewing capabilities of the Miramar space, Montelbano says they hope to produce 4,500 barrels of hard yerba mate over the next 12 months. (For comparison, in 2021 Modern Times Beer reported an output of 53,000 barrels.)
The Miramar tasting room will soft launch on June 7 with a grand opening planned for June 25. Operating hours will be 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays.
Visit the new Kové tasting room at 9030 Kenamar Drive, Suite 309 and follow their progress atdrinkkove.com.
Humans are naturally drawn to vibrant hues like bubblegum pink, amethyst purple, and super-duper lime green. But as appealing as those colors are to our eyes and the algorithm, Nguyen Le says they’re rarely natural.
For example, pure, unadulterated matcha gets its Kermit color from tea leaves (specifically, Camella sinensis leaves), which are then cultivated under shade to boost their chlorophyll and amino acids. Matcha tweaked for our maximum stimuli often include green dyes, or extracts from other leaves (suji, moringa), plus flavor enhancers. For pandan, it’s the same.
For the signature matcha latte at Prosperitea, Le’s pop-up tea service uses real pandan leaves to create a simple syrup and flavorless green chlorophyll to brighten it up. By avoiding artificial flavors and colors and using seasonal fruits to create different syrups, Le says they can highlight what should be the star of the show—the tea itself.
Photo Credit: Nguyen Le
Le grew up casually drinking tea with meals, but found himself getting more and more into coffee during the pandemic in order to support local coffee shops. “My caffeine intake was getting out of control,” he laughs. He switched to loose leaf tea and eventually matcha, which contains less caffeine and releases it more slowly than coffee. But when he tried matcha in Japan, he realized there was an opportunity to bring its ceremonial-grade to San Diego.
Often used liberally, the term “ceremonial grade,” has no official meaning or criteria, Le explains. It’s an unregulated marketing term that anyone can use to suggest a level of quality (and isn’t used in Japan).
“I think the more accurate description of ‘ceremonial’ would be the first harvest of the tea,” he says. “There’s multiple harvests throughout the year, and the first harvest of the year will always yield the best flavor and color for matcha… typically that’s used for ceremonies for the tea schools.”
Propsperitea offers drinks like lattes and Americanos made with matcha or houjicha (a savory Japanese roasted green tea), milk teas, and cold brew teas infused with seasonal fruits. For fall, Le says they’re bringing on fig leaf, sweet corn, white peach, and maple, along with the signature pandan. For now, Propsperitea pops up every weekend at Relic Bageri’s commerce kitchen at 8585 Commerce Avenue in Miramar, but he hopes to increase the amount of pop-ups and private catering events and eventually find a brick-and-mortar space of its own.
“I would like to be able to do the whole tea ceremony for patrons that want to experience it, but that’s just not possible in the [pop-up] setting,” he says. “Really, drinking tea is meant to be slowed down, and you’re supposed to enjoy the process. But right now, in America, everything’s just like, go, go, go, and they want that instant gratification. I want to be able to share that experience of slowing down the process.”
Find Propsperitea most Saturdays and every Sunday at 8585 Commerce Avenue.
Of all the “Tastes Of” neighborhood food tours, Taste of North Park is one of the most jam-packed. Plus, you can choose your own adventure—try over 50 dishes with the “food-only” ticket, add 15 different drinks with the “food and sip” pass, or split the food and get two tasting cups with the “shareable sip” option. (Clever!) It’s going down on October 4, tickets here.
The mission statement for National City nonprofit San Diego Kollective Foundation says it aims to provide opportunities for the small business community while supporting human causes that affect the San Diego community. To help support those goals, it’s throwing a rad-looking night market on Saturday, October 4 at Kujo Eats (3400 E 8th Street) in National City. The free event will have live music, local vendors, and “flavors from every corner of the city.”
Everyone is feeling a bit of sticker shock in the restaurant world right now, and Caffè Calabria wants to help. Every Wednesday and Thursday starting at 11 a.m., you can grab one of its wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas for $13. It’s a pretty great deal for one of the best pies in town.
