Bakery

Show your love with a yummy chocolate bread teddy bear from Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe in Liberty Station. Last minute orders for a heart shaped baguette or a teddy bear can be made by calling 619-224-4344 or at the cafe, 2750 Dewey Road at Old Historic Decatur.

Many restaurants offer special menus available in the next few days so you can avoid the crush of the 14th. Check out Wine Vault & Bistro‘s 5-course Valentine’s dinner for $59.50 plus tax and gratuity includes all five courses and all five wines. Menu includes fried oysters, chicken, short rib and of course chocolate, bubbles and California wines. For reservations: (619) 295-3939.

Get a bottle of Champagne from your favorite wine merchant. One of my go- to places: The Third Corner where the selection is large and the staff knowledgeable. In Mira Mesa, don’t forget Winesellar & Brasserie for an equally good selection of libations.

Chocolate goes with Champagne: Eclipse Chocolat makes unique confections in North Park, while David Bacco creates an unusual selection of award winning delicacies. Call 888-560-5535 to order or find a few locations to purchase his chocolates.

New places set to open in the next few months:

Pacific Beach, Lamont Street Grill sold (Location Matters handled the transaction) and the new owner is Gina Champion-Cain. The place will be gutted and renamed The Patio on Lamont Street. Expect a May opening (or sooner) with Sheila Tracy in place as the General Manager. Stay tuned for who will fill the chef position. 4445 Lamont Street, Pacific Beach, 858-270-3060.

The Cohn Restaurant Group moves forward with a new place in North County called Vintana Wine+ Dine. Located in a Lexus showroom, at 1205 Auto Park Way in Escondido, Cohn staple and chef Deborah Scott will create the menu. Look for it to open in the next few months. And molecular leaning chef Daniel Barron said goodbye to his chef position at Blue Point…one can only guess that his desire to put a creative spin on his menu didn’t mesh well with the Cohn convention pleasing formula.

Brian Malarky gets an interview in Inc. where he outlines his ambitious restaurant vision.

In Point Loma, Harbor Town Pub will start breakfast in March.

Look for Towne Bakery to open in March in the Del Mar Highlands shopping center. Owner/chef Jason Sigala loves pastries so expect to see the vintage 40’s and 50’s celebrated in decor and in pastry choices that will include pies, cookies, puddings and cheesecakes. 12925 El Camino Real, Suite AA5. For more information, please call 858.794.7001.

March 11, grab a few tickets for Family Winemakers of California Tasting 2012. This tasting showcase features wines from California’s small, family-owned wineries. Taste wines from more than 150 wineries in California for a ticket of just $45 if purchased before February 20.

Easter is around the corner, and here’s a quick roundup of things to do and places to go if cooking a ham isn’t your thing….

Get the kids involved on Thursday, April 21, when Cups La Jolla hosts an Easter Cookie Decorating class from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Chef Francois of renowned bakery Girard Gourmet, teaches the fun class. Ccst is $50 for a parent and child team, $15 per additional child, and $30 for a solo adult. For more information or call 858-459-2877.

More cupcake ideas come from the HOP box at Sprinkles. The box contains dark chocolate, red velvet, brown sugar praline and carrot cupcakes adorned with pink and green bunnies and is from April 15 to 24. The Jewish holiday of Passover isn’t forgotten here either. Get a dozen Passover Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes adorned with blue Star of David and sealed with a Star of David sticker and available from April 18th to 26^th. 8855 La Jolla Villa Drive, La Jolla. 858. 457 3800.

Take your daughter (or son) to tea at The US Grant Hotel on Saturday, April 23 from 1pm to 3pm where you’ll sip premium loose leaf teas served alongside a tantalizing selection of house-made sweets and savory treats.    Cost is $47 adults and $22 children.  For reservations, 619-744-2039 .

At La Valencia, you can do brunch buffet style, served throughout the day in the hotel’s various dining areas, seating from 11 am and is $75 per adult and $32 per child plus tax and tip. Bring the kids for an Easter egg hunt from 11am to 3pm. For reservations, please call 858- 551-3744.

