Progressive Pop-Up Cosecha Finds Permanent Home in Coronado

Since relocating from Los Angeles to San Diego, chef Steve Brown has created quite a buzz, from besting some of our best local talent at KAABOO’s ROCK'N CHEF competition to announcing a massive restaurant project in his hometown of Imperial Beach. Over the last few months, San Diego diners have gotten a taste of Brown’s cuisine via his roving pop-up, Cosecha, and now the chef has announced that Cosecha will soon be moving into a brick-and-mortar home.

Starting early next year, Cosecha will take up residence in a section of the now-shuttered Shima Steakhouse in Coronado, annexing a private dining room space that seats 40 guests and will have a secret entrance off an alley. Open Thursday through Saturday nights, the chef’s table-style restaurant will be formatted as a ticketed, prix fixe multi-course dining experience with optional beverage pairings and access to a full bar. A separate, more casual concept is being planned for the rest of the Shima space that Brown will also have a part in.

Cosecha's ever-evolving seasonal menu will be based on Brown’s partnership with local Wild Willow Farm, which is dedicating growing space to Cosecha that will supply the restaurant with 100% of its produce, augmented by what the chef forages himself in the South Bay. The "Farm Driven Modern American" dinners will also feature the gold standard of Japanese beef, A-5 Satsuma Wagyu; Brown acknowledges that there might be some incongruity in sourcing his produce locally and his proteins from Asia, but insists it’s all the search for the best ingredients to cook with — calling the pairing a "beautiful contradiction". Guests will also be able to purchase different cuts of A-5 Satsuma Wagyu to take home after the dinners.

The chef, who is concurrently making progress with his Imperial Beach project and developing another in Barrio Logan, will officially launch Cosecha in February, when he returns from a Japanese Wagyu Committee-sponsored tour of beef production in the Kagoshima prefecture of Japan. But before his travels, Brown is previewing what’s in store for a more permanent Cosecha through two pop-up dinners in the space, scheduled for December 17 and January 14.