Comments on: Press Dinners: Solare and Red Marlin

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:08:23 +0000

There is this awesome new food website featuring some of San Diego’s best chefs! I love it!
Check it out
http://www.inyourkitchen.com

By: Carlo

Carlo — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:20:04 +0000

Correct…San Diego is not a fine dining town, maybe it’s not meant to be. It’s unfortunate however that some new venues (like Red Marlin) treat locals with disdain. It was insulting to find out we couldn’t bring in a special bottle for dinner (even though we were purchasing a bottle of sparkling to start). I was told that since they have an “extremely extensive list of over 600 wines” (…sorry but that happens to be less than standard in other major cities), that bringing in a bottle was not allowed…what a way to treat locals. I’m not impressed and further more won’t honor such an establishment and will tell other locals, with long family histories in the city, not to bother being insulted as there are many other restaurants that are friendlier to locals.

This will bite them back in the end and is a ridiculous policy…as the list in not even that impressive.

By: steve

steve — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:37:06 +0000

I think you are right. Many times it seems the people in Mr. A’s and other restaurants in that higher price point seem to be a San Diego person taking out a few people from SF or NYC and showing them that San Diego too has expensive restaurants with some sophistication.

It really seems that the higher end places in town are just to show that we are a more advanced city than just fish tacos.

There really doesn’t seem to be a true fine dining crowd in san diego.

Witness the same thing with nightclubs. The busiest bars in town have always been the dive bars. Watch and see this year as high end nightclubs that have been opened over the last few years will start shutting down.

Real Estate people and media people can put whatever spin they want on San Diego, “The Next South Beach” or making it out to be some super sophisticated city (and that talk has been a lot more quiet over the last 6 months), but ultimately San Diego is a dive bar, surf shop, taco stand kind of town.

For better or worse.

By: Pam Wischkaemper

Pam Wischkaemper — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:59:18 +0000

Hi Steve: I would agree that some of the higher end places in SD have equivalent pricing, but their audience is very limited. They get groupies who like to try new places and say they have been there and they get the client who simply wants to impress those around him. What San Diego really lacks is people who truly love food and appreciate all the effort that goes into it regardless if it is prepared by a celebrity chef.
And as for the Gaslamp, it’s a sad commentary on downtown San Diego. It’s also unfortunate that the local restaurant association doesn’t do more to promote something other than the Gaslamp’s bars.

By: steve

steve — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:48:33 +0000

Pam,

I think you made some great points. I think we get forgotten being underneath LA’s shadow. Orange County never seems to get a lot of recognition either (although possibly for good reason).

“people dine in LA and they pay the dollars necessary to support great chefs and what they do” – I agree with you here to some degree, although restaurant prices in San Diego are very comparable with LA and San Francisco. In many instances San Diego is even more expensive (which is crazy because the quality is significantly lower.)

I also agree with you on the Gaslamp. The Gaslamp’s historical soul has been sucked out and replaced by a Disneyland type nightlife area (cops on every corner, chains, tourists, conventioneers). Although the history of the Gaslamp has never counted great dining among its historical strong points (as opposed to say, The French Quarter in New Orleans).

The current state of the Gaslamp is not at all conducive to a quality restaurant.

By: Pam Wischkaemper

Pam Wischkaemper — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:04:48 +0000

Buzz: San Diego’s restaurant scene is not serious enough to ever gain the recognition that the James Beard awards require. The reason Gavin Kaysen has done so well, is that he pays attention to business and focuses on his food and his career rather than the politics of the restaurant scene. As a disclaimer, I did represent him while I was in the PR business in San Diego. Another reason is that very few people belong to the James Beard Foundation in San Diego. Every member gets to vote in the awards nomination process in the first round. Third, we live down the road from Los Angeles, where the excitement in the food scene never ends. And people dine in LA and they pay the dollars necessary to support great chefs and what they do. Many excellent chefs have left the area because they have been unable to sustain their high standards. Riko Bartolome comes to mind. With a Gaslamp area full of bars and beautiful people who want to be seen rather than dine, don’t expect much from the Beard Awards in the near future.

By: steve

steve — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:24:45 +0000

First off, i love your blog.

Second, I wanted to get your thoughts on the recent James beard nominees. San Diego (maybe rightly so) always gets passed up!

(Closest we got is Diego expat G. Kaysen_:

http://jbfawards.com/content/2008-nominees#chef

It is kind of embarrassing that San Diego never gets any recognition.

By: ted

ted — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:46:32 +0000

I think it is awesome that you have full disclosure on any event you attend. This is rather progressive, insightfull and should be standard.