Also in La Jolla, Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar offers an à la carte menu from 11am to 2pm with interesting dishes that include Jidori chicken adobo; breakfast tacos with eggs, cheese and Asian guacamole; macadamia nut pancakes and more. For reservations: 858-551-5252.

If you’d like to sweeten an Easter basket, consider chocolates from Chuao (available countywide), Chi Chocolat (Liberty Station), The Elegant Truffle (Point Loma village), Eclipse Chocolat (University Heights) and Chocolat Creamerie (Hillcrest and Gaslamp). Buzz can attest that each of these purveyors makes artisanal and extremely luscious chocolates to satisfy every chocoholic.

Should you find yourself in Sacramento’s downtown area, be sure to try Red Lotus Kitchen & Bar for some of their well-presented, unique and seriously good dim sum on their dinner menu. The fresh water eel and shrimp dumplings with cilantro and pistachio puree, tobiko and truffle oil ($8) might sound odd together but the flavors were subtle, yet flavorful and blended well for each luscious mouthful. Two roughly 3 or 4 inch beef marrow bones split lengthwise, delicately spiced with five-spice powder, and roasted– unusual, rich and tasty ($11)–and six perfect shrimp dumplings (har gow) with house-made XO sauce ($7) easily stand high above run- of- the- mill har gow. Family style portions are generous, service gracious and attentive, and you can sit and eat at the lively horseshoe shaped bar as well. 2718 J Street, Sacramento, 916-231-0961, open from 3pm.

Also downtown, at 11th and K Street, in the area known as Cathedral Square, Ambrosia Cafe & Catering does a fine job with breakfasts such as crème brulee french toast ($4.95) or grilled jambon & gruyere croissant ($4.50), lunches that include salads, house plates and panini, and desserts from owner and pastry chef, Patricia Murakami as well as Nicole Becker who now handles most of the desserts and pastries. Open now for desserts after the theater or a long day jawing with politicians a few blocks away Thursday to Saturday from 7pm to midnight. 1030 K Street, Sacramento, 916-444-8129, Open 6:30am to 5pm Monday through Friday, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 3pm.

Night owls who love cooking and television shopping, note that the Home Shopping Network (HSN) will feature a weekend of cooking related items from world-renowned chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Padma Lakshmi, Ken Hom and others. Check out the schedule for HSN Cooks Spring Weekend Event presented by Bon Appétit on March 26-27.

There is bread and then there is artisan bread. There’s the baguette that’s just a soft mass of melt-in-your mouth dough. Then there’s the baguette with texture, flavor and a crust with some crunch.

Nothing irritates Buzz more than to want to support a Point Loma newcomer (that would be Charlie’s Best Bread) only to find that the new place can’t come up with their own unique menu of breads and various sandwiches. How does Buzz know this? Well, the new guy occupies the space that the artisan bakery Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe had for ten years. Charlie’s moved in and instead of creating their own menu items, decided to see if they, their bread and some of their menu items could emulate those of Con Pane. They do not.

Many of Charlie’s breads are baked someplace else, as they are bagged in plastic and ready to take (just as they are at the Hillcrest Farmers Market). They do have muffins and breakfast items, roast beef, pastrami and veggie Cobb sandwiches, paninis and daily breads ( listed in exactly the same order as Con Pane). They use organic flour in some of their breads, and their prices can be higher on some items than the former tenant’s. Buzz bought challah and have had their turkey Cobb…same ingredients vastly different outcome. You’ll also find already wrapped cinnamon rolls with walnuts and raisins that for many don’t hold a candle to the light and flavorful ones at Con Pane that are never pre-wrapped.

Buzz would like to see Charlie’s find their own identity. There are a zillion sandwich combos, why not create your own? And don’t try to fool the customers who recently came in thinking it was Con Pane redone and ordered a turkey Cobb sandwich. Expectations were high–but dashed-when they tasted the wannabe Cobb (roasted turkey breast, bacon, avocado, blue cheese, roasted roma tomatoes mayonnaise and romaine lettuce). When the customer found out that Con Pane moved to Historic Decatur and Dewey Roads in Liberty Station, they rushed down and happily enjoyed the original Cobb (roasted turkey breast, applewood smoked bacon, fresh avocado, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, house roasted roma tomatoes, mayonnaise and romaine lettuce).

