Chew on this—a butter-drenched bible to our sizzling dining scene, bursting with all the bites, sips, chefs, and trends that make San Diego hallowed ground for food people.
When it comes to things on fire, in Wise we trust. This year, San Diego’s star steakhouse chef went national. Brad Wise had a great track record (Trust, Fort Oak, Cardellino, The Wise Ox), but his casual-ish take on the steakhouse experience—Rare Society—boomed at a different decibel. Why? Because he’s nailed the art of woodsmoke, which has 400-something more flavor compounds than oven- or pan-seared proteins. And Rare’s lazy-Susan “steak boards” offer commitment phobes a ménage à steak. He expanded the concept up and down the West Coast, from Santa Barbara to Washington (the sixth iteration will open in Vegas next year). But he’s not done here at home—his “French-ish” brasserie arrives in North Park next summer.
Kinme Omakase Photo Credit: Matt Furman
The Experience: Omakase-Only
By Troy Johnson
San Diego’s Japanese food scene owes a debt to Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Seven years after watching the 2011 documentary, John Hong opened Hidden Fish on Convoy Street. Like Jiro’s famed restaurant in Japan, Hong’s spot is omakase-only—no à la carte ordering. The chef simply serves you course after creative course, using the day’s best ingredients. Taking choice away from Americans? Scandalous, blasphemous, and gold. It was the first of its kind in San Diego. Hong received national press, as did his newest concept Hitokuchi. Now he’s not alone. In the last year, two more omakase-only spots opened: Kinme (in Bankers Hill, from the beloved Azuki Sushi crew) and Ichifuji (thanks to two chef vets from Michelin-starred spots). A third, Hasekura, is on its way in Barrio Logan. Choice is overrated.
Courtesy of Matsu
The Trend: Dry-Aged Fish
By Jackie Bryant
Finally, it’s being said. The supremacy of fresh fish is a myth. Sushi only gets its trademark silkiness when aged. Most beef served in high-end steakhouses is aged over 20 days, so why wouldn’t the same benevolent science work wonders on seafood? It does. While the craft was already popular in Spain (where aged, cured tuna is called mojama), San Diego fishmongers and chefs—from Tommy Gomes of Tunaville and the crew at La Jolla’s Marisi to Davin Waite of Oceanside’s Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub (one of the OGs of the trade)—started tinkering with the technique this year. “Dry-aging fish is a game-changer when it comes to hedging the peaks and valleys in local fish supply,” Waite says. “It’s just like putting a piece of fish in the fridge, only it gets better with time, instead of worse.” Even though the process has “literally been around forever,” he adds, it’s still new to many of us. Not for long.
Matt Lyons & Ammanda Lopez-Minera of Tribute Pizza Photo Credit: Erica Joan
The Place: North Park
By Beth Demmon
North Park’s been billed as the heir to the city’s central food nerve for a long, long time. After a decade of revitalization, it’s finally happening. From Tribute Pizza (pictured) and Finca to Mabel’s Gone Fishing, Happy Medium, and Saigon Coffee, something delicious awaits every few feet. Three new concepts are incoming from some of the biggest names in the food and drink scene: Drew Deckman’s 31ThirtyOne (arriving around May), CH Projects’ Persian-fusion concept Leila (summer-ish), and Brad Wise’s French brasserie (sometime next year). The simmer is now a boil.
