THE BIG WIN

You’ve heard of sommeliers. They’re wine experts who’ve studied the grapes, varietals, winemaking methods, sugar levels, acid levels, chemical compounds—everything that makes a good wine and determines how well it will pair with your dinner. This isn’t a self-appointed title like “social media guru.” This is a very grueling, specific, years-long testing program overseen by the Court of Master Sommeliers, a British organization.

There are three tests and certifications that matter. First is Certified Sommelier (the entry-level title, but still no easy feat). Then Advanced Sommelier (hundreds if not thousands of study hours and practical experience). And the end-all, be-all is to become a Master Sommelier (you’ve dedicated your life to wine, and your firstborn will be named Assyrtiko).

Since the first exam in 1969, only 214 people in the world have been named a Master Sommelier. Stories abound about sommeliers giving up after their fourth or fifth try. “I’ve heard of people walking into the blind tasting, sniffing the glasses and saying, ‘I’ve got nothing—I’m out of here,’” says Joshua Orr, an Advanced Sommelier who oversees the wine program at San Diego’s Marina Kitchen.

Orr takes his test this week. Expectations are high, especially since he just won Top Somm, an annual competition that crowns the best up-and-coming sommelier in America. Top Somm gathers some of the brightest and best from across the US and sends them through a competition in which they’re heckled, flustered and harassed by Master Sommeliers. They’re tested on wine service, wine theory, and have to execute a blind tasting in which they sniff, sip and analyze six unnamed glasses of wine and try to nail the global region, the grapes, the approximate age, whether it’s oaked, who made it, etc.

The previous four winners were from The French Laundry, the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, Café Boulud and Hotel Fauchere. And now Orr.

“It’s a hardcore achievement,” says Domaine Select Wine Estate’s Ted Glennon, who was named one of the country’s top sommeliers by Food & Wine magazine in 2012. “It’s an intense, dizzying set of challenges—to compete is a total display of badassery.”

We asked Orr about the experience:

How’s it feel?

It’s a humungous honor. I always looked at the competitors and winners and said, “Oh, man—you’re the man.”

Tell me a feel-good story about civic San Diego pride.

Usually in these things it’s New York versus San Francisco versus Chicago. When I moved here five years ago, a mentor told me, “San Diego is where sommeliers go to die.” But we recently had a Master Sommelier down here and he was shocked at the talent level. Another San Diego guy—Brian Donegan, formerly of Market—is going with me next week to take the Master Sommelier exam.

Had you tried to enter the competition before?

Yeah. I’d never advanced beyond the initial round prior to last year, when I was allowed in as the “Top New Somm.” I’ve probably taken it two times maybe three prior to that.

What’s the competition like?

You start with the written exam online. It’s timed. They encourage you to Google and cheat because if you do, you’ll never finish on time.

What’s the blind tasting like?

You’re presented with six glasses of wine. In competition, they tend to be less obvious stuff. You gotta expect it. You just know they’re gonna screw with you. We had an Australian Riesling and they threw two sparkling wines at us. Then the questions come: How do you think it’s made? Is there lees contact? What style? What are the primary grapes? How old do you think it is? What’s the retail price of it? I got those right on the first one—a Pinot Noir-dominant Champagne from Bollinger.

There’s a “service” portion of the competition?

Yeah, you actually have to serve wine to these Master Sommeliers while getting harassed at the same time. It’s no-holds-barred, and it’s not meant to be fair. I got quizzed on Calvados and brandy. They were peppering me with the minimum alcohol, which apple types are used, name three small producers, what’s the alcohol level when it’s shipped, whether it’s batched still or continuous still, what’s the soil like…. And while all of this is going on, I have to walk around a table and serve wine.

Go back to the contest. You’ve just picked up a glass of white wine. What’s in your head?

Wine No. 1 was herbal and super mineral, but had a little elevated alcohol. It had a Sauvignon Blanc character, but it’s not super herbal so maybe it’s a riper style of white like Blanc de Blanc or Assyrtico. There’s a chive character to it. It doesn’t fit the Old World style. It ended up being a Sonoma Valley Sauvignon Blanc.

What part was the most nerve-wracking?

The second wine, because the nose was off. I’m at a blind tasting at Top Somm. Do I dare call the wine a little corky? I’m afraid they’re going to walk over to me and whisper, “Son, you’re going to need to politely bow out of the competition for suggesting we would ever serve a corked wine at Top Somm.” Well, I ended up saying that the nose was corked—and I got points for doing so.

How the hell do you break that down?