Certainly it is a matter of taste as to which bakery you’ll make yours. Charlie’s also has an unfortunate parking situation as many spaces around the building are marked for the bank and other tenants. Buzz wants to see the new guy on the block succeed, though not as a copycat. If, dear reader, you’re up to it, try your own taste test with breads from each place. Buzz wants to hear from you.

Spoke to Chris Walsh who closed his Hillcrest restaurant, Bite, August 30. The reason? It’s the economy stupid…and it seems that area diners love to drink more than to eat–so even though his menu was well-priced and good, it just was not enough to keep people coming back.

He mentioned also a few facts that many diners don’t realize when it comes to eating out: Most restaurants top costs are: Labor, then rent, food and all the other costs such as license fees, utilities, etc. Most diners also don’t factor into the price of a meal the ability of the chef to create and deliver dishes based on their expertise and training. When asked what he will do, he replied, “I’ll get a job.”

In Point Loma, the long running La Scala Italian Restaurant at Scott and Canon, will soon become Lighthouse Grill a concept from Fabio Speziali (Pomodoro and others) and Antonio Mastellone (Arrivederci and others). Whatever these two create, we know it will likely be a hit here in Point Loma as Pomodoro has taken off with solid Italian food, nothing fancy, but well-priced and always good in a cozy, bustling room (and enclosed patio).

Charlie’s Best Bread opens Labor Day weekend in the old Con Pane space. One thing Buzz already knows from buying their challah at the Hillcrest Farmers Market is that it is more expensive and a much denser, less satisfying loaf than that of the artisan bakery, Con Pane, now in Liberty Station on Historic Decatur and Dewey Roads. Buzz will give their breads and other menu items a try.

Back in April, Buzz reported on Point Loma’s Dolphin Motel’s expansion of a steakhouse and then heard it would be a coffee shop. Lately, nothing seems to be happening…as the restaurant seems to be stuck in the Coastal Commission’s review.

**All three locations of The 3rd Corner (with the very cool redesigned website…) now offer happy hour from 3 to 6pm in the bar only, Tuesday through Saturday. Note the three venues are closed on Monday.

**That venerable group of local chefs known as CooksConfab will host Camp Confab, a sleep-over at Susie’s Farm in Imperial Beach on September 11 and 12. Dinner and breakfast the next morning will be prepared by many of the confab chefs. And you will be able to participate in harvesting, cleaning and preparing the produce from the farm. Sounds like a hoot with a host of activities that include guest appearances and tastings from such luminaries in their field as Gina Frieze from Venissimo Cheese, MIHO Gastgrotruck, and beers from Lost Abbey and master brewer Tomme Arthur and evening cocktails (after you help harvest) with mixologist Ian Ward of Snake Oil Cocktail Co. Lest you think it’s all veggies, the protein part of the meal is barbacoa of local goat and stick fire roasted local fish. There’s lots more for the $225 per person. Reservations are limited and so, at 9am September 1, get on the CooksConfab website to register. 100% of the proceeds go to Slow Food Urban San Diego.

**Jeff Rossman, owner/chef of Terra Restaurant, a hidden gem in Hillcrest (on Vermont near the east side of Trader Joe’s), has finished his cookbook, From Terra’s Table. Just in time for a holiday gift, the book publishes in November and sells for $32.95 online and at bookstores. The focus is on Jeff’s passion for local ingredients and the many farms and vendors that supply his restaurant. You can receive a 20% discount as a foodbuzzsd reader when you buy the book online here and use the code foodbuzzsd20 .

**Gordy’s Bakery sounds yummy and a place Buzz needs to try as she travels the 5 back and forth to LA. Just east off the freeway at Encinitas Boulevard in the Smart & Final center. Owner Gordy is born and raised in Encinitas and had a wholesale bakery business years ago. Sold the business and took a break and worked at the Running Shoes store and trained the track team at San Dieguito Academy. He has now gone back to his love of baking and has opened a retail bakery in the previous Baskin-Robbins space.