Caffè Calabria isn’t the only spot trying to provide extra value for guests. This November, Elvira in Ocean Beach is launching Cucina di la Nonna, an immersive private dinner theater experience for up to eight people. It’s modeled after a “1970s Italian grandmother’s home,” which sounds both delicious and intense. I’m ready.
Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
When Koo Miyake moved from Japan to the United States for college, he brought with him a deep-seated cultural appreciation for craftsmanship and attention to detail—something he thinks is falling to the wayside in American-made products.
“You see a lot of drinks, something on Instagram, you don’t even know who owns it or where it’s coming from,” he explains. “It’s just another capitalism product.”
So, he decided to do something about it.
Courtesy of Koobrew
Next month, Miyake will open his first beverage line in Miramar, in the former Kové tasting room. Dubbed Koobrew, he’ll offer a core series of functional spritzers made with fermented teas, wine yeasts, and different botanicals, plus a few classic European-style beers like pilsners and witbiers. By tying together Japanese attention to detail and California’s spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, Miyake hopes to help resurrect that sense of craftsmanship that once earned San Diego the title “The Capital of Craft.”
He has the experience to do it, too—Miyake has made hard kombucha at Boochcraft, distilled spirits at Cutwater Spirits, and was head of product and a partner at Kové until it closed earlier this year. He’s also a prodigious homebrewer and former beertender at Mikkeller in Tokyo, and he plans to use all of his beverage-making skills at Koobrew. For the soft opening this October, he’ll have around six different beverage options on draft before expanding to packaged bottles and kegs of around four different beers and around 10 “better for you” beverages. He’ll (eventually) need some help, but for now, Miyake says he wants to keep it a solo show to ensure everything is to his standards.
Courtesy of Koobrew
“I want to be grounded, put my soul and energy into what I’m making—because after I produce my product, it will be released from me,” he explains. “But until everything comes together, I want to try to make everything by myself so I understand everything, and then [I can] feel like I actually own the product and the space and the philosophy behind it.”
Koobrew opens at 9030 Kenamar Drive, Suite #309 this October. Follow @koobrew.co for more updates.
Courtesy of The Hangout
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Jay Bhavani Vadapav has nearly 200 locations across India, Canada, Australia, and the United States—and San Diego is about to get its first one. The Indian street food sensation will open by the end of September at 9506 Miramar Road with a range of dishes like vadapav (deep-fried potato patties in a bun topped with different spices and toppings), dabeli (a sweet and spicy potato mixture topped with different chutneys), maskabuns (a pillowy, buttery bun often eaten for breakfast or a snack), and more South Indian favorites like dosa, uttapam, and more. All signs point to yum.
When Cafe 21 closed in Normal Heights this April, the news was met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But locals can now get their food fix on once more at The Hangout, serving brunch all week (short rib omelettes, Dutch pancakes, corncakes and crumpets, overnight oats and healthy stuff, bloodys), and dinner on weekends (wings and steak plates, salmon plates, mezze platter, burger, etc.). Welcome to the ‘hood!
Farming isn’t getting any easier (and land isn’t becoming less expensive). Those of us who live in cities should be looking to urban farming for tips on how to grow where we live, and Seeds@City Farm can help us do just that. The educational program helps train the next generation of food thought leaders, and you don’t have to be a student to benefit from their programs—you can volunteer, check out their farmstand every Wednesday at San Diego City College, or keep an eye on their schedule for different talks and other events.
Late summer brings one of the most exciting times in craft beer—wet hop season. You can get your fill of the hop-drenched brews at Nickel Beer Company in Julian, which currently has three wet hop beers on draft with two more on the way. (Be warned: these beers are for serious hop-heads only.)
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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].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
Two San Diego Wine Pros Are Betting Big on Tinned Fish
With Sosal Line, Heidi Greenwood and Juerie Masters are importing traceable seafood from small producers and building a global pantry business along the way
Courtesy of Sosal Line | Photo Credit: Madison Daube
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.
