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Your Monthly Guide to the Gastronomic Good Life

Veranda\'s Ryan Grant lights up with bar with clever cocktails

Pass the House-Cured Pepperoni
There’s something to be said about a return to simplicity. Wade Hageman, former executive chef of the chic North County eatery Blanca, opens Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria on June 7 in the Lumberyard Shopping Center in Encinitas. Once a pizza peddler at Spago in Las Vegas, Hageman returns to the brick oven, but this time with his own homemade dough, mozzarella cheese and cured meats to create original crust and topping creations.

blueribbonpizzeria.com

A New Reason to Visit Rancho Bernardo
Tucked away in the rolling hills of east North County, the Rancho Bernardo Inn is home to the newly renovated outdoor space appropriately named Veranda Fireside Lounge & Restaurant. With Mediterranean-influenced California cuisine and a bevy of wildly herbaceous cocktails that combine the sciences of molecular gastronomy and mixology, a trek to RB for a light lunch and libations has never been so urgent. Veranda is backed by a team of culinary artists, including El Bizcocho newcomer, Chef de Cuisine Ryan Grant, whose New York Times acclaimed cocktails make their West Coast debut at Veranda just in time for summer. Drinks like the Absinthe Minded Professor combine muddled herbs, the barely legal elixir, and a fire-meets-ice, dramatic nitrous oxide finish. Cocktail performance art that’s anything but around-the-back shaker theatrics, this gem beckons guests to take a front row seat on the Veranda and sip for themselves.

17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, Rancho Bernardo | 858.675.8500 | ranchobernardoinn.com

North Park's Newer Darling
The restaurant renaissance along 30th Street carries on with The Smoking Goat, a roughly 30-person capacity enclave reminiscent of San Francisco-style, neighborhood dining. With tables just feet away from the kitchen where Cordon Bleu-trained chef/owner Frederick Piehl sauces up French countryside fare, guests dine on classic dishes composed with local, seasonal ingredients, washed down with consummate wine-by-the-glass pairings. Rusticity bellows from The Smoking Goat; ceiling lights encased by rusted crawdad traps, and planked wood walls give context to hearty entrees like the Duo of Duck (menu subject to change). Piehl’s presentation consists of a braised duck leg and a breast a la plancha. Simply seasoned duck skin crisped from the griddle gives way first to a tender layer of fat, and then robust medium-rare meat. A ragout of spring vegetables are sautéed in duck stock, and handmade gnocchi completes Piehl’s not-your-every-night meat and potatoes supper. Nightly specials are available (the Brandt Farms rib-eye is a favorite), as are customized chef’s tasting menus and buyouts.

3408 30th Street, North Park | 619.955.5295 | thesmokinggoatrestaurant.com

A New Chef to Match the Killer View
High above Little Italy, The Glass Door at The Porto Vista Hotel is a passageway to arguably the finest outdoor dining views San Diego has to offer, and now with the addition of touted Executive Chef Amy DiBiase (formerly at Roseville, Baleen and Laurel), it boasts a magnificent menu to match. As a member of San Diego’s celebrated Cooks Confab, DiBiase’s local, sustainable approach to California cuisine could just be the key that unlocks The Glass Door as one of the region’s premiere dining destinations. With the bounties of the Little Italy Mercato farmer’s market at arm’s reach, DiBiase plans to support local purveyors and artisans by crafting her breakfasts, brunches, lunches and dinners each week around what is available. With views of Lindbergh-bound planes, DiBiase’s pan-seared wingtip chicken breast soars; it's oven-finished in a butter bath, tender white meat juices with thyme and parsley flavor, served atop velvety rich mashed potatoes with mélange of spring vegetables, all drizzled with pan gravy. For those who are fans of DiBiase’s famed duck confit from her previous tenure at Roseville, be sure to follow the chef on Twitter. Although it won’t be a regularly featured dish, DiBiase plans to tweet the duck’s occasional landing on The Glass Door’s dinner menu.

1835 Columbia Street, Little Italy | 619.564.3755 | glassdoorsd.com

Raising the Pub Grub Bar
In a rather sleepy part of town where wine bars, restaurants with white table cloths, and ever-expanding suburban-esque strip malls comprise the landscape, enter Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern (J-FAT), where “fry cook meets foodie” specialties are anticipated to draw the downtown crowd west to Point Loma. Inside the industrial-chic tavern, its three partners all claim to have “famous” dishes of their own, and the result is an Americana-rich collaboration menu prepared by rockstar Executive Chef James Nunn of OC punk band Guttermouth fame. Nunn has since set his drumsticks aside to compose dishes like Southern fried chicken and bacon-laced meatloaf, and, of course, an array of America’s quintessential sandwich: the burger. So how does Jimmy’s namesake burger measure up against some of San Diego’s finest? It all starts with 10 ounces of dry-aged, house-ground beef, smothered in pimento cheese, primed with Apple Wood smoked bacon, and finished sweet and spicy with jalapeño jelly. J-FAT’s cocktails are fit for celebrity buzz as well; fresh fruits are juiced, herbs are muddled and spirits are shaken (not stirred) for tribute concoctions like the Hemingway Special, and the Eastwood with Partida Silver Tequila.

4990 N. Harbor Drive, Point Loma | jimmysfamousamericantavern.com

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