San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

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A Michelin-starred chef is coming to San Diego, and is the Instagram aesthetic over? May 08, 2019

Show notes

We’re on location at Petco Park and taped this episode at the recent Padres vs. Mariners game. This week’s special guest is Katie Jackson, vice president of marketing for the San Diego Padres. Katie has been with the Padres for 5 years and oversees all the brand partnerships at the ballpark. She talks about the Party in the Park series—a huge themed happy hour event during every Friday home game—and the drink specials you can get for $5. Her pick for Two People, $50, is The Crack Shack, and the staff liked Realm of the 52 Remedies and Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant. In Hot Plates, we talked about the owners of Board & Brew and chef Alex Carballo opening Casero Taqueria in The Square in Bressi Ranch near Carlsbad. The Hotel Del is getting a new oceanfront restaurant in June, Serea, which is replacing 1500 Ocean and will be run by local chef JoJo Ruiz (the executive chef at Lionfish) and focus on sustainable seafood, letting guests pick their fresh catch of the day. Akira Back, a Michelin-starred chef with restaurants in Las Vegas, Seoul, Toronto and Singapore, is opening his first restaurant in San Diego, Lumi by Akira Back, in the Gaslamp. It will be a rooftop space on the corner of Fifth Avenue and J Street, and you can expect elevated sushi and sashimi. David’s 60 Second Beer Review this week is Tail & Tooth, a collaboration from Coronado Brewing and Belching Beaver—David enjoyed this hazy IPA, even though he confesses he’s normally not a fan of Belching Beaver’s beers (listen to find out why!) This week’s Hot Topic is about Instagram: Is the photography aesthetic made popular by the app and its influencers—like poses in front of pink walls, artfully arranged avocado toast—over? A recent article in The Atlantic says yes, but Troy has an interesting counterpoint.

Meet the San Diego Padres’ executive chef, and Troy Johnson is engaged! May 01, 2019

Show notes

We have a very special edition of the Happy Half Hour! We taped this week’s episode at Petco Park during the recent Padres game versus the Seattle Mariners, and our special guest is Carlos Vargas, the executive chef for the San Diego Padres. Carlos talks about how the food served at Petco Park has gotten so much better over the years with the inclusion of local restaurants, what it’s like cooking for VIPs in the stadium’s suites, and he reveals how many pounds of hot dogs and tri-tip they go through in a season (it’s a lot!). Carlos’ pick for Two People, $50 is Porchetta Shack, and the SDM staff liked Cesarina, Death by Tequila and Royale. This week in Hot Plates, we talked about Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles filing a permit to finally open its first San Diego restaurant in Barrio Logan, Shake Shack’s new Little Italy restaurant, and chef Giuseppe Ciuffa (who was one of the opening chefs at the former Bottega Americano and runs the kitchen at Caroline’s in Scripps) opening Candor in La Jolla. Troy also shares the story about how he met his now fiancé (you gotta hear it!) David’s 60 Second Beer Review this week is Karl Strauss’ regreen Brut IPA, a collaboration with Taylor Guitars. This week’s Hot Topic is a soda bill one media outlet called the “Big Gulp Ban” that didn’t make it into the California Legislature, which sought to ban restaurants and grocery stores from selling sodas larger than 16 ounces. We want to hear from our listeners! Call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a message or email HappyHalfHour@sdmag.com. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50, or tell us about any news happening in San Diego’s culinary world. Our sponsors for this episode is the San Diego Padres—get tickets at padres.com

A taqueria in San Ysidro gets national attention, and are millennials sick of drinking? Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

This week’s guest is Priscilla Curiel, chef and owner of Tuetano Taqueria in San Ysidro. Priscilla’s taqueria has only been open for a little more than six months and was already written about in Food & Wine, and her birria tacos topped with roasted bone marrow is the Very Important Taco in the May issue of San Diego Magazine. Priscilla talked about growing up in a family of restaurateurs (her family owns Talavera Azul in Chula Vista and La Espadaña in Tijuana), what it’s like to strike out on her own, and how San Ysidro Boulevard seems to be in the middle of a revitalization. Priscilla’s pick for Two People, $50 is Ironside Fish & Oyster Bar, and the staff liked the Catamaran, Peace Pies, and Trust. In Hot Plates, we learned that another San Diego chef is going solo: DJ Tangalin left Bivouac Ciderworks and is opening Maya Eatery in Hillcrest, a restaurant focusing on modern Filipino cuisine, and we discussed why Filipino food has not become mainstream in San Diego yet despite the city having the second-highest Filipino American population in the country. In other news, a two-story restaurant devoted to wine and food from Baja will open in Chula Vista, and Troy talked about the next-level Game of Thrones-themed cocktails being shaken up at the Grant Grill. David’s 60 Second Beer Review pick is Alesmith’s Luped In IPA. This week’s Hot Topic: are millennials tired of drinking? Recent articles show that millennials have cut back on their drinking and that the market for non-alcoholic drinks and mocktails will grow over 30 percent over the next few years. We want to hear from our listeners! Call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a message or email HappyHalfHour@sdmag.com. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50, or tell us about any news happening in San Diego’s culinary world. Our sponsors for this episode are Donovan’s in the Gaslamp and the San Diego Padres—get tickets at padres.com