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.
Courtesy of Sosal Line | Photo Credit: Luke Schmuecker
“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.”
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
The Best Gym in San Diego Isn’t Really a Gym Anymore
Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped "athletic" from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
There’s a version of San Diego that lives in two extremes. On one side, the 5 a.m. crowd: biohackers, marathoners, people who’ve already logged a cold plunge before your alarm goes off. On the other, the after-dark crowd, the ones chasing sunset happy hours and late dinners with friends. Everyone seems to be either optimizing or unwinding, and most of us feel like we’re failing at both.
Fit, San Diego’s reigning Best Gym for the third year running, has built its entire identity around erasing that divide.
Walk into one of Fit’s three San Diego locations on a Tuesday afternoon and the lines blur fast. Someone’s mid-set on the squat rack. Someone else has a laptop open at a café table a few feet away, half-working, half-people-watching. A group is trading plans for the weekend’s event by the recovery lounge. Nobody’s in a rush to leave.
“We’re not competing for the same people,” says Emily Waybright, Public Relations Manager at Fit, addressing the arrival of a national luxury gym chain in San Diego this year. “We don’t really feel like we’re in the gym category. It’s this unique thing.”
That unique thing has a name now. Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped “athletic” from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
It’s a small wording change with a bigger idea behind it. Fit was never built around escaping the workday. It was built around the people who genuinely like what they do, and who want workouts, work, and friendships to happen in the same place instead of three separate ones. Because sometimes red light therapy with a stranger turns into weekend plans.
Fit’s philosophy traces back to its founder, who started the brand nearly two decades ago after failing to find a gym he actually wanted to belong to. He looked instead to the old-school country club, where people came for a shared interest and stayed for the community. His version was made for a younger generation, minus the golf, plus the loud music.
Which makes it a little ironic that the very award putting Fit back in the spotlight this year is Best Gym.
What does the best traditional gym look like when the definition of a gym is becoming less traditional? It’s a fair question, and Fit’s answer is that the fitness industry itself is shifting. The 45-minutes-in, 45-minutes-out model is giving way to something closer to a genuine third space, the kind of role the office and the bar used to play before remote work and changing nightlife habits rearranged how people spend their time
For Fit, community isn’t a marketing add-on to fitness. It’s the through-line. Members aren’t just paying for a treadmill; they’re paying for an entire day of social wellness that’s built on performance, recovery, connection, and a plan for the next event on the calendar. That’s a much harder membership to walk away from.
Ambition and ease aren’t opposites here, they exist side by side, where passion and play share the same morning. On September 12, Fit is hosting Sol, a full day wellness festival at Fit Social. The morning focuses on wellness classes and vendors and then the evening is a full party with multiple DJ sets and an open bar. Think of it as a kick-off to locals’ summer in San Diego.
Ready to see what a social wellness club actually looks like? Visit fitclubs.com, or follow along at @thefitclubs on Instagram.
The folks behind Oddish Wine and Lost Cause Meadery are partnering with Bica to open an all-day cafe, coffee shop, wine bar, and restaurant near La Mesa Village
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.
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.
Courtesy of Oddish Wine
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.
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].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
Midway through my phone conversation with Shannon English, owner of The Delicate Squash, I hear an alarm shrilling in her background.
“Sorry, I’ve got to pull some cookies out of the oven right now!” she apologizes. After a few beats, she picks the phone back up and laughs. “I feel like I’m bouncing around all over the place.”
After hearing her run through a list of her professions and current hobbies, I’d have to agree. English runs The Delicate Squash, a gluten- and dairy-free bakery; teaches cooking demos; pops up at farmers markets; wrote a book of poetry (Deep Water came out this month from Beyond the Veil Press); hosts a monthly open mic night; dipped her toe into ballet; recently joined a running club; volunteers at local farms; and finally, teaches at a play-based, nature-based preschool.