Charlie’s Best Bread’s new location is the former Con Pane space in Point Loma. Con Pane, for those of you who missed it, is now in a spacious new space at Dewey and Historic Decatur Streets (in the same building complex as Ace Hardware, Tin Fish and Point Loma Sports Bar) with lots and lots and lots of free parking. It’s a short walk to the park if you want a place to relax with a coffee, sandwich or just a slice of artisan bread.

The just renovated Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant in Old Town San Diego State Park is destined to be a hit. Most will know the spot as the former Casa Bandini restaurant. But oh what a cool place it is now with a second floor of ten hotel rooms and some familiar faces to welcome you for drinks and food. The proprietor is Joseph Melluso well-known for his Tin Fish restaurants in San Diego and around the country, the chef is Amy DiBiase formerly of Roseville and bar goers will find Sheila Tracy mixing drinks. The entire venue is set in the 1870’s, complete with period costumes for the staff and victuals that reflect a modern take on those from earlier times.

Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe artisan bakery opens Wednesday June 16 in their new home at 2750 Dewey Road in Liberty Station. The location is around the corner from Ace Hardware and in the same block as Tin Fish restaurant. NOTE: The bakery’s last day in the old location is June 13, and they will reopen on the 16th. Buzz has peeked at the new digs and there’s a large patio, a much bigger counter, new oven and they’ll even take credit cards!

**Wine lovers rejoice: The wine bar at Fifty-Seven Degrees (on Hancock at Washington in the old Pier 1 Imports building) opens March 5 with a stellar group behind the bar. At the helm is Sheila Tracy (the original Laurel and Farmhouse Café) who enlisted three top wine tenders: Billy Spain (original Laurel), Cindy Bartelli (Crush) and Christopher J. Hile (Ivy Hotel). The wine store features the expertise of Brian Farres (original Wine Bank).

**Downtown, Bacchus Wine Market is a hidden gem, with good tastings and a retail shop. In the East Village, Toast Enoteca joins the wine bar market with a contemporary and comfortable room, complete with those serve yourself, credit card type wine dispensers (and many more behind the bar). Best of all there is an Italian- inspired food menu that goes beyond a cheese plate. Little Italy is a hotspot for wine bars including Enoteca Style (on India between Ash and Beech) where the menu has panini’s, some salads from their sister restaurant Salad Style (on F near 8^th), wine and beer.

**Two blocks away on Union between Ash and Beech Extraordinary Desserts dispenses more than delectable desserts. New the first week in March are ports, Madeira and other libations that complement the sweet and savory menu. Worth a trip for a nightcap after the symphony or a night on the town. Or start the day there with coffee and pastry.

Changes: Venice, in UTC has closed and it’s all about location, location, location. Office buildings that garner the lunch crowd cannot be guaranteed the same at dinner. Crescent Heights (shuttered last year) was a terrific downtown restaurant on a Broadway corner with access mainly through the lobby of a large office building not close enough to catch the Gaslamp or convention crowd.

Ivy Hotel is now Andaz San Diego, and part of the Hyatt’s upscale boutique properties. We’re hearing executive chef Nathan Coulon will continue to oversee Quarter Kitchen, that features local ingredients that become terrific menu items. Coulon is a member of Cooks Confab, a group of talented chefs here in San Diego.

It's Got Bite

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
About San Diego's Food Scene

Six Last Minute Valentine’s Day Ideas

The Patio on Lamont Street, Vintana Wine + Dine, Malarkey and More

Easter Dining in San Diego

Sacramento Eats and HSN

Dueling Baguettes: Con Pane vs. Charlie’s Best Bread

Bite Goes and Charlie’s Opens

A Mix: Cooks Confab, 3rd Corner, Terra and Gordy’s Bakery

Cosmopolitan Hotel and Charlie’s Best Bread

Con Pane on the Move

Bits and Bites: Wine and More

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