Certain grape varieties have certain markers. There are chemical compounds called pyrazines. It puts off a green bell pepper note that’s very prevalent in Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc and Merlot. If you can identify that in a glass of wine it makes the world of possible answers so much smaller. Rotundone is a chemical that smells like black pepper, so I’d think something like Syrah or Mourvédre. From there, it’s matching with structure. Sauv Blancs have high acid. Rieslings, too. Gewürztraminers have low acid and high alcohol. Sangiovese has a really distinctive orange color, but it’s also high acid and high tannin. You’re thinking, Is it ripe? Is it overripe? Dry? Jammy? All those things can point to climate, part of the world, Old World or New World.

I’m thirsty. Give me a recent “find” that you’re excited about at Marina Kitchen…

Samsara’s Turner Vineyard Syrah from Santa Rita Hills. It has that dark berry flavor but it’s not over the top. What I love is it’s got that peppery, smoky, olive, almost bacon character. But it’s not so heavy that it knocks you off your feet. I’m also huge on dry Rieslings. We do a great one called Wagner-Stemple that I just brought on by the glass.

The ultimate bottle on your list? For when I sell my startup.

The 91 Vega Sicilia Unico. That’s arguably the most heralded wine out of Spain—a Tempranillo. A crazy wine, made by a family so wealthy that they don’t have to worry about the bottom line. So they have 100-year-old vines and age it as long as they see fit. On our list it’s $525. Unfortunately, it does live up to the price. Damn you for being so expensive, and damn you for being so good.

Biggest part of your success as a sommelier?

Having access to a consistent, high-quality tasting group. Getting your MS is like a marathon—you need constant exposure and training.

So you and sommelier pals get together regularly and taste? Who pays for all the wine? I’m assuming it’s not Barefoot and Smoking Loon.

We pay for it ourselves. This isn’t cheap. It’s like getting a degree. Instead of spending it on books, you’re spending it on alcohol—which most college kids do anyway.

Anything else new?

I jumped on the Coravin bandwagon and I’m having fun with it. It looks like a little hand pump with a needle on it, and it lets you pull a glass of wine without uncorking the bottle. So I use it to feature four different wines—something old and something new. For instance I’m doing a Riesling from 1989 that you can taste for $8. I’ve got a 10 year-old Napa Valley Merlot. I’m going to start posting which wines I’m offering on the Twitter feed (@somm_morr).

How’d mom react to the Top Somm win?

She was on the east coast waiting up in a hotel room for me to call. I’ve done well but never great in competitions. So my dad joked, “Well, you picked a hell of a time to break through.”

Go have some wine with Joshua Orr at Marina Kitchen.

Not all monsters have to be scary. In fact, entrepreneur Pinyada “Ada” Primpray’s is delightful.  Sea Monster, a small cafe that will serve poke bowls, fresh spring rolls, and matcha, will open in Mission Valley by the end of the year. 

“The concept is a Hawaiian- and Japanese-style cafe,” Primpray  explains. She calls it Sea Monster in homage to her friend’s popular restaurant Big Monster Sushi & Thai in Hawaii, but “the idea really started to take shape after I came back from a solo trip to Italy,” she says. The experience inspired her to start her own concept that mixed her culture, experience, and passion for food.

Sea Monster will be her first restaurant as an owner, but Primpray has worked in restaurants for 15 years in places like Kauai, Chicago, New York, and San Diego. She realized a similar health-conscious, seafood-forward, quick-service restaurant could work here, especially in that corner of Mission Valley where pizza and burgers reign. Plus, she points to the massive development plans for the area—between Riverwalk bringing thousands of new homes to the area and even more coming from San Diego State University, there are lots of new locals looming on the horizon.

She brought on Head Chef Wasu Gibb Palipote from Sushisamba in Los Angeles to develop the menu and signature sauces, like ink wasabi and a larb sauce. “Every couple of months, we plan to introduce a new signature sauce created exclusively for Sea Monster by [Chef Palipote],” she says. All the sauces will be homemade, including a basil creamy sauce and sesame vinegar.

Sea Monster’s menu centers around fresh poke bowls—mostly locally-caught bluefin tuna and hamachi as well as salmon, served California-style rather than Hawaiian-style (the sauces are added to order rather than marinating on the fish, which can overpower its flavor). Toppings will range from the usual, like edamame and green onion, to upscale, like uni (sea urchin). She’ll also serve fresh salad rolls, a popular light snack in Vietnam and her native Thailand, with vegetables and seafood like salmon, shrimp, and imitation crab. Everything will be served to-go, although there will be very limited seating for people who want to dive in right away. 

