JAZZ HANDS: Little Italy’s 13,000-square foot jazz supper club, vacant since early last year, sounds to have new owners. Originally, it looked like an L.A. group was set to invade, but multiple sources have told us that local Tim Aaron—who recently took over both Nicky Rottens locations—is heading the project now. Calls to Aaron haven’t been returned so we have zero direct confirmation. But we’re told they’re doing a big remodel and plan to open in June.
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LEUC: Leucadia’s little food renaissance is on. The last couple years has seen Fish 101, Solterra Winery + Kitchen and Regal Seagull move into one of the last funky beach communities in SD. The new project from Vigilucci’s group—Robby’s—is reportedly coming along beautifully, but slow. Now Leucadia is getting Bull Taco—the proudly “inauthentic Mexican” joint made famous because a couple surf punks served creative tacos (lobster chorizo, shrimp curry, even foie gras back when it was legal) out a window overlooking the beach. The new location is going into the former Jamroc (101 N. Coast Hwy 101). There’ve also been rumors that Bull Taco would take over Woody’s in Solana Beach (near CPK, formerly fine dining joint Blanca). But a BT rep says “no, not yet.”
SAN DIEGO MEANS BEER IN GERMAN: Craft beer bottle shops are the new wine bar. Bottlecraft in Little Italy and North Park has obviously done a great job. Now Solana Beach is getting one with San Diego BeerWorks—also going into the Beachwalk Retail Center in the former space of Cupcake Love.
NICE PLACE NEEDS CHEFS: Rancho Santa Fe’s top property Rancho Valencia has lost both exec chef Eric Bauer and sous chef James Noonan. We knew Noonan was leaving to be top toque for Urban Plates, but weren’t sure about Bauer’s new gig. Now Eater’s reporting Bauer has joined catering company H Events, which handles the annual Diner En Blanc. Look for Rancho Valencia to make a big new hire to helm its signature restaurant, Veladora. That $1M Damien Hirst art almost demands it.
TOTALLY UNCONFIRMED RUMORS: By no means are the following cemented nor confirmed, but… A source has told us that the long-shuttered On Broadway has a new owner. Our source also told us that the new club will be called YOLO—the internet acronym for You Only Live Once. Just kind of lets the soul leak out of ya, doesn’t it? Pray harder…. Oggi’s Pizza is reportedly working on opening a bunch of new locations around SD, concentrating the first efforts near SDSU… Pirch—the high-end kitchen showroom that hosts a slew of top-notch culinary events—is expected by expecters to open a few more spots around the city soon…. Three big renovations planned for iconic SD spots: The Catamaran Resort (Pacific Beach), The Horton Grand Hotel (Downtown) and Baleen (at Paradise Point in Mission Bay, home to talented chef Amy DiBiase)…. Keep your eye on the great and mighty Pannikin coffee shop in Del Mar’s Flower Hill Promenade. We have reason to believe there may be some big changes coming to that space as FHP continues its overhaul… We’re also hearing that PB Fish Shop has just signed on for a second location in Encinitas, and are planning a few more…
But Leucadia? It hasn’t topped the list—yet. Stella Bayphouthongkham hopes to change that with a new Lao-Thai restaurant called Coast Thai-Way, slated to open late summer at 698 N. Coast Highway 101.
“Life was going too good,” she laughs. “So I was like, ‘Why don’t we throw it all in again and start another restaurant?’”
Courtesy of Coast Thai-Way
Coast Thai-Way’s menu centers around the idea of remixing Bayphouthongkham’s mother’s recipes from Laos and making them approachable for the coastal community by using Southern California ingredients, like non-GMO, organic, seasonal produce whenever possible, and meats like pasture-raised chicken and grass-fed or grass-finished beef. Everything at Mekong and Coast Thai-Way is cooked in non-GMO avocado oil as well, she explains, and with the new restaurant being so close to the ocean, she plans to focus on more seafood-centric dishes for a different spin.
Lao people first came to San Diego en masse 50 years ago in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and Bayphouthongkham herself emigrated from Laos 36 years ago. “They call us ‘The 1.5 Generation,’ where we came when we’re really little, but this is all we know,” she says. Since then, she’s seen people outside the Lao community start to embrace the cuisine, but there is still plenty of opportunity to educate.
