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On episode four of our podcast, Scene in San Diego Featuring Eater, we talk about a few of the new restaurants that have managed to open in San Diego during the coronavirus pandemic – despite restaurant rollbacks and ongoing restrictions.One of those debuts is the long-awaited Portside Pier dining complex along San Diego’s North Embarcadero, a $25 million project five years in the making from Brigantine, Inc. To talk about that project, we’re joined by our guest, Mike Morton Jr., co-owner of the Brigantine Inc. Morton discusses how Portside Pier plans to operate safely in these times of COVID-19.Of course, it’s not just about what’s newly open these days in our local food and drink scene. Sadly, we’ve also lost many beloved San Diego restaurants to the economic impact of the pandemic. We touch on a few of those closures, too.Episode 4 Show Notes: San Diego Restaurant OpeningsLast month, public health officials ordered San Diego County restaurants to shut down their indoor dining rooms – the second time that’s happened since the coronavirus pandemic reached San Diego County in mid-March. Restaurants are still allowed to operate, only they must move all dining areas outside. San Diego County remains on California’s monitoring list, and that means those restrictions will likely continue, at least for now.Despite these restrictions, there have been some restaurant openings across San Diego’s dining landscape over the past few months. We take you to three of those debuts in three parts of town: the Gaslamp Quarter, Liberty Station, and the downtown waterfront.3 San Diego Restaurants That Have Opened During the PandemicLumi (Gaslamp Quarter)The indoor dining ban continues to be tough on restaurants, but San Diego’s weather does give us a bit of an advantage when it comes to the shift towards outdoor dining. Lumi opened in late June in the Gaslamp, before the dine-in ban. Since it’s a rooftop restaurant, it has been able to stay open. Lumi serves Japanese-Peruvian cuisine and the chef behind the restaurant, Akira Back, has a Michelin-starred restaurant in Asia and an expansive global portfolio.The Presley (Liberty Station)Over at Liberty Station, The Presley recently opened, a family-friendly, mostly-outdoor eatery from Good Time Design – the same group that runs The Blind Burro and Moonshine Flats. This space works for the times we’re in: 2,070 square feet of the property is entirely dedicated to patio dining. On Executive Chef Todd Nash’s menu, patrons will find everything from flatbreads, sandwiches, and salads to dishes such as everything-crusted seared ahi, mussels with linguica and lobster broth. The drink menu includes such concoctions las the Dole Whip mimosa, frozen gin fizz, and classic lava flow – just the right selections for a boozy Sunday brunch.The Presley replaces Fireside by The Patio at Liberty Station, one of The Patio Group restaurants formerly owned by embattled business executive Gina Champion-Cain, who recently pleaded guilty to defrauding investors in a $400 million Ponzi scheme. That’s, of course, a story for another day, which you can catch up on here. Oh, and to read more about how Liberty Station is embracing the outdoor dining trend amid pandemic-related restrictions, check this out.Portside Pier (Embarcadero)The final stop on our tour of a few recent openings is Portside Pier along downtown’s waterfront. Portside Pier is a $25 million project from the Brigantine, Inc., featuring four restaurant concepts housed in one complex: Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar; Miguel’s Cocina; Ketch Grill & Taps; and Portside Coffee & Gelato.Five years in the making, the 42,000-square-foot Portside Pier is part of the Port of San Diego’s redevelopment of the North Embarcadero. The restaurant hub sits on a familiar site: San Diego dining staple Anthony’s Fish Grotto operated for more than 50 years at that location. (Disclosure: Monica Garske’s husband works for Brigantine Inc.) Brigantine Inc. was among the many companies that bid for this prime waterfront location after Anthony’s time there was up five years ago.Guest Interview: Mike Morton, Jr., of Brigantine, Inc., & Portside PierThe Brigatine Inc.’s Mike Morton Jr. joined us on this episode of our podcast to talk about how the Portside Pier project came together – pandemic and all.“We were about 4 months from finishing the project when the shutdown happened,” he explained.The company continued to build, not really knowing if they’d be able to open the property as planned.But they pressed on and were fortunate enough to open.With more than half of Portside Pier’s 1,000 seats situated on the property’s scenic patios, Morton Jr. called the outdoor-friendly layout of the property “fortuitous,” given our currently public health restrictions.