Meet the founder of the I Love Poke Festival, and David's 60-second beer review Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

Our guest this week is Nino Camilo, founder of the I Love Poke Festival. The festival is an annual celebration of Hawaii’s beloved raw seafood dish, and this year is its tenth anniversary with 15 chefs competing to see who makes the best poke in San Diego. Nino talks about what’s changed since he started the festival in 2009 and how he tries his best to represent Hawaii’s culture in a thoughtful way, especially since poke has become trendy in recent years and a proliferation of “fake poke” shops have since opened across the country. Nino gave us two picks for Two People, $50: Panca Peruvian Cuisine & Rotisserie and Fish 101. In Hot Plates, we talked about Consortium Holding’s long-awaited brunch restaurant in Little Italy, Morning Glory, which is set to open April 21 in the Piazza della Famiglia, and debated whether San Diego is good brunch town (Troy says no). We also learned Cucina Enoteca is expanding with a new location in Scripps Ranch, and chef Steve Brown, who runs the fine-dining pop-up Cosecha SD, recently moved back to San Diego with plans to open a tasting-room only restaurant. Our new segment in the podcast is David’s 60-Second Beer Review. He kicked the series off with Fall Brewing Company’s Mix Tape Hazy IPA. The Hot Topic was Heinz’s latest invention in time for Easter: A Cadbury Crème Egg-flavored mayonnaise. What do you think about this condiment mash-up? David said he was intrigued (but we weren’t able to find it in time for the podcast taping to make him try it). We want to hear from our listeners! Call us at 619-744-0535 and leave a message or email HappyHalfHour@sdmag.com. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50, or tell us about any news happening in San Diego’s culinary world.

Inside The Lion’s Share and a fine-dining pop-up, and a restaurant is fined for surcharges Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

Welcome back to Happy Half Hour! In the guest seat this week is Jason O’Bryan, bar manager at The Lion’s Share. Jason also recently joined Service Animals, a new beverage consulting company and developed the drink menu for The Florence in Poway. Jason talked about how The Lion’s Share has remained successful despite its hard-to-find location and upcoming changes on the menu, as well as what it was like opening a bar in suburbia. He also talked about Tortoise, an underground fine-dining pop-up restaurant he founded with his wife (who was a sommelier at Addison) that has only 16 seats available for its monthly event. Jason’s pick for Two People, $50 was Cantina Mayahuel, while the staff’s picks this week were The Taco Stand, Wayfarer Bread and The Smoking Goat. This week in Hot Plates, we talked about the impending closure of Paesano in North Park—an Italian restaurant that’s been in the neighborhood for 50 years—and what’s going in its place. Kensington is getting a new South American restaurant, Pachamama, which promises to have a menu that’s 100 percent organic. Consortium Holdings is working on opening another restaurant downtown while it renovates Neighborhood, J & Tony's Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Warehouse. Cucina Urbana has a new executive chef, Tim Kolanko, who was the founding chef at A.R. Valentien at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. The Hot Topic again is restaurant surcharges, which were recently back in the news: Paradise Point Resort in Mission Bay agreed to pay almost $35,000 to the City of San Diego in fines over its surcharges to customers. We have a phone number for this podcast now! We're going to end each podcast with a question for our listeners, and you can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave us a message. You can also email us at HappyHalfHour@sdmag.com. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50. It’s your last chance to join us at the Best of North County party, happening this Sunday! You don’t want to miss this party at the Park Hyatt Aviara where you get unlimited bites and sips from all the new and noteworthy spots in North County.