She’ll start off easy, by offering “familiar” dishes like pad thai and various curries. But Coast Thai-Way will also feature nam khao tod (crispy rice salad), khao soi (Northern Thai curry noodle soup), and a Thai beef noodle soup—probably without the traditional pork blood, she laughs. It’ll also offer matcha as a hat tip to the space’s former life as a cafe, plus local beer and natural wines to (hopefully) surprise some guests with how well the cuisine pairs with different beverages. And in low-key Leucadia, she thinks people will be pleasantly surprised.
“This food, it doesn’t have to be just quick takeout,” she promises. “People can come and enjoy it in a way that they never thought they could… I love the idea of people coming in and expecting one thing and getting another.”
Coast Thai-Way will open at 698 N. Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia by early summer 2026. Soft opening hours will be Wednesday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner (closed Tuesdays).
Courtesy of Taste of East Village
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Beth’s Bites
If there’s one thing that I will repeat ad nauseum in my food writing, it’s that San Diego has the most small farms than any other county in the country. I really don’t know if people appreciate how incredible that is! Whether you do or don’t, an opportunity to enjoy the bounty of our local farms is coming up on Thursday, April 30, during Graze at the Fields at the Carlsbad Flower Fields. Join the San Diego County Farm Bureau and a bonanza of local farmers, chefs, beverage makers, and other local agricultural organizations to eat, drink, and celebrate all things rooted in San Diego’s soil. The 21+ event is limited to 300 people, and looking at the vendor list, is basically a gathering of the top ag minds in the U.S.
For something a little more citified (but just as delicious), mark your calendars for May 13-14 for the 4th annual Taste of East Village. Between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. both evenings, over 25 restaurants around East Village will open their doors to meandering munchers aiming to taste all the apps, desserts, and other food and drink specials offered for the event. Yes, the neighborhood is highly walkable, but might I suggest a rideshare for making your way home?
North Park real estate (usually) doesn’t stay empty for long, and 3914 30th Street is no exception. The former home of Common Table, which recently vacated to take over the Coin-Op kitchen as 86’d, will soon be home to the second location of Pizza on Pearl, a La Jolla pizza joint that opened in 2009. I’m of the opinion that more pizza is always the right move, so we’ll see how they do when they open—and what North Park thinks.
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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.
Long as I can remember, Solana Beach has been better known for the mild waves at Fletcher Cove and a few blocks of high-end design shopping on Cedros Ave. But despite the glacial pace of change, the beachside enclave is gearing up to add lots of goodies to the local dining roster.
Over the past few years a few openings have brought attention (Rare Society, Rustic Root), with some more anticipated on the way (like Mia’s coming later this year). And, on June 20, some serious power will unveil Lana—in the marquee spot along Pacific Coast Highway that once housed the California Pizza Kitchen.
The Lana trio is wine guy Mark Wheadon, operator Travis LeGrand, and chef David McIntyre. Wheadon is a level 2 sommelier who’s worked for Robert Redford and Ruth’s Chris; LeGrand has been a manager at Marine Room, Herringbone, and Urban Kitchen Group (Cucina Urbana, et al); and McIntyre, who’s back stateside after 20 years working abroad for Wolfgang Puck, spent the last 14 overseeing Cut Steakhouse in London. He’s opened restaurants all over the world (Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, New York, Los Angeles, Bahrain).
He and Wheadon worked together previously to open Crescent Heights Kitchen & Lounge in downtown San Diego in 2008, so Lana feels like a bit of a homecoming. “It’s nice to come back to help old friends and be a part of the team and help launch a restaurant,” says McIntyre.
Lana’s concept is simple: seasonal, West Coast bounty with ridiculously high-quality service—occupying that very San Diego space between laid back and big night out.
“The design impetus came from vintage California, being casual and comfortable but elegant,” explains Wheadon. But don’t expect the typical teal and turquoise tropes. They brought on designer Megan Power at Workind Studio (formerly of Basile Studio, she designed Le Coq and 31ThirtyOne). It’s a 2,500-square-foot, indoor-outdoor space that fits 187, including 20 at the keyhole-shaped bar, and 45 or so outside.
The menu from McIntyre and chef de cuisine Matt Martinez (Cowboy Star, Avant) strongly emphasizes seasonal produce, local ingredients, and top-notch seafood.
