Quality Social (site under construction) opened and Buzz expects it to be a hit.  Where else in town can you get a very good gin and tonic (with housemade tonic) or a tasty Brandt beef  hot dog  that Chicago transplant and executive chef Jared Van Camp makes and smokes at the restaurant?  These were two tasting items served at their opening party.  Located in the former EXY space downtown at F & 6th, the room includes two bars, lots of open space with high top seating and a very comfortable vibe.   Buzz can’t wait to try the housemade charcuterie that includes pastrami, chicken liver pate and coppa, served with housemade pickles and mustard or goose fat fries for a change of pace.  Local is the name of the game for ingredients:  Crow’s Pass greens and Monterey Bay squid are but a few of the featured names. Oh, and forget about those frou frou drinks…not here.   Open daily from 4pm to 2am.

Wine bars are a dime a dozen, each with their particular personality meant to attract a certain patron.  Should you be the casual Wine Steals customer, their newest soon-to-open location is downtown on J Street between 7th and 8th in Petco Park.  They’re also opening a separate gastro pub called Proper.  And don’t forget the casual new Fifty-Seven Degrees (as noted here) on Hancock at Washington where you’ll find a large round bar, good wines and friendly and knowledgeable  wine tenders.  Closed Monday.

If, however, you want a contemporary, sophisticated experience, with top-notch service, a knowledgeable sommelier (Katie Brookshire who buys unusual and interesting wines), and a chef (Luke Johnson) who shops the farmers market for his weekly menu creations,  then this is your spot.  Buzz popped into Red Velvet for a bite and can’t wait to return.  The tiny menu included fresh morels from Northern California with bite-size light gnocchi, fresh favas and Meyer lemon ($8) that paired well with a Saint- Veran  and a delicate pork belly spiked with dots of tangelo puree and a subtle undertone of cocoa and  jalapeno ($11) melded with  a glass of Reisling.  This gem  seats just 30 people.  From 5pm to 11pm, closed Monday.

Buzz is hearing that one of San Diego’s top chefs,  Amy DiBiase, a member of Cooks Confab and executive chef at the popular Roseville in Point Loma, will be moving on in the near future.  Stay tuned.

Donovan’s owners take over the Bondi space land will open later this summer with a new dining concept–possibly seafood or Italian so not to compete with their namesake steakhouse just a block away.

Lobster lovers, mark your calendar for May.  That’s when King’s Fish House will feature live Maine lobsters in nine sizes and multiple dishes from bisque to rolls.  Locations in Mission Valley, Chula Vista and Carlsbad.

**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 8th), 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.


The word is out (and the sign is up) that the popular Point Loma Con Pane Rustic Breads & Café will soon have a new home in Liberty Station.  It is in the same complex as Joao’s Tin Fish Eatery & Pub, Ace Hardware and backs up to the Point Loma Sports Grill & Pub.  The greater access with lots of parking and a big patio should be a boon to bakery goers far and near. And yes, the place is a Buzz favorite.

As mentioned in a September 8, 2009 post, wine lovers who might have wondered where Bryan Ferris landed after his many years downtown at The Wine Bank, can now sip and smooze with him at the new Fifty-Seven Degrees on Washington in the building that was the Pier 1 outlet store. The wine store is open along with the wine storage facilities and the center of the room wine bar is just about finished.  1735 Hancock Street, San Diego, 619-234-5757

With the holidays in full swing San Diego offers many varied choices to celebrate the New Year. Many hotels offer rooms so you can ring in 2010 and not worry about a DUI.  Check with your favorite places for their holiday events and here are a few more to consider:

**Downtown, the restaurant Suite & Tender at the Se San Diego Hotel offer a New Year’s package of dining, drinking, and dancing.  The Night in Tokyo includes a four-course, wine-pairing menu complete with a Champagne toast. Then choose to dance to a lives band in the ballroom or pulse the night away with DJ’s music at the Siren pool deck. Spend the night at the hotel that offers six different packages, some featuring a Hangover Spa service for two, complimentary breakfast, and overnight valet services, each with tickets to either the pool deck or the ballroom. For reservations and information, call 619.515.3000.

**In La Jolla, Nine-Ten’s Jason Knibb and dessert wiz, Jack Fisher cook up special three-and five-course prix-fixe dinners ($55 to $75 without wine pairing) on New Year’s Eve. In keeping with their ongoing commitment to creating innovative cuisine using only the freshest local ingredients, the chefs’ New Year’s Eve Dinner menus will feature the bounty of the season and the best of the harvest. Click here to see the complete New Year’s Eve dinner menu.  For information and reservations: 858.964.5400 or online.

