For those of you who have enjoyed the food at California Cuisine under the 25 year ownership of Dean Kalamaras, there’s a big change coming soon. Buzz spoke with Kalamaras who confirmed that he sold the Hillcrest restaurant and the last supper was Saturday, August 29. The new owners, an Italian group with two restaurants in Torino, Italy will reopen in about a month and a half with a new name, Benissimo , and redone interior.
Kalamaras will continue his catering business at the Cypress Room down the street at 3665 Park Boulevard, 619-543-0790. For those of you who follow chefs, Chris Walsh worked at California Cuisine before moving on to open Cafe W, Confidential and his current Bite watch tripping the rift the movie in divx
, on University, just a few blocks from his former employer.
Oh man that’s bad news, I’ve had a few very good meals there.
And do we really need ANOTHER Italian place?
That’s terrible news; I wished there had been advance notice. I’ll miss Stella and her very classy and terrific restaurant. She never got enough credit for popularizing a cuisine. Anyone with the foresight to hire Chris Walsh when he was barely in his 20s should have had the opportunity to be feted. Stella- if you’re out there- we’ll miss you!!
I guess this is what happens in the restaurant business and its normal. Iv’e worked at some restaurants that have closed before because of a bad location.