“My concept of cooking is to put five or six ingredients on the plate and let them shine,” McIntyre says. Depending on the season, the chefs will serve locally caught spot prawns, or simple classics like roasted chicken, a few different cuts of steak (he does have the chops for it, after all), and rotating flatbreads. The beverage program, helmed by The Lion’s Share alum Brandon Curry, leans heavily on California wines from small producers from Napa, Sonoma, and the Central Coast, as well as a few from around the world.
Curry’s cocktails will be a direct line from the kitchen to the bar to both minimize waste and spark creativity. Like a gimlet, but with cucumber and pink peppercorns; or an Old Fashioned made with vanilla bitters and toasted sesame oil.
Wheadon hopes to bring a little bit of nighttime energy to that stretch of the 101, which boasts a number of early morning coffee shops, but not a ton of dinner options (yet). During the construction process, he says people constantly poked their heads in with excitement.
“Once a day, [people] would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, Solana Beach needs this so badly,’” he laughs. “This whole area is just starting to blossom.”
Lana opens June 20 at 437 South Highway 101. Operating hours are Wednesdays through Sundays for dinner, plus brunch Saturdays and Sundays.
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.
San Diego has suffered a bagel drought long enough. But with anticipated openings like Marigold Bagels in North Park and beloved bakeries like Secret Sister adding the bready delights to their weekend menus, it feels like our dry spell is on the verge of ending. Baker Cheryl Storms says it’s about time.
“I definitely feel like San Diego, for better or worse, is always just a few years behind everybody else with all these food trends,” she adds, pointing to other cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, all of which have launched new iterations of East Coast–style bagels or embraced the sourdough bagel revolution in recent years.
Storms and her business partner Matt Cardwell are behind the pop-up concept New Wave Bagel. For the past year, they’ve brought their bagels to places like Ironsmith Coffee in Encinitas and Michi Michi in Bankers Hill, all the time searching for their forever home. In a few months, they’ll have one—right on the Leucadia coastline.
Both bakers have a ton of experience between them, each working at Wayfarer Bread in 2018 (Storms helped open the award-winning bakery in Bird Rock, and Cardwell joined soon after). Both held restaurant roles in San Francisco, as well—Storms even ran her own restaurant and bakery in the city for six years—and bonded over punk and New Wave music like Depeche Mode and The Cure.
After Storms left Wayfarer in 2021, she and Cardwell kept in touch as friends. She wanted to get back into ownership—“my type A personality just can’t be contained for too long,” she jokes—and mentioned to Cardwell that she didn’t think there were any good bagels in San Diego. “And [Cardwell] was like, ‘I’ve been thinking the same thing [and] have been testing recipes,’” Storms recalls. A few drinks later, New Wave Bagel was born.
Storms says they chose Leucadia to stay close to their existing pop-up customer base along the central county coastline, but they don’t plan to stop with just one location. They’re already looking at a spot in even more northern North County and would love to one day expand into a local franchise that still centers around local, organic, artisan, handcrafted baked goods, she explains. “Things that are made with care, you know?” she adds.
Courtesy of New Wave Bagel
Although “bagel” is in its name, New Wave has also made a name for itself with its bialys. Bialys are made with flattened bagel dough and given a small divot in the middle that can be filled with anything sweet or savory. At New Wave, that might look like a classic New York BEC (bacon, egg, cheese) with a twist: chive cream cheese, Baker’s bacon, and pasture eggs.
Or it might be seasonally sweet: honey vanilla cream cheese with organic yellow peaches and local raspberries. Storms and Cardwell rotate their menu every month or so, offering around seven different naturally fermented, 100 percent sourdough bagel options with five or six cream cheese flavors.
Courtesy of New Wave Bagel
Once the shop opens in Leucadia, Storms says she hopes to begin offering about a dozen different bagel varieties, plus breakfast and lunch sandwiches. For phase one of the buildout, expect a sort of permanent pop-up out front while construction goes on. During phase two, the duo will be working out of a smaller commissary kitchen at LuckyBolt in Sorrento Valley, until phase three brings full, onsite kitchen operations with indoor and outdoor seating to Leucadia. (Storms promises they’ll continue their pop-ups at Ironsmith and Michi Michi until phase three.) Eventually, local roaster Crossings Coffee will partner with New Wave in the space.
As the pair works towards building a better bagel future in San Diego, Storms says not to expect New York–ified bagels coming out of their kitchen. Their expertise is strictly sourdough. “That’s sort of California’s take on bagels,” she explains. “We’re not just going to do regular New York–style, because New York’s got that down pat. We’re doing our own thing … [and] in my opinion, it’s better.”
