Wine & Dine at La Valencia
WHERE: Med Room, La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla
WHEN: Feb. 17, 6PM
La Valencia chef James Montejeno recently returned to San Diego after helping Michael Mina reopen his restaurant in San Francisco—and a new remodel of their classic Med Room. This installment of their Wine & Dine series will feature wineries from Artevino from the Basque region of Spain. All wines rated 90 points or higher. Plus a five-course dinner that’ll include clam ceviche trio, octopus with wild mushroom, seared scallop with calamari linquini and seafood carbonara, paella-stuffed squid over saffron rice and a Manchego cheesecake. Time to see the new digs and new man at La V.
COST: $120 per person
Dinner at Deckman’s
WHERE: Deckman’s en el Mogor, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja, Mexico
WHEN: Feb. 21, 6:30PM
A few months ago, we explored the Baja region with our cover story “The Baja Moment.” One of the chefs we featured was Drew Deckman, a Michelin-starred chef who cooks exclusively with wood under some oak trees at Mogor-Badan Winery in Valle de Guadalupe. His little camp of a restaurant was supposed to only be seasonal; but now they’ve built the “Winter Haybale Building” (literally out of hay, chicken wire, adobe and a tin roof) for year-round service. For this wine and beer-paired five-course dinner, he’ll be cooking with Rob Ruiz of Carlsbad’s Land & Water Co. with a focus on local Baja ingredients and sustainable seafood. Two other guest chefs will join, but have yet to be finalized. Everything we’ve eaten at Deckman’s has been phenomenal. Time to visit Baja’s wine region in the offseason.
COST: $100
Kitchen Collaborations
WHERE: Jsix, Hotel Solamar, Downtown
WHEN: March 2 and 9, 6PM
Chef Christian Graves is one a true talent over at Hotel Solamar’s signature restaurant Downtown. Every Monday in March he’ll host a series of collaborative four-course dinners with a few other top chefs. Within our time frame is March 2 with Antonio Friscia (Don Chido), who’ll be cooking pasta, and then March 9 with Jason Knibb (Nine-Ten) for “Obscure Seafoods.” You’d be hard-pressed to find a better meal anywhere in town those Mondays—especially at the price.
COST: $40
Deckman’s en el Mogor