Asa Cafe Bakery Photo Credit: Kimberly Motos
The Treat: Asian Bakeries
By Beth Demmon
There’s a time and place for Boston creams and maple bars. And that time ended around when skinny jeans went out of style. This year, San Diego’s pastry adherents turned to melt-in-your-mouth Japanese milk bread, sugar-sprinkled Chinese doughnuts, and uber-fluffy red bean buns. SD’s Asian-owned and -inspired bakery scene exploded—probably because Asian desserts tend to be less excessively sweet than their Western counterparts, and the nation’s collective palate has shifted away from sugar bombs. Enter ube, black sesame, mango, and pandan treats. At places like ASA Cafe Bakery or Phoenix Dessert, you can switch up that iced vanilla latte in favor of royal milk tea, shaved ice with coconut milk and various fruits, or boba Thai iced tea.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
The Arrival: José Cepeda
By Troy Johnson
The biggest news in the city’s dining scene this year was arguably the 6,000-or-so (okay, seven) concepts artfully shoved into North Park’s newly re-loved and relaunched LaFayette Hotel. The food had to make a statement as loud as the décor (not easy). CH Projects tapped elite chef Perfecte Rocher (El Bulli, Tarsan i Jane, Manresa) to quality control the whole operation, but the one to watch is Puebla, Mexico–raised José Cepeda, chef at the hotel’s signature Baja-goth restaurant, Quixote. “My grandmother used to tell me you get people from the stomach—that’s how people fall in love with you,” he says. Quixote’s menu is a mix of his family’s favorite dishes with twists learned during his time cooking alongside Joshua Gill at LA’s Mexican standout Mírame. Cepeda’s crab corn doughnut alone is a fairly romantic notion.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
The Fermentalist: Tiago Carneiro
By Troy Johnson
Hard kombucha hasn’t yet made a huge splash nationwide, but it’s catching fire ($179 million in 2023, with a projected $17 billion market over next decade). San Diego is ground zero for the movement thanks to our athleisure souls and twin fangirling for both probiotics and happy hour. Brands like Boochcraft and JuneShine broke the seal, and now the emerging force is Tiago Carneiro and Nova Easy Kombucha. Raised in Brazil by a father obsessed with fermentation, Carneiro and his brother built and sold Brazil’s largest craft brewery, Wäls. He moved his family to San Diego and opened South Bay’s first brewery, Novo Brazil, in 2015. The pandemic had him on the edge of losing it all. “I said to myself, ‘This was the biggest failure of my life,’” he recalls. So he gave spiked booch a try, and Nova took off. His bright pink, just-sweet-enough La Ola Dragon Fruit—a collab with Wave FC— was the drink of last summer and this summer, too. Now he’s partnered with the Padres.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
The Cocktail Whisperer: Beau du Bois
By Troy Johnson
His first move was to ditch bottled lime juice. To do this for an operation as large as Marisi (one location) and Puesto (nine), Beau du Bois hired a juice guy—a full-time role to keep fresh juice flowing, storing it in kegs to preserve shelf-life and eliminate waste. By opting for seemingly minor, time-consuming tweaks (like using a centrifuge to clarify peach juice for Marisi’s epic white peach bellini), du Bois and co-conspirator Derek Cram are producing some of the most craft-driven drinks in the city. No surprise, since the former was beverage director of a three-star Michelin (The Restaurant at Meadowood) before coming to San Diego. Up next is a 100-seat, Mexico City–inspired cocktail bar in downtown called Roma Norte, set to open this summer. The bar man says we can expect the best rum and Coke he’s ever had, using clear cola made from scratch.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
The Curator: Tracy Borkum
By Troy Johnson
For decades, museum food in the US was a forgery. Art on walls, shrugs on plates. Other cities realized Renoirs didn’t pair great with fridge-flavored pita wraps, so New York got Untitled from Danny Meier, Seattle got Taste from Craig Hetherington, and (finally) San Diego culture-seekers have Tracy Borkum and chef Tim Kolanko. Most know Borkum for her string of Italian cucinas (Urbana, Enoteca) and her Jewish deli, Goldfinch. But over the last few years, she has radically improved the mealtime fates of aesthetes in the city with Artifact at the Mingei and The Kitchen at MCASD La Jolla. Borkum got her art history degree from UC Berkeley, so maybe we owe a bit of gratitude to selfish pursuits.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
The Vin-Garde: Chelsea Coleman + Coco Randolph
By Jackie Bryant
San Diego’s not historically a wine town. But that’s changing, thanks in part to juice nerds like Chelsea Coleman and Coco Randolph. Coleman is co-owner of three low-intervention wine temples—Mabel’s Gone Fishing, The Rose, and Bodega Rosette (along with sourdough bakery Secret Sister)—and she co-founded the natural wine festival Nat Diego, which lured national wine icon Alice Feiring to town. Randolph is wine director at North Park bistro Black Radish, as well as co-owner of the two-Michelin-star Californios in San Francisco. She won tons of accolades for her work at the latter, including Michelin’s 2021 Sommelier of the Year.
Photo Credit: James Tran
The Coffee: Saigon Coffee
By Maren Hawkins
Vinh and Tu Duong’s father set the bar high for how a husband should treat his wife. Growing up, the siblings—and Saigon Coffee founders—saw their dad travel to faraway villages in the central highlands of Vietnam to bring back the finest coffee beans for their mother. Their mom taught them to slow-brew java with time-tested Vietnamese phin filters (pour-over, but make it fancy). From humble beginnings in 2012 at the Hillcrest Farmers Market to two bustling brick-and-mortars in North Park and University Heights, Saigon Coffee creates every cup with this ancient technique. The rich egg foam that tops one of their strong, satisfying iced beverages is worth being late for work… which you will be, unless you rise with the baristas themselves to beat the omnipresent line.
