TASTE IT: Regents Pizzeria

Where to Eat in San Diego: New Restaurant Openings

White-Hot Tanner’s Burgers Readying First San Diego Location

Tanner’s Burgers is going to be very, very big. Possibly Crack Shack big. And they’re about to open their first brick and mortar in San Diego—in South Oceanside at the Freeman Collective. Chef/partner Brandon Rogers worked at French Laundry, then was chef de cuisine at Benu when it earned its three-star Michelin. But he cut his teeth in San Diego, and came back to partner with family-run good-meat company Brandt Beef for this project.

The burger was the runaway hit of last year’s Del Mar Wine + Food Festival, winning the culinary competition. The debut spot is set to open March-ish. Listen to the podcast where Rogers and Brandt co-owner Eric Brandt explain the whole project to food critic Troy Johnson.  

Hotel Indigo in Gaslamp Getting a Redesigned Rooftop Restaurant 

Hotel Indigo San Diego – Gaslamp Quarter’s Borrego Kitchen and Cocktails Rooftop Restaurant is in the middle of a revamp and is expected to open in May, just before the summer rooftop season kicks off. The ninth floor rooftop restaurant will focus on American Southwest flavors like yucca, prickly pear, and candied desert flowers. As for the cocktails and mocktails on the menu, the bar will carry the same desert theme and blend ingredients like aloe, sage, cacti, and even frybread. 

Next Big UTC Thing: Live-Fire Restaurant with Patagonia & Mediterranean Bend

The Amalfi Llama is debuting its first San Diego location at The Collection at UTC (second location after Miami) in March and adds to the live-fire scene (using wood instead of gas, a la Fort Oak, Sandpiper, Herb & Wood, etc.). Menu and ingredients are inspired by coastal cuisine from Patagonia to the Mediterranean. The large 7,000-square-foot space, with an outdoor patio, will let guests see their food cooked in real-time as the chefs use a live-fire grill and a wood-burning oven.

Choose your meat to cook over the wood fire, like a Wagyu tomahawk or a Patagonian roasted chicken. Or, try one of their wood-fired pizzas like the Positano using soppressata, finocchiona and hot honey. They’ll also have some woodsy cocktails (along with lighter options)—like  Woodland Place using a Buffalo Trace palo santo-infused bourbon, amaro nonino, cacao, bitters and smoke. 

Where to Eat in San Diego: Restaurant News & Food Events

Cardiff Farmer’s Market is celebrating its one year anniversary on Saturday, March 2 with a special birthday celebration between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The first 150 people will get a free sweet from Chaupain Bakery and each purchase you make will give you a chance to win $100 in “Market Bucks” to use at the farmer’s market. 

Rise and Shine Hospitality Group’s (Breakfast Company, Breakfast Republic) handle added a coffee roaster to their roster—Ox Coffee opened in Mission Valley. The idea behind the name is the coffee’s as strong as an ox.

After 15 years of top-shelf Manhattans, tuxedo service and gratis Philly cheesesteaks at happy hour (one of the best happier hour deals in the country), Donovan’s Steakhouse is leaving its spot across from the Westfield UTC mall.

“Donovan’s did not come to terms with the Irvine Company, our landlord,” says spokesperson Alberto Mancero. “For this reason, we will be moving the store to another location. We cannot provide further details about the new location at the moment. We expect the move to happen early in 2015.”

People close to Donovan’s speculate that the San Diego-based concept will relocate into the Prospect area of La Jolla.

The UTC location couldn’t have been easy in the last few years. It wasn’t long ago that mall food was so mediocre and overpriced that top-quality restaurants like Donovan’s could do well setting up shop nearby. But then online retail started draining customers away from brick-and-mortar retail. To counteract that, malls like Fashion Valley, Del Mar Highlands, Flower Hill Promenade and UTC joined the national trend of upgrading their food programs to attract customers.

Over the last few years, UTC has added multiple anchor restaurants like Tender Greens, Seasons 52, Eureka! and Veggie Grill. As malls continue to pull the dining action back to the food court, adjacent restaurants like Donovan’s (and nearby PF Chang’s) will no doubt feel the pinch.

Steak houses, especially, are having a hell of a time. First the economy leapt out the window, grabbing steakhouses on its way out. Then Americans continued to eat less meat. Couple those two with the fact that beef prices are on a vertical climb, and it’s no breeze to sell slabs of elite protein.

Donovan’s still has their locations in Downtown San Diego and Phoenix.

