Podcasts about whisknladle hospitality

I'm suspended fourteen stories above San Diego Bay. I am being dangled over the edge of a cliff made of metal. I smell vaguely of quality craft beer. I am an offering to the gods of amusement. Questioning life choices, my emotional state in that jittery nook between joy and terror. Just hanging there, looking directly down, wondering how good latch technology is these days. Intellectually, you know how safe this is. You know the byzantine safety measures in place. But intellect is no match for that primal scream inside you that says “WHAT THE NO.” This roller coaster's new trick (new to me, at least) is that, instead of just plunging you down the thrill drop, it dangles you over the edge and then stops for a full 3-5 seconds. Lets you take it all in. Then it lets you go. It just drops you, at a 90-degree angle, 143 feet down, 60 miles per hour freefall. Your feet just dangle the whole wild time. The Emperor, SeaWorld's new roller coaster, opens tomorrow (March 12). It's been two years in the making. It's the tallest, fastest, longest dive roller coaster in California. And it's where we podcast from this week. You can hear our adrenaline shakes. To commemorate the coaster's arrival, local craft brew success story Hess Brewing created the Emperor Hazy IPA—a juicy little number that's available exclusively at the park. And it's coinciding with SeaWorld's Seven Seas Food Festival and Craft Beer Festival, which runs now through May 1. VP of Marketing Erika Diprofio—whose name either sounds like a law firm or an expensive perfume—explains the coaster, the beer, and the cause (a portion of sales of the IPA will go to Penguins International). We also hassle the newest member of the SDM media team—our social media manager, Rachel Frank—and make her get on the mic with us to meet you guys. Rachel is a ball of energy and creative force. She created and ran her own music platform, www.listensd.com. She dressed as a panda “to meet friends” in San Diego, and it became such a big hit that she ended up dancing on stage in panda gear with Snoop Dogg, The Flaming Lips, you name it. During the pandemic, she created a short film, “I'm An Ant,” about the meaning of life in an ant costume. It's wonderfully weird, charming, creative. And… it's a finalist at Cannes World Film Festival—after winning Best Experimental Short at the Paris International Film Festival. She'll be creating the new SDM on social media going forward. We actively adore her. Point is, it feels good to be podcasting in public with real people again. Our Zoom-exclusively podcast era has come to a merciful end. In “Hot Plates,” we talk about one of San Diego's best brewpubs, Gravity Heights—a collaboration between master brewer Skip Virgilio (he co-founded AleSmith) and chef Ryan Johnston and Whisknladle Hospitality—which is planning to open a second location in Mission Valley, and Anthony Wells of Juniper & Ivy is a semifinalist for a James Beard Award. For “Two People, Fifty Bucks,” David's has a codependent relationship with soup (this time at Pho on Fifth), Erika professes her love for all things Callie, and Troy found himself in a sweet life spot while staring at warm focaccia bread with melted brie cheese, balsamic, and Granny Smith apples at Seneca, the rooftop restaurant from Consortium Holdings.