**The Winesellar & Brasserie in Sorrento Valley features a $75 three course menu with lovely choices that include among others vanilla poached lobster salad, smoked goat cheese tortellini, skate wing and rack of lamb. Seatings from 5:00 – 10:00 pm.   For reservations please call 858-450-9557.

**If you’d rather get out of the city and try your luck at the slots, take a short drive to Lakeside and make it a mini vacation at Barona Resort & Casino.  The Ranch House will serve an all-you-can-eat New Year’s feast priced at $29.95 per person. The special buffet menu will be offered from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Check their website for their other restaurant offerings.

**North Park’s Splash features their second annual wine/finger food pairing for $45.  If you’re partying at home they can help you with your wine selections.


We’re hearing that there may be some cranky ex-employers of those souls who left to open Paon.  Word on the street is that much of Paon’s menu is word for word (recipe for recipe, perhaps) that of Winesellar & Brasserie.  Buzz hasn’t been to Paon so can’t comment on how Steve Barr and chef David Gallardo are doing there.  (We also wonder when–or if– they will change their web address to Paon instead of Persecarlsbad–the first name they had until they heard from the original Per Se in NYC.)   Winesellar has executive chef  Matt Smith, who  cooked in France and Spain as well as at the original Laurel Restaurant & Bar and Myres Macdougal as host and sommelier (studying for his Advanced certificate) as well as a top notch Wine Spectator wine list.

And, New York comes to Blanca with a new executive chef, Jason Neroni who cooked his way around the Big Apple at such well-known eateries as Tabla, Table 21 and 10 Downing.  Haven’t been yet to taste his farm to table, down-to-earth cooking, but it sure sounds good.

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.



Love wine?  If you missed Fifty Seven Degrees downtown–with its wine bar, wine storage and wine sales–fear not.  Roughly November 1, they will reopen on Hancock Street, right off the freeway at Washington Street in what was the Pier 1 Import store.

Look for the new location to have a wine bar, retail sales, increased wine storage (from 120,000 to 600,000 bottles) and cheese shop.  Should you know anyone who’d like to open a restaurant in some adjoining space, it’s available.  The renderings of the interior look exciting and it will certainly be a go-to spot for wine aficionados.  For those who follow wine sales personnel, Bryan Ferris,,  who ran The Wine Bank before it was sold, is a part of the team.

 

At the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival , November 18 to 22, you can taste wine at one of the events called Wine in Style.  You’ll also be able to eat yourself silly with more than 170 wineries, 70 San Diego restaurants and celebrity chefs cooking up a storm. Money raised during the event goes to American Institute of Food & Wine scholarship fund.

Cooks Confab, is a collection of fourteen chefs in San Diego who  cook together every so often.  Their next event is “Craft Beer:  Grain to Glass, Farm to Table” and promises (as their events always are) to be a knockout at Stingaree.  On August 9, some of the food and drink you can expect for your $90 (a portion of which goes to Slow Food Urban San Diego) includes:  Lightening Brewery, Green Flash Brewing Company, AleSmith Brewing Company to go with food from the confab chefs  (Katie Grebow, Cafe Chloe; Amy DiBiase, Roseville;  Jeff Jackson, A.R. Valentien; Andrew Spurgin, Waters Fine Catering, among others).  For reservations:   619-544-9500 or online at Stingaree.

Over at one of the nicest venues in San Diego, Eno at the Hotel Del begins the week with bubbles.  Every Monday, all sparkling wines will be half price, all night (5pm to 11pm)  including bottles, flights and glasses.  What a great way to start the week and watch the sunset…

Wine tasting and dinners abound so be sure to check out The 3rd Corner, Wine Vault & Bistro, Winesellar & Brasserie, three places known for good wine shops as well.  We’re hearing Cucina Urbana sells wine at the restaurant for a small corkage fee.

And if you want to meet fellow food lovers, get on the email list for Slow Food Urban San Diego so you can go to one of their monthly mixers…meet local chefs and taste local artisan foods.

If you’d like to taste some Parker 93 point plus wines, then Enoteca Style in Little Italy is the place to be on Thursday, February 26.  Cost is $20 to experience Palmeyer, Palazzo and others.  RSVP online.

