Menu Reveal for La Jolla's Catania, Opening Monday

This coming Monday, Whisknladle Hospitality (Prepkitchen, Whisknladle) unveils the latest addition to their restaurant group, Catania, which occupies the anchor perch on the top floor of the just-remodeled La Plaza center in La Jolla.

The new 3,750-square-foot restaurant, which encompasses an indoor/outdoor dining room, an outdoor bar and has this killer view, is aiming to deliver "authentic Italian coastal cuisine".

Vince Schofield, a San Francisco chef transplant, is charged with leading the semi-open kitchen and overseeing an all-day menu mostly fueled by a wood-burning oven, rotisserie and grill. There are charred local spot prawns, fish crudo, pizzas topped with clams and lardo or fontina and mushrooms, and handmade pastas. Main plates range from whole roasted fish to a mammoth grilled pork chop and a spit-roasted meat of the day.

Beverages continue the Italian theme, with a cocktail menu curated by Adam Lockridge that runs from the classic Negroni and Bellini to original drinks like the Signora e Signore, which mixes Aperol, Cynar, Amaro Nònino, prosecco and bitters. Wine and beer, both on tap and in bottles, is exclusively Italian too, with the exception of the restaurant's signature Birra Catania, a Belgo/Italian herbed ale brewed with basil and lemongrass and made in collaboration with Sorrento Valley's New English Brewing Company.