The matcha program will start small, with six iterations planned for opening and potentially more in the future. “I really want to have mango sticky rice,” she adds. Beyond adding items to the menu, Primpray says she hopes Sea Monster will be more than a restaurant. “I want it to grow into a lifestyle brand with its own little world,” she says, pointing to the restaurant’s mascot, Smoo. A monster with aspirations of growing bigger and bigger until it takes over? Yeah, sounds about right. 

Sea Monster will open daily for lunch and dinner in late 2026 at 6110 Friars Road in Mission Valley.

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San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Oktoberfest season is closing in fast, and one of the first dirndl-laced events of the year kicks off at AleSmith Brewing Company this weekend. AleSchmidt Oktoberfest runs every Saturday from September 12 through 26, and the family-friendly event is chock-a-block with German food vendors, live oom-pah bands, stein holding, and a whole lot more. The free event starts at 11 a.m. each Saturday, and from personal experience, I recommend posting up on the early side to snag a seat.
• Japanese fine dining restaurant Shio soft opened in August, bringing elegant plates and sunset views to La Jolla. (The area was hardly hurting for either, but I think we could always use some more sushi in our lives.) Has anyone checked it out yet? Let me know what I should order by dropping me a line at [email protected].
• Restaurateur brothers Danny and Dante Romero have been on a tear the past few years, consulting at places like Una Mas and taking over The Lion’s Share last summer. It’s understandable to see they recently decided to pause their recurring pop-up concept Two Ducks to recalibrate and figure out its future in a permanent location, but it’s still a bit bittersweet. If it’s “see you later” and not “goodbye,” I can live with that (for now).

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“A sharp knife is a safe knife,” says Joshua “Jhun” de Andres, owner of Kuya Sharpens. It only takes a light touch to guide a properly-sharpened knife, while dull knives require much more force to cut through an object, increasing the likelihood and severity of an injury. “If you slip, that’s a lot of force that is now going into your finger, your hand, and that’s where it becomes extremely dangerous.” 

De Andres started sharpening knives as a meditative practice during a time of personal grief, a way to zone in on a task with a useful and satisfying outcome. “[It was a] reminder to myself that you can fix something that’s broken and give it purpose again.” Once he ran through his own collection of knives, he started asking friends and family if he could sharpen theirs. When he’d sharpened everyone’s knives he could think of, he started posting videos on TikTok, where his first professional chef customer found him: Chef Tanner Stanich, chef de cuisine at Michelin-recognized Bib Gourmand Mabel’s Gone Fishing.

“That’s when things really started to take off,” he laughs. He uses whetstones rather than motorized belt sanders to sharpen, which gives him the ability to make microadjustments during the process for a more customized and controlled result. Whetstones also preserve steel more efficiently than other mechanical processes, which are faster, but take off more of the knife’s edge in exchange, reducing the lifespan of the knife. 

Learning how to master whetstones takes a lot of time and practice, and while de Andres specializes in sharpening Japanese knives, he’ll sharpen a knife from anywhere. “Every knife deserves to be sharp,” he says. 

Japanese kitchen knives are designed for extremely specific purposes: there’s a knife to break down a fish (deba), cut through boneless raw fish for sushi and sashimi (yanagiba), slice vegetables (nakiri), carve meat (sujihiki), debone poultry (honesuki), and even knives only the executive chef can use (kiritsuke). Few other culinary cultures utilize such ultra-specialized tools, and Japanese steel is prized for its extreme hardness and ability to maintain a razor-thin edge for decades when properly cared for. 

De Andres is still figuring out different ways to expand his business: hosting workshops at Home Ec on Adams Avenue, creating knife restoration tutorials, and launching private lessons, all while continuing to sharpen knives people bring to him or even send from across the country. And he knows that for both home cooks and professional chefs, sharpening a knife that may have cost hundreds of dollars on a whetstone can feel overwhelming. Will I ruin it? Will I break it?

“You’re most likely not going to break it,” he promises. “But you are going to make it yours, and you have to kind of be okay with that.” Knives age and change just like humans do. Sharpening is an essential part of maintenance, and shaving away the dull edges to restore a shine takes care. And de Andres cares a lot.

“It’s just been really life-giving to me,” he says. “I know it seems really silly that taking a knife and putting it on a whetstone can change your perspective on how you view the world, but for me, it came to me at a time when I needed it most.”

