New Restaurant Openings in San Diego
Group Behind Lionfish Opening Two Del Mar Restaurants in February and March
Clique Hospitality, the group that launched restaurants like Lionfish Coastal Cuisine and Lilian’s, is gearing up to bring two new concepts to Del Mar: The Kitchen (coming late February) and The Clubhouse (opening in early March). The spaces will touch down at the new Torrey View by Breakthrough, a 10-acre life sciences campus with tableaus of the sea.
With Executive Chef Ryan Bullock at the helm, The Kitchen and The Clubhouse will each feature dishes centering organic produce and sustainable protein. The Kitchen will offer lunch and midday snacks like a curry chicken and quinoa bowl—greens, curry chicken salad, roasted veggies, marinated cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and cashews with a lemon-tahini dressing.
While gazing at the The Clubhouse’s ocean vistas, guests will be able to chow down on Southern California–influenced cuisine for breakfast, lunch, happy hour, and early dinner. The menu includes the “think tank bowl” with red potato hash, egg whites, caramelized onions, roasted mushrooms, spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and feta. Or try their mini lobster rolls with brown butter aioli, fennel, and preserved lemon.
The Lost Abbey and Mother Earth Brewing Co. Bring Joint Tasting Room to Vista
Last year, around this time, Tomme Arthur, co-founder and chief operating owner of The Lost Abbey, was on the hunt for a new space, since the lease for his San Marcos brewing space was ending. The stars seemed to align when Mother Earth Brewing Co. proposed sharing their beer production facility and tasting room in Vista with The Lost Abbey team. The Lost Abbey would be able to brew their beer there and share the cost of rent—and the company only had to move three exits down the road on “Hop Highway” (SR-78). It was a perfect fit.
The 2,500-square-foot industrial space will have two branded tasting rooms: On one side, you can order Mother Earth Brewing Co.’s beers, and on the other, you’ll select from The Lost Abbey’s 18 brews on tap. Once you secure your suds, it’s all communal. You can lounge anywhere in the space.
Arthur says that, once his company arrives in Vista, they will be focused on sharing vintage kegs that were produced in San Marcos and barrel-aged. They also have a new portfolio of IPAs they are ready to pour, including their Unseen Things tropical rye, a fruity beer with strata hops. The Vista location (2055 Thibodo Road) is set to open any day.
Vietnamese-Latin Fusion Restaurant Launches in National City
Chào XO, National City’s latest restaurant, may have just hit on San Diego gold: They’ve taken two of the city’s most beloved dishes and combined them, making birria phở. The soup features slow-coooked Mexican birria, rice noodles, California chiles, and chiles de arbol. The tapas menu has its own share of innovative Frankenfoods, like the Mexican street corn–inspired elote con sriracha, an appetizer that blends charred corn, sriracha, lime, cotija cheese, and cilantro.
Owner Leslie Dang says she inherited her passion for cheffing from her mother and grandmother, who were both cooks and used food as a way to tell stories and show love. Today, she’s celebrating her Vietnamese roots and honoring her family by using their recipes at Chào XO while infusing them with her own Latin-flavored spin.
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Craft cocktail bar and restaurant The Lion’s Share is celebrating their 12-year anniversary with a party on Thursday, February 8. Fête with a DJ and discounted drinks, and make a reservation to grab one of the eatery’s limited breakfast-for-dinner “game boards,” featuring a bacon flight, fried frog legs and waggles, camel breakfast sausage corn dogs, and duck fat hash browns.
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