“We’ve got a ton of outdoor space here. We didn’t have a crystal ball – we just got lucky,” he added.With Portside Pier in a high-traffic, iconic location, it’s bound to attract a lot of people. But, during a pandemic, crowds must be curbed for public safety. Morton Jr. shares how his team plans to use reservations, social distance protocols and other measures to keep the restaurant, customers, and employees safe as the pandemic continues.Morton Jr. said reservations are highly encouraged, via Open Table.3 San Diego Restaurants That Have Permanently Closed During the PandemicWhile these restaurant openings are great news for our food and drink scene, there’s just no denying the other side: the permanent closure of some local eateries. The restaurant industry has been hugely impacted by the pandemic, and it’s unfortunately resulted in a wide range of eateries across San Diego having to close – and not just during the pandemic shutdowns, but for good. Both NBC 7 and Eater San Diego are keeping a running list of shuttered restaurants on our websitesThe Balboa Bar and GrillKnown for its burgers, The Balboa Bar and Grill in Bankers Hill recently closed to the disappointment of its many, many fans. The Fifth Avenue bar was small, dark, and cozy – all qualities that don’t align with current health orders. An offshoot of The Balboa, which opened last year in Chula Vista and has patio seating, will continue to operate. If you’re still hankering for that Balboa burger fix (ahem, guilty), Eater has details on that Chula Vista location here.WhisknladleAnother big, surprising closure was that of Whisknladle, which had been on Wall Street in La Jolla for the past 12 years. Well-respected for its farm-to-table menu, the restaurant had snagged a spot on Eater’s list of the 38 essential restaurants in San Diego. The group behind the restaurant still has Catania in La Jolla as well as Gravity Heights and Park Commons in the Sorrento Mesa area.Waypoint PublicOur final closure of this episode is in North Park and that is Waypoint Public. Though it’s been open for seven years on 30th Street, the gastropub’s owner has put it up for sale, saying that the business can’t survive on the fraction of normal sales it’s currently doing due to the pandemic. As a 5,000-square-foot restaurant that has just a small patio, the numbers just don’t add up. If you enjoyed this episode of the Scene in San Diego Featuring Eater Podcast, subscribe, rate and review us on your favorite podcasting platform: HYPERLINK to Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher.For more content from The Scene, visit this website. For more content from Eater San Diego, click here. And, to read our collaboration content with Eater and The Scene every week, click here.The Scene in San Diego Feat. Eater Podcast is hosted by NBC 7’s Monica Garske and Eater San Diego’s Candice Woo, and produced by NBC 7’s Matthew Lewis.
Welcome back to the Happy Half Hour! Today we’re admiring the striking food photography of Brittany Wright, and getting a behind-the-scenes look at the art of food styling. Brittany is from San Diego and resides in Golden Hill; her work has been featured everywhere from the pages of Food & Wine to packaging for Fresh Cosmetics, and she published a book of her photography, Feast Your Eyes. How does one become a pro food photographer? Brittany says working at a job where she was unhappy and felt stuck is what led to her current career. She followed her passions and combined them, learning how to cook while photographing her subjects—produce and other ingredients. Now she’s known for her pieces that show off different foods in a color gradient. We learn that Brittany does most of her work in daylight, and that she doesn’t waste any of the food that she shoots. Listen in to learn more. In Hot Plates, we cover the week’s biggest headlines. After five years in the making, the family that owns Brigantine just opened Portside Pier—a huge complex with four eateries and lots of patio space—on Harbor Drive. Local icon Dolores Robledo, who founded Roberto’s Taco Shop with her husband in 1964, passed away recently, leaving behind a legacy of 60 locations throughout California and Nevada. Waypoint Public will be leaving North Park soon, since the owner had to put the restaurant up for sale. Bonchon, a global Korean fried chicken chain, opened a second location in National City. For Two People for Takeout, Troy recommends Hanna’s Gourmet, and Brittany enjoys the vegan cuisine at Kindred. David says the Pho-rench dip at Shank & Bone is a must-try, and my pick is the mar y tierra fries at The Taco Stand. Thank you so much for listening and for staying with us. We want to hear from you. Is there a guest you want us to book on the show? A topic that should be explored? Need a recommendation for takeout? Do you have a question for Troy? Let us know. You can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a voicemail, or if you’re shy, you can email us at happyhalfhour@sdmag.com.
