Coronado’s Maretalia Unveils Restaurant Revamp

After opening Maretalia last year in Coronado, Blue Bridge Hospitality (Stake Chophouse, Liberty Station Public Market) has completed a $250K, multi-phase remodel of its 6,500-square-foot ocean view “coastal Italian” restaurant perched above Orange Avenue, the island’s central thoroughfare. Among the upgrades is a new 1,800-square-foot indoor-outdoor cocktail bar and lounge, which holds 24 seats as well as a dramatic 8-foot raw bar that will highlight a growing assortment of shellfish, oysters, and more that be featured in crudo plates and seafood platters.

Blue Bridge Hospitality’s Ronnie Schwandt, who was promoted earlier this year to lead the kitchens of both Maretalia and Leroy’s Kitchen + Lounge. His pasta-making skills will now be showcased in a dedicated pasta kitchen, viewable from the renovated dining room, where Schwandt will oversee the daily production of fresh pasta and housemade bread, with plans to offer pasta-making classes in the future.

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The pasta will feature in new dishes ranging from squid ink gramigna with venus clams, saffron, and a mussel broth to a corn cappelletti with grilled shrimp, heirloom tomato, basil, and grilled corn. Seafood, informed by both Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, will feature prominently on the rest of the menu of larger entrees as well as a variety of shareable small plates and salads including Amalfi-style octopus, spicy crab stuffed calamari, and lobster-stuffed squash blossoms. Lori Sauer, Blue Bridge’s executive pastry chef, is in charge of the sweet treats, which include a deconstructed tiramisu topped with warm espresso and a panna cotta with fresh stone fruit. The new bar program also has an Italian focus, stocking more than two dozen Amaro varietals as well as offering a “Build Your Own Spritz” option and specialty cocktails including a Smoked Negroni served in cedar-smoked glass.