Photo Credit: Airyka Rockefeller
The Bread: Wayfarer Bread
By Amelia Rodriguez
If Crystal White’s sourdough starter were a human child, it’d be in second grade right now. But instead of learning to subtract, the bubbly colony of lactic acid and wild yeast is doing what it does best: making bread delicious, with help from White’s lovingly obsessive attention to details like humidity and the seasons. Trained by bakers at The French Laundry, Tartine, and Proof, White launched Wayfarer Bread in Bird Rock in May 2018 following a series of successful pop-ups. The humble outpost has since made like its starter and sent San Diego’s bread culture rising ever-higher. While White’s crackly baguettes and fluffy cream buns generate Disneylandish morning queues, weekend evenings draw fans for pizza nights, when Wayfarer lays down veg- and meat-loaded pies with—you guessed it—killer crusts.
Photo Credit: James Tran
The Pizza: Amalfi Cucina Italiana
By Troy Johnson
When four Italian friends who’d helped build the Buona Forchetta empire struck out on their own, some raised brows at the spot they chose—Lake San Marcos, a man-made, cult-loved boat community in suburban North County. Not exactly food-scene central. And maybe that was their stroke of genius. Putting a six-time World Pizza Champion (chef Marcello Avitabile) in a part of the county that’s been unfairly ignored by the culinary arts? Like putting a tiki bar in a PTA meeting. Huge hit. Now, the quartet has expanded to another un-hyped food neighborhood with Amalfi Cucina Italiana in Carmel Valley. The menu and specials are different, but both locations offer the same hefty Valtellina pizza, crafted with speck, provola di agerola, brie, caramelized onion, and sausage and wood-fired in a majestic Napoletano-style oven.
Courtesy of @dwurstdadjokes
The Breakout: Shawarma Guys
By Amelia Rodriguez
Shawarma Guys founder Bryan Zeto grew up in an Iraqi Chaldean family in Detroit and was hailed as a top-notch home cook. But he still had a lot to learn about Middle Eastern cuisine before launching his food truck in South Park in 2019. A month of daily munching on slow-roasted meat, falafel, and other dishes helped the former phone salesman hone his recipes, including his now-iconic Wagyu shawarma and an addictive “garlic paste.” The truck nabbed a feature on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, and, in 2020, Yelp named it the number-one restaurant in the country. The long lines that followed helped Zeto open a brick-and-mortar in La Mesa, with a Mira Mesa location on its way. His shawarma-stuffed egg rolls will melt you.
Courtesy of Tanner’s Prime Burgers
The Next Big Thing: Tanner’s Prime Burgers
By Troy Johnson
Get ready to hear this name. A lot. Years ago, Brandon Rodgers moved to San Diego to learn from iconic chef Tony DiSalvo of the now-defunct Jack’s before joining Gavin Kaysen at El Bizcocho (Rodgers cooked on Kaysen’s Iron Chef team, winning the battle against Michael Symon). After a stint at French Laundry, he helped his friend Corey Lee open Benu. Rodgers was chef de cuisine when Benu was awarded its third Michelin star. And now he’s back in San Diego for a burger with a hell of a resume. He teamed up with Eric Brandt of family-owned Brandt Beef to open the first Tanner’s in Oceanside. Their calling card is one-third-pound USDA prime patties, smashed then topped with beef bacon, caramelized onions, New School American Cheese, sauce, sweet onions, pickles, and tomatoes on a brioche bun. Oh, and they also serve a beef tallow ice-cream sandwich. Watch out, Shake Shack.
Courtesy of JPR
The Marquee Maker: Jojo Ruiz
By Troy Johnson
Some of the most promising chefs never get the support they deserve. Others get too much “support,” their talent and dreams sucked up by the bottom line of an unfeeling corporate structure. San Diego born-and-raised JoJo Ruiz seems to have found just the right fit with Andy Masi and Clique Hospitality. Together, they crafted marquee restaurants for two of the city’s top properties (Serẽa at Hotel Del and Lionfish at The Pendry), plus a sustainable sushi hand roll bar in Encinitas (Temaki). This year, their big unveilings were Lilian’s and Bing’s—the signature restaurant and bar, respectively, of the $100 million reimagining of the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. Their secret? “JoJo’s passion is contagious, and it’s the soul of what we do together,” Masi says. A James Beard nod for Ruiz’s work in sustainable seafood doesn’t hurt, either. And they’re not done yet.
