This week, we’re at the pool deck of the Westgate Hotel, which is famous for its elegant Sunday brunch and high tea, and chatting with local jazz hero Gilbert Castellanos about its Sunset Poolside Jazz Series. Our special guest this week is Chef Quinnton “Q” Austin, who recently moved to San Diego from the Big Easy and leads the kitchen at Louisiana Purchase. Chef Q was chef de cuisine at the legendary Antoine’s, and he shared with us what it was like to work at a place with so much history. He ...
Jun 12, 2019•42 min
We’re taping from the Hilton San Diego Del Mar, which is just steps away from the Del Mar Fairgrounds. This week’s special guest is David Favela, founder of Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan, the first Latino-owned brewery in San Diego. David is a first-generation immigrant from Mexico, and he grew up in Escondido. He did his undergrad at Chico State and studied international business at UCSD, and worked at Hewlett Packard for over 20 years. He launched Border X Brewing five years ago, and just e...
Jun 05, 2019•41 min
This week’s special guest is Angelo Sosa, chef and owner of Death By Tequila, a Baja-Asian restaurant in Encinitas. Angelo has worked at Jean Georges and for Alain Ducasse, and in New York he ran the Michelin- recommended Añejo in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen. You may also know Angelo from Top Chef Season 7, in which he was runner-up, and from Season 8 of Top Chef All-Stars. Angelo just moved to San Diego from New York a little over a year ago, but his restaurant has already been garnering a lot o...
May 29, 2019•49 min
Welcome back to the Happy Half Hour! We’re taping this episode from Suite 33 at Petco Park, and this week’s guest is Eddie Quinn, director of partnership services for Petco Park (we call him “the beer guy” at the park). Eddie manages the relationships with the Padres’ corporate partners, and more specifically, all of their beer partners (including Ballast Point, AleSmith, and Budweiser). Eddie talks about collaborating with Ballast Point on the Swingin' Friars Ale and reveals what’s the No. 1 be...
May 22, 2019•31 min
Welcome back to the Happy Half Hour! We are taping this episode at Petco Park, and our very special guest this week is Mark “Mud” Grant, who has been the color commenter for the Padres for 24 years. He talks about his favorite places to eat in Petco Park, and what his diet was like when he played professional baseball in the late ’80s compared to how MLB players eat today. Mud says he will eat anything, but confesses there are two things he can’t stand (eggplant is one of them!). His pick for Tw...
May 15, 2019•35 min
We’re on location at Petco Park and taped this episode at the recent Padres vs. Mariners game. This week’s special guest is Katie Jackson, vice president of marketing for the San Diego Padres. Katie has been with the Padres for 5 years and oversees all the brand partnerships at the ballpark. She talks about the Party in the Park series—a huge themed happy hour event during every Friday home game—and the drink specials you can get for $5. Her pick for Two People, $50, is The Crack Shack, and the ...
May 08, 2019•35 min
We have a very special edition of the Happy Half Hour! We taped this week’s episode at Petco Park during the recent Padres game versus the Seattle Mariners, and our special guest is Carlos Vargas, the executive chef for the San Diego Padres. Carlos talks about how the food served at Petco Park has gotten so much better over the years with the inclusion of local restaurants, what it’s like cooking for VIPs in the stadium’s suites, and he reveals how many pounds of hot dogs and tri-tip they go thr...
May 01, 2019•34 min
This week’s guest is Priscilla Curiel, chef and owner of Tuetano Taqueria in San Ysidro. Priscilla’s taqueria has only been open for a little more than six months and was already written about in Food & Wine, and her birria tacos topped with roasted bone marrow is the Very Important Taco in the May issue of San Diego Magazine. Priscilla talked about growing up in a family of restaurateurs (her family owns Talavera Azul in Chula Vista and La Espadaña in Tijuana), what it’s like to strike out ...
Apr 24, 2019•33 min
Our guest this week is Nino Camilo, founder of the I Love Poke Festival. The festival is an annual celebration of Hawaii’s beloved raw seafood dish, and this year is its tenth anniversary with 15 chefs competing to see who makes the best poke in San Diego. Nino talks about what’s changed since he started the festival in 2009 and how he tries his best to represent Hawaii’s culture in a thoughtful way, especially since poke has become trendy in recent years and a proliferation of “fake poke” shops...
Apr 17, 2019•38 min
Welcome back to Happy Half Hour! In the guest seat this week is Jason O’Bryan, bar manager at The Lion’s Share. Jason also recently joined Service Animals, a new beverage consulting company and developed the drink menu for The Florence in Poway. Jason talked about how The Lion’s Share has remained successful despite its hard-to-find location and upcoming changes on the menu, as well as what it was like opening a bar in suburbia. He also talked about Tortoise, an underground fine-dining pop-up re...
