Steve Brown Launching Barrio Logan Bar, Debuts Dinner & Documentary Series

If you thought that Steve Brown couldn’t possibly fit one more thing on his plate, you’d be wrong. The industrious chef, who already has a brewery restaurant in the works in Imperial Beach and a brick-and-mortar home for his Cosecha pop-up primed for Coronado, has just signed on as chef/partner of Bar Logan, a new beer and wine bar in Barrio Logan that’s aiming to open by early summer. Joining forces with owner/developer Alan Cassell, Brown will create a menu of upscale modern American small plates for the bar that will have Baja-influenced flavors and ingredients. Baja will also have a significant presence on the beverage side; the 1,600-square-foot space, which features a 20-seat bar, will have a Baja-heavy craft beer list and a wine list from wine director Fernando Gaxiola of Baja Wine + Food that will stock more than 50 labels from the top family-owned, boutique producers in the Valle de Guadalupe. The bar’s high-tech wine system will enable many of the wines to be available by the glass.

Brown, who recently returned from a tour in Japan sponsored by the Japanese Wagyu Committee, is doubling-down on Barrio Logan. The private space where he kicked off a weekly residence in January will be the home base for a dinner series he calls “A Beautiful Contradiction”. Just named the official chef brand ambassador for A5 Satsuma Wagyu, Brown and guest chefs will cook 12 to 22 courses featuring the imported luxury beef and locally grown vegetables from non-profit partner Wild Willow Farm. Starting with a dinner this Friday, March 17 in collaboration with Claudette Zepeda Wilkins (Top Chef Mexico, Liberty Station’s incoming El Jardin), the series will make a detour to 1500 OCEAN on April 12 with Hotel del Coronado’s Meredith Manee before returning to Barrio Logan on April 20 for a dinner with Tidal’s DJ Tangalin followed by a surf and turf feast with Azuki Sushi on April 24.

From there, Brown will take “A Beautiful Contradiction” on the road, heading up to the Bay Area for several events with his Japan travel companions. The chef and his cohorts will be the first Americans to import an entire A5 Satsuma Wagyu steer, which will star in a butcher demo dinner on April 29 with Guy Crims at Pape Meat Company in Millbrae. Brown tells Eater that he’s looking forward to showcasing the off cuts of the animal and using the prized beef fat in pastries and baked goods that will be offered at his dinners and supplied to local coffee shops.

The dinners continue with Jared Montarbo of Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino and Jackson Yu of Michelin-starred Omakase Restaurant teaming up with Brown at Bashamichi restaurant in San Francisco before the chef returns to Barrio Logan on May 8 for a collab with Christine Rivera of Galaxy Taco, with the goal of taking the dinner concept full circle back to Japan. Working with a cinematographer, Brown is filming each of the dinners as episodes for a new documentary series that he plans to shop to well-known networks; watch a preview trailer now.