Tag Archives: Downtown

Bits and Bites: Wine and Dine

Posted on by | 1 Reply

Tuesday’s at Anthology feature chef Eric Bauer doing his own riff on American classic foods such as mac and cheese with braised pork and  pale ale seafood and chorizo chowder.  The pocketbook friendly “fresh vibe” menu changes every week to complement the house band’s music.

Downtown restaurant watchers will be happy to note that Bice, will open late October.  It is the latest location for the worldwide restaurant group that began 70 plus years ago as a small neighborhood eatery in Milan.  The  Northern Italian menu–well-known in New York, Orlando and Los Angeles (Cafe Med on Sunset)–will feature local ingredients.

Point Loma will soon have a wine bar in the hood, half a block from Roseville, Pomodoro and Old Venice.  Look for the Wine Pub to open in the next couple of months.  Details soon.

October marks the 14th annual Chefs Celebration series of dinners to benefit scholarships for culinary students.  Every Tuesday in October, including one in September (29), you can eat five course meals created by five chefs (each week a different venue and chefs) for just $65 ($35 goes to the scholarship fund). Pamplemousse hosts the September meal with guest chefs Jason Kniebb (Nine-Ten), Jeff Thurston (Prado) and Jim Phillips (Barona).  On October 6, Terra hosts Norma Martinez (El Vitral), Katie Grebow (Cafe Chloe), Danny Bannister (Red Marlin) and Amy DiBiase (Roseville).  Good dinners for a good cause.



Bits and Bites: Opened and Closed

Posted on by | 6 Replies

Now here’s a really interesting newcomer, due to open soon:  Steve Barr, who for many years ran the Winesellar & Brasserie dining room, will open Per Se Restaurant and Wine Bar in Carlsbad at Roosevelt and Carlsbad Village Drive.  No points for originality in naming the place, but lots of moxie to so closely borrow from the Thomas Keller restaurant of the same name in New York city.  We guess that the French Laundry name was already taken.

Crescent Heights,  one of the best new restaurants to grace San Diego’s restaurant scene, has closed as the message states on their answering machine.  Truly a place that will be missed for its food, service and alternative to the Gaslamp’s mostly mediocre  convention oriented places.  For more  closings, read the comments posted on my recent post, Sadly Gone.



The Book of Eli film

Buzz from the Bar

Posted on by | 2 Replies

The almost open Setai San Diego made a name change December 22, to Sè San Diego. The Asian word Sè loosely translates to color, quality, sensuality and physical attraction which the owners felt better defines the hotel and separates it from its sister Setai in Miami (owned by Lehman Brothers).  The idea is to brand the hotel and future properties in other cities (think Sè Las Vegas and you get the idea).  The hotel is in its soft opening and its signature restaurant Suite & Tender Bar, Lounge & Restaurant (a cute play on words, but will you think steak?) hopes to be open by Sunday, December 28.  Christopher Lee, from New York where he garnered two Michelin stars for Gilt, is the consulting chef and Bill Boyle is the executive chef for the mostly steak, raw bar and seafood menu.  1047 Fifth Ave., San Diego., 619-515-3000.

Bits and Bites: Calistoga Winery Sells and More

Posted on by | Leave a reply

Wine lovers will be sad and glad to know that the famed Chateau Montelena winery in Calistoga is being sold to the house of Cos d’Estournel in the Saint-Estèphe area of Bordeaux.

Over at The Shores Restaurant and sister to the well-known Marine Room, Lisa Redwine is the new General Manager. Many may know her from Molly’s where she was the GM as well as the hotel wine director. Bernard Guillas is the executive chef for The Shores as well as the Marine Room. Both properties are part of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.

EXY, the downtown chic Greek restaurant and lounge is now open for lunch with items such as chicken pita sandwich, swell hamburgers, salads and other dishes from their dinner menu–sized for lunch–and priced between $5 and $9. Open Tuesday through Friday for lunch and though Saturday for dinner. Also available for private functions on Sunday and Monday. Located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and F Street; phone: 619-238-0412.