“We thank Donovan’s for their time at The Plaza and wish them continued success in a new location and at their downtown restaurant,” says Michael Lyster, VP of Communications at Irvine Company. “We are working to bring in a fresh, new restaurant that we think will create a buzz with office customers and the community and look forward to sharing details as they come available.”

After 15 years of top-shelf Manhattans, tuxedo service and gratis Philly cheesesteaks at happy hour (one of the best happier hour deals in the country), Donovan’s Steakhouse is leaving its spot across from the Westfield UTC mall.

“Donovan’s did not come to terms with the Irvine Company, our landlord,” says spokesperson Alberto Mancero. “For this reason, we will be moving the store to another location. We cannot provide further details about the new location at the moment. We expect the move to happen early in 2015.”

People close to Donovan’s speculate that the San Diego-based concept will relocate into the Prospect area of La Jolla.

The UTC location couldn’t have been easy in the last few years. It wasn’t long ago that mall food was so mediocre and overpriced that top-quality restaurants like Donovan’s could do well setting up shop nearby. But then online retail started draining customers away from brick-and-mortar retail. To counteract that, malls like Fashion Valley, Del Mar Highlands, Flower Hill Promenade and UTC joined the national trend of upgrading their food programs to attract customers.

Over the last few years, UTC has added multiple anchor restaurants like Tender Greens, Seasons 52, Eureka! and Veggie Grill. As malls continue to pull the dining action back to the food court, adjacent restaurants like Donovan’s (and nearby PF Chang’s) will no doubt feel the pinch.

Steak houses, especially, are having a hell of a time. First the economy leapt out the window, grabbing steakhouses on its way out. Then Americans continued to eat less meat. Couple those two with the fact that beef prices are on a vertical climb, and it’s no breeze to sell slabs of elite protein.

Donovan’s still has their locations in Downtown San Diego and Phoenix.

“We thank Donovan’s for their time at The Plaza and wish them continued success in a new location and at their downtown restaurant,” says Michael Lyster, VP of Communications at Irvine Company. “We are working to bring in a fresh, new restaurant that we think will create a buzz with office customers and the community and look forward to sharing details as they come available.”

Midway through my phone conversation with Shannon English, owner of The Delicate Squash, I hear an alarm shrilling in her background. 

“Sorry, I’ve got to pull some cookies out of the oven right now!” she apologizes. After a few beats, she picks the phone back up and laughs. “I feel like I’m bouncing around all over the place.”

After hearing her run through a list of her professions and current hobbies, I’d have to agree. English runs The Delicate Squash, a gluten- and dairy-free bakery; teaches cooking demos; pops up at farmers markets; wrote a book of poetry (Deep Water came out this month from Beyond the Veil Press); hosts a monthly open mic night; dipped her toe into ballet; recently joined a running club; volunteers at local farms; and finally, teaches at a play-based, nature-based preschool.

I’m tired just talking to her. 

Surprising no one, English seems to have unlimited energy and enthusiasm for all this work, notably in education. Early childhood education is one of the most pivotal times for nurturing lifelong learning, but she also aims to educate the public on how to eat cleaner, feel better, and support your local food systems. She started The Delicate Squash in late 2023 after discovering she has a chronic illness, going through the typical standards of care and even strict elimination diets, to no avail. 

“I’m not going to say I found a diet that has ‘cured’ me, but I have found that taking a more mindful approach to a lot of things, including diet, has made symptoms far more manageable for me,” she says. 

Even people with dietary restrictions deserve a little treat from time to time, but she had a hard time finding anything that tasted good and made her feel good. Thus, The Delicate Squash was born.

All of her baked goods avoid gluten and dairy, and use natural sweeteners like coconut sugar or maple syrup as well as herbs, fruits, foraged flowers, and other natural flavorings. Her signature cookie, the “Delicate” cookie, is a sea salt dark chocolate cookie that’s soft, a little salty, a little sweet, and made with oatmeal to keep it gluten-free. Other crowd favorites are thumbprint jam cookies with jams made from scratch with change seasonally; breakfast pastries like orange, dark chocolate and cardamom scones; brownies; orange and black sesame banana bread; seasonal pies; and custom and seasonal cakes (currently, the late summer flavor is a dark chocolate coconut milk ganache with berry jam).

English says some people are surprised she can produce such a variety of goods with the dietary restrictions she adheres to. “A lot of feedback I get is ‘I could never do that,’” she says. But if she can do it, she assures me that anyone can. “I like to say ‘practice makes progress, not perfection.’” 

Her advice? Focus more on being present than presentation, and don’t be afraid to experiment to keep things interesting. And if that doesn’t work, you can always hit her open mic night to ask for tips.