Leucadia’s got loads of charms: unincorporated shagginess, farmy beach town chutzpah, cliffside homes with stairways once used to smuggle drugs. But, for decades, a thriving food scene was not one of them. Mario Guerra did something about that. Born in Mexico City, he moved to San Diego when he was young (he was GM at downtown’s sorely missed Candelas). He got “real jobs” in finance and manufacturing and moved his family to Leucadia, but he kept dreaming about that restaurant life. He traveled the world based on food scenes and became a hell of a home chef. And, finally, he couldn’t resist: He opened Moto Deli in 2015 as a little food truck, and now he and his wife Morgan (head of design) have seven concepts, including Hamburger Hut (good burgers meet tiki drinks), Corner Pizza, pheromonal date spot Valentina, and Vale Bodega. Leucadia’s food scene owes a debt to his inability to stay away.
Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.
Jackie is a long-time freelance journalist covering cannabis, food/restaurants, travel, labor, wine, spirits, arts & culture, design, and other topics. Her work has been selected twice for Best American Travel Writing, and she has won a variety of national and local awards for her writing and reporting.
Amelia Rodriguez is a writer and journalist and winner of the San Diego Press Club's 2023 Rising Star Award and 2024 Best of Show Award, she’s also covered music, food, arts and culture, fashion, and design for Rolling Stone, Palm Springs Life, and other national and regional publications. After work, you can find her hunting down San Diego’s best pastries and maintaining her five-year Duolingo streak.
Maren Hawkins is a freelance writer in her last year at San Diego State University. When she is not writing, she spends her time playing beach volleyball, thrifting for the cutest clothes, and traveling whenever possible.
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 is a notorious diva to photograph. The wrong lighting can make José Andrés’ paella look like a jaundiced grain bowl. You could be staring at the best sandwich of your life, but shoot it from above and—hey, congrats on that abandoned piece of lettuce bread. A cottage meme industry has been built around the hilariously bad photos on review sites that make Michelin-star food look like Michelin tires.
Especially in a visual modern media world, food culture depends on great photographers capturing the painstaking work in equally deserving ways. We asked four of San Diego’s top food photographers for their favorite shot from another year of documenting what we eat.
Photo Credit: Kimberly Motos
Kimberly Motos
Birdman Sandwich at Chick & Hawk
Getting this kind of shot takes a bit of yoga. Asana yourself into the corner, hold your breath, pray that a chef on the move doesn’t back into your light stand.
“You’re stepping into someone’s workspace during their busiest moments, so it’s a balance of being present to get the shot and being invisible to not slow anything down,” Kimberly Motos says.
The subject here is the Birdman sandwich from Chick & Hawk—hot fried chicken thigh, tangy slaw, kimchi comeback sauce, sweet and spicy pickles, potato brioche bun—getting a hearty dousing of its difference-maker seasoning. Motos captures the parts of the process that diners don’t usually see: the chaos behind something that looks so simple.
Photo Credit: Lucianna McIntosh
Lucianna McIntosh
Oysters + Jewel of the Sea Martini at The Fishery
“I love this image because it feels like a moment you want to step into,” says Lucianna McIntosh. A warm, sunny day at The Fishery in PB with oysters, caviar, and martinis. Yes, please.
The little details—the glass sweating a little, the direct afternoon light creating stark shadows, the oyster glistening on the tray—are the main characters. Instead of trying to overly control the setup, McIntosh “followed the light and lines that draw you in more,” she says. “This was one of those moments where everything lined up on its own for a second. I love it when the shadows end up being just as important as the food itself.”
Photo Credit: Eric Wolfinger
Eric Wolfinger
Herb-Roasted Golden Chicken at Fleurette
La Jolla native Eric Wolfinger—who won a James Beard Award for Tartine Bread, one of the most stunning bread books of all time—says he doesn’t have a signature style. His style is a conduit.
“I see my job is to translate the chef’s point of view into something you can feel,” he says.
For this shot, Fleurette chef Travis Swikard had one directive: cuisine du soleil (“cuisine of the sun”). With a spread of leeks vinaigrette, herb-roasted golden chicken, and beets, Wolfinger wanted to create a scene that felt straight out of the French Riviera, relaying the light, bright style of Swikard’s new spot.