I’m tired just talking to her.
Surprising no one, English seems to have unlimited energy and enthusiasm for all this work, notably in education. Early childhood education is one of the most pivotal times for nurturing lifelong learning, but she also aims to educate the public on how to eat cleaner, feel better, and support your local food systems. She started The Delicate Squash in late 2023 after discovering she has a chronic illness, going through the typical standards of care and even strict elimination diets, to no avail.
Courtesy of Shannon English
“I’m not going to say I found a diet that has ‘cured’ me, but I have found that taking a more mindful approach to a lot of things, including diet, has made symptoms far more manageable for me,” she says.
Even people with dietary restrictions deserve a little treat from time to time, but she had a hard time finding anything that tasted good and made her feel good. Thus, The Delicate Squash was born.
All of her baked goods avoid gluten and dairy, and use natural sweeteners like coconut sugar or maple syrup as well as herbs, fruits, foraged flowers, and other natural flavorings. Her signature cookie, the “Delicate” cookie, is a sea salt dark chocolate cookie that’s soft, a little salty, a little sweet, and made with oatmeal to keep it gluten-free. Other crowd favorites are thumbprint jam cookies with jams made from scratch with change seasonally; breakfast pastries like orange, dark chocolate and cardamom scones; brownies; orange and black sesame banana bread; seasonal pies; and custom and seasonal cakes (currently, the late summer flavor is a dark chocolate coconut milk ganache with berry jam).
English says some people are surprised she can produce such a variety of goods with the dietary restrictions she adheres to. “A lot of feedback I get is ‘I could never do that,’” she says. But if she can do it, she assures me that anyone can. “I like to say ‘practice makes progress, not perfection.’”
Her advice? Focus more on being present than presentation, and don’t be afraid to experiment to keep things interesting. And if that doesn’t work, you can always hit her open mic night to ask for tips.
Escondido is getting in on the listening bar phenomenon. On September 5, musicians Mat Rakers, Kevin Capacia, and Billy Petty will open Plot Armor, a Japanese-style vinyl listening bar that Rakers says they aim to feel “curated and intelligent.”
“Currently, there are not a lot of ‘cool’ spots in Escondido,” he says. Backed by The San Diego Music And Art Company and The Escondido Music And Art Company, Plot Armor will soon offer sake, wine, beer, and soju cocktails, plus Japanese non-alcoholic options and cold brew. Eventually, they’ll add Japanese-inspired snacks, but the focus will be creating a small place (very small—the seating capacity is 20) where vinyl junkies can come listen, linger, and libate.
Courtesy of Fairmont Grand Del Mar
Beth’s Bites
Ocean Beach has a new watering hole. The Jetty opened in July at 4934 Voltaire Street (where Voltaire Beach House used to be), and while I don’t think OBceans were hurting for where to get a drink, the more the merrier.
Chinese restaurant powerhouse Chef Fei is finally making it to the U.S., opening a spot at Westfield UTC mall on September 5. Known for Hunan-style stir fry dishes, it’s often lauded as one of the most consistently solid chains in the world—in fact, in 2018 chef Fei Lianghui took home the highest honor a Chinese chef can earn, the China Golden Chef Award. Again, I don’t think mallgoers were hurting for great places to slurp some noodles, but there’s always room in my heart for more stir fry.
In past years, Fairmont Grand Del Mar didn’t exactly jump to mind when I looked for different Día de Muertos celebrations around San Diego. That changes this year, when the five-star resort will debut its first Día de Muertos celebration on November 1. Michelin-recognized chefs like Javier Plascencia (Erizo, Animalon), Roberto Alcocer (Valle), Drew Deckman (Deckman’s En El Mogor), and more will come from both sides of the border for one night only, with proceeds going to Fundación Tijuana Sin Hambre. Get ready for what will undoubtedly be San Diego’s most upscale take on the Mexican holiday.
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].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
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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