Featured articles
Featured articles
Featured articles
What's next
Featured articles
Featured articles
Featured articles
Ready to know more about San Diego?
SubscribeReady to know more about San Diego?
Council president responds to questions/accusations from restaurants
City council president Todd Gloria.
City council president Todd Gloria
In politics, there are 1,000 angles to every issue but only two answers: yes or no.
That’s how San Diego city council president Todd Gloria sums up his response to the restaurant industry, which is not his biggest fan right now.
Spearheaded by Gloria and Raise Up San Diego, San Diego is incrementally raising minimum wage to $11.50 in 2017. Gloria decided not to carve out a separate wage for tipped employees—forcing restaurant owners to give each of their servers a few thousand dollars-a-year raise.
The problem? Some of those servers already make $15, $20, $30, $40-plus an hour when tips are counted. A 2012 survey by National University System Institute for Policy Research estimated San Diego’s servers and bartenders earn $28.74 per hour—triple the minimum wage.
It stands to reason that employees making $28 an hour don’t need a raise. Many restaurants operate on small profit margins. Some owners claim the unjustifiable expense will force them out of business. Others claim it takes money away from lower-paid restaurant employees who actually need it—namely, dishwashers and cooks.
In the U.S., 43 states have “tip credits.” Employers in those states are only required to pay tipped employees $2.13 an hour (many pay $3—$4). The idea is that tips will more than make up for the rest.
Tip credits are illegal in California (Labor Code Section 351). However, in a July 9 memo, San Diego’s city attorneys told city council, “it is unclear whether Section 351 prohibits other alternatives such as a two-tiered minimum wage ordinance, total compensation model or exemption for tipped employees.”
Restaurants had been requesting this “total compensation” model. Gloria decided against it. In this Q&A, he explains why—and publicly answers many of the restaurant industry’s questions/accusations for the first time.
How did you come up with the original proposed minimum wage of $13.09?
We spent about three months meeting with people on all sides of the issue. We asked, ‘What do you think it ought to be?’ Largely what I heard from the business community was, ‘We don’t want to negotiate against ourselves, so we don’t want to give you a number.’ So The Center for Policy Initiatives did a study called “Making Ends Meet” that determined what is needed to live self-sufficiently as a single adult without public subsidy. The study concluded $13.09 was a reasonable amount.
And how did you reach the $11.50 compromise?
Once we put $13.09 on the table, people became very animated and provided a lot of feedback. We had a series of meetings. A lot of small business owners said, “$13.09 would kill us.” So $11.50 was a compromise that came out of those discussions.
The restaurant industry claims they weren’t adequately included in the discussions. How much did you consult the industry?
A lot. A majority of discussions were held with the hospitality industry—hotels and restaurants—probably because of the tip issue, which is significant. There were leaders of the restaurant industry present. There were a number of meetings with me directly, and meetings with my staff (see “NOTE” at bottom of page). There were also a lot of meetings with people on the other side of the issue to see if there was some common ground.
What did the hospitality industry request?
They provided opinions about trying to work around the tip credit in California. We forwarded those things to the city attorney’s office. Ultimately we weren’t able to get to a place where they could endorse it. I understand why they didn’t. It’s largely the tip issue. It’s regretful we couldn’t get the consensus we’ve seen in other communities. But at the same time there are people on the left who say anything short of $15 is inadequate.
If tip credit was legal in California, would you support it?
That’s a hard one. I’ve looked at the issue on both sides. The current situation does have significant flaws. The fact that restaurateurs are taxed on the tips, but can’t count that toward wages—that strikes me as unfair. I don’t disagree with them that a piece of state legislation (Section 351) that’s roughly 40 years-old ought to be looked at for updating to current circumstances. The game-changer has been the transition to credit cards, right? It is far easier to track tips and see what people really make. That’s different than when this was originally envisioned. I think the legislation needs to be looked at. On the flip side, I think plenty of data shows when tips are worked into the minimum wage, those folks are really struggling. My advice to the industry—and they don’t have to take it—is to work with the state to reexamine this.
Did you feel at all it was YOUR responsibility to reexamine the state law?
That wasn’t the request from the restaurant industry. In my sense of the discussion, this was always about working around that law, rather than changing that law. I’ve experienced this before on marijuana dispensaries and food trucks. If you don’t like a law, you really need to change it. Our attorneys looked at that and the answer was, ‘It’s likely prohibited by state law.’ We couldn’t do that. The recent Convention Center financing experience really illustrates why we have to be cautious with this. If you try to break new legal ground and you’re unsuccessful, everyone is harmed. I get where the hospitality industry is coming from, but it really imperiled the overall ordinance. Instead, we decided to reduce the overall wage rate in order to try and address that in another way. I realize it’s not perfect to the concerns of the restaurant industry. Could we have had a scenario through this negotiation where the city advocated for a change? Possibly. But that’s not what we were being asked to do. We were being asked to work around that law.
Would you be open to advocating a change to California’s tip credit law in the future?
