Celebrate the Craft Returns This Weekend

Food festival brings chefs and farms together

The 16th annual edition of Celebrate the Craft, San Diego’s top food event, returns to The Lodge at Torrey Pines this Sunday, October 28. From 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the resort’s outdoor terrace, The Lodge’s executive chef Jeff Jackson will host a standout group of regional chefs, from Baja’s Drew Deckman (Deckman’s en el Mogor) to locals including Paul Arias (The Fishery), Matt Gordon (Urban Solace and Solace & The Moonlight Lounge), Jason Knibb (NINE-TEN), Kara Snyder (Tender Greens), and Tim Kolanko (Blue Bridge Hospitality), who will be preparing dishes showcasing producers, farms, and ranches such as De Bruin Rabbit, Liberty Ducks, Pacific Shellfish, Point Loma Farms, and Schaner Farms. Wine from Far Niente, Grgich Hills Estate, Silver Oak Cellars, Ramey Wine Cellars, and more will be featured along with AleSmith Brewing Company, Bitter Brothers Brewing Co., and You & Yours Distilling Co. Tickets are $145 per person.

Solare Ristorante chef cooks at Ballast Point

Accursio Lota, executive chef of Solare Ristorante at Liberty Station, will be popping up at Ballast Point Miramar this weekend for a pair of collaboration dinners on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27 at 7 p.m. The intimate dinners, cooked for 30 guests each night, are a partnership with Ballast Point chef Rocio Fleckenstein and will feature a four-course menu with beer pairings. Brewmaster Colby Chandler is scheduled to attend Friday night’s dinner, and will be speaking about the brewing process as well as beer and food pairing. The dinners also provide the opportunity for Lota to reunite with Ballast Point Miramar general manager Mario Parapini, whom he worked with at the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan, Italy as well as the Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara. Call (858)-790-0459 for reservations.

Barrel night release and dinner at The Lost Abbey

There are just a few precious tickets left for one of the biggest events of the year at The Lost Abbey. On Saturday, October 27, the brewery is launching its 2018 Barrel Night with a six-courses cooked by CH Projects’ research and development chef Phil Esteban (Cork & Craft) that will each be paired with a single barrel beer from The Lost Abbey Oak Aging Program. Attendees will receive a limited edition glass and access to tastings of other beers, including Red Barn, Mongo, and the special Veritas 021, an oak-aged sour with raspberries, vanilla, and cinnamon. Tickets are $140.

El Jardin celebrates Dia de los Muertos

On Thursday, November 1 at her Liberty Station restaurant, executive chef Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins will be welcoming her former “Top Chef” cast mate Joe Sasto, formerly of Cal Mare in Los Angeles, for a five-course “Food Memorias” collaboration dinner to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos in honor of Sasto’s mother and Zepeda-Wilkins’s grandmother; the menu will include braised oxtail with garden herbs, tomatillo, and black lime powder and pig’s feet tagliatelle topped with a chicharron crumble. For reservations, call El Jardin at 619-795-2322; the dinner is $80 per person with $45 beverage pairing option.

A pre-Thanksgiving dinner at Provisional

Eight local chefs will come together at Pendry San Diego’s Provisional Kitchen, Cafe & Mercantile for a “ChefsGiving” dinner on Wednesday, November 14 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Among the chefs joining Provisional’s chef de cuisine Brandon Sloan in the kitchen are Lionfish’s JoJo Ruiz, Anthony Wells of Juniper & Ivy, and Brian Malarkey, Shane McIntyre, and Adrian Mendoza from Herb & Wood, all doing their takes on holiday dishes — including “twice baked” clams, coal roasted beets, and pumpkin cake with apple cider caramel. Tickets are $145 per person and include a $25 donation to the San Diego Food Bank.