The Hillcrest restaurant’s new executive chef Logan Kendall, who cooked at the James Beard-nominated Acre in Alabama before coming to San Diego, has revamped the menu to include a number of playful plates, including snap peas in duck fat and cookie butter with blood orange and loquats, chicken-fried duck with cherry hot sauce and cherry Pop Rocks, and gnocchi with movie theater popcorn cream and cracked black pepper. The chef’s Southern roots are reflected in his grandmother’s recipe for collard greens and cornbread as well as dishes showcasing off cuts of fish. In collaboration with Tommy Gomes of Catalina Seafood, Kendall is featuring crispy-fried monchong rib with smoked soy, blackberry cider, and chicharron as well as “wings” made from peachwood-smoked salmon collars with blueberry barbecue sauce and bread and butter-pickled green blueberries.
California Modern chef de cuisine Jonathan Bautista has completed a refresh of the lunch and dinner menus offered at George’s rooftop Ocean Terrace and cocktail bar Level2. While longtime signatures of the ocean view property, including fish tacos and George’s Famous Soup remain, Bautista’s new dishes include grilled Faroe Island salmon with Anson Mills farro salad and fettucine with cauliflower cream, walnut-raisin pesto and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.
The Adams Avenue eatery is heading towards its second anniversary with a newly expanded menu from executive chef Lety Gonzalez that will carry the seafood spot into the summer season. The casual lineup include fresh taco, burrito, and sandwich options ranging from the islander burrito with grilled shrimp, spam, and pineapple to a fried chicken sandwich as well as fried calamari with an Asian sweet chili ginger sauce, clam chowder, and a grilled local catch plate with rice and roasted vegetables. Gonzalez has also introduced a Saturday and Sunday brunch, available starting at 10 a.m., that features mimosa variations and a menu that includes a lobster breakfast burrito, cornmeal biscuits and Old Bay-spiced gravy, and eggs Benedicts topped with shrimp, fried green tomato, crab cakes, and more.
Little Italy’s Japanese “social dining” hotspot has launched an intimate sushi bar dining option that features seating for six diners. A four-course omakase, or chef’s choice menu, is priced at $60 per person; reservations are encouraged. Dominic Valenzuela, the restaurant’s recently-added executive chef, has also contributed to the main menu with new sushi rolls and plates ranging from braised pork belly with egg, spicy mustard and scallions to grilled beef tongue with ume plum-pickled onions and scallions.
The Prospect Street eatery has added lunch and weekend brunch service. Chefs Diego Lopez (formerly of sea180º and Bleu Boheme) and Mickey Martinez (Juniper & Ivy, Stone Brewing), who oversee the seafood-based menu that draws influence from Mexico and the Mediterranean, have rolled out spring/summer dishes that include ceviche, jamon eggs Benedict, a grilled salmon sandwich, and Spanish octopus.