We could. Although we have this current situation on our hands. It doesn’t really allow us to have those discussions. The city does take on legislation in Sacramento. Sometimes successfully. I think it’s fairly complex to come together and work out a compromise. I don’t think it’s a matter of adopting what some of these other states have—where there’s no guarantee that the tip is there. There probably is an elegant solution somewhere in there that the city could support. That never ended up being part of the conversation because, for whatever reason, the restaurant industry has not had success with that in Sacramento and we’re not really in the position to affect the state law.
In a July 9 memo, the city attorney’s office said it was possible for you to consider a two-tier system or total compensation package—which the restaurant industry had requested. You chose not to. Why?
It was a possibility. But it opened us up to legal challenges. We needed to do something sooner rather than later. The potential for litigation, class action or otherwise, was pretty significant. I had an overall principle for this ordinance: Keep it as simple as possible. Some of my colleagues also raised concern about the cost to administer it. That’s one of the challenges Seattle’s going to have going forward. It’s very hard to make sure employers are following the law. With the relatively straightforward approach we took, our belief is that enforcement will be significantly less expensive. Obviously that’s to the benefit of the city and the taxpayer.
Your approach will force some restaurateurs to give a few thousand dollars-a-year raise to servers who currently make $25-$40 an hour. Is the restaurant industry the dolphin caught in the tuna net? Is it fair?
It’s the world that it is. With the law as it is, we have this predicament. I have heard the representations about the waiter or waitress at the fine dining establishment or a bartender at a pretty happening bar. There are just as many people who are that waiter at Denny’s. When looking at this ordinance in its totality, we’re not looking only at restaurants. We’re looking at gardeners, maids, car wash attendants. The equal protection issue—which is now a part of litigation in Seattle—was one of the concerns we had. I’m willing to do my very best to help the 200,000-some-odd people who will benefit from this ordinance. I think the route we went was the right thing to do.
To justify minimum wage raises for servers, your partners at the Center for Policy Initiatives have pointed to research by the Employment Development Department. The research concluded “waiters and waitresses” in San Diego averaged $9.08 an hour in 2013. Minimum wage was $8 at the time of the study. So that means waiters only averaged $1.08 an hour in tips. Does this research pass the sniff test for you?
I can think about my experiences dining at Urban Solace. I get owner Matt Gordon’s point—there. Juxtapose that with the Denny’s and the answer may be somewhere in between, right? When you throw in every tipped employee it seems like that number might be reasonable.
The same research concluded coffee shop workers in San Diego make $10.69 cents an hour. That suggests baristas make 17 percent more than restaurant servers. That doesn’t seem at all strange/wrong?
It does sound low. With a lot of different studies you can get different numbers. But all of them approximate certainly lower than some of the numbers touted by those who are opposed to our ordinance. As policymakers, we try to take in all the information. That includes our local CRA (California Restaurant Association), who talk about waiters making $25, $30 an hour. Lower wage workers came in and testified that’s just not their experience. This about the totality of lower wage workers. As much as I understand that there are unique aspects to the hospitality industry that minimum wage impacts, because of the state law and our city attorney’s opinion, that really wasn’t something we could engage deeply on. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t or can’t in other venues. But I’m limited to the field of play that I’m playing on. You can take concession with that report, but we did not write the entire ordinance based on that report. The CPI study was the basis of the $13.09, the $11.50 was the basis of multiple conversations.
Would you cite this research again?
There are a substantial amount of tipped employees who do need a new minimum rate. To deal with the inevitable concerns raised by the CRA and others, I think it’s very appropriate to cite that study and other studies to make that point.
Restaurateurs say that by forcing them to give raises to highly paid waiters, they have less money to allocate to people who need it—dishwashers, cooks, etc.
Those arguments should be shared with our state legislators to talk about how you can adjust for this new world where you have the ability to track tips very, very closely and where you do have this situation where employers are taxed on this but not allowed to credit it. There is a case to be made here. The effort that was expended was really about evading the law, rather than changing the law. To the extent that they’re spending a substantial amount of resources to repeal our ordinance, those resources would’ve been well-placed trying to affect policy change at the state level.
So you feel comfortable with your ordinance in regards to the restaurant industry?
It’s a compromise. That’s what we do. That’s how you make change. I was wiling to support a much higher figure. I just left a long transit hearing. I would love to use every dollar to make biking, walking and mass transit more plentiful. But my vote is equal to the vote of suburban communities, who don’t have the same attitude. So we compromise and do some here, some there. I don’t expect restaurateurs to lead a parade for raising wages. I know it comes out of their pockets. But at the same time, I’m someone who has the responsibility to represent 150,000 people in my district. It’s not just the 18,000 tipped employees in the restaurant industry. I’m not oblivious to the fact that there are impacts to this. But I also realize that there are incredible impacts to the people who are trying to live in this community on minimum wage. In this discussion, that is something that hasn’t come up as much as I’d like it to. Reporters typically ask me about the impacts on business. It’s not commonly referenced about what individuals are having to do to make ends meet.
You’re taking the “Live the Wage” challenge this week. How’s it going?
You know the first thing I’m not doing? Going to restaurants. The barista has not seen me this week and he’s not going to. You can’t do that if you have $51 to live on for the week for food and gas and whatever. That’s also something that’s not always represented well in this discussion. There’s a reason why in communities where this has been done, you see reduction in unemployment and increase in economic activity. Because people are spending this money. That is nothing I expect the restaurateurs you’ve been talking to embrace, but it’s a very practical consideration.