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Mesa Agricola, a tiny taqueria in Escondido, made this year’s New York Times 50 best restaurants in the US list. If you’ve had the privilege of eating the guisado delicacies from chef Juan González and Megan Strom, you’ll understand why. Congrats on the recognition—and happy first birthday!
• Kids Free San Diego is about to kick off, and if you haven’t already taken a look at all the month-long deals on food, activities, and hotels, you have two more weeks to make a game plan. Between kids eating free at places like Crab Hut and the Waffle Spot, staycation deals at places like San Diego Mission Bay Resort, Belmont Park discounts, free fishing, whale watching, and more, I know that my dance card for the month is pretty much full. 
• Ranchito Milkyway, a farmstand in Bonita, also has plenty of events to pencil into your calendar, starting with an Indian cuisine-inspired farm-to-table dinner on September 19 with chef Kanta from Sattvik to an Italian cooking class on October 17 with chef Elisa from Balsamico Italian Kitchen. If you’re chock-full of things to do over the next few weeks, there’s always the option to snag one of their CSA boxes for an abundance of winter greens, vegetables, and herbs for home cooking.

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Tickets to the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival get you in the door. The real fun is figuring out who you’ll run into once you’re there. This year’s weeklong schedule of exclusive events, running September 30–October 4, includes dinners, tastings, and loosely-supervised chaos where celebrity chefs and local icons finally let their hair down.

The festival has a track record of the unexpected: Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul once toasted their mezcal brand Dos Hombres with an intimate dinner at the Lodge at Torrey Pines (and then, evidently unsatisfied, kept drinking it on the cliffs above Blacks Beach with a rotating cast of San Diego and Food Network chefs. Alex Morgan showed up for a dinner under the lights honoring the country’s most badass women chefs). Drew Brees ran a celebrity pickleball tournament where the guy from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia got absolutely humbled by locals.

If you scored a ticket to last year’s Grand Tasting, you might’ve caught Guy Fieri doing exactly what Guy Fieri does: strolling the grass, signing t-shirts and foreheads, and hanging off the DJ surf van like it was built for him. Meanwhile, local chef Ethan Yang of Glass Box walked off with the Chef Competition surfboard.

So whether your plan for 2026 is to corner legendary San Diego chefs like Victor Jimenez of Cowboy Star and Jon Sloan of Juniper & Ivy in person, or just aim for a spontaneous golf cart ride with a Food Network star—here’s your cheat sheet for where to run into a celebrity chef, TV personality, award-winning winemaker, or pro athlete at this year’s Del Mar Wine & Food Festival.

Troy Johnson, Karen Krasne

Signature San Diego Opening Night Party

September 30 | 6 – 9 p.m. | Monarch Ocean Pub 

Consider this your soft landing into festival week—the walk-around tasting that eases you in before things get chaotic later on. Monarch Ocean Pub hands its patio over to the flavors that define San Diego eating: Baja seafood done right, coastal bites, Mexican flavors with some heat behind them, all the staples locals will fight you over. 

The celebrity sightings here lean more “bump into” than “spot from across the room.” Troy Johnson—Food Network judge, San Diego Magazine chief content officer and co-owner, Emmy-winning host, a man who has eaten his way across the entire country professionally—is the type to materialize at whichever station has the longest line, because he already knows it’s worth the wait. Ask him what he’s had so far. He’ll have opinions.

Then there’s celebrity pastry chef Karen Krasne, owner and executive pastry chef of Extraordinary Desserts, James Beard House alum, and a woman Forbes once ranked among the top 10 pastry chefs in the country—which tracks, because you might find her holding court next to a tray of her roasted pecan shortbread dipped in white chocolate, explaining exactly why this is the flavor combination. You will listen to every word, too, because you’ll want to try that cookie.

This is an opening night party where the person next to you in line might just be the one who baked the thing you’re about to eat.

Bryn McArthur, Mawa McQueen

Chateau Montelena’s 50th Anniversary Celebration

October 1 | 6 – 9 p.m. | Fairmont Grand Del Mar

Fifty years ago, a Napa Chardonnay beat France at its own game and rewrote what the world thought it knew about wine. This dinner is that legacy, poured by the family who built it, course by course.

Under the arches at Fairmont Grand Del Mar, Ernie Hahn and the Hahn family, who partnered with the Barretts to revive Chateau Montelena into the Napa powerhouse it is today, host an evening built entirely around the winery’s most iconic pours. Every course gets its own pairing straight from the Montelena portfolio, so you’re not just hearing about the Judgment of Paris, you’re tasting the wine that started it.