Some bonus additions here: Extra lights—to add lots of warmth—and a clipping from an olive tree.
Photo Credit: Dee Sandoval
Dee Sandoval
Espresso Ice Cream at Lucien
Timing and light are everything in food photography. In Lucien—La Jolla’s tasting-menu-only restaurant with moody ambiance—a single strobe flash creates the ideal spotlight.
Dee Sandoval says she uses the “natural, just-plated energy” of the dish to “create a portrait of moment and craft.” That’s why this Mostra Ghost Bear espresso ice cream—with San José dark chocolate mousse, soy-miso caramel, and koji shoyu chocolate sauce—looks like it might dissolve halfway to your mouth.
Emma Veidt is an editor at San Diego Magazine. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Missouri School of Journalism. She loves running, hiking, and rock climbing, but really, she mostly loves encounters with the street cats around North Park.
I peel myself off my couch, crack my back, and force myself to the bar (23 years old, by the way). It’s a Friday night, and my smart watch is already informing me my body battery is critically low.
Nevertheless, party we must.
Because, to be fair, one of the best things about going out—dive bar, velvet-clad cocktail lounge, or anywhere in between—is the performance of it all. Watching a bartender shake and stir like it’s choreography, finishing the drink with a sprig or petal placed just so, feeling like your collection of mixers and spirits is worth pouring into the Holy Grail.
One of the worst things about going out, though? Being out.
So I thank God for the home bar.
No lines, no cover, no shouting your order over someone named Kyle who just discovered the AMF. No $19 cocktails that taste suspiciously like juice. Just me, my apartment (where I can play whatever music I want), and the quiet confidence of knowing I can make something decent without putting on real pants.
A home bar, I’ve learned, doesn’t have to be impressive. It just has to be intentional—a few bottles you actually like, some tried-and-true tools, and at least one drink you can make without Googling. That’s it. That’s the barrier to entry.
To create the ultimate home bar collection, we tapped the folks at San Diego cocktail supply shop Collins & Coupe to give us some of their recommendations. Pick and choose what you need, and start cocktailing.
Courtesy of Collins & Coupe
The Must-Haves
Shaker Tin
You won’t get very far in your cocktail-making-journey without shaker tins. Boston shakers (two pieces, tin-on-tin) and cobbler shakers (three pieces with a strainer and cap) are the most classic styles, but if you want to avoid the tins getting stuck (or creating a mess on the floor), Boston shakers are the way to go.
“Koriko Tins by Cocktail Kingdom are the gold standard for every bar worth their salt. Every new bar we help outfit with tools insists on this brand and model,” says Collins & Coupe co-owner Gary McIntire.
“These are handmade, 100 percent solid copper and will last a lifetime,” McIntire says. “Because they are solid, there is no plated finish to wear off, and they will only look more beautiful with age.”
Bar Spoon
According to the pros, don’t even bother getting bar spoons shorter than 12 inches. One foot long is the magic length to get the best stirring results: “Rule of thumb is at least 50 percent of the spoon should be out of the glass,” says McIntire.
Pulp in your orange juice? We’ll allow it. But in your cocktail? Smooth and strained is optimal. You have two choices here: Hawthorne strainers have a spring that attaches snugly to shaking tins; julep strainers have no tabs or springs (originally created to drink mint juleps before straws became commercially available).
We’ve all seen those seasoned bartenders with the arm tats and haughty demeanors who can assemble perfect drinks with their eyes shut. The rest of us, however, need training wheels. Jiggers—those hourglass-shaped measuring tools—make consistent cocktail-making easy, although cheap versions tend to be inaccurate. Don’t skimp out on these.
“Heavy-duty and made of one piece,” McIntire says. “We use [this jigger] in our classes and at home. It comes in a bell-shaped version and a Japanese version, which is tall and narrow.”
“Glassware is always essential to the cocktail experience,” says McIntire. The martini glass is an avatar for American hair-loosening for a reason: sleek, viciously “V,” and highly spillable (danger always looks good). To start, look for a coupe glass (the fancy cat bowl-looking thing), a highball (glassware with posture), and a rocks glass (the blue collar hero).
You know how Caesar dressing tastes way better when you don’t think about the fact that there are anchovies in it? The same goes for cocktails and raw egg whites. Some of your favorites rely on the frothy ingredient to shine (whiskey sours, gin fizzes, etc.). Mesh strainers help make that magic happen. According to McIntire, always get the conical version; the round, bowl style could cause spills.