Some restaurants say that, because of your ordinance, they’ll move to an 18 precent service charge and get rid of tipping. That would hurt low-waged servers. Thoughts?
I’m not sure we’ve seen that in the other communities that have done this, like San Jose or D.C. I would anticipate changes in the industry. I think industries on a whole are adjusting to the world we live in now. A good industry that’s being changed because of technology is taxicabs. I imagine that will be true with the restaurant industry.
According to a prominent real estate developer, a large restaurant group recently decided not to invest in San Diego because of the minimum wage increase. How do you feel about the potential loss of business?
There is plenty of investment that is going on with the understanding that this is occurring. I’ve had a number of hotel developers who are proposing projects in my district. I’m up front with them. ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing, does that affect your decision-making?’ The answer is no. As far as I know, Seattle is not an economic wasteland. DC is not one either. I would ask to what extent high real estate costs, high energy costs and some other things are driving the hospitality industry in terms of costs. It is not just the wages. Of course, that’s also been an argument to oppose this. ‘Hey, I’ve got these other increasing costs—I don’t need this additional one.’ But my answer has been: All those additional costs are also borne by your workers. SDG&E is just not raising rates on commercial folks. Gas is the same cost for everyone.
Restaurants have always operated on very small profit margins. Does any part of you want to tell restaurants, ‘Look, your business model is broken—time to fix it’?
Well, I wouldn’t feel comfortable telling people their business is lousy. But I do have a great deal of faith in the entrepreneurial spirit. I think people will make adjustments. We did a lot of research looking at other communities that have done this. And that’s exactly what happened. You have these stories of businesses that said, ‘Gosh, I was scared. Yeah I had to make some adjustments—not all of them I like, but ultimately I can live with this.’ I came into this process really open and hoping we could achieve something that was broadly supported. Change is scary, but people are able to find their way through—exactly in the same way that minimum wage workers do every single day when they’re dealing with limited resources in a high-cost environment.
FInal thoughts?
I appreciate the focus on restaurants—an important industry to our community and my council district. But the issue is much broader than that. When you think about the 279,000 folks who will get sick days because of this ordinance or the 170-some-odd thousand who will get the pay increase… the restaurant industry is not even a majority of the folks who are going to be impacted by it.
Your job isn’t very straightforward.
A lot of times when people say, ‘Well, I didn’t like your position on that,’ I tell them I only have a binary choice. Up on the bench at council meetings, there is a ‘Yes’ button and a ‘No’ button that we can push. There is no ‘Maybe’ or ‘Kind Of’ button.
NOTE: Regarding a record of Gloria’s meetings with the restaurant industry prior to solidifying his minimum wage plan, deputy chief of staff Katie Keach combed the calendar history and reports: “From March until July, the office of Council President Gloria had at least six formal meetings that were attended by CRA or a restaurant industry representative. CRA was also invited to two additional meetings that they did not attend. This does not count dozens of less formal phone calls with the Council President, his chief of staff, and between other stakeholders. I believe Council District 8 also spoke with the restaurant industry quite a bit.”
RELATED STORIES:
Restaurateur Q&A: What’s So Wrong with the Minimum Wage Ordinance?
Restaurateur Says City Council President ‘Clueless’ About Restaurant Industry
PARTNER CONTENT
Talking farm to table, fraud-to-table, and the feasibility of the movement with the beloved restaurateur who saw it all
Garden Kitchen was special. During its seven-year run on a quiet street in Rolando, even the farmiest-to-table devotees were pointing to chef-owner Coral Strong and slow-clapping. When a dramatic rent-hike forced her to close in 2022, Strong wasn’t sure what to do next.
Farm-to-table wasn’t new by any means—chef Alice Waters spawned the movement at her pioneering restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley in the early ‘70s, and many San Diego chefs did it right. But by the mid-2000s, the idea had been so co-opted by the mainstream that the meaning was almost completely lost.
“In the beginning, I used to get very honestly angry and upset when I would go to other restaurants that were claiming they were farm-to-table, but knowing some of the chefs or prep cooks inside [telling me] ‘Oh no, that comes from Restaurant Depot,’” she says.
Food critic Troy Johnson’s cover story in 2015 documented the fraud, titled “Farm to Fable.” At Garden Kitchen, Strong only used produce and meat sourced from local San Diego farms—an honorable, if not arduous endeavor.
Strong grew up in Cardiff before her parents moved the family to Costa Rica in 1989. They’d bounce between the two countries for months at a time, but when they lived in a motel by the beach while building their own house, she witnessed an incredibly tight-knit food culture. “As a Latin American country, everyone kind of cooks together,” she says. Everyone chopped, prepped, prepared, and served as a unit. “[That] definitely shaped my adolescence as to how I thought about food and the community of food.”
When her father, a commercial fisherman, brought the family back to San Diego, Strong leaned into an entrepreneurial streak, moving from coffee to accounting and eventually bartending to pay the bills. But food remained a passion, especially after she met her future husband, who was working at a farm and ranch in Escondido.