The Saturday Little Italy Mercato grows weekly with new vendors that include rotisserie chickens from Grill Master, lots of seasonal and produce for locovores and bakery items too…I hope to get there this weekend. Located between Date Street and Kettner to Union and open from 9am to 1:30pm.

Wine, Wine and More Wine

Posted on by | 3 Replies

Wine-guy Dustin Jones, the well-known sommelier at La Jolla’s La Valencia Hotel has moved on to work with Rob Barnett at www.vinvillage.com.  While we’re on the subject of La Valencia, it and its sister property, Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa are for sale.

North County will soon have The 3rd Corner in the Encinitas Lumberyard shopping center.  The restaurant will occupy the current Sbicca Bistro space, according to Dan Sbicca.  The 3rd Corner is the brainchild of Ed Moore, one of San Diego’s best when it comes to wine and food.  If you you are unfamiliar with his place in Ocean Beach, it’s a concept that works like this:  Mostly a well-stocked wine store, with about 50 restaurant seats and small bistro menu that includes everything from a cheese plate to fish, pasta and meat with nothing over $19.  For a modest $5 corkage, you can browse the restaurant for your wine to drink at the table.  Along with a full bar, the place also offers a good selection of wines by the glass. 

There are numerous wine events and wine merchants around town and if you’re not on their email lists, here are some good ones:  Downtown on G Street you’ll find Bacchus Wine Market & Tasting Room  and note on the website the downtown restaurants that don’t charge corkage when you buy bring in wine bought at their store.  Nearby, The Wine Bank on Fifth Avenue, has renovated the place and has tastings.  In Middletown there’s the Wine Vault & Bistro, with tasting and wine dinners–those in the know are on the email list.  

Off Harbor Boulevard in Liberty Station there’s Mellow, a small but sophisticated wine bar with an interesting wine selection. To the north at the Barnett entrance next to the golf course is Wine Steals, with a casual, post-college atmosphere, similar to their original site in Hillcrest.

Up in the Mira Mesa area Vintage Wines, San Diego Wine Co. and the Winesellar & Brasserie are all worth getting up-to-the-minute tasting and buying information.  

Do you have a favorite wine bar or wine store? If so, please share.  

Bits and Bites

Posted on by | 1 Reply

About December 1, the back tower lobby space of The Westin San Diego at Columbia and C Streets opens as Esquires where judges, attorneys, jurors and the rest of us can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner.  San Diego native Frank Terzoli, aka Frankie the Bull, who has cooked around the world, is the guy with the concept of a diner/deli for breakfast and lunch and chop house for dinner.  Look for the bar to be a great gathering place for the downtown community. 

In the same area, Jonathan Pflueger’s Currant American Brasserie opened in the recently redone Sofia Hotel (formerly Pickwick) with a menu of fresh seasonal food, American style,  for lunch and dinner.  Don’t be put off by the restaurant’s immediate neighbor–the Greyhound bus station–the area is also home to a Peet’s coffee and the court house.  Buzz hasn’t had a chance to scope it out–have you?

Hillcrest is jumping these days as Zubin Desai, former general manager and sommelier at Blanca in Solana Beach, moves into the former Russo’s to open his restaurant, The Better Half that will feature American/French bistro fare to pair with half bottle wines. Expect a mid November opening. In the same block, Seasons 142 moved into the space that formerly housed Brazil on the Hill.

The popular Arrivederci will open a second location on 30thStreet in North Park just north of University Avenue and next door to coffee roaster and coffee house, Caffe Calabria, Buzz’s favorite place for a proper one ounce pull of espresso.  A block south on 30th is Heaven Sent Desserts, and Urban Solace that opened for lunch and dinner with a menu of contemporary American comfort food served in a neighborhood setting.  Another place Buzz has yet to experience.