New Wave Bagel opens this year at 312 North Coast Highway 101 in Leucadia.
Courtesy of EventHub
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
It’s Wine O’Clock in Carlsbad at the California Wine Festival
Soak up the sun and slosh some suds at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort Golf Club & Spa’s California Wine Festival in Carlsbad. On June 20 and 21, wineries from across California will bring their best bottles to showcase alongside bites from Prager Brothers., Seven Barrels Olive Oil, Ponto Lago, and more. From Ramona Valley Vineyard to Caymus Vineyards, Kubani Wines, Harvey and Harriet, Wilson Creek Winery, and more, the gang’s all going to be there. Choose from two events—the Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting on Friday or the Beachside Wine Festival on Saturday—or lean into an oenophilic weekend and go to both.
Photo Credit: Billy Galewood
Beth’s Bites
Happy first birthday to Sunny Grove Brewing Company. On Saturday, June 21, the family- and pet-friendly brewery in Santee is throwing an all-day bash starting at noon with music, merch, food, and a new beer. (My fingers are crossed that it’s a schwarzbier, but I’m an optimist.)
It looks like 99 Ranch Market is getting a new eatery from the north—and a wonderfully named one at that. Potato Powder Love Noodle, home to noodles made with (you guessed it) potatoes, has one location in the City of Industry in LA with rave reviews. I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like, so I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.
Jitters Coffee Pub in Oceanside has a bright future (and a famous new owner) and plans to celebrate both on Saturday, July 12. The recent renovations are complete, the stage is set, and a new menu is finalized, so grab a cup of joe and an açai bowl to toast to another three decades in business.
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.
Stake Chophouse & Bar isn’t your average steakhouse. Blue Bridge Hospitality’s Coronado outpost is a modern interpretation of a big-city steakhouse nestled in the heart of the small coastal community. The team at Stake has reimagined the whole steakhouse experience. By prioritizing a seasonal farm-to-table sourcing philosophy, a personalized guest experience, and unique service touches, like a formal steak presentation and a bespoke knife selection process, Stake distinguishes itself in a sea of steakhouses.
Exceptional steaks, including Wagyu from Japan, Australia, and the U.S., and fresh seafood flown in daily form the core of Stake’s culinary identity. The menu features a five-course omakase-style steak experience highlighting house favorites, plus an array of cuts, and classic steakhouse staples—think a wedge salad, baked potato, or pasta carbonara—refined for a contemporary palate without losing their traditional appeal. Stake focuses on seasonal sourcing from the region’s best family farms and specialty purveyors, and incorporates intentionally unexpected touches to create something truly unique.
“I challenge our chefs and myself to take it a step further in sourcing,” says Chef Ronnie Schwandt. “It’s important to us to highlight different farms, unique one-off farms—whether it’s cattle, strawberries, a local fisherman or from anywhere in the United States, we’re always trying to find that niche.”
Beyond the menu, Stake emphasizes outstanding service, says Vinny Spatafore, Director of Hospitality Operations. Staff maintains detailed notes, allowing them to remember guests by name, recall previous orders such as a favorite martini (also memorable for the customer since it’s served in an extra tall, distinctly-shaped glass), and celebrate special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
“When you have those points of topic that you remember about a guest, they appreciate that,” he says. “Our servers are really good with that—we have a couple servers who have been here since the beginning and they’ll remember somebody from years ago, their name, their kids’ names, where they live. I’m really thankful to have a great front of house staff.”
Award-winning wines, rare whiskeys, special events, and a complementary black car service that provides transportation for guests throughout Coronado add to Stake’s appeal.
Schwandt stresses that Stake offers more than a meal; they aim to give patrons something unforgettable.
“It starts when you walk up the stairs and are greeted by the hostess—that sets the tone for the night. Then you’re greeted by a server, who may know you by name, and can guide you through the menu and curate as they get to know you,” says Schwandt. “Most people leave kind of blown away; they leave feeling like they just had an experience. That’s the goal, right? Whether you’re serving smash burgers or high-end steak, you want somebody to leave thinking, Wow, that was awesome.”
Claudette Zepeda weathered the TV cage match of Top Chef. She’s been a star on Netflix’s Iron ChefMexico. The Imperial Beach born-and-raised brainiac has judged Food Network cooking competition enterprises, had her green hair and bookish-punk face turned into massive banners for glitzy festivals that smell like truffles, and occasionally decamps to find herself in some sort of ancient sweat ceremony.