“We were just always disappointed with the vegetables out at restaurants and were like, ‘Why can’t they just make vegetables taste good?” she wondered. She realized that despite having more small farms than any other county in the country, most restaurants in San Diego simply weren’t using local ingredients.
So she decided to do it herself.
Strong opened Garden Kitchen without any formal culinary training—just a commitment to getting the freshest vegetables, meat, fruits, and other produce onto people’s plates. Her first chef quit within a month, telling her it was impossible. “So I got in the kitchen one day and said, ‘I can do this, let’s figure it out.’ I taught myself how to cook.”
She already had connections with farmers, fishermen, and ranchers, and designed a different menu almost daily based on what she could get. “My farmers sometimes delivered in the middle of dinner service,” she laughs.
Garden Kitchen lasted until after the pandemic, but before the current economy cut into already razor-thin margins. Could Garden Kitchen exist today? She’s not sure.
“The biggest thing right now is just looking at the finances and how expensive it is,” says Strong. “Obviously, the cost of food is up right now, gas is crazy right now… it just crushes you.” Despite that, she believes that committing to the true farm-to-table ethos is as easy as one decides to make it.
“If you think it’s hard to order directly from your farmer, if you don’t understand the absolute pleasure in doing that and you’d rather order from a computer, then that’s your own difficulty,” she says. “People say they’re into it, but are they willing to make the effort like I am, to drive an hour to go get my meat, or drive 35 minutes to go to my farm to go pick it up? I don’t know.”
Today, Strong works as a private chef, hosts pop-ups, and offers catering services, all still using seasonally available ingredients from San Diego. And while she has no intentions of opening another restaurant, she says we might see even more of her in the future.
“I have a large property [in Valley Center], and let’s say that there will be more of my food to come,” she promises.
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.
Food writer Beth Demmon names local bites we love—both at the high and low ends of our budgets
We love a mega-fancy tasting menu, but let’s be honest—we’re not all blessed with unlimited Wagyu funds. So we picked some of the breakout dishes of the last year (or couple of years) from the best chefs in the city, reverse-engineered their chief charms (salty, smoky, caramelized?) in the test lab of our mouths, and found some budget-friendly alternatives that hit some of the same notes with an everyday price tag.
Where do delicately plucked marigold blossoms adorn Deer Isle scallops, or ingredients like fermented raspberry precede roasted coffee oil, shiro miso caramel, or bronze fennel in a parade of hit-after-hit dishes? Lilo in Carlsbad, of course. San Diego’s newest Michelin star changes its menu with the seasons, but one stalwart dish has kept tongues wagging since opening day last April: the caviar ice cream. A boat-shaped sliver of orgeat ice cream, smoked celery root bushi, and freshly pressed almond oil are topped with a generous heap of caviar. It’s a dish so good and defining that chef Eric Bost will tire of talking about it for a very long time.
Price: $265 for the tasting menu (before tax, tip, and drinks)
There’s a reason Stella Jean’s s’mores ice cream is part of the local scoop shop’s “always available” menu. Made with fire-roasted marshmallows and coconut ash ice cream mixed with dark chocolate-covered graham crackers and mini marshmallows, its strangely ashen hue dabbled with flecks of tawny brown is a far cry from the wildly vibrant ube and pandesal toffee flavor seemingly made for Instagram reels. But it’s a sensation in your mouth—smoky, toasty, torched, creamy, marshmallowy, coconutty, ashy, and bitter from the dark chocolate. Pro tip: If you really want to DIY Lilo’s ultra-luxe treat, bring your own caviar.
Price: $6.25 for a single scoop
There’s no question what comes first at Lucien. It’s the egg. Chef and co-owner Elijah Arizmendi’s 12-course tasting menu begins with welcome bites under the calamansi tree before moving inside to start the Journey (the actual name of this section of the menu). The first step is one of the most astounding—a perfectly intact, upright, ochre-hued eggshell containing his take on Japanese chawanmushi (egg custard), topped with a dollop of caviar. The accompanying ingredients have ranged from sweet corn and huitlacoche to banana and buckwheat, but each one has precisely demonstrated Arizmendi’s commitment to French technique with California experimentation and global influence.
Price: $260 for the chef’s tasting menu (before tax, tip, and drinks)
The biggest difference (besides price) is that while Lucien’s dish changes with the season, Sushi Ota is comfortably predictable. A San Diego staple since 1990, the legendary Sushi Ota has been one of those if you know, you know joints that locals try to keep off the radar. (It hasn’t worked at all.) Known for ultra-fresh fish and ultra-traditional service, the small Pacific Beach restaurant also serves Japanese comfort foods like udon noodle soup alongside sashimi, nigiri, and rolls. But it’s the savory steamed egg custard, called chawanmushi, that really gives you the warm and fuzzies. Add a side of salmon roe (ikura) for a few bucks more, and this dupe is about as good as it gets.
