Tag Archives: Hotels

Bits: True Food Kitchen and more to Eat, Drink, Read

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With the Hyatt management now in control at Andaz (formerly Ivy Hotel), there were bound to be changes in the kitchen.  Executive chef Nathan Coulon will move on May 6.  Next stop, Fashion Island in Newport Beach where he’ll oversee the new True Food Kitchen (a Phoenix import) due to open mid-July. Buzz has eaten at the Phoenix restaurant–its good-for-you menu is based on Dr. Andrew Weil’s principles of an anti-inflammatory pyramid of foods–and the food flavorful and interesting.  When Coulon leaves Quarter Kitchen he’ll be in Phoenix for six weeks working with executive chef, Michael Stebner. Yes, that Michael Stebner who owned the well-received-ahead-of-its-time-Region restaurant that focused on locally sourced ingredients with a menu based on Slow Food principles.  When Stebner left San Diego he went to Phoenix and ended up working for Fox Restaurant Concepts who created True Food Kitchen.  Now San Diego loses another talented chef

Don’t despair, however, San Diego does have chefs who can cook and many of them give their time to do special dinners to support student chefs.   Chef Celebration dinners are in full swing and they are worth checking out.  At $65  per person, $35 of which goes to the scholarship fund, these dinners are worth every cent to experience a dinner featuring four chefs.  Tuesday April 27,  Nine-Ten‘s Jason Knibb  hosts Brian Sinnott, Trey Foshee, Jack Fisher and Jeff Jackson and for the month of May the venues include Kitchen 1540, Cowboy Star, Urban Solace and Karl Strauss.  Check here to see who’s cooking where and to make reservations call the individual venue.

Eat, Drink, Read, takes place Wednesday, April 28 will benefit the San Diego Council on Literacy.  For just $60,  you’ll taste, mix and match wines and beers with food from noted restaurants including The Marine Room, Urban Solace,  Suite & Tender and many more.  The venue is the hip Sushi Performance and Visual Art downtown at Eleventh and Island.

Bits and Bites

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The Marine Room has done what many places should consider:  They’ve dropped the $25 corkage fee to zero. That’s right,  zero.  There is a two-bottle maximum per table…and this isn’t just a holiday stunt.  For those who own wines they’d like to drink with dinner, not always at home, this no corkage policy is a plus for Marine Room diners.   

The La Jolla-based Burger Lounge opened its second location in Kensington with a third in the works downtown.  The Lounge features four burgers including turkey and natural beef, along with hand-cut fries.  Buzz thinks they do a damned good job with the burger concept–fresh and straightforward food.

If you want excess in a very grand manner, check out The Grand Del Mar Hotel, the nearly $3 million project from Doug Manchester. Everything at the resort is huge, gilded and lives up to its grand name.  Compared to other luxury hotels in the area, however, this one is over-the-top in amenities and service.  For example, there’s a 21,000 square foot spa, with treatment rooms that for some would be the size of a bedroom. Don’t take this as a complaint…just an observation.  Foodwise, Buzz loves that Jesse Rodriguez, the  sommelier at the property’s stand alone dinner restaurant Addison, now directs the wine program for the entire resort.  Charles Stuart, after many years at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, is the director of catering, Mark Steenge is the new general manager of Addison and Jason McLeod, most recently from the Four Seasons Resort in the Bahamas, is the executive chef of Amaya the hotel’s main restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Here diners may find the Mediterranean-inspired menu more accessible than the very upscale and formal Addison with its somewhat pretentious choices from Chef William Bradley.

Executive chef Timothy Au joins general manager and top sommelier Lisa Redwine at Molly’s Restaurant and Wine Bar at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina.  Au arrived from a two year stint at the five-star Mayflower Inn and Spa in Washington, Connecticut.  He’s also cooked with many celebrated California chefs including Bradley Ogden and Jeremiah Tower.  Haven’t tried it yet.

Downtown’s Salad Style owners Mary Jo Testa and Scott Thomas have opened Enoteca Style in Little Italy.  At the moment it’s sandwiches, waiting for their contractor to get the wine bar finished….1445 India St., between Ash and Beech. 619-546-7138.

Nobu opened at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp.  Haven’t checked it out.