The Pearl Hotel Relaunches Restaurant and Bar

The Pearl Hotel has completed a revamp of its in-house restaurant and bar. The 23-room boutique hotel, transformed into a mid-century modern beauty in 2007, has been under new ownership since last year. Its longtime restaurant, EAT at the Pearl, has been redubbed Charles + Dinorah in homage to the original owners of the 1950s-era Point Loma property.

In addition to various design updates, the poolside eatery now has a new culinary directive from executive chef Andrew Santana, a California Culinary Academy alum who was most recently the chef de cuisine at Campfire in Carlsbad. Santana’s seasonal menu pulls from global cuisines: there’s ceviche with mango pearls, pickled chili, and Vietnamese herbs, a whole fish with torpedo onion, charred lemon, and fermented black bean and curry fried Jidori chicken with Korean soybean paste aioli, kimchi, and pickled shiitake.

Sam Wells

The Pearl’s ever-popular brunch is all new too. Ranging from buckwheat pancakes with cardamom syrup, apple butter, and strawberries to a spin on classic chicken fried steak with sausage gravy, the lineup also includes a variety of trendy toast options featuring locally baked Wayfarer Bread, topped with everything from housemade jam and peanut butter to avocado with tomato, togarashi, and kale.

To pair with the new brunch and dinner plates are fresh cocktail lists from bar manager TJ Majeske that includes an oyster-garnished Bloody Mary and the tropical Beach Break that combines coconut fat-washed tequila with ancho reyes chili liquor, lime, agave, Scrappy’s bitters and a toasted coconut rim.

Sam Wells