Price: $12 for chawanmushi, $11 for ikura
Enough ink—and tears, I’m sure—has been spilled over Chick & Hawk’s long and arduous journey to opening its doors. But now that the Encinitas eatery is in full swing, chef Andrew Bachelier’s tightly curated menu of fried chicken sandwiches, fries, and bowls command lines of hungry locals and skate-culture loyalists. The Birdman, the signature hot chicken sandwich named for partner and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, is piled with cabbage slaw and pickles and slathered with a tangy kimchi comeback sauce on a soft brioche bun. Although this Nashville meets California meets Mississippi meets Korea sando doesn’t command a triple-digit price tag, the fact that it’s nearly a $20 chicken sandwich (sans side) has been a topic of conversation. Bachelier—who worked at Addison before opening Jeune et Jolie, then launched SDM’s 2024 “Best New Restaurant,” Atelier Manna—and his team earned that price tag.
Price: $18
It’s hard to beat Koreans at the chicken game. Korean fried wings are defined by a double-fry technique—first at a low temperature to ensure the chicken is cooked through, then at a high temperature to ensure the famed extra-crispy, ear-splittingly crunchrageous magic. At Cross Street, they follow a similar fusion ethos as Chick & Hawk, using inspiration from the American South as well as Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, and more, with flavors like “Seoul Spicy” or “Honey Butter” for whatever you’re feeling that day. Pair it with a cold beer to go full chimaek (a popular Korean combination of pairing fried chicken and beer). Now that’s a combo—and price tag—that’s hard to beat.
Price: $8.75 for five wings
PB&J. Captain & Tennille. Brad Wise and steak. Steak frites ranks among the iconic global duos. And when the holy union of prime cuts and twice-fried carbs comes from Wise and the meat-loving masters at Trust Restaurant Group, it’s a pretty safe bet. À L’ouest—the group’s newest fancy, but not fussy, drippy plant dreamscape of a French steakhouse on the prime corner of 30th and University in North Park—gives guests a choice: 12-ounce New York strip, 8-ounce filet mignon, or 8-ounce Wagyu hanger, topped with sauce au poivre (the classic French pan sauce—peppercorns, shallots, heavy cream, brandy) and served with a heaping pile of 24-hour salt-brined fries and a watercress salad. One bite acts as a transport to a Parisian brasserie, so if you think about the cost in terms of time-space travel, it’s a pretty great deal.
Price: starts at $48
To satisfy the same urge for meat and potatoes, feel at least moderately European while doing so, and save a couple quid, a trip to The Shakespeare in Mission Hills ticks all the boxes. The classic British shepherd’s pie arrives in a piping hot oval au gratin dish, smothered with a thick layer of mashed potatoes. Beneath it lies a hefty portion of marinated ground beef and vegetables in the pub’s secret sauce, and while there are a few choices of sides, the correct order is peas and “proper” chips (a.k.a. chunky, thick-cut fries versus the typically thinner American “French” fries). It’s more tickety-boo than très bien, but it’s immensely satisfying in any language.
Price: $22.95
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 sustainability-focused sushi concept offering traditional favorites as well as fusion specialties will open in North County this summer
Encinitas nigiri fanatics, I bring you good tidings. Oto Sushi is slated to open in late July. After nearly two decades of experience in operations for Tao Group Hospitality and Ace Hotel, Ash Cintas opened the first Oto in Laguna Beach in 2024. She focused on from-scratch dishes, fish sourced from Smart Catch and Seafood Watch–approved suppliers, and a wide swath of gluten-free options.
Year one worked, so she started eyeing her ideal second spot—North County San Diego. “I grew up spending time in San Diego visiting family, and my grandfather built a fishing business here, so the area has always felt familiar and meaningful to me,” says Cintas.
Cintas’ twin sister Alysha Rabb spearheaded the Japanese coastal design of the new Oto, which takes over the former Mrkt Space. The 3,200-square-foot eatery flows from the indoor dining room to large outdoor patio, as well as a private dining room—a total capacity of 95. Chef Connor Mathison has worked as a sushi chef for over 15 years at venues like Bamboo Sushi SW in Portland, Oregon. His menu includes classic sushi offerings like nigiri and sashimi, specialty rolls, bento boxes, tempera, karaage, Wagyu burgers, and robotayaki.
Robatayaki, sometimes called robata, is a method of slow-grilling meat, seafood, and various vegetables over premium Japanese binchotan charcoal. Basically, it’s the gold standard for grilling, thanks to its intense, clean heat that imparts a smoky, savory char on the outside and a rich, tender inside.
“One of the defining characteristics of Oto is that much of our sushi is served yakumi-style, meaning it arrives already seasoned with ingredients designed to complement the fish rather than relying on soy sauce,” Cintas explains.
There will also be a large number of vegan and vegetarian dishes, plus scratch cocktails with housemade syrup, fresh juice, sake, Japanese whiskey, wine, and beer selections curated by beverage partner Gavin Grum. Cintas says she hopes to continue expanding across Southern California, ideally opening six to eight locations in different coastal communities.
“The goal isn’t to build the biggest restaurant company,” she says. “Encinitas is the next step in proving that model can scale.”