And now she’s gonna hunker down in a tiny kitchen in Leucadia to cook a nightly dinner party at a new lounge called Leu Leu. It’s a 1930s bungalow next to Pannikin on Highway 101. Unlike her other restaurants, she’s a partner in this. It opens in a couple weeks.
Courtesy of Claudette Zepeda | Logo designed by Vanessa Mendoza
“You know me, it came to me in my witchy ways,” she says. “I get an instagram DM from the person who sat behind me at the Padres game. He said, ‘I have this project I want you to check out.’ I met with him about it, and a month later I’m signing a contract.”
I’ve known Zepeda for years, a friend. She’s a spitfire with a Category 5 IQ and a mystical hush-now-the-ancestors-are-talking approach to life. If ayahuasca were a chef, it’d be her. In other words, she’s a TV producer’s dream. And after being a crucial part of elaborately ambitious, James Beard-nominated San Diego restaurants—first Bracero in Little Italy as Javier Plascencia’s chef de cuisine, then as exec chef of El Jardin in Liberty Station—Leu Leu feels perfect for her. Tiny place where a cook can cook and a high-wattage personality can radiate.
What she liked about her partners on Leu Leu—Jason Janecek, who co-owns Corner Pizza, and Brittany Corrales, a born-and-raised Leucadian by way of Sonora, Mexico who apostles about growing your own food and throws parties around it with her Mariposa Events Co—is that they’re just as ambitiously hippy as her.
Courtesy of Claudette Zepeda
“You’re gonna roll your eyes,” she says. “But when Jason and Brittany presented it to me they talked about restaurants being about mystery and secrecy, just a room of creators organically drawing people to them. They talked about Leu Leu as a ‘she.’ This kind of character—I picture a Holly Golightly coming home with her heels in her hand, super chic but a little messy, eating a burrito, playing poker and smoking cigarettes.”
The Leu Leu food will be anchored in her Mexican-American roots, but also Mediterranean (her mentor is James Beard award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen), Moroccan, Eastern, whatever the hell, because that’s how chefs cook for their friends.
“Unpretentiously munchy,” she says. “In Spanish we call it munchoso, the food you want to eat with your friends. Mom’s-house rules. It’s just me riffing, cooking for people who like food. Mexican, African, Chinese—immigrant food, my love letter to San Diego. We’re not going to be ‘turning tables.’ You’re going to vibe to the music. You’re going to have a seat in our home until you’re done.”
There’ll be Leu Leu’s “Fabergé Egg,” a perfect egg with sushi rice and panko, deep-fried with beef tartare with sweet and sour glaze. A duck confit tamal. Masa Koji roasted beets with whipped herb toum (Lebanese garlic sauce). Pibil lamb shank with beans. Sea bass kofta meatballs with naan and yogurt and zhoug, masa ball soup (a Mexican riff on the Jewish classic). Plus crudos and salads and a whole “rip and dip” section with breads and sauces (including a deviled-egg dip). For desserts, sundaes featuring ice cream from beloved Oceanside indie shop, Little Fox Cups & Cones.
The vibe will be vibey. Interior will be created by the sister duo behind Design 4 Corners, who’ve handled other local projects like Kaito Sushi and Van de Vort at One Paseo. Janecek is a landscape architect, so the outside patio will have gorgeous trellised arches with vines growing, some epic candelabras, LED lights on a giant pine tree. Corrales’ family is one of Leucadia’s heritage flower growers, so it’ll be O’Keefey. Music will be curated, and key. Zepeda’s bringing out her vintage Tupperware collection for the Moroccan tabletops. There’ll be beer and funky wines with stories behind them, largely the stories of women winemakers. The whole place fits a whopping 65 people.
“It’s not a restaurant or like any project I’ve ever done,” she says. “It’s a lounge, the most indie project I’ve ever been a part of. We’re not trying to pull the stars down from the sky—we’re just punk kids doing something fun. And I love Leucadia because it reminds me of Imperial Beach where I grew up. It’s such a feral community, they embrace my weird.”
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.
When Alce 101 permanently closed earlier this year, Solana Beach lost a pretty great tequila and mezcal selection. But the partners behind Bluewater Grill, Jim Ulcickas and Rich Staunton, plan to bring a new Baja-Mediterranean concept to the space called Mia’s Solana Beach.