Customers can order from The Delicate Squash’s online store, check her upcoming schedule of pop-ups, or find her goods at various independent retailers around San Diego.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @plotarmor.bar

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Vinyl Listening Room Opening Inside Escondido’s Distinction Gallery

Escondido is getting in on the listening bar phenomenon. On September 5, musicians Mat Rakers, Kevin Capacia, and Billy Petty will open Plot Armor, a Japanese-style vinyl listening bar that Rakers says they aim to feel “curated and intelligent.” 

“Currently, there are not a lot of ‘cool’ spots in Escondido,” he says. Backed by The San Diego Music And Art Company and The Escondido Music And Art Company, Plot Armor will soon offer sake, wine, beer, and soju cocktails, plus Japanese non-alcoholic options and cold brew. Eventually, they’ll add Japanese-inspired snacks, but the focus will be creating a small place (very small—the seating capacity is 20) where vinyl junkies can come listen, linger, and libate. 

Beth’s Bites

• Ocean Beach has a new watering hole. The Jetty opened in July at 4934 Voltaire Street (where Voltaire Beach House used to be), and while I don’t think OBceans were hurting for where to get a drink, the more the merrier. 
• Chinese restaurant powerhouse Chef Fei is finally making it to the U.S., opening a spot at Westfield UTC mall on September 5. Known for Hunan-style stir fry dishes, it’s often lauded as one of the most consistently solid chains in the world—in fact, in 2018 chef Fei Lianghui took home the highest honor a Chinese chef can earn, the China Golden Chef Award. Again, I don’t think mallgoers were hurting for great places to slurp some noodles, but there’s always room in my heart for more stir fry.
• In past years, Fairmont Grand Del Mar didn’t exactly jump to mind when I looked for different Día de Muertos celebrations around San Diego. That changes this year, when the five-star resort will debut its first Día de Muertos celebration on November 1. Michelin-recognized chefs like Javier Plascencia (Erizo, Animalon), Roberto Alcocer (Valle), Drew Deckman (Deckman’s En El Mogor), and more will come from both sides of the border for one night only, with proceeds going to Fundación Tijuana Sin Hambre. Get ready for what will undoubtedly be San Diego’s most upscale take on the Mexican holiday.

---

Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene

Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].

Basque grandmothers have not been making it for centuries. If you’re a millennial, there’s a strong possibility you’re older than the dessert itself. Yet somehow in less than 40 years, the Basque cheesecake—a half-pudding, half-cake creation with a top that looks like a mistake—managed to ooze its way onto menus all over the world.

It became the undisputed dessert star of San Diego’s restaurant world this year. So we invited 19 of the top restaurants, pastry chefs, and bakers to bring their best to the San Diego Magazine office for a blind taste test to find the best in the city.

First, a little history and context.

In 1987, after failing to find a job as an electrician, Santiago Rivera started working as a bartender at his parents’ unassuming pintxo bar La Viña, in San Sebastián, Spain. He was a naturally curious, self-taught cook who spent his free time testing recipes, tinkering with ingredients, and tweaking techniques.

So when it came to the cheesecake—which hadn’t changed much since its invention (a rudimentary version was served at the first Olympics in Greece 4,000 years ago, and the modern New York version in 1872)—he got radical with it.

He removed the crust (partly just to speed up the process because time is money for a small business). Without the crumbly crust, the experience was far creamier, less granulated. Then he cranked the oven to 400 degrees, nearly 100 degrees hotter than the normal baking temperature.

The result? The top became deeply caramelized, almost burnt, while leaving the center luxuriously soft and loosely set. The restaurant became a legend because of this breakthrough in the dairy arts, and his father never let him stop making it after that.

Now, 67 years after the restaurant’s opening, La Viña stands out for the unceasing line spilling onto the street, and the remarkable amount of curd cultists standing nearby, hovering over cream-smeared plastic containers. It’s the kind of scene that makes you stop and think: What the hell are they eating?

Now, the blind tasting. To keep things fair, the contenders were divided into four categories: Restaurant Traditional, Restaurant Flavored, Bakery Traditional, and Bakery Flavored. (It’s a tad unfair to pit a baker who specializes in the one glorious thing against a restaurant that cooks dozens of things.) Each entry was served blind and judged on texture, flavor, and number of vaguely inappropriate food moans.

The logistics were chaotic, to say the least. Our fridge—not a walk-in, sadly—was packed to the brim. Each cake was sliced, secretly labeled, and shuffled onto plates while the team gathered in the conference room. The whole shebang was not in any way sponsored by Lactaid, despite our various attempts to convince them of this ripe marketing opportunity.