Oto Sushi opens July 2026 at 782 N. Coast Hwy 101 in Encinitas. Initial opening hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
First more sushi, now more ice cream? Someone pinch me. Later this June, Silver Hoof Creamery will open in Old Town at 2548 Congress Street, Suite G, bringing artisanal soft serve, waffle tacos and waffle bowls, sundaes, and milkshakes to the Old Town Urban Market food hall. Everything is made with 100 percent California dairy milk (except for the dairy-free options, of course), and the small-batch menu of flavors ranges from dark chocolate soft serve to blueberry lavender milkshakes, matcha garden sundaes, and the signature Silver Hoof sundae made with vanilla swirl soft serve, caramel drizzle, topped with candied pecans and various candy gems and topped with whipped cream. Personally, I’m a sucker for strawberry, so I’m looking forward to giving the strawberry fields milkshake a slurp once the doors open.
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.
The 29-year-old culinary director at Herb & Sea is making seafood sexy (and approachable) again
Implementing a farm-to-table model hardly deserves acknowledgement these days. It’s not a stretch. It’s not innovative. “It’s the bare f**king minimum,” says Herb & Sea‘s executive chef Aidan Owens.
When I arrive at the Encinitas restaurant, I’m ready to talk sustainability, farm-to-table stuff, with Owens. “Did you see the chin on that?” he says of the extra big jiggly chin on the sheephead that just arrived with the day’s fresh catch. I did. It was Jay Leno adjacent.
I learn quickly that he somehow oozes both charm and stone-cold honesty. Maybe he could construct a new dish with chin goo, like he did when he had a bunch of tuna scraps and voila’d it into a smooth and crowd-pleasing ‘nduja. “I want to know what’s in there,” he says.
The instinct to look closer, to dig into what others might discard, says a lot about the chef’s approach. I guide him back to our topic, but he has something else on his mind. “We’re overcomplicating food—what happened to just cooking good food and having fun with it?”
Owens grew up on a farm in Byron Bay, Australia, where sustainability wasn’t a concept you chat about so much as a way of life. Think dirt roads, backyard chickens, pulling vegetables straight from the ground, and a mother who believed that if you couldn’t pronounce the ingredients on a package, you shouldn’t eat what was inside.
Food wasn’t precious or performative. Making it was what you did because you were hungry and that’s still what inspires Owens today. “I like to cook good food because I like to eat good food,” he says.
His approach to sustainability at Herb & Sea began so naturally that it felt just like instinct. “I was just like, ‘Let’s order food from the people who live and work here,’” he says.
And why wouldn’t he when lives in San Diego? Cities all over the world vie for our goods. Our tuna is sent overseas. Our spiny lobsters hit dinner plates in China and Japan. Not to mention California’s producing a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of its fruits and nuts.
“Why would we outsource when it’s all here?” Owens asks.
Sustainability, in this context, is about cooking what exists in abundance, nearby, right now. “I love the local fish here. It’s f**king delicious and San Diego citrus, I mean, it is so f**ing good,” he says.
Instead of importing ingredients, Owens also looks for nearby alternatives. “You can find really cool things in the local waters,” he says, pointing out that stingray cheeks taste similar to scallops.
Whatever he finds in that sheephead chin might just be the next substitute for marrow. But to make this work, it means getting diners amped up about the slightly unfamiliar.
Tasting menus, where diners are completely in his hands, become an opportunity to gently push boundaries. “I’ll serve mackerel, because people think they hate it,” Owens says, noting that the abundant local fish can have some fishiness. “But when it’s fresh, it’s arguably one of the best fish in the ocean.”
He also tweaks the language on the menu so people might feel more compelled to give dishes a try without preconceived notions. He might use “lengua” instead of “tongue.” “Whelk” instead of “snail.” When he puts “stingray throat” on the menu, he disarmingly calls it “skate.”
To reduce waste, scraps aren’t always discarded but rather turned into something new. Sometimes they’re smoked, cured or fermented. Apples going bad turn into apple ponzu. Lemons turn to marmalade, which stretches their usefulness far beyond peak season. “And it’s super tasty on our pizza,” he says.
What makes the food even richer, is the relationships he’s built with farmers. Though it didn’t always feel natural, Owens sought personal connection first. He recalls approaching a fisherman at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market. “I was awkward,” he says. “I went up to him and said, ‘I like your fish.’”
Owen’s is now so close to his suppliers—like fishermen Ryan Sebo and Joe Daly—that he gets texted pictures of fresh catches right as they flop on the boat. The messages always ask if he wants first dibs. “I say yes to a lot of fish,” Owens says, noting that Herb & Sea can go through 2,000 pounds of seafood a week.
The next evolution of sustainability, in his view, will be chefs working directly with producers such as his alliance with Sebo, cutting out middlemen and purveyors where possible. “It will put more money in the pockets of the people doing the work,” he says.
It will mean that chefs can’t just know their local farmers and producers, but they’ll choose to work with the ones who have the best practices. Dining and sustainability will become much less about the final plate. “It will be more about the impact that plate has on the Earth,” he says.
Ultimately, he believes sustainability doesn’t need to be loud. It doesn’t need hashtags. It just needs to be honest.
“We aren’t saving lives. We’re feeding people good food,” he says.
And yet, in feeding people well—simply, thoughtfully, responsibly—something meaningful happens. Guests leave satisfied. Ingredients are respected. Local ecosystems are supported and food returns to what it has always been at its core: nourishment, pleasure, and a quiet reflection of the place it comes from.