This week’s special guest is Rick Chapman, the co-founder of Coronado Brewing Company, which has been open for over 23 years. Rick and his brother, Ron, opened the brewpub in the heart of their hometown of Coronado in 1996. Since then, their beers have won some major awards, including the 2014 World Beer Cup Champion for Best Mid-Sized Brewery, and they won four medals at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival competition. They expanded in 2012 with a state-of-the-art production facility and tasting room in Bay Park, and in 2014, they opened up the Imperial Beach Restaurant. They have also expanded their brewhouse to meet the distribution demands of 16 states and 15 countries. For Two People, $50, Rick gave us a few choices: Kaiserhof Restaurant and Biergarten in OB, and his Coronado favorites, Village Pizza, Lil’ Piggy’s Bar-B-Q, and the Brigantine. Lauren chose George’s Level 2 because of their creative custom cocktails, like the pumpkin spice margarita. Erin chose Waypoint Public because of its family-friendly atmosphere and its beer cheese dipping sauce. Troy chose a favorite of many local chefs, The Joint in OB, but you will likely spend over $50 for this delicious, fresh food. In Hot Plates, we talked about how Accursio Lota, formerly of Solare, announced a while back he was going solo and took over the Cardamom Café and Bakery space in North Park to open a new Sicialian restaurant named Cori Pastifico. Park Commons, the new food hall in Sorrento Valley from Whisknladle, will be opening on November 11, and it will have five fast-casual restaurants and a full bar. This week’s Hot Topic is about labels on beer bottles going paperless! A recent article in Food & Wine talks about how Anheuser-Busch is experimenting with something called “direct object printing,” where they will apply the ink and varnish “label” directly on the glass, instead of using paper and an adhesive. Beck's Brewery is currently using this technology in the U.K. Thanks for listening, and we’d love to hear from you! Call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a message. Or if you’re too shy to call, you can email HappyHalfHour@sdmag.com. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50, tell us about any news happening in San Diego’s culinary world, or let us know who you’d like to hear featured as a guest on the podcast.
How do surrounding businesses get along with their neighborhood farmers' markets? Find out on this week's episode! We chat with the team at Waypoint Public, a local restaurant who shares their storefront with a busy weekly farmers' market. Listen along to learn how markets can synergize with the businesses around them.
Today’s episode of the Happy Half Hour is sponsored by the upcoming SoNo Fest & Chili Cook-off. We’re joined by Waypoint Public chef Rich Sweeney and SoNo co-organizer Brijet Myers to chat about the 8th annual event that includes nearly 40 restaurants making chili, plus a holiday craft market, craft beer, and more on December 3 at the intersection of 32nd and Thorn streets in between North and South Park. Even better, the event raises money for McKinley Elementary School’s Spanish, art, and music program. In Hot Plates, Erin Chambers Smith and Troy Johnson are talking about City Tacos’s expansion to La Mesa and a revamped downtown hotel with three food concepts from The Patio Group. And Troy tells us about the fifth taste known as “umami” and what he thinks the sixth taste is. Today’s guest is Mad Monk Tea co-founder Taylor Drye who explains what single-origin tea is all about. In Two People/$50, we’re recommending UnderBelly and Plant Power.
We’re bringing you today’s episode of the Happy Half Hour from North Park’s Waypoint Public, one of nearly 40 restaurants participating in this year’s SoNo Fest & Chili Cook-off. We’re joined by Waypoint chef Rich Sweeney and SoNo co-organizer Brijet Myers to chat about the 8th annual event that includes chili, beer, a holiday craft market, and more—all taking place December 3 at the intersection of 32nd and Thorn streets. Even better, the event raises money for McKinley Elementary Schools’ Spanish, art, and music program. In Hot Plates, Erin Chambers Smith and Troy Johnson are talking recent restaurant openings, including a local chef headed to TV on the next season of Top Chef and Buona Forchetta’s expansion. Today’s guest is Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau. Plus, we’re talking about the potential cuts to farmer’s market funding.
Waypoint Public stops in to dish about their newest location opening in Paseo Del Sur, San Diego. Chef Rich Sweeney entices the Divas with family friendly 2017 Valentine's Day offerings and schools them on who invented brunch.