John Lennon believed all you need is love, but one restaurant team wants to provide guests with love and magic. This June, Shawn Seaman, Mike Mayaudon, and Ryan Mencik will open Amor y Magia (“love and magic”) next to Little Victory Wine Bar in Carlsbad.
The group has been working on the concept for two years, building a Latin American–inspired menu that takes cues from Mencik’s Filipino and Mayaudon’s Venezuelan heritages, as well as San Diego’s proximity to Mexico.
Spain colonized the Philippines from 1565 to 1898 and Mexico from 1521 to 1821, leaving a deep influence throughout both countries’ cuisines. “I want to balance tradition with creativity by honoring the roots of Latin America and Latin cuisine, but also pushing the boundaries with experimentation,” says Mencik, Amor y Magia’s executive chef.
The group’s past projects, Same Same in Carlsbad and Good Enough Cocktail Club in Little Italy, give a taste of that boundary-pushing ideology. (One is a proudly irreverent technicolor Thai-fusion extravaganza, while the other is a listening bar cosplaying as a tattoo studio and pleasantly affordable cocktail lounge. Both are worth a visit.)
Amor Y Magia’s menu will include a rotating raw bar with fish crudo and ceviche caught by local fishermen, as well as a few salads and sides like elote, pao de queijo (small Brazilian cheese rolls made with Oaxacan cheese, garlic aioli, and chives), and tajadas (fried plantains with nata, a sweet dairy cream, and queso llanero, or “cowboy cheese.)”
Since most Latin American cultures prize the ritual of gathering together as much as the food itself, Mencik says the menu will lean on shareable plates—around seven or eight starters and entrees, a few of which come directly from his and Mayaudon’s childhoods.
“The dish that I’m most excited about is a dish that I grew up eating when I was a kid—and you don’t really find it anywhere around here. It’s called a cachapa,” says managing partner Mayaudon. “A cachapa is like a corn savory pancake, usually topped with queso de mano.” Queso de mano is a soft, fresh cheese from Venezuela with a mild flavor similar to mozzarella.
Over the past two decades or so, people have begun folding the cheese in the middle, but he prefers it the more traditional style—the pancake served flat, with butter and cheese on top. “We’re still working out whether or not we want to add the pork to it, but for me, that’s a great core item.”
Mencik points to the grilled half chicken dish as one of his highlights, served with pickled mango, jalapeño, bell pepper, lime, Merkén (a traditional Chilean spice blend with salt, toasted coriander, and smoked cacho de cabra chili peppers) and humita (an Argentinian corn purée). Despite Merkén’s popularity in Chile, the team hasn’t been able to source the chili peppers in the US. So, they’re currently growing their own—around a 100-day process, he estimates.
Amor Y Magia’s beverage program falls under a similar fusion theme, with plays on traditional cocktails like Jaguar’s Milk, which riffs off a Brazilian Batida de Coco, or house-made Peruvian chicha morada, with purple corn, fruit, spices, and Oaxacan whiskey. Seaman, who will be the general manager as well as a managing partner with Mayaudon, adds they also plan to have a global wine list that extends beyond Spanish and Latin American wines, with selections from California, France, and beyond.
Most of the tables in the gothic, Spanish Revival-inspired restaurant are on the covered patio, which seats 60 guests. Inside, there’s a 12-person bar and four-person chef’s counter. Amor y Magia will feel different from their other projects—intentionally, Seaman says. “Our goal is to open a bunch of different places with different vibes and different settings,” he says. With some luck, and maybe some magic, this is just the start for the team.
Amor Y Magia opens at 505 Oak Avenue, Suite C in mid-June 2026. Initial operating hours will be Monday through Saturday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. (subject to change).
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