Hanis Cavin of The Porchetta Shack joins us, and a debate over the James Beard Awards Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

You may have noticed that the sign at Carnitas’ Snack Shack on University Avenue now says The Porchetta Shack. We asked our guest this week, chef and owner Hanis Cavin (who has been called San Diego’s “King of Pork”), why he changed the concept for his popular North Park restaurant after eight successful years. Hanis also shared that he’s no longer affiliated with the Carnitas’ location at the Embarcadero, and his pick for Two People, $50 is Fernside in South Park. This week in Hot Plates, we learned that chef Matt Gordon (who recently closed Urban Solace and Solace & The Moonlight Lounge) is now the vice president of operations for Blue Bridge Hospitality—the company behind Liberty Public Market and Stake Chophouse. Neighborhood, the craft beer and burger joint that’s been in East Village for 12 years, isn’t closed: the shutdown is just temporary for a remodel. The Florence is now open in Sabre Springs (Troy got the First Look at the space and the menu), and the tenth annual Eat.Drink.Read fundraiser for the San Diego Council on Literacy is coming up at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The Hot Topic this week is the James Beard Awards and the fact that San Diego chefs and restaurants were excluded, again, from making the cut as finalists. Troy took a closer look at how many San Diego chefs have been nominated for a James Beard Award in recent years compared to chefs in LA and San Francisco (and finds a huge disparity), and shares what it would take to get San Diego included in the “Oscars of Food.” We have a phone number for this podcast now! We're going to end each podcast with a question for our listeners, and you can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave us a message. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50. Did you get your tickets yet to Best of North County? You don’t want to miss this party at the Park Hyatt Aviara on April 14, where you get unlimited bites and sips from all the new and noteworthy spots in North County. Our sponsors for this episode are the North Park Main Street Association and the San Diego Padres. Enter to win two tickets in a VIP suite for a live recording of the Happy Half Hour on May 6th! sdmag.com/padrespodcast - get tickets at padres.com

Meet the new executive chef at Born & Raised and Sycuan Casino’s major makeover Mar 27, 2019

Show notes

In this week’s Hot Plates, we talked about the huge remodel ($260 million!) at Sycuan Casino, which is having its grand opening today. Troy got the First Look at the renovation and Bull & Bourbon, the resort’s new signature steakhouse. Also new in town is Louisiana Purchase, a New Orleans-themed restaurant in North Park, and Hess Brewing had the soft opening for its new tasting room in Imperial Beach. We can’t believe it's already been three years since Trust opened in Hillcrest—in honor of the restaurant’s anniversary, Pastry Chef Jeremy Harville is bringing back a selection of the most popular desserts for a limited time. Lastly, we learned that Carnitas' Snack Shack is now known as the Porchetta Shack. Founders Hanis Cavin and Sara Stroud have rebranded their popular pork-centric eatery in North Park, and are no longer affiliated with the location that's on the waterfront. In the guest seat this week is Ted Smith, the new executive chef at Born & Raised, the fancy steakhouse in Little Italy from Consortium Holdings. Ted was formerly the executive chef of Craft & Commerce, and he was also the Chef de Cuisine at Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant. He also spent time in the kitchen at The Four Seasons Resort in Vail, Colorado. Ted shared with us how he’s going to refresh the menu at Born & Raised (we got the scoop on what dish could be taken off the menu) and the table numbers for the best seats in the house. His pick for Two People, $50, was Izakaya Masa in Mission Hills, and SDM staff liked Cesarina, Nolita Hall and Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens Liberty Station. The Hot Topic is a new bill introduced in the California Assembly that could create stricter rules for third-party food delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash. AB 1360 would require drivers to get a food handler's permit, and a section of the bill would define the drivers as "contract labor" — which means that restaurants could be liable for drivers. We have a phone number for this podcast now! We're going to end each podcast with a question for our listeners, and you can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave us a message. You can give us your recommendations for Two People, $50.

We chat with the San Diego Tourism Authority about Michelin’s new guide to California restaurants Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

This week we met with up Candice Eley, director of communications for the San Diego Tourism Authority, and learned about her passion for promoting San Diego's arts and culture, diversity, dining scene and proximity to Mexico, and how she gets travel stories about our city to appear in national media, like this recent story in Travel and Leisure. We talked about how San Diego is still perceived as a sleepy town, and got her take on the Hot Topic: San Diego being included in Michelin’s new guide to restaurants in California. What could this mean for the city, and will restaurants like Addison finally get the recognition they deserve? Candice’s pick for Two People, $50 is Tanuki in Kensington, a Japanese restaurant and sake bar owned by a former chef at Nobu. In Hot Plates, we shared the news that Urban Solace served its last meal after a 12-year run in North Park and that owner Matt Gordon also closed the Solace & Moonlight Lounge in Encinitas. Peking Café Chop Suey, which had been in North Park for 90 years, also recently closed its doors because the descendants of the restaurant’s founder want to retire. We learned some good news about the impending (and temporary) closure of the Red Fox Room: It’s going to stay open until the end of June before it moves to its new location on El Cajon Boulevard. Chef Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins and her popular restaurant, El Jardin, was reviewed recently in The New York Times. We also covered two new openings, Himmelberg’s in the East Village and Dark Horse Coffee’s newest location in South Park. We have a phone number for this podcast now! We're going to end each podcast with a question for our listeners, and you can call us at 619-744-0535 and leave us a message. This week's question: what are your favorite memories of Urban Solace? You can also give us your recommendations for Two People, $50.

