Roving luxury pop-up Dinner With A View, which will be in residence in San Diego from February 6 to March 8, is bringing former El Jardin chef Claudette Zepeda back to Liberty Station.
The longtime local chef and Top Chef contestant was named a James Beard Awards semifinalist for Best Chef West during her tenure at El Jardin before it switched over to a more casual cantina.
Zepeda’s menu is being kept under wraps to surprise Dinner With A View guests, who will be seated inside clear geodesic domes set up in Liberty Station’s Central Promenade but the chef shared, “The next chapter of my culinary ethos is the reality that Mexico is one of the first globally influenced cuisines. I don’t want ethnicity to have anything to do with my food anymore. How food makes you feel, does it taste good? Does it make you feel good eating it? Nothing else should come into question. I rather talk about what inspires us as humans, the things that are shared amongst us that leave fingerprints and what I as a chef do with that inspiration. What feels right to me in this moment is coming back to San Diego after traveling all over the world the last 6 months to cook tasty food for some familiar faces. My sous chef Paola Gonzalez is joining me as my pastry chef and I am so excited to continue to mentor her in her career and watch her shine.”
Three seatings a night will be served inside the terrarium-like structures, which can fit up to six people and require a $199.99 reservation cost and an additional $109.00 fee per diner. Half-off the initial dome reservation fee is being offered to those who sign up for Dinner With A View’s email list.