There’s a new city magazine that launches mid-May, OurCity: San Diego.  It’s a magazine for our times that will cover things to do, places to go, the food scene (Buzz is the food editor) all with an eye to family, community and the people who are a part of this glorious place, San Diego.  Sign up online for three free issues.

San Diego’s first Passover seder at Urban Solace, takes place on Wednesday April 8, the first night of the holiday.  Reservations and information: 619-295-6464.

As Buzz mentioned on February 19, Winesellar & Brasserie will open a take away/sit down area downstairs from its Brasserie.  Split @ The Winesellar & Brasserie opens Wednesday February 25 with a small menu to expand as it grows.  Hours: 11am to 2pm Monday through Friday.

Eno at the Del, hosts a new series of Connoisseur Dinners that kick off with Willi Brundlmayer, the well-known Austrian winemaker.  The March 4 dinner is limited to 24, cost is $85 plus tax and tip and for reservations call 619-522-8490.

If Austrian wines aren’t your thing,  1500 Ocean, the terrific restaurant at the Hotel Del (yes, Buzz loves the place for its top food and service) hosts the first dinner in a series to celebrate sustainable foods.  On March 24, Cooks Confab, local chefs who value farm and sea to table regional ingredients, will hightlight sustainable seafood.  Chefs involved include, Brian Sinnott, Christian Graves, Nathan Coulon, Jack Fisher, and Jason Knibb among others.  The eight-course dinner is $95 plus tax and tip and for reservations call 619-522-8490.

Should you find yourself in New York on March 30, join Addison’s executive chef William Bradley and wine director Jesse Rodriguez for dinner at the James Beard House.  For reservations, call 212-627-2308.

The 3rd Corner features a number of wine events and dinners including a March 9 wine dinner with wines from Fallbrook Winery.  Others throughout March and April center on wines of Italy, Argentina, Malbecs and more.  For information and reservations:  619-223-2700.

Family Winemakers of California comes to Wyland Center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds with 240 wineries participating on Sunday, March 15 from 3pm to 6pm.  Cost is $40 or $50 at the door.   Order tickets online.

At  Wine Vault & Bistro you’ll find an ever changing and interesting lineup of wines and winemaker dinners.  You need to be on the email list to know about the events.

The Kiwanis Club of Alpine Foundation hosts their 19th Annual Vintage Alpine on May 3 where you can enjoy wine, food, music and a silent auction.  $40 before March 24, $50 at the door.  For more information:  619-672-3861 or online.

If you’re still wondering what to do New Year’s Eve, here are some suggestions:  Support your favorite neighborhood restaurants where you may be able to sit at the bar if they’re already booked for dinner, or think about early drinks and then home with friends–you cook or get food to-go.   It’s a good way to stay close to home, enjoy the evening and support the restaurants. Party–even in these woeful economic times–and everyone wins.

The possibilities are numerous for celebrating with many venues offering early and late seating and prix-fixe dinners of three plus courses at reasonable prices. So rather than list every place that sent Buzz a release (and many who didn’t post anything on their websites or send an email), here are some of my top picks.

Downtown/Gaslamp/Little Italy: Crescent Heights Kitchen & Lounge, Quarter Kitchen, TabuleBacchus Wine Market (3 to 6pm tasting), Anthology and Enoteca Style for cheese, chocolate and Champagne.

Coronado: The Hotel Del celebrates the 50th anniversary of the movie Some Like It Hot,  Eno and 1500 Ocean also at the hotel, Candelas (Ferry Landing and Gaslamp).

East CountyBarona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino, Frida Mexican Restaurant and many other local area restaurants.

North Park: Urban Solace, Sea Rocket Bistro, Alexander’s on 30th and The Linkery, not to mention the newest wine bar Splash.  At the opposite end of 30th is Jaynes Gastropub and around the corner on Adams, the wildly popular Farm House Cafe.

Point Loma/Liberty Station:   The Pearl HotelRoseville, Solare RistoranteTender Greens (perfect also for a party at home as you can order online for take-away), The 3rd Corner (also in Encinitas) Pomodoro in the old Luna Notte spot, no website: Phone: (619) 523-1301) and Mellow A Wine Bar.

Hillcrest/Bankers Hill: The Better Half, Modus, Wine Vault & Bistro, Avenue 5 Restaurant & Bar, Hexagone,(no website, 619-236-0467), Laurel Restaurant & Ba and Bertrand at Mr. A’s,

La Jolla/Del MarThe Marine Room, Nine-Ten Prospect, Market Restaurant & Bar, and The Grand Del Mar