Interview with a local culinary stalwart, One Paseo, and mail-order meal kits Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

This week, we chatted with Mary Kay Waters, owner of Waters Fine Foods & Catering, which has been in business in San Diego for almost 30 years. Waters describes herself as a food perfectionist with very high standards who refuses to accept anything less than the best. She also has a café that sells “fine foods to go” on Morena Boulevard that you can visit (Troy likes the Coconut Magic Bar). Waters also just released a cookbook, which you can pick up at the café or on their website. Her pick for two people, $50 was DaoFu. In Hot Plates, we’ve got some North County news! My Yard Live is opening in San Marcos in the old Hometown Buffet space, and will have a restaurant, brewery and a patio with a dedicated kids’ play space all under one roof. The place will be huge — over 17,000 square feet — and is opening in June. Stone Brewing Co. is back in the pantry aisle at Whole Foods — they teamed up with Homegrown Meats to create two new beef jerkies that are marinated in Tangerine Express IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale. One Paseo has officially opened! The mixed-use development project in Carmel Valley has been steadily building buzz over the past year, and curated a mix of local and national eateries: we can expect Michael Mina’s International Smoke, The Butchery, Ways & Means Oyster House, and the first San Diego location for Blue Bottle Coffee to open here. Juniper & Ivy is having its five-year anniversary this month and is celebrating by bringing back some classic dishes from the original menu, like the squid ink linguine and clams, beef cheek dumplings and grape toast. In news elsewhere, we talked about La Plaza Cocina, a museum devoted to Mexican food and culture that is set to open in downtown L.A. this spring. The Mexican food mecca will not only have exhibitions and lectures, but interactive programs and events. Are mail-order meal kits doomed? This is a Hot Topic in the food world right now, and headlines in a variety of news outlets recently asked this question. Companies like Blue Apron were all the rage when the concept first launched in 2012, but it seems the novelty has worn off. If you haven’t signed up yet for San Diego Magazine’s Insiders program, do it now for the chance to dine with food critic Troy Johnson and Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins, chef of El Jardin. Aside from exclusive events like this, our Insiders also get the benefits of a monthly hosted happy hour, free tickets to shows, and ongoing discounts at restaurants and bars around town.

We Chat with Karen Barnett about Small Bar’s second life Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

Small Bar’s second life, a contest seeking SD’s best taco recipe, plus lots of food news We got the scoop on what’s happening with Small Bar in University Heights by chatting with owner Karen Barnett. Karen gave us an update about the renovation and the bar’s new life, and how her new partnership with chef Brad Wise (Trust, Fort Oak) is taking shape with the refreshed menu. She also shared with us how she got into the industry (she gave up a career in construction management to open the bar) and what it’s really like to own a popular neighborhood watering hole. Her pick for two people, $50 were the tacos at Lola 55. In Hot Plates, we learned that Grand Old BBQ Y Asado on 32nd Street in North Park is undergoing a remodel — it looks closed down, but it’s not. When it reopens later this fall, the popular barbecue spot will have more covered seating and a new bar. Holy Matcha’s new Instagrammable East Village café is now open. Bankers Hill Bar & Restaurant is hosting a special beer pairing dinner with Abnormal Beer Co. on March 13. We also got word of some great dining deals: GBOD Hospitality Group, which owns Monkey King, Meza Greek Fusion, El Chingon and Havana 1920, debuted a four-course pre-fixe meal for $49 per couple — and the price includes wine! Born & Raised, the swanky steakhouse and cocktail bar in Little Italy, just launched a happy hour menu with a $7 Wagyu Old Fashioned, waffles and caviar, and “Le Slim Jim” beefsticks. In food news elsewhere, we talked about what’s happening at Feva Restaurant in the town of Castelfranco Veneto in Northern Italy, where chef Nicola Dinato came up with a dish called “Aria Fritta,” or fried air. Listen to find out what’s actually in the dish. Calling all home chefs and aspiring bloggers: Do you think you have the best taco recipe in San Diego? Puesto and San Diego Magazine have partnered up to find the city’s best taco — and are giving one lucky winner $1,000 for their recipe!

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