A Taste of the Valle de Guadalupe Is Coming to North Park

After shuttering Tostadas earlier this summer after two years in North Park, owner Gerry Torres is planning to put a slice of the Valle de Guadalupe in its place. Together with partner Rogelio Canez, Torres will open Ambrosia, a “fine casual” restaurant that will bring the food and wine of Baja California to San Diego, and hopefully capture some of the magic of the region too.

The menu is from consulting chef Brandon Rodriguez, who cooks at Animalón by Javier Plascencia in the Valle and has also worked at Plascencia’s Mision 19 in Tijuana. Focusing on tapas-style shareable plates, it features cazuelas filled with shrimp aguachile and tuna tiradito plus sea urchin tostadas, beef cheeks, and tripe with sweetbreads as well surf and turf combos that include carnitas and octopus and chicharron-topped oysters. The restaurant will also offer meaty mains, ranging from a prime rib eye cooked on a Himalayan salt slab to a rack of pork, all served with sides and sauces.

Ambrosia should relaunch by mid-September with an extensive wine list sourced from the Valle de Guadalupe. The restaurant is being redesigned to offer a more upscale atmosphere, and will feature seating for 70 across the dining room and front patio.

Canez, a native of Sonora, Mexico, who runs a boutique butcher shop called Sonora Express in Tijuana, has also launched a casual eatery on University Avenue called Burrology, which serves a menu of creative burrito options filled with everything from a combo of chilaquiles and carnitas to fried chicken with waffles and bacon.

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