Apr 10, 2019•39 min
You may have noticed that the sign at Carnitas’ Snack Shack on University Avenue now says The Porchetta Shack. We asked our guest this week, chef and owner Hanis Cavin (who has been called San Diego’s “King of Pork”), why he changed the concept for his popular North Park restaurant after eight successful years. Hanis also shared that he’s no longer affiliated with the Carnitas’ location at the Embarcadero, and his pick for Two People, $50 is Fernside in South Park. This week in Hot Plates, we le...
Apr 03, 2019•40 min
In this week’s Hot Plates, we talked about the huge remodel ($260 million!) at Sycuan Casino, which is having its grand opening today. Troy got the First Look at the renovation and Bull & Bourbon, the resort’s new signature steakhouse. Also new in town is Louisiana Purchase, a New Orleans-themed restaurant in North Park, and Hess Brewing had the soft opening for its new tasting room in Imperial Beach. We can’t believe it's already been three years since Trust opened in Hillcrest—in honor of ...
Mar 27, 2019•39 min
This week we met with up Candice Eley, director of communications for the San Diego Tourism Authority, and learned about her passion for promoting San Diego's arts and culture, diversity, dining scene and proximity to Mexico, and how she gets travel stories about our city to appear in national media, like this recent story in Travel and Leisure. We talked about how San Diego is still perceived as a sleepy town, and got her take on the Hot Topic: San Diego being included in Michelin’s new guide t...
Mar 20, 2019•40 min
This week, we chatted with Mary Kay Waters, owner of Waters Fine Foods & Catering, which has been in business in San Diego for almost 30 years. Waters describes herself as a food perfectionist with very high standards who refuses to accept anything less than the best. She also has a café that sells “fine foods to go” on Morena Boulevard that you can visit (Troy likes the Coconut Magic Bar). Waters also just released a cookbook, which you can pick up at the café or on their website. Her pick ...
Mar 14, 2019•34 min
Small Bar’s second life, a contest seeking SD’s best taco recipe, plus lots of food news We got the scoop on what’s happening with Small Bar in University Heights by chatting with owner Karen Barnett. Karen gave us an update about the renovation and the bar’s new life, and how her new partnership with chef Brad Wise (Trust, Fort Oak) is taking shape with the refreshed menu. She also shared with us how she got into the industry (she gave up a career in construction management to open the bar) and...
Mar 07, 2019•48 min
We finally hosted a parking expert on the show! Colin Parent, who runs mobility think tank Circulate San Diego while also serving as an elected member of the La Mesa City Council, gave us insights on parking in San Diego, how it affects restauranteurs as well as regular people dining out, as well as the overall effects on neighborhoods, the housing crisis and more. He also offers thoughts on the rise of La Mesa as a “hot ‘hood” and shares a unique experience he had with San Diego Mag’s food cove...
Feb 27, 2019•56 min
This week, we rundown the news that Cutwater Spirits sold to Anheiser Busch, Carruth Cellars is having a big party where you can taste wines before they have aged, Bobboi Gelato is opening two new shops just blocks from one another in Little Italy and the Cohn Restaurant Group is experimenting with call buttons as a way to make service more efficient at its new restaurant. We also go in depth on the concept of natural wine with sommelier and bartender Anne Estrada, who is currently pouring at Th...
Feb 21, 2019•42 min
This week's episode is brought to you by Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego and their Dream House Raffle. Visit www.sdraffle.com to buy tickets and learn more about the hundreds of prizes! Early Bird deadline is February 22, 2019! On this week’s show we meet a new restauranteur with an interesting background that includes a stint at Google. In Hot Plates, we learn about Fish 101’s plans to expand from Leucadia to a second location with an ocean view in Cardiff. Pro skateboarder Tony Ha...
Feb 14, 2019•40 min
This week's episode is brought to you by Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego and their Dream House Raffle. Visit www.sdraffle.com to buy tickets and learn more about the hundreds of prizes! Early Bird deadline is February 22, 2019! Today we’re talking brewing, tasting rooms, and whether there is another softening in the market for local craft beer. In Hot Plates, we’re discussing the new locations for Extraordinary Desserts and Holy Matcha, as well as the opening of Kairoa Brewing Compa...
Feb 06, 2019•48 min
Today we’re talking Metallica, John Resnick, and Jeune et Jolie. In Hot Plates, we’re discussing the new Farmer’s Table in Little Italy, RMD Group’s new project Lumi with Michelin-starred chef Akira Back, Powerhaus Pizza’s debut in Pacific Beach. A collaboration beer between Metallica and Stone Brewing Co., and more. In the guest seat is Resnick, here to chat about his East Coast roots and moving to San Diego to work at The Hard Rock Hotel then The Pearl before transitioning to the restaurant wo...
Jan 30, 2019•47 min
Today’s episode starts with news about one of the city’s buzziest restaurant openings: Fort Oak. Troy had the First Look and tells us about its seafood-centric menu, the high design, and how a parking garage caused major problems. Elsewhere in Hot Plates, we discuss Sister Ray’s, a new chili dog and burger concept from the teams behind The Balboa Bar & Grill and Luigi’s Pizzeria; an Italian concept moving into Bankers Hill this May with Michelin-star resumes; and a New York Times piece on th...