Lili Kim is a content coordinator and writer for San Diego Magazine, with experience highlighting local businesses and communities. When not writing or shooting film, she is likely brewing her seventh cup of tea of the day or strolling along Sunset Cliffs.
San Diego’s coffee industry has yet to hit its ceiling. There are at least 850 coffee shops across the county (possibly over 1,000 at this point) and more specialty cafes and roasters seem to join the roster every other week.
Some newcomers, like Chance’s Coffee, focus on specialties like Vietnamese coffee; other stalwarts, like Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, have helped put the local coffee scene on the map with internationally acclaimed beans and baristas for 20 years. You can get a classic pour-over or an ultra, whipped cream–topped strawberry lavender basil blueberry matcha latte sprinkled with unicorn glitter—whatever your coffee style, San Diego’s got it… somewhere.
Steady State Roasting falls more in the former category, focusing on traceable, sustainable sourcing and no-nonsense roasting (no unicorn glitter here, sorry!). Founder and lead roaster Elliot Reinecke first started Steady State in a garage behind his house, roasting small batches until expanding slightly to a shared and not-quite-permitted space before landing in a lucky spot on State Street in Carlsbad.
Now, eight years later, Steady State is scaling up once more, opening its second cafe in San Marcos next to their roastery. The new location offers the same food and drink menu as the original Carlsbad location, and Reinecke says he plans to add an onsite bakery to bake items like English muffins and country loaves to supplement Prager Brothers’ more specialized pastries.
He doesn’t plan on opening more cafes, though. Rather, Reinecke plans to expand roasting operations and strategic sourcing. Currently, he sources beans from Colombia, Panama, across Africa, and as of this year, Costa Rica. “We’ve had Costa Rican coffee before, but we went to origin a few months ago and bought six different lots from there, all from really good high-end local farmers,” he explains.
The rising cost of sourcing does present some challenges, as does changes within coffee culture itself. Coffee has moved from a mass-market beverage to a highly personalized artisanal experience, but the current feeling is moving back towards focusing on quality over flashiness, says Reinecke.
If Reinecke’s prediction is right, coffee is headed on a similar trajectory to craft beer. Ten years ago, no one knew what Citra hops were. Now, even casual beer fans are versed in hop varieties, and that attention to detail is spilling over to coffee as well. How many of San Diego’s 1,000 coffee shops will remain once the unicorn glitter’s luster fades? My bet is on anyone remaining steadfast to sourcing, sustainability, and simplicity.
Steady State San Marcos is now open at 1320 Grand Avenue, Suite #9, San Marcos. Initial operating hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sake lovers would do well to keep September 27 open. The 10-year anniversary of the San Diego Sake Festival is coming to Julep Venue in Mission Hills with over 150 different sakes and shochus from across Japan, plus VIP tickets get special access to unlimited tastings from Michelin-starred Soichi Sushi. VIP opens at 2:30 p.m. and general admission is 3:30 p.m., but early bird tickets are limited to the first 40 people. I mean c’mon, sushi and sake? If you’re even remotely interested in learning more about sake (or already know you’re a fan), this is the event of the year.
The uber-luxe spa The Golden Door in Escondido has been rejuvenating guests for over six decades, even winning Best Bathhouse Remodel in our Best of San Diego 2023 for its multi-million dollar overhaul. Now, you can try making the property’s signature nourishing cuisine at home with Chef Greg Frey, Jr.’s debut cookbook The Golden Door Table. There are over 100 recipes ranging from potassium broth to miso black cod, plus desserts, breakfast items, and a ton more to inspire your own wellness journey. The book hits shelves on September 15, but preorders are available now.
Love her or hate her, Gwyneth Paltrow has undeniably created a wellness dynasty with Goop, her blog-turned-brand with locations across California. Soon, San Diego will get its own shot of Paltrow-power when the first Goop store opens in One Paseo later this year, followed by an on-campus location at UCSD’s Triton Center. Charge your crystals and send out good energy to the construction and permitting entities…
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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.
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.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
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.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
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.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
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.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
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.
Carlsbad’s Newest Restaurant Is All About One Perfect Dish
The team behind Harumama and Blue Ocean will open Little Kiki Katsu & More on June 15, serving premium cutlets, Japanese sandos, and curated sake pairings
Every culture has its own comfort foods—cozy dishes that nurture the soul as much as the body. In the US, dipping a grilled cheese sandwich in a bowl of tomato soup can feel as satiating as pulling a warm sweater out of the dryer. In China, a steaming bowl of congee is basically a miracle remedy for anything you can imagine. I’m pretty sure Italian carbonara could achieve world peace. And in Japan, katsu remains one of the most universally satisfying inventions of the past century.