Our special guest this week is Arturo Kassel, CEO of Whisknladle Hospitality, which brought us restaurants like Prep Kitchen, Catania, and Whisknladle in La Jolla. He also owns Gravity Heights Brewery, which opened last summer in Sorrento Valley, and the Park Commons food hall. Arturo and his business partner, chef Ryan Johnston, opened Whisknladle in La Jolla in 2008. After 12 years in the neighborhood, they had to close the restaurant this spring because of the pandemic. We featured Whisknladle’s closure in the October/November issue of San Diego Magazine, where we also ran the restaurant’s recipe for their mussels appetizer, provided by Ryan. Arturo has been on the show before, and we invited him back to talk about the latest Stay Home Order. This time around, restaurants can only serve takeout or delivery, and breweries and wineries were ordered to close their tasting rooms. Currently, Catania is open for takeout daily, but Gravity Heights and Park Commons has been temporarily closed. Arturo shares that he fully supports the shutdown of indoor dining, and he understands the need to move to outdoor dining only, but has several frustrations about the current closures. He says that the hospitality industry represents around 9 percent of the outbreaks that have occurred in San Diego County, which would mean that 91 percent are attributable to other sectors. He feels that the restaurant industry is being scapegoated. The PPP loans that came during the first shutdown are what kept their restaurants alive—but another shutdown without PPP funds, or any kind of aid, makes the future very uncertain. Arturo says he’s not as panicked this time around. At the first shutdown, he thought he was seeing 14 years of his life’s work come to a crashing halt, and he was devastated. This time around, they were better prepared, compared to March when they had to throw away thousands of dollars worth of food. He remains cautiously optimistic that there will be some form of relief eventually, but admits that hope is not a great strategy. Despite everything, he remains incredibly proud of and grateful for his team, who managed a seemingly impossible situation. Arturo sees a silver lining in the way the pandemic has forced everyone to take stock of what’s really important in our lives, and believes that on the other side of this, we’re really going to appreciate those simple things—the places we go, the things we do, and the people we see. In Two People for Takeout, Troy recommends supporting any local caterer, like his favorite, Miho Catering Company. Marie got caldo de pollo at Lourdes to satisfy her chicken soup craving. David recommends checking out Sushi Uno, one of many food trucks that, without local breweries, have lost their biggest avenue of distribution. Arturo didn’t pick one specific place—instead, he encourages people to order takeout from the experiential, full-service dining restaurants in their neighborhood. Thank you for listening! As always, we want to hear from our listeners. Do you have a question for Troy? Need a recommendation for takeout? Is there a guest you want us to book on the show? Let us know! You can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a voicemail, or if you’re too shy, you can email us at happyhalfhour@sdmag.com. Be sure to tune in next week for our final episode of 2020.

Hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend! We have another great episode of the Happy Half Hour for you. This week, we’re recording from our sponsor, Sycuan Casino, which recently underwent a huge renovation, and are taping at their new restaurant, Bull & Bourbon Steakhouse. We talked with Marcel, Bull & Bourbon’s sous chef, about the restaurant’s in-house dry-aging program and a special tomahawk steak that is aged for 120 days. Our special guest this week is Arturo Kassel. He's the CEO of Whisknladle Hospitality, which brought us restaurants like PrepKitchen, Catania and of course, Whisknladle in La Jolla. In 2017, Arturo sold the company's Prepkitchen locations so he could focus on his next big project, Gravity Heights, a brewery in Sorrento Valley that just opened in January of this year. Gravity Heights was just named the all-around winner of Best New Brewery in our annual Best Restaurants list—this means that both Troy and our readers agreed that Gravity Heights deserved the title. Arturo is also working on another project in Sorrento Valley, a 10,000-square-foot food hall called Park Commons. His pick for Two People, $50, was The Fishery. Troy liked Cross Street Chicken and Beer, and Lauren’s pick was Morning Glory (which Troy reviews in our upcoming August issue!) In Hot Plates, we talked about Troy getting the First Look at Ciccia Osteria, Mario Cassineri’s new Italian restaurant in Barrio Logan, Puesto taking over Gordon Biersch’s location in Mission Valley and starting their own brewery, and Home & Away, a two-story cocktail and beer bar, opening in Encinitas. This week’s Hot Topic: soon, you’ll be able to order food from McDonald’s, and even a burger from Juniper & Ivy, and have it delivered by drone. San Diego is one of ten cities in the country where the tech giant partnered with McDonald’s to test out drone delivery. We got an email from a listener who needed a recommendation for good Mexican pastries and desserts—listen to find out what Troy and Arturo had to say.

On this week’s episode, hosts Erin Chambers Smith and Troy Johnson along with producer Archana Ram are talking restaurant openings, including the new Shank & Bone in North Park, Modern Times’s plans for a plant-based restaurant in Encinitas, and Herb & Wood’s North County expansion. Our guest is Arturo Kassel, owner of Whisknladle Hospitality, whose restaurants span Catania, Milagro Winery in Ramona, and the eponymous Whisknladle in La Jolla, which just celebrated its tenth anniversary. He talks about how La Jolla has changed in the last decade, why restaurants “age in dog years,” and their latest ventures in Sorrento Valley: Gravity Heights brewpub and Park Commons food hall. Our hot topic is about a start-up working on a once-a-day capsule to keep peanut allergy sufferers from, well, suffering. We end with Two People/$50, including Chennai Tiffins, Red Fox Room, and Ruth’s Chris.