Jan 23, 2019•39 min
On today’s episode of the Happy Half Hour we’re talking To the Point, tuna fishing, Tribute Pizza, and more. In Hot Plates, we discuss the opening of Natural Style Chicken, a Hillcrest barbecue spot that’s taken over the old Tokyo Ramen space; Cesarina, which previously operated as a farmers’ market vendor and will open in the former To The Point space in Point Loma; and Flap Your Jacks, a DIY pancake eatery coming to the heart of North Park this June. Today’s guest is Rob Ruiz, the chef-owner o...
Jan 16, 2019•54 min
A new year means new changes to the restaurant scene, and Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria in Carlsbad is switching gears to become Toast Gastrobrunch by the end of the month, just one year after opening the Peruvian concept in North County. The update, still led by local restauranteur Sami Ladecki will be a breakfast-and-lunch eatery serving gourmet toasts, sourdough bread bowls, and more. In more Hot Plates news, Parakeet Café opens a second location, an iconic San Diego gay bar closes, and f...
Jan 09, 2019•35 min
Welcome to the first Happy Half Hour of 2019! In today’s show, we’re talking about a luxury theater slash restaurant in the Gaslamp and a new “American brasserie” now open in the East Village. Plus, lots of donut news, including Sidecar Doughnuts debuting in Del Mar and a new venture from Nomad Donuts’ Kristianna Zabala. Back in the guest seat in Matt Gordon, the owner and chef of Urban Solace and Solace & the Moonlight Lounge. Gordon is telling us why he decided to overhaul his 11-year-old ...
Jan 02, 2019•37 min
Malls are cool again, marijuana is being infused into food, plant-based menus are everywhere, and California’s minimum wage laws are wreaking havoc in the restaurant world—we’re covering all of it and more in our last episode of 2018. We open the show with the top five news items of the year, including the craft beer downturn and Westfield UTC’s restaurant takeover before counting down the top five guests of the year, and the trends that shaped our year. Plus we pay tribute to the saddest closin...
Dec 20, 2018•52 min
With all the restaurant development that’s happened in Little Italy and North Park, it was only a matter of time before the trend trickled northward. In today’s edition of Hot Plates, we have three new restaurants above the 56, including D.C. export ChiKo in Encinitas, Eve (coming to Oceanside next year), and Exhale—a modern Mexican restaurant—also opening in O’side. Closer to the city, The Nood Bar will open early next year in North Park and Moto Deli’s Alex Carballo has purchased a dive bar wi...
Dec 12, 2018•34 min
On today’s show, we’re talking about chef Accursio Lota’s exit from Solare and the new restaurant he’ll open downtown, El Jardín landing on best restaurants lists in both Esquire and Food & Wine, and Buona Forchetta’s move into the barbecue world. Plus, Council Brewing announces its close, SuperNatural Sandwiches opens a new location, and Fort Oak by the Trust Restaurant Group is due next month. Our guest is chef Danilo Tangalin, who interned at big-name restaurants like Le Bernardin and Eri...
Dec 06, 2018•28 min
This week we’re back at Fernside, the new South Park cocktail bar and eatery from Christian Siglin (Bracero, The Grass Skirt, Cutwater Spirits), Shane Gerde (UnderBelly, Cutwater Spirits), and Adam Cook (Bluefoot Bar & Lounge) and also one of the participating restaurants in this year’s SoNo Fest & Chili Cook-Off. In Hot Plates, we’re talking about more ramen coming to Hillcrest, Fashion Valley’s North Italia restaurant led by former Waypoint Public Executive Chef Rich Sweeney, a new mez...
Nov 29, 2018•40 min
This episode is sponsored by the SoNo Fest. The free street festival returns to the South Park-North Park area on Sunday, December 2 with 40 of the best restaurants from both neighborhoods competing in the ultimate #chilismackdown. There will also be a craft beer garden, food trucks, live music, and a kid’s fest. The best part? All proceeds go to the McKinley School Foundation. This week we’re coming at you from Fernside, the new South Park cocktail bar and eatery from Christian Siglin (Bracero,...
Nov 14, 2018•42 min
Lobster rolls with yuzu aioli, pollo a la abrasa on buttery brioche, spicy drunken noodles—we’re feasting at The Willows Hotel & Spa at Viejas Casino & Resort, today’s sponsor alongside chefs Antonio Votta and Larry Banares. We kick off with Hot Plates. Popular Kensington Tex-Mex spot Ponce’s has opened a new location in Del Sur and Modern Times’ new plant-based eatery has debuted in Encinitas. Plus: Helix Brewing Co. has a new sours-only bar in La Mesa, Umami Japanese comes to San Marco...
Nov 07, 2018•38 min
