And now, the team behind Kettner Exchange and Vin de Syrah is set to open The Grass Skirt and Good Time Poke in Pacific Beach. Going into the former spot of Good Time Charlie’s (910 Grand Ave.), the concept should be a solid addition to P.B.’s slowly improving food and drink scene—which was a quagmire of Jagermeister and fried drunk food for years.

Chef Brian Redzikowski oversaw the development of the menus, and he’s a talent, having worked at Le Cirque, Nobu, and Joel Robuchon. Good Time Poke will be the daytime grab-and-go poke spot, with traditional and not-so-traditional riffs on the classic Hawaiian dish (including octopus, yellowfin, etc.) and kombucha on tap.

Grass Skirt, designed by Davis Krumins (Fluxx, Parq, Rustic Root, etc.), will be the nighttime hangout with fuller dishes designed by Redzikowski, such as: big-eye tuna cones with bonito flakes, pickled ginger, and sesame; kimchi fried rice; shrimp toast sandwich with Vietnamese herbs, hoison and spicy aioli.

Beverage director Steven Tuttle is also a top talent, and he started R&D’ing the tiki cocktails at Kettner Exchange last year. Grass Skirt’s menu will be chock full of falernum and assorted tropicalia, with drinks like the “Carmen Miranda” with white rum, añejo rum, overproof Jamaican rum, lime, pineapple, coconut, banana, and cinnamon; and “Oaxacan Dead,” with mescal, a signature rum blend, pineapple, lime, passion fruit, pomegranate and absinthe.

Inspired by Lost Lake tiki bar in Chicago, Grass Skirt will have plenty of booth seating, fire pit tables, swings, and plenty of Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber-inspired design.

Enough with the words. Please enjoy the first known photos of The Grass Skirt.

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt

The post FIRST LOOK: The Grass Skirt appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

False Idol may only be 1,000 square-feet, but it’s a big deal. It marks the fifth bar for America’s first man of tiki, Martin Cate—a partnership with San Diego’s premier cocktail group, Consortium Holdings. Cate owns and operates Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, considered by many the best tiki bar in America.

Opening Sunday, False Idol is the second shoe to drop on the corner of Beech and Kettner Streets. The first was the multimillion-dollar renovation of Craft & Commerce, which opened yesterday. False Idol is the “hidden” Polynesian oasis attached to C&C.

Guests step through a walk-in cooler in Craft & Commerce, and emerge into False Idol. The space is a throwback to the golden era of tiki, before canned juice and corporate chains ruined the movement. There are vibrant pieces from tiki artists Bosko Hrnjak and Ignacio “Notch” Gonzalez. There are false idols everywhere. The ceiling is covered in glass buoy balls. Maori-style wall carvings. Petrified puffer fish. The whole place is exploding with tiki paraphernalia.

As for the drinks? Cate reportedly has the largest collection of rare rums, and he’s showcasing some of his favorites at False Idol. He and CH beverage director Anthony Schmidt worked with CH designer, Dane Danner, to create custom-designed tiki mugs for their tropical drinks, including a Trader Vic Mai Tai and Eastern Sour. They’re also paying tribute to San Diego’s once-thriving tiki scene, excavating recipes from the former Luau Room and Barefoot Bar.

False Idol opens Sunday, September 4 at 6pm. And it will be open every day thereafter from 6pm on. Make reservations at FalseIdolTiki.com.

675 W. Beech St., Little Italy.

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

FIRST LOOK: False Idol

The post FIRST LOOK: False Idol appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

If mapping out spots where the modern craft cocktail movement started in San Diego, C&C would be one of them. For the redesign, owners Consortium Holdings (Ironside, Neighborhood, Polite Provisions, etc.) expanded to the corner of Kettner and Beech with a wrap-around patio and built-in fire pit tables.

If taxidermy bothers you, prepare to be bothered. Designer Paul Basile (Ironside, Underbelly, Soda & Swine) partnered with the San Diego Natural History Museum to create a predatory tableau. Right in the door, a lion preys on a hog in a grassland scene above the bar. In the back of the dining room, another lion just chills. Various animal heads mount the wall.

Quotes from famous authors are scrawled into the walls of the 3,300 square-foot space, books are stacked on shelves made of shattered glass. Your granddad who hunted and read books and smoked pipes and fancied himself a Hemingway character would feel at home here. Think Sean Connery as Indiana Jones’ dad.

The chef for the new C&C era is Ted Smith, who spent years under top San Diego chef Carl Schroeder—both at Market and Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant. His menu continues the San Diego trend of wood-firing, with grilled oysters, various roasted and grilled vegetables, plus a rotisserie chicken, aji chile-marinated pork chop. Southern fare like corn bread skillet and Brussels sprouts with bacon are offset by ideas like Korean BBQ chicken wings. A small bevy of entrees includes yellow curry, chicken-fried quail, short rib Bolognese, veggie fettuccine, and their C&C burger.

And, of course, the cocktails will continue to be the calling card of C&C.

The bigger news of this project is False Idol—the “hidden” tiki bar that will open a few days later. It’s a collaboration with one of the world’s foremost tiki experts, Martin Cate, who owns Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco. The tiki revolution is already happening in San Diego, and that will cement it.

C&C opens today at 4 p.m. They’ll be open every day, same time. On weekends, they’ll serve brunch starting at 9 a.m.

675 W. Beech Street, Little Italy, craft-commerce.com.

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce

The post FIRST LOOK: Craft & Commerce appeared first on San Diego Magazine.