No buzzwords required.
The team behind The Roxy launches Anigma, a hidden cocktail bar with small bites
If your dopamine rush comes from stepping into an experiential esoteric escape that also serves cocktails, then the newly-opened Anigma might just be up your alley. Brought to life by the owners of The Roxy Encinitas and Roxy on Broadway in Denver, Encinitas’ new hidden cocktail lounge spirals around the idea that nothing is quite as it seems. Stepping into the moody 47-seat space, which is tucked behind the retail store Archive, should feel like an out-of-this-world experience, says Paula Vrakas, one of the four partners behind Anigma.
Vrakas worked with architecture and design firm Tecture—which designed restaurants like Lucien, Haven at Fox Point Farms, and Kettner Exchange—to concoct an environment that begins when guests walk through the secret portal into a world of velvety folklore and myth. No two experiences will be identical, she promises.
“The concept itself is a changing concept, and so this sort of mysticism, the occult, or these dark arts, they’re ever-changing within themselves,” she explains. “So we can lean in…. at any given moment without completely changing the entire concept. That’s actually what we intend to do.”
If this sounds very abstract, that’s okay. Let’s center ourselves around the cocktails, which are very real and created in part by bar lead Sam Reinke.
Initially, there will be around 16 cocktails (and a few mocktails) in three sections. “Archive” features traditional drinks like Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, while “Myth & Memory” offers rotating cocktails inspired by Southern California folklore, like the monster of Proctor Valley Road or the legend of Charles “The Rainmaker” Hatfield.
But the menu starts with “Sigils,” four drinks that break down Anigma’s logo into its individual features: the Celtic Knot, the tria prima (the Latin philosophy of three foundational elements of alchemy being salt, sulfur, and mercury), the All-Seeing Eye of Providence, and the Alchemist’s Stone. The ingredients in each reference key aspects of each concept; for example, the Alchemist’s Stone (sometimes called the Philosopher’s Stone) is made with red powder to mimic the same flaming hue of the legendary item. The Eye of Providence includes carrot juice, an ingredient rich in beta-carotene that also happens to be excellent for eye health.
The fifth drink, called “Anigma” and based on the logo as a whole, will never be listed. “But if you ask, you can find out,” promises Vrakas.
Since the concept is meant to be cocktail-forward, only a few small bites will be available, like chocolate-covered strawberries and wasabi pea pub mix. “It’s fancy snacks,” laughs Vrakas. But considering how Encinitas’ dining options have upped their game as of late, she says focusing on providing a high-end cocktail experience will fill a void in the area not yet overwhelmed with similar choices. Once inside, it’s an intimate space, with seating for 47 guests over 800-square-feet lit by candles and cocooned with dark velvet curtains sewn by Vrakas’ mother.
For now, Anigma is reservation-only, but will likely introduce opportunities for walk-ins in the future. In the meantime, expect surreality and perhaps a bit of discombobulation, says Vrakas. “It’s just meant to [feel] like, ‘Wait, where was I? Where was that? And how do I get back?’”
Anigma opens May 28 at 517 S. Coast Hwy 101 in Encinitas. Hours are Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Thursday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday 5 p.m. to 10:30 pm; and Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.. Closed Sunday–Tuesday.
Call it the Michelin effect—after earning Michelin recognition in December, Cloak & Petal in Little Italy is ready to expand its Japanese-inspired offerings by launching a coffee shop-slash-cafe experience this August.
Called Black Mizu Café, the 1,000-square-foot space situated within Cloak & Petal will serve Torque Coffee and Compa Coffee beans and Asa Bakery pastries, as well as Japanese comfort food dishes like a tamago sandwich, bánh mì panini, edamame hummus toast, and various parfaits. Signature drinks include specialties like a honey yuzu sparkling matcha, cherry blossom latte, white miso caramel latte, and a cardamom cinnamon latte. Next spring, Black Mizu will also launch a Pacific Rim-inspired brunch menu by executive chef Robert Cassidy.
With space for 25 to 30 guests, the Japanese-meets-Scandinavian minimalist design will also be able to accommodate a private dining space for Cloak & Petal during non-café hours. Managing partner Cesar Vallin anticipates the initial hours of operation will be daily from 6:30 or 7 a.m. through around 2 p.m., with extended hours on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until approximately 9 p.m. It’s not a pop-up, per se, but it’s certainly a creative way to make the most of the restaurant’s off-hours floor space.
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.
The specialty coffee and dessert shop will open in late June to early July
Hospitality-centric businesses are starting to work smarter, not harder. Some are leaning into experiential concepts, like Harland Brewing’s golf course taproom. Some are joining up with other businesses to share space and costs, like Scoopy Scoopy. Then there’s the multi-hyphenate approach, using food and drink as a jumping-off point for bigger aspirations—like Infusion Lab, a specialty dessert and coffee shop opening in Pacific Beach this summer.
The name is strategically vague, explains co-founder and finance director Baran Aydin. Initially, the space will offer a menu of specialty coffee—traditional espresso-based drinks, plus matcha and signature ube beverages alongside breakfast, lunch sammies and desserts like cookies made in-house and European-inspired desserts.