Ulcickas says Mia’s menu will feel similar to Alce, renovated and reimagined. “Peruvian ceviche to vegetarian enchiladas, whole roasted fish, and some classic Mexican shrimp dishes,” he says of the menu, adding that they plan to source as much sustainable, organic, and local ingredients as possible, which has been a core philosophy of their restaurant since the get go. “Mexican-Baja style with a good tequila and mezcal program.”
Plus tacos, salads, oysters, tostadas, and prime cuts of steak, plus a kid’s menu, with no seed oils used in any dishes. The vibe will be fun, warm, and youthful, with soft pinks and dark greens inspired by the Southwest and Baja California. The partners plan to open in April, pending permits and renovations spearheaded by architecture and design firm PGAL (who designed Palihotel and Gravity Heights Mission Valley).
Ulcickas and Staunton have built restaurants together for nearly 30 years, opening the first Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach’s Cannery Village in 1996, then expanding to seven more locations across Southern California and Phoenix, as well as El Galleon, an American comfort grub spot on Catalina Island. “Our real estate philosophy is waterfront Southern California,” Ulcickas explains. When the space at 243 N. Highway 101 became available, the pair asked themselves “What concept do we feel would work in this community?”
Ulcickas believes Alce’s approach of upscale Mexican food was sound—it was just bad timing post-pandemic. The crowds were there, from summertime visitors to locals to people going to the races at Del Mar. “It’s a great location,” he says. If Mia’s proves successful here, it may be the first of several locations. “We have to prove the concept first,” he laughs. “[But] we’re confident… we’re excited to come to Solana Beach.”
Mia’s Solana Beach is planned to open in April 2025 at 243 N. Highway 101, Suite 7. Stay tuned for the chef announcement coming in January.
Courtesy of Encinitas 101
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Little Victory Lands Chefs Elliott and Kelly Townsend
Carlsbad’s first natural wine bar and shop Little Victory Wine Market has new chefs in the kitchen—Elliott and Kelly Townsend, the pair behind Long Story Short. Elliott, who previously worked at Cowboy Star and The Fishery, and Kelly, who previously worked at Juniper & Ivy, will create the menu of small, seasonal, and shareable plates designed to pair with Little Victory’s collection of minimal intervention wines. Between their experience and Little Victory owners Jeremy Simpson and Kirsten Potenza, who also have star-studded resumes themselves (Jeune et Jolie, Bestia), Carlsbad is showing no signs of slowing down.
Courtesy of Ambrogio15 Restaurant Group
Beth’s Bites
San Diego’s only 2024 addition to the Michelin-recognized list is going away—sort of. Ambrogio by Acquerello is closing their La Jolla location on Fay Avenue to focus on reinventing themselves at Ambrogio15 in Pacific Beach. The project was an ambitious romp into modern Italian, a collaboration with Milan chefs Silvio Salmoiraghi and Choi Cheolhyeok, of Michelin-star Milan restaurant, Acquarello. They promise the pizza isn’t going anywhere (thank goddess); they’re also opening another location in the San Diego airport next year.
Hotel La Jolla’s penthouse restaurant Sea & Sky is throwing a 50th birthday party for Napa Valley’s Caymus Vineyards (oh, those cabs). The five-course wine pairing dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 30 with chef Ernest Lopez’s menu of “land and sea” offerings like scallop crudo, herb-crusted lamb. Good chance to see the newly renovated La Jolla classic with views of the Shores. Reservations are a must.
Did someone say chilaquiles? Pop-up concept Chilaquilers is slated to open two spots in 2025, one in Vista and one in Chula Vista. I’ve found myself crossing the border to Tijuana to get my crunchy breakfast fix, but I guess I can stash my passport for now.
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.
Island travel tips to help you and your family plan the perfect getaway
Hawai‘i is perhaps the most famous vacation destination in the world, welcoming 8 million visitors annually to an eight-island archipelago with a permanent population of only 1.3 million. But despite Hawai‘i’s popularity, it’s delightfully easy to stake out a small piece of paradise all your own, and define your family’s visit as you see fit. Whether you are hikers, sunbathers, swimmers, or wine-and-diners, whether you prefer beach lazing or star gazing, there is a perfect place for you and your family in these sunny, solicitous isles.
