In Kensington, a “uber  fun, cool and eclectic” new wine bar , Village Vino, opens  (softly) June 28 at the corner of Adams Avenue and Kensington Drive in the same block as the Ken Theater and Kensington Grill.  Owner  Rita Pirkl will feature wines from around the world from small producers, many family run.  There will be classes too.  Buzz has seen the space and it offers all of the fun and none of the pretense of so many other wine bars in this town (no sofas either!).  4095 Adams Ave., 619-546-8466, open Sunday to Thursday 11am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday until midnight, closed Monday.

If you’re looking for a restaurant to buy, here are two you might be interested in:  Avenue 5 Restaurant and Bar in Bankers Hill is on the block as is City Deli in Hillcrest.  For additional information, 858-792-5521.

More Malarkey for his minions:  The empire spreads  to Scottsdale with a second Searsucker  for those hungry “zonies; waived c orkage Tuesdays and half off selected bottles at all five venues; and happy hour arrives at Burlap  from 4 to 6pm.  Growing pains at the three-month-old Gabardine where chef Chad White is out and Malarkey is in with a pared down menu (unfortunately not yet posted online) and appetizers that include mac n’ cheese, shishito peppers and fries (they were sides before).   Is  Malarkey trying too hard here with a new brunch hook at Gabardine? Disco? Kind of odd for this old Point Loma neighborhood.

Herringbone just opened in La Jolla, making it the fifth in the fabric named restaurants.  If you love noisy, be-there-be-seen places, you’ll be right at home here as you watch nimble wait staff juggle food and drinks around a packed bar and 100-year-old olive trees planted inside the huge ex-warehouse space.  Expect a pricey dinner meal with most mains in the high $20′s and starters in the high teens.

And a final thought on Malarkey:  Is the expansion too fast and furious given his turnover of chefs (Burlap and Gabardine)?  Gabardine certainly needed more thought when it opened (and still may) as the elements of decor, dark corners at the bar, noise and a mish mash of a menu were not cohesive for the four times I visited.  (The place is a mile from my home.)  Time will tell if he can get the locals hooked.

As the New Year approaches, it’s time to remember a few of the stories that got Buzz’s attention in 2011:

1.  The unexpected death of Naomi Wise, San Diego’s only truly anonymous food critic.  She wrote for the San Diego Reader and was scrupulous to keep her identity hidden.  I was an occasional member of her eating posse as she sometimes referred to her dining companions.  Back in 2007 a post appeared here and Naomi wrote a perfect comment about what she did to be the critical and (sometimes unpopular) restaurant reviewer in the county.   While San Diego does have writers and bloggers extolling the latest dish about a place, none are completely anonymous–ask any of the PR agencies that host media dinners.   These days, everyone thinks they know food, just look at Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and other social media.  Naomi’s  honest, food knowledgeable voice will be missed.

2.   National TV beckoned Nine-Ten‘s chef Jason Knibb who took on Bobby Flay in an Iron Chef America challenge.  Knibb lost but had a good time with the “all business” Flay who barely bothered to speak to Knibb after the show.  Riviera Magazine lost food writer and editor Troy Johnson to San Diego Magazine.  Along the way he had time to create and star in  Crave, a new show for the Food Network.  Bernard Guillas, executive chef extraordinaire at The Marine Room appeared twice on the Today Showand also was inducted into the Maitre Cuisiniers de France, a very high honor.

3.  Brian Malarkey who brought us Searsucker continues on a material tear, opening places all over the county, all named for fabrics that include Burlap and for 2012, Herringbone, Gingham, and Gabardine.  Interesting concept and Buzz wonders if he didn’t get the idea from Washington DC chef/owner Tom Power who, a few years ago, named his first restaurant Corduroy.  His second, Herringbone opens in 2012.  Malarkey picked up the shuttered La Playa Bistro and plans for it to become Gabardine. It will be worth watching how Malarkey unbuttons this small space located on a corner at the end of Point Loma’s business area.  For anyone other than area residents the restaurant’s location is nearly a dead-end destination.  And what about the food?  Will Malarkey’s name be enough to fill the spot?  Someone remarked the restaurant could have had a more nautical name such as Canvas, to reflect the neighborhood’s well-known tenant-–the San Diego Yacht Club is just two blocks away.

4.  Chefs making news:  Amy DiBiase now oversees The Shores in La Jolla, working with executive chef  Bernard Guillas; Paul McCabe left his executive chef duties at Del Mar’s Kitchen 1540 for a partnership with the owners of Rancho Santa Fe’s Delicias; Jason Maitland left Flavor del Mar and will open Red Light District in the old Sushi Itto in the Gaslamp while CIA schooled and highly credentialed Brian Redzikowski took Maitland’s spot.  Chad White jetted to Sea Rocket Bistro in North Park.  At the Hotel Del Coronado’s 1500 Ocean Brian Sinnott chose family over running the kitchen, Aaron Martinez is now in charge and wine director Joe Weaver just moved north.  Jason Shaeffer opened 1500 Ocean in 2006, then moved to Windsor, Colorado, bought a restaurant, named it  Chimney Park Restaurant and Bar and was just named one of OpenTable Diner’s Choice Overall Winners for 2011 (as was Addison at the Grand Del Mar).  Carl Schroeder made it to the semi-finals for a James Beard Foundation Award in the Best Chef Pacific region (as was William Bradley of Addison in 2010), neither made the finals…

5.  San Diegans like to drink.  According to a survey in The Daily Beast , San Diego ranks 9th in drunkest cities…This may not be an honor the city needs.

Happy New Year…May 2012 bring San Diego’s chefs, restaurants and diners great food (and service, too).  And perhaps this year will bring a James Beard Foundation award to a deserving chef and restaurant.  It’s last minute, but you can put in your own nominees for the awards here–just do it before December 31, 2011 at midnight.

UPDATE:  More Buzz about the Roseville space:…We’re hearing The Waterfront (on Kettner) wants it–and a full liquor license–and will redo the restaurant with a different name, but same Waterfront concept.

Terra in Hillcrest will close and move to 7091 El Cajon Boulevard in a stand alone former Italian restaurant at 71st and El Cajon Boulevard.  They will open the first week in April.  In the meantime, you can enjoy a Valentine’s dinner at the current location, for just $59 plus tax and tip.  Their final “hoorah” party as Rossman put it in his email blast will be March 18. 3900 Vermont St., San Diego, 619.293.7088.

Other places we’ve been wondering about:  Mia Francesca’s in Little Italy, beset by construction issues, finally forging ahead again.  Their website says they expect to open Little Italy in May and in August a second location in Del Mar Highlands Town Center. 1655 India Street, San Diego, 619-237-9606 and 12955 El Camino Real, G-4, San Diego.

Brazen BBQ Smokehouse & Bar has their liquor license application posted. We should soon be seeing some good barbecue at 441 Washington and Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest.

Finally, should anyone want to buy the restaurant as well as the real estate of Lamont Street Grill is for sale, complete with a  type 47 liquor license and two rental units for $1,495,000.  For more information:  858-764-4223.

We’re hearing the Point Loma former site of Roseville (closed in August, 2010), might become a fun casual sports bar concept.  We say might since the landlords seems to be dragging their feet to get the place rented…or return phone calls from the potential lessee.