Aydin and co-founder/coffee director Aselin Bay plan to expand into a lifestyle brand with streetwear-inspired merch—shirts, hats, bags, socks, and more that are “designed to reflect the lifestyle and culture behind Infusion Lab,” he explains.
“The goal is to create a space where people can work, socialize, create content, and become part of a growing community,” says Aydin.
Pacific Beach is growing, with major residential expansions like AVA Pacific Beach adding units to a market that’s tightened nearly 30 percent over the last year, according to the Whissel Beer Group real estate team. Currently, there are fewer than 20 coffee shops in Pacific Beach for a population of around 41,000—plus 10,000 to 20,000 more people visiting during summer and weekends.
Infusion Labs’ design is elemental white-and-maroon, with line drawing art. Their space, next to the now-closed Copper Top Coffee & Donuts, will feature some Chesterfield-style seating (deep button sofas) and a dedicated social media area.
Holy Matcha may have helped start the “camera eats first” coffee shop experience with its explosive pink floral wall backdrop, but between Saya Brasserie’s entire social media-centric business strategy, S3 Coffee Bar’s over-the-top coffee concoctions, and Infusion Labs’ online oasis, it seems San Diego coffee shops are still making sure they feed your body and your follower count.
Infusion Lab opens at 4638 Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach in late June or early July.
The owners behind Hermosa Surf in Bird Rock soft-launched their new cafe, Sungold Point—right next door at 5632 La Jolla Blvd. It’s a modern take on an old-school diner, explains Stirling, with seating for around 35 people and lots of pink, burgundy, turquoise, checkerboard, and terrazzo to feast your eyes on. Owners Stirling and Benny Walter designed the breakfast and lunch menu to use organic ingredients whenever possible and make everything from scratch, including breakfast sandwiches, salads, bowls, and a full espresso menu.
PARTNER CONTENT
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.
In a world overflowing with shortcuts, marketing fluff, and “good enough,” there are still companies that choose a different answer. And in San Diego, there are plenty of them.
In a world overflowing with shortcuts, marketing fluff, and “good enough,” there are still companies that choose a different answer.
Integrity guides how they show up every day. They make hard decisions, hold themselves accountable, and build trust the old-fashioned way, one action at a time. At the Better Business Bureau, we call these businesses Torch Heroes: leaders who demonstrate that ethical leadership strengthens businesses and drives long-term success.
And in San Diego, there are plenty of them.
Take House Collective Marketing Solutions, a Carlsbad-based digital agency that won the 2025 Torch Award for Ethics for its people-first approach to marketing. Instead of pushing flashy campaigns, the team often takes a step back to make sure clients’ foundations are strong before going big. Their philosophy? Truth over transaction builds partnerships that last.
Or look at Young Black & N’ Business, where integrity shows up through community action. When a local school lost art funding, founder Roosevelt Williams III and his team stepped in with workshops, mentorship, and hands-on support to help restore creative opportunity. That kind of engagement reflects ethical leadership rooted in real impact.
And in Vista, Lotus Sustainables carried its commitment to ethics all the way to the product line. After discovering defects in a shipment of eco-friendly products, the company issued full refunds and redesigned its offerings at its own expense, a choice that shaped its identity and reinforced to customers that ethics guide every decision.
In North County, Greenway Landscape Design & Build brings integrity into everyday service. When a client’s glass was damaged, likely not by their crew, owner Scott Lawn chose responsibility over blame and covered the repair personally. For Greenway, doing the right thing serves as a north star, guiding every interaction through transparent pricing, accountable partnerships, proactive communication, and follow-through long after the job is done.
Other honorees include At Your Home Familycare, whose leadership turned down a lucrative state contract during the pandemic to protect vulnerable clients and staff, and Bill Howe Family of Companies, where hiring practices, training, and service centers around shared values, every day, on every call.
What connects these diverse businesses, from marketing to nonprofit support to home services, isn’t size, industry, or revenue. It’s something deeper: a commitment to trust as a business strategy.
In San Diego’s competitive marketplace, that trust gives companies an edge. Clients invest in relationships. They refer friends. They stay loyal when others fade.
As one Torch Award winner puts it, integrity isn’t a section in the employee handbook. It’s the operating system of the company, the invisible code that determines every choice, every day.
And that’s exactly the point of the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics: to spotlight companies that dispel the myth that ethics and success are at odds. These businesses show that when leaders choose honesty, fairness, and accountability, especially when it’s hard, they build brands that matter.
At BBB, we see nominations come in from clients, employees, and business partners who have witnessed ethical leadership up close. These submissions aren’t polished promotions. They’re stories of moments when a company chose people over profit, clarity over confusion, and trust over convenience.
The nomination window for the 2026 Torch Awards for Ethics is open through March 31, 2026, and there are more Torch Heroes waiting to be recognized.
Who comes to mind in San Diego’s business community?
And yes, businesses can nominate themselves. We encourage it. If you’ve built your business on principles rather than buzzwords, we want to hear your story.
Because in a world full of noise, integrity still deserves the spotlight, and San Diego is full of stories worth telling. Nominate your hero now.