Chef Mawa McQueen, a former James Beard Best of the West winner out of Aspen, brings globally inspired cuisine and serious technique to the table. Alongside her, Fairmont Grand Del Mar’s executive chef Bryn McArthur leans into farm-to-table sensibility shaped by a career of global kitchens. Together they’re building a menu meant to hold its own against wine that already changed history once.

This is the rare dinner where the wine isn’t just accompanying the meal, it’s the reason the meal exists. Fifty years after Paris, the rematch is happening right here in Del Mar.

Karen Krasne, Martin Munguia

Rioja Uncorked

October 1 | 6 – 9 p.m. | Rancho Valencia 

After 15 years married, my husband and I tend to agree on most things. But there’s one argument we both refuse to bend on—I prefer okonomiyaki Osaka-style, and he’s a die-hard Hiroshima-style devotee. (To be fair, we both adore both styles, but at this point, it’s just fun to have a low-stakes disagreement.)

Okonomiyaki is one of Japan’s greatest comfort foods, a savory pancake that’s about the size of a DVD, if you aren’t too young to know what that is. It’s not terribly hard to make—it’s flour, eggs, dashi stock or water, and a whole heap of shredded cabbage, plus optional fillings like green onions, pork belly, or bonito flakes, all cooked fresh on a flat top griddle. Drizzle some kewpie mayo and okonomiyaki sauce on top, and you’re hot to go. 

However, it’s not easy to make well, and as you now know, people have capital-O Opinions about Osaka-versus-Hiroshima. Hiroshima-style layers the ingredients one by one rather than mixing them together, adding a layer of soba or udon noodles and topping it all off with a fried egg. For Osaka-style,  all the ingredients are mixed together and then cooked on the griddle, so every bite includes every ingredient in a hodgepodge of deliciousness. (One Osaka variation called modan-yaki does include soba noodles mixed in the batter, but they’re not traditionally used in that regional version.) 

Despite a childhood spent in Osaka, Japan, Kumi Alexander specializes in making Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. “Okonomiyaki has been part of my life for as long as I can remember,” she explains. “My parents ran their own business when I was growing up, so Saturdays were often busy, and okonomiyaki was one of my mother’s go-to lunches because it was simple and easy to make.” 

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Alexander came to San Diego seven years ago with a desire to bring a part of her culture with her—not just a product, but a feeling. “When I thought about what could do that, the answer was almost obvious: okonomiyaki,” she says. 

She originally launched Surf’n Slaw as a mobile pop-up food stand in August 2025, offering what Alexander calls Japanese-meets-California okonomiyaki. “Our full Surf’n Slaw includes cabbage, noodles, umami dough, beef, shrimp, and vegetables,” she explains. The menu also has a “Green Wave Slaw,” an Osaka-style version that can be made vegan and gluten-free, as well as matcha drinks. 

Currently, Surf’n Slaw pops up at farmers markets in North Park, Scripps Ranch, Hillcrest, La Jolla, and La Mesa, as well as other local markets and community events. Eventually, she may expand to a permanent location, but that’s a future goal. And while Alexander hopes that one day okonomiyaki will be as well-known to American audiences as ramen or sushi, for now, she’s just happy to share a bit of home with San Diego. 

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San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Izola Bakery announced big plans for a second location and bakery HQ (checks notes) over three years ago and it’s kind of been crickets since then. But there may be movement in the expansion plan—the East Village bakery recently put out a hiring call for “the people we need to help us build what’s next.” Here’s hoping things get cooking (or baking, as the case may be) soon. 
• As a California-born, East Coast-raised foodie, I can confidently say the East Coast has the deli game on lock. So whenever anyone announces they’re bringing an East Coast-style sandwich to the West Coast, I remain cautiously optimistic until proven otherwise. (Big Jim’s in Pacific Beach is a phenomenal example of a transplant done exceptionally well.) Los Angeles-based Ggiata Delicatessen recently announced plans to open a location in Encinitas, promising authentic Italian staples like meatball parmesan subs, cheesesteaks, and Italian cold cuts. Don’t let me down, guys!
• Unfortunately, it’s not all openings and expansions. Nola on 5th in Hillcrest permanently ceased operations without warning or explanation. We can probably pick from one (or more) squares on Restaurant Closure Bingo for the reason (increased costs for ingredients, labor, equipment, etc.), but for the jambalaya enthusiast, it doesn’t really matter why. It’s simply adieu to a slice of The Big Easy in San Diego. 

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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].