He started it, now they’ll carry it.
One of San Diego’s top chefs for the last 20-plus years is stepping out of the kitchen he made famous. Three-time James Beard semifinalist Carl Schroeder is selling his Michelin-recognized restaurant, Market Restaurant + Bar.
Schroeder is clear that the restaurant will not only carry on under new owners—longtime Market regulars and fans, Monica and Bernd Brust—but grow in ways he’d always wanted it to. And his tight-knit team—led by chef de cuisine John Thompson, who’s been with Schroeder from day one—will stay on to helm the next evolution.
“These guys deserve their own shot,” he says.
Schroeder chokes up a bit talking about the decision. Market has been the centerpiece of his life for nearly two decades. He and his team made it through the pandemic together. His wife Brandi ran the business; Thompson has been his rock for over 20 years, first at Arterra and then opening Market together in 2006.
“[People] say people you work with or that work for you shouldn’t be family,” he says. “I look at them as family.”
He also admits his family at home—Brandi and their kids Jake, Eric, and Ava—has borne the brunt of what it took to make Market a constant, never-flagging hit: “They’re probably the ones that paid the biggest price for my obsession.”
Today, the term “farm-to-table” is overused to the point of being meaningless. It’s a shame, because it used to truly describe the rare thing Schroeder and a handful of San Diego chefs were doing in the early 2000s—knowing farmers by name, cooking in season based on what came out of their dirt. It’s why they named it Market, a philosophy that won’t change as he moves on.
Schroeder completely connected to the farm-to-table ethos about 25 years ago, sitting at the bar at the (now closed) Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, California. He’d been working in Bay Area restaurants like two Michelin-starred Aqua by Michael Mina and Domaine Chandon in Yountville. When chef Bradley Ogden came out to the bar and offered him a job, Schroeder said yes. (Maybe it was the drinks, or maybe it was because he was sitting between Academy Award–winner Robert Redford and rockstar Huey Lewis. Either way, he stayed for five years.)
At Lark Creek, Ogden and his team worked closely with local farms to create a menu that changed every night. That made sense to Schroeder right away. “I just couldn’t imagine doing a menu that was always the same and being excited about it,” he says.
And in the 19 years since he opened Market, he and his team have remained committed to that ethos (and the real meaning behind its name). Even in a new-new-new cult of restaurant media, the accolades never really waned—from the Beard nominations to the Michelin nod to this year’s pick for “Best Restaurant in Del Mar” from SDM food critic Troy Johnson. It’s no stretch to say Schroeder helped build San Diego’s now-acclaimed restaurant culture.
Market was his first restaurant as chef and owner, and he says it never crossed his mind that he might one day walk away. It’s been his first thought every morning and last thought every night for years upon years. Trusting its legacy to someone else, rather than simply closing the doors, was an option he hadn’t really considered. It had to be right.
For him, the Brusts are right. They promised Schroeder to keep it a family business focused on sourcing from local farms, and keep the core kitchen team not just intact, but invested in. On September 1, he handed the keys over.
“What Carl built with Market is extraordinary,” says Monica. “Bernd and I are so proud to carry on that legacy as a family-owned restaurant, and work with the same talented culinary team that helped him build it over all these years.”
For his part, Schroeder doesn’t have anything professional lined up (yet). He’ll take his sweet, slow time. “My parents are getting older, so I’d like to take a while to take care of them,” he says. “[I’ll] make it to my daughter’s track meet. I’ve never been to one. I feel good about where I’m at. I feel like anything I do from here, foodwise, is just a cherry on top.”
But that won’t be anytime soon. “For now I’m gonna float around the pool.”
Market Restaurant + Bar is open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays at 3702 Via De La Valle, Del Mar
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
City Tacos Owner Opens New Concept In Barrio Logan
Fonda del Barrio isn’t your typical Mexican restaurant offering tortas, tacos, and the other (beloved) basics. Created by Gerry Torres of City Tacos and Tour de Tapas, the brand-new Barrio Logan eatery is melding pre-Hispanic techniques and ingredients with European influences to create dishes like Cholula-style pollo en mole de ugayaba (a 27-ingredient guava mole), Sayulita-style octopus, Mexico City–style flan de elote, and much more. The menu spans across Mexican regions and cuisines—basically, it’s a map of Mexico in every bite. Fonda del Barrio is now open at 2234 Logan Avenue (the former Barrio Dogg space) for dinner every Tuesday through Sunday.
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Beth’s Bites
- Filipino chicken wings? You’ve got my attention. Manokan is the brainchild of Andrea Aguilar and Hershy Abas, two friends who decided that blending Filipino flavors with American chicken wing culture was a good idea. (It is!) Now, Manokan is serving wings with flavors like sweet chili, sinigang, and Filipino BBQ at the Chula Vista farmers market on Sundays, with an eye for growth. I’ll have a half-dozen of each, to start.
- Good talent tends to find the right places to shine—in this case, it’s chef Anthony Wells heading to Lana. Lana, the coastal eatery that opened in Solana Beach in June, has plenty of star power behind it already (wine wizard Mark Wheadon and hospitality guru Travis LeGrand, to name a few), but Wells brings a James Beard Award nomination with him as well as experience at Sea & Sky, Juniper & Ivy, and more. If that’s not a sign that Solana Beach’s restaurant scene is coming up, I don’t know what is.
- 619 Spirits is looking to leave its diminutive space to build much bigger digs around the corner at 2875 El Cajon Blvd in North Park. They’ve already started construction on the 8,000-square-foot space, but are raising money to take them to the finish line. Owner and founder Nick Apostolopoulos says they’re shooting to open early 2026, but in the meantime, you can still visit its existing tasting room at the corner of 30th Street and Lincoln Avenue for trivia, watch parties, and more.
- After closing Ambrogio by Acquerello, its Michelin-recognized restaurant in La Jolla last year, the Ambrogio15 Restaurant Group shifted its focus to its flagship location in Pacific Beach. Come October, it’ll be rebranded as Ambrogio15 – Modern Trattoria & Gourmet Pizza, and will add a rotating menu of different pasta dishes and some new entrees. (Don’t worry: the Reader’s Choice for Best Pizza in San Diego isn’t going anywhere, thank goodness.)
- Sad donut news. Copper Top Coffee & Donuts in Pacific Beach is closing this weekend. The shop started in the old Wienerschnitzel A-frame in Hillcrest in 2018 before owner Josh McCorkle relocated it to Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach in 2023. It was beloved for its made-to-order, warm donuts that could be customized based on current pleasure and insulin needs. Go visit them this weekend, as they fire up the fryer one last time and say goodbye in riotous, donut ways.
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