CUCINA enoteca Chef de Cuisine to Lead Carlsbad's New Campfire

Owner John Resnick has found a chef to lead Campfire, his new North County restaurant project that was announced last month and has Bells & Whistles (Bracero, Starlite) attached to design the 6,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor space. Resnick, an alum of CH Projects (Ironside, Craft & Commerce), says, "Campfire is a return to the origins of cooking and hospitality, and celebrates the spirit of the name by creating an environment in which we gather around a fire, create honest food, and share it with friends." It's due in downtown Carlsbad by Spring 2016.

He's chosen Andrew Bachelier to helm the heart of the restaurant, 12-foot hearth anchored by a custom wood-fired Grillworks grill. Bachelier had been the chef de cuisine at CUCINA enoteca since it opened in Del Mar in 2013, before that, he was the executive sous chef at CUCINA urbana and chef de partie at Addison. He grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he helped his cowboy grandfather build fires for their family's cooking hearth and says, "I feel that with Campfire, I’ve come full circle in my career, and am so excited to once again be working with the wood fire, a truly uncontrollable element that takes tremendous focus and technique, but when harnessed can yield unbelievable layers and complexity of flavor."