Katsu was originally invented as a riff on côtelette de veau, the classic French veal cutlet coated with breadcrumbs and pan-fried in butter. In 1899, a Western-style restaurant called Rengatei in Tokyo decided to put their own spin on the dish by pounding the cutlets until thin, then coating them with softer panko and deep-frying versus pan frying (like tempura) for a crispier, lighter, crunchier bite. Today, pork—called tonkatsu in Japanese—tends to be the most common base for katsu.
The dish has yet to achieve the same mainstream status as say, chicken nuggets, in the US. But Little Kiki Katsu & More hopes to change that, when the katsu-focused restaurant opens in Carlsbad on June 15.
Created by the team behind Harumama and Blue Ocean, Little Kiki will focus on premium katsu dishes paired with sake and around a dozen small bites like miso soup, karaage, edamame, and Japanese pickles. Executive chef James Pyo, who co-owns all three restaurants with his wife Jenny, created a menu that features proteins like Berkshire Kurobuta pork, Jidori chicken, salmon, scallops, and dry-aged Pacific cod for the katsu and grilled stone selections. (Note: the grilled stone options will be offered for dinner only.)
Photo Credit: Arlene Ibarra
The lunch menu includes Japanese-style sandos like a tonkatsu sandwich with pork, housemade bread, and tonkatsu sauce (available regular or spicy). Dessert options are simple to start—yuzu cheesecake, matcha crème brûlée, and mango/yuzu mochi ice cream. The Pyos curated a selection of premium sakes as well, specifically for pairing purposes, as well as offering some beer and cocktails.
Little Kiki, which is named for Jenny’s cat, seats 25-30 guests inside with room for only a few more on the small outdoor patio as well. Designer and assistant Yoojin Jang says the vibe is meant to be warm and welcoming but modern, using colors like olive green, cream, and pops of orange against Japanese-style wood slats.
Initially, Little Kiki will only be open for dinner service, but aims to introduce lunch hours for the grand opening on July 1. Due to the limited seating, Jang encourages guests to make reservations, and while the restaurant will offer takeout, it will not be available on food delivery apps like Uber Eats or DoorDash to motivate guests to come experience it for themselves.
“Come in curious and leave satisfied,” says Jang. And keep your eyes open for subtle cat motifs—she promises they are hidden all over the place. Whimsy, it seems, is also on the menu.
Little KiKi Katsu & More soft opens on June 15, 2026 at 2958 Madison Street, Suite 101 in Carlsbad. Hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for dinner; Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner; closed Tuesday.
Courtesy of San Diego Restaurant Week
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Beth’s Bites
The Cygnet Theater in Liberty Station roared back to life last summer and hasn’t slowed down since. Their current show, The SpongeBob Musical, runs through July 12, and anyone who wants to enjoy a meal from a Michelin-recognized restaurant before the curtain drops need only pop next door to Solare Ristorante. The local Italian favorite just nabbed multiple accolades in this year’s Best Restaurants issue (Reader’s Pick for Top Five Restaurants, Critic’s Pick for Best Gluten-Free Menu, and runner-up for Best Wine List in San Diego) and is offering a prix-fixe menu for the show for $59 per person. With choices like “Bikini Bottom Bruschetta” and “Squidward’s Shell City Risotto,” parents and kids can both enjoy a cheeky evening out.
It’s the most wonderful time to eat—or at least, it’s coming soon. San Diego Restaurant Week returns September 13 through 20 to celebrate everything delicious the area has to offer for eight gloriously gluttonous days. Over 120 restaurants in every corner of the county will have pre-set menus to showcase their crème de la crème dishes, so at three meals a day, that’s at least 24 meals you can check off your list. But if you decide to go for triple-digits, I certainly won’t judge you.
Following Vanguard Culture’s 10-year anniversary dinner series, artist Ben Guerrette will once more take over The Chapel at Liberty Station for Ritual:SOLSTICE, an immersive dining experience to celebrate the summer solstice. On June 20, he’ll light up the chapel with his signature illumination experience, with Riva providing the smooth sounds of jazz, Beth Guerrette and company showcasing their choreography and dance, and Snake Oil Cocktail Company on hand for specialty cocktails. What better way to commemorate the sun’s slow retreat than with an explosion of creative energy to carry you through the next seasons?