The judging became gloriously unhinged. We heard it all, from “I don’t care how the cheesecake gets in my mouth, it just needs to happen,” and “Is it supposed to be this jiggly?” to “Kind of a baby throw-up situation,” “Straight cheese,” and “I’m getting vague socks there.”

But four Basque cheesecakes stood out among the rest, earning themselves the title of Best Burnt Basque Cheesecake in San Diego.

Restaurant: Traditional

Mesa Agricola

A restaurant for the people. Rosarito native chef Juan González and Megan Strom are the ideal married couple to be running a farm-to-table joint. She’s been a farmer for decades, selling top-notch produce to some of the best restaurants in California—which is how the two met. A couple years ago, she started working at the small organic farm in Valley Center run by Mike Reeske, who had spent decades breeding the perfect heirloom beans for SoCal’s climate. He recently retired, and gifted those strains to Strom—who grows them (and other crops) for their tiny Escondido taco/burrito shop specializing in guisados (Mexican stews).

A Basque cheesecake in a taco shop? You bet. Juan’s got family roots in Spain and has cooked in Spanish kitchens.

Mesa Agricola’s winning Basque is by far the most “burnt” of all contenders—so much so that an Instagram follower declared it a mistake. But as Chef Juan notes, there’s an art to hitting the sweet spot where “the bitterness of the char balances the richness and sweetness without turning it into ‘chicharrón.’” Plus, char is a core charm of Baja cooking. It’s the perfect Basque for the people who prefer setting their campfire marshmallows fully on fire.

Restaurant: Flavored

Moe’s Steakhouse

With red leather booths and a retro steakhouse vibe, Moe’s in Mission Beach is a good cheat day destination. The menu is flavor maximalism—dry-aged steaks, housemade pastas, brown liquors, and sides like the lobster truffle mac ’n’ cheese. Pastry chef Eli Peralta (whom some might remember as the creator of The Patio on Lamont’s “Twisted Elvis”—a peanut butter-banana brûlée stunner) brings that same intensity to the dessert menu.

Baked at sister restaurant Molly’s (6 feet away), his Basque is served on a bed of caramel with walnut brittle and a dollop of whipped cream, an indulgent recipe that converted the pastry chef himself. “I wasn’t crazy about cheesecakes,” Eli admits. “Then I started making different flavors, and I started to like them.” He’s not the only convert: During our blind tasting, one judge likened the cake to crème brûlée, concluding, “I don’t even like crème brûlée, but I like this.”

Bakery: Traditional

Muse Cheesecakes & Bakery

Every creative pursuit starts with a muse—and Lada Sadovnyk’s has been the Basque cheesecake for years. In Ukraine, she baked them for friends and family gatherings, never imagining she would one day build an entire bakery around them in the US. “When we moved to San Diego,” she explains, “I kept thinking, ‘What can I do? What do I really love to do?’”

The answer is pretty fantastic.

After obsessing over proportion and techniques, chasing that molten center and deeply caramelized top, what began as an online recipe evolved into something entirely of her own.

She moved from her home kitchen to a rented commercial kitchen close to Sports Arena. The orders kept coming, and so did the pressure. “At one point, I was thinking about divorcing my husband,” she says with a laugh (while sitting next to him). The grind paid off: Today, Muse Cheesecakes bakes roughly 1,200 cheesecakes a month and is planning to open its first brick-and-mortar home in Pacific Beach.

For our competition, the expectations met reality. Muse has made a quick name in San Diego as the Basque to beat. In a blind taste test, there’s no bias, no reputational shine to sway a room. The response on reveal: “Oh, of course.”

Bakery: Flavored

Bite Cheesecakes & Bakery

Husband-and-wife duo Alex and Anastasia Kiperband pulled off the number of failures (and then some) that are required of any search for the best recipe. After adjusting baking temps, sugar rations, and experimenting with different brands of cream cheese and heavy cream—they finally landed on something worthy of a business license.

“When we started this business in America, we were really nervous,” Anastasia says, co-owner of Bite Cheesecakes & Bakery.

Once they won over those first customers, their confidence grew enough to start tinkering. When Dubai chocolate took social media by storm, they developed their own version, making the pistachio paste from scratch before layering the buttery kataifi pastry beneath a glossy chocolate shell to create its signature Dubai Chocolate Basque Cheesecake.

“In a lot of situations, we’re converting cheesecake haters to cheesecake lovers,” they say. “That’s probably the best feedback that we get.”