Executive Chef Jason Hotchkiss knows his way around the kitchen, as he comes to Encontro with years of impressive restaurant and hospitality industry experience. In his previous position as director of culinary operations for The Patio Group (The Patio on Goldfinch, The Patio on Lamont, Fireside by The Patio, Saska’s Steak & Seafood), he was solely responsible for overseeing the consistency of quality within their food and beverage program. Chef Jason’s passion for sourcing sustainably caught seafood led him to obtain a Fish Receiver’s license so that he could purchase and receive the freshest catch available for his restaurants.Prior to his role with The Patio Group, Chef Jason held corporate chef positions at both the iconic Cohn Restaurant Group and Whisknladle Hospitality organizations. And before relocating to San Diego, he served as executive chef for the famed Bottega Louie in Los Angeles, where he managed a kitchen staff of 80. During his four-year tenure, the restaurant garnered accolades in numerous publications including “Top 10 New Restaurants” by Los Angeles Magazine and L.A.’s Best Restaurants by Angeleno Magazine. His culinary expertise also gained him personal recognition in Gourmet Magazine in addition to affording him the opportunity to cook at the Epicurean School of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles.Show notes at aoachef.comHELP US PROMOTE YOU LOCAL CHEF!!If you like the show please subscribe in iTunes and write us a review! This is how we can attract your favorite chef and introduce them to a new audience! Review the show in iTunes We rely on it!!Are you a chef or do you know a chef that would like to appear on the show? Drop me a line at aoachef@gmail.comHave you thanked a chef today? Links:Show NotesClick to view: show page on Awesound

Executive Chef Jason Hotchkiss knows his way around the kitchen, as he comes to Encontro with years of impressive restaurant and hospitality industry experience. In his previous position as director of culinary operations for The Patio Group (The Patio on Goldfinch, The Patio on Lamont, Fireside by The Patio, Saska’s Steak & Seafood), he was solely responsible for overseeing the consistency of quality within their food and beverage program. Chef Jason’s passion for sourcing sustainably caught seafood led him to obtain a Fish Receiver’s license so that he could purchase and receive the freshest catch available for his restaurants.Prior to his role with The Patio Group, Chef Jason held corporate chef positions at both the iconic Cohn Restaurant Group and Whisknladle Hospitality organizations. And before relocating to San Diego, he served as executive chef for the famed Bottega Louie in Los Angeles, where he managed a kitchen staff of 80. During his four-year tenure, the restaurant garnered accolades in numerous publications including “Top 10 New Restaurants” by Los Angeles Magazine and L.A.’s Best Restaurants by Angeleno Magazine. His culinary expertise also gained him personal recognition in Gourmet Magazine in addition to affording him the opportunity to cook at the Epicurean School of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles.Show notes at aoachef.comHELP US PROMOTE YOU LOCAL CHEF!!If you like the show please subscribe in iTunes and write us a review! This is how we can attract your favorite chef and introduce them to a new audience! Review the show in iTunes We rely on it!!Are you a chef or do you know a chef that would like to appear on the show? Drop me a line at aoachef@gmail.comHave you thanked a chef today? Links:Show NotesClick to view: show page on Awesound

In today’s episode of the Happy Half Hour, hosts Erin Chambers Smith, Troy Johnson, and producer Archana Ram discuss local dining news, including rumors about a brick and mortar location for the hush-hush dinner series Cow by Bear, the newly renovated (and newly named) rooftop at Hotel Solamar, and a new two-level market coming to North Park. Plus, Whisknladle Hospitality has announced a new project set to debut in late 2018. Joining us is Rachel Dutton, assistant professor at UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences who studies cheese and its microbes. Yes, a professor of cheese! We profiled the scientist in our June issue and today Rachel drops by to talk about how her research can lead to better tasting cheese, a must-read food nerd book by Harold McGee, and what it’s like to be married to one of the Cheese Twins, who also took home gold in Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race. We’re also discussing how scientists just can’t figure out how to make a natural version of Lucky Charms. We end the show with recommendations for Two People/$50, including Lionfish at the Pendry Hotel, Bahia Don Bravo, The Taco Stand, and Facing East Noodle & Bar.