Jack’s La Jolla redid their upscale dining room to an Italian venture called Viaggio. The menu features chef Tony DiSalvo’s homemade pastas and much more. Haven’t tried it, as it apparently just opened with little fanfare.

La Jolla based Burger Lounge comes to Coronado and will open their third location at the end of July in the old Island Wok space at 922 Orange Avenue. If you want an organic beef burger with hand-cut in house fries, this is your place. To top it off, they are now one of a handful of green certified restaurants in San Diego.

The Cohn Restaurant Group, that many say sets the bar in the city for middle-of-the-road food and service aimed at the mass market/convention customer, is expanding. They’ve partnered with Sunroad Harbor Island (a subsidiary of Sunroad Enterprises) who just got the go ahead from the Board of Port Commissioners for a $9 million overhaul of the former Reuben E. Lee floating restaurant, currently at the end of Harbor Island. Located conveniently next to the Cohn owned restaurant, Island Prime, the LEED certified restaurant will be designed by Graham Downes Architecture whose eclectic portfolio includes Nine-Ten, Chive, and the redo of its sister property Laurel. Along with Lesley and David Cohn, chef/partner Deborah Scott will operate the Lee. Expect construction to begin late 2009 and finish about 2011.

While we’re on the subject of the Cohn collection, as Buzz reported in May, David’s supposedly best-kept-secret-that-everyone-knew-about is finally out. Hard Work, Inc. (Cohn Restaurant Group) signed a 10-year lease for The Corvette Diner to relocate to the old Officers Club at the Barnett entrance end of Liberty Station. Renovation is underway on the space. And further up the coast, in the coming-on-oh-so-hip Oceanside, the Cohns will open a steak and seafood place called 333 Pacific in the Wyndham Oceanside Pier Resort on Pier View Way and Pacific Street. Expect to see the restaurant open by the end of the year.

The Cohns join others who find Oceanside the newest area ripe for restaurant expansion. Old Town’s popular Harney Sushi just opened their second very contemporary spot on the corner of Mission and Cleveland close to the pier. They have a sake bar, lots of sushi rolls and more. The place was very hip and hopping at their opening just last night.

Two new additions to San Diego’s restaurant scene: Mukashi in Bankers HIll at the corner of Nutmeg and Fifth finally got their door open last week. Hope to try it soon. Call for dinner reservations: 619-298-1329.

Cardamom Cafe & Bakery in North Park is the newest addition for breakfast, lunch and bakery goods. They’re located at the interesection of 30th and Upas. They serve breakfast all day–a short menu of eggs, pancakes, cardamom sour cream coffee cake along with sandwiches and salads in the afternoon. Buzz looks forward to trying both places.

Once again, chef Gavin Kaysen garnered a top culinary award.  This time it was the James Beard award for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Quite an honor as it is given to a chef, under 30 years old, who “displays an impressive talent and is likely to have a significant impact on the industry in the years to come.” In case you missed Kaysen in San Diego when he cooked at the Rancho Bernardo Inn’s El Bizcocho, now you’ll find him doing his magic at Cafe Boulud in New York.

If you love sushi you’ve likely experienced uni, the roe from the spiny creature called sea urchin. These days, uni dishes go way beyond laying it on a mound of rice to be eaten in one bite. Recipes that incorporate this prized ingredient into everything from sauces and soups to savory mousses and more, appear in French, Italian, Asian and American cookbooks.

From San Diego to Ft. Bragg, California is home to sea urchin divers who bring the creatures to processors who in turn ship it to sushi bars and restaurants worldwide, mostly to Japan and the United States. Recently, Philanthropy Roundtable organized a trip to San Diego to go on the boats with the divers and see fiirst-hand the sea urchin harvesting.  The group saw the urchin processing at San Diego’s Catalina Offshore Products, followed by dinner and no, it did not take place at a sushi bar.

Pete Halmay is a diver with a mission: Get these sustainably grown urchins beyond the sushi bars and into restaurants such as Tony D’Amato’s well-known Baci Ristorante on Morena Boulevard. D’Amato hails from Sicily where sea urchin, known as ricci di mare, is as much a staple as pasta.

D’Amato served a sampler of urchin dishes that began with drinks and an incredibly simple bruschetta: Bread rounds brushed with a bit of garlic infused olive oil, topped with a “tongue” of roe. At the table, an amuse bouche of roe served in the spiny test (its shell) with prosecco and eaten with a teaspoon. Note that these two presentations allow the roe to stand alone, much like it does in sushi. In dishes like these, the roe’s delicate sea taste and creamy texture meld in the mouth, unhampered by too many other flavors.

Next came uni bisque with mussels, scallops and uni also served in the test. The sampler finished with a classic Italian dish of spaghetti mixed with a hint of olive oil, garlic and pinch of red pepper and barely warmed roe.

If you think sushi is the only way to experience this lovely delicacy, think again. Resources include http://www.calurchin.org/ and http://www.catalinaop.com/ as well as http://www.epicurious.com/.  Photos by Marcie Rothman.