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.
Westfield UTC mall is adding yet another “first” to the ever-growing roster of restaurants. The first US location for China’s stir-fry sensation Chef Fei is on the way later this year, Japan already reinvented crispy rice pioneer Katsuya by opening the first Katsuya Ko, and now, it’s Spain’s turn—Telefèric Barcelona opens early this summer.
The family-owned, Barcelona-based tapas joint first opened in the US 10 years ago in Walnut Creek, California, but co-founder and CEO Xavi Padrosa says they’ve had their eye on San Diego for years. Westfield UTC “just clicked,” he says, pointing to the burgeoning collection of world-class eateries already within the mall’s walls. Plus, La Jolla’s breezy vibe echoes Spain’s easygoing tapas culture.
The indoor/outdoor space spans 5,526-square-feet, with seating for 150 inside, 60 on the patio, and 16 more at the bar. Xavi’s sister and co-owner Maria Padrosa designed the Mediterranean-inspired space as a contemporary take on coastal Catalonia, using imported furniture and materials from Spain like hand-glazed tiles and wood accents. And if all the dining spaces are planets, the center of the suite’s universe is the bar.
Courtesy of Telefèric Barcelona
Padrosa points to signature favorites like patatas bravas (fried potatoes drizzled with a spicy red sauce and house aioli), jamón ibérico de bellota (Spanish ham from free-range pigs raised on acorns, cured for 38 months and sliced to order), gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), pulpo Telefèric (octopus with potato purée and pimentón XO, a spicy Spanish/Cantonese fusion sauce), and croquetas (a popular fried tapas dish coated in breadcrumbs and made with béchamel mixed with fillings like jamón or king crab.
There are a very small handful of legit paella spots in San Diego (Costa Brava in Pacific Beach and Cafe Sevilla in Gaslamp Quarter come to mind), so I’m personally looking forward to giving Telefèric’s a go—especially the squid ink paella negra, which is perhaps the most goth paella of all. Every location also offers different weekend specials, La Jolla’s being seafood-driven and meant to pair with beverage director Alex Serena’s drinks. There are over a hundred Spanish wines, Spanish-inspired cocktails, sangria, and of course, plenty of twists on the iconic gin and tonic. The restaurant will also have a gourmet market called The Merkat with imported Spanish sundries.
Courtesy of Telefèric Barcelona
With more US locations in the works (Newport Beach will open soon after La Jolla), Padrosa says the company hopes to open more across California, but are open to anywhere in the country that feels right. “We don’t know exactly what new cities will appear on our map in the coming years,” he says. But in true Catalan fashion, anywhere they go should be ready for big plates of hearty Spanish cuisine.
Telefèric Barcelona La Jolla opens early summer 2026 in Westfield UTC. Opening hours will be Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Most of the time, you have to be 18 years old to change your name. In Arcana’s case, it was about a month. The immersive speakeasy behind Archive in Encinitas updated their moniker to Animga (a play on “enigma”) earlier this month, after what one can only assume was an upset letter from a similarly-named business. However, partner Paula Vrakas promises that the concept remains the same—mystery, cocktails, and a forthcoming bottle locker membership club. Since the only constant is change, Anigma is off to a good start!
Courtesy of Good Honey
Beth’s Bites
It’s not a salad bar—Mary’s Gourmet Salads is a salad experience. And soon, Bankers Hill will get a taste of the green when the local eatery opens its third location at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Upas Street in the Park Summit building. Yes, that’s the same building as Cowboy Star’s new venture She Rode West, so it sounds like veggie lovers and carnivores alike will be covered.
Speaking of expansion plans, La Corriente is likewise on a roll. The Mexican seafood concept opened its first location in the US in La Jolla in 2024, followed by Coronado in 2025, and announced plans to open a third branch in Oceanside in the Freeman Collective. With neighbors like Tanner’s Prime Burgers and Little Fox ice cream, the culinary collective is only getting more ridiculously tasty.
One delicious event that will occur before both of the aforementioned openings is a honey + cheese + focaccia tasting at Pastaria Vivi on July 17. With the help of Good Honey (which took top honors as the highest-rated honey in the U.S. at the International London Honey Awards) and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company (easily one of the best artisanal cheesemakers in California), the Encinitas-based pasta shop and market will host a free pairing event from noon to 3 p.m. And if you’re an aspiring apiologist, don’t miss Good Honey’s on-site observation hive to watch these busy bees in action.
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.
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
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