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. 

Surprise your Valentine with a special dinner in the dark at the US Grant Hotel.  Experience a three-course dinner from February 11 to 14 presented by Opaque Dining.  Your sense of taste, smell, touch and sound will be heightened as you eat in a totally dark dining room served by blind or visually impaired  individuals trained to serve in the dark. The cost for the prix fixe dinner menu is $99 (+tax)/person.  Drinks and tip are not included in the ticket price. Tickets for this event must be pre-purchased and are available online at www.darkdining.com.

If you’d rather stay in and have dinner delivered (no, not pizza), but a menu that is aphrodisiac centric, check out Dining Details.  Just think, no worries about drinking and driving…you can toast your honey in the privacy of your own home.

Arterra finally has a new executive chef, Tony Miller who comes from the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, Latitude 41 in Columbus and Wailea Beach Marriott Resort.  He kicks off his new menu (and redone dining room) on February 17^th from 5:30pm to 8pm with Taste of Arterra where you can sample signature dishes like lobster mac ‘n’ cheese, Moroccan braised beef short rib and avocado butter cake with almond crunch. The event is free with a $10 donation per guest to Feeding America San Diego’s Farm2Kids program. Advance reservations required at Opentable or directly at 858.369.6032.

Seems like La Jolla is picking up with the soon-to-open WeOlive.  From the website it looks to have quite an impressive selection of California oils, as well as other olive products including soaps, mustards and tapenades.  Opens about February 1 at 1158 Prospect, La Jolla.

Those of you who wonder what the next food craze could be need only look to San Francisco’s well-known Tartine Bakery & Cafe and its sister Bar Tartine where new chef Nick Balla arrives March 1. He and Tartine owners Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt will take the food and the breads to Eastern and Central Europe according to the San Francisco Chronicle.  Note also that many other San Francisco restaurants are changing menus to explore this mostly untapped culinary area.   Wonder if San Diego restaurants (and their patrons) would ever embrace the modern versions of goulash and a fabulous house made rye bread.

Happy New Year to you all.   Already, just a few weeks into January, we find optimism in San Diego with new restaurants:

**Bayu’s Authentic Ethiopian Cuisine that just opened in Hillcrest on University between Fifth and Sixth.

**La Jolla gets sweeter by the day with the addition of Sprinkles–a cupcake place in the Whole Foods shopping center on Noble.  Then there’s Cups that opened last year downtown on Girard–should you want dessert after your Smashburger or Burger Lounge lunch.  Notable that Cups features vegan as well as gluten free cupcakes.

**How’s this for a restaurant name?  Revolver.  It is  in the same place as Voyeur at 755 Fifth Avenue, San Diego.  The Voyeur chef is Kari Rich who according to a media invite, created a menu that “revolves around seasonal, local, & sustainable food.”  Too bad the logo on the invite is a revolver.  Revolver…sounds like a gun store.

**Bing Crosby’s closes at Fashion Valley.  Since their website is not online, this is the best explanation of the fairly sudden closure of the restaurant chain

Buzz is all about feedback and would like to know if there is something new  (features, links, etc.) that you’d like to see on this blog.  Please send a comment or email to info@foodbuzzsd.com.

This just in…Talk about a great holiday gift for the novice or well-aged wine aficionado.  A group of local San Diego wine masters have created a wine club that goes beyond all the others you may know about.  My Cellar Master brings together the collective palates and knowledge of Eddie Osterland (America’s first master sommelier), Brian Donegan  (advanced sommelier at Market) and Truly Fine Wine for a new wine club that offers more than just bottles arriving every month. Don’t want a club? Check out the themed wine tasting kits.  Information is on the website or at (858) 270-WINE (9463).

Those of you who remember Jason Seibert (chef/owner of the closed Cafe Cerise) might want to catch up with him on Tuesday, December 7 from 6pm on.   You’ll find him at the Stout Public House (site of Cafe Cerise) as he bids goodbye to San Diego for a position as executive sous chef at Eventi, a Kimpton hotel property in New York City.

Au Revoir Bistro finally opened in the old La Vache site in Hillcrest (Robinson and Fourth).  This is the latest venture from the group that owns Arrivederci Ristorante among others in Hillcrest, North Park, La Jolla and Point Loma.

If you’re looking for unusual Italian and American small food and wine producer, Corti Brothers in Sacramento is worth checking out.  Should you want Delamain Grande Champagne Cognac 1982, or panettone from two of Italy’s well-known bakeries, Loison and Bardi, or aged aceto balsamico, be sure to read the newsletters on the website.  Owner Darrell Corti is renowned for his food and wine knowledge and this well-established  family business has been around since 1947.  5810 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95819, 800-509-3663 and the website for more information.

Congratulations to Lisa Redwine (General Manager, The Shores Restaurant) and Ted Glennon (Wine Director, 1500 Ocean) two of San Diego’s well-known wine directors who just passed The Court of Master Sommeliers Level 3 Advanced course and tests on their way to Master Sommelier.  They join advanced sommelier  Jesse Rodriguez (Wine Director, The Grand Del Mar) and hope to become master sommeliers, an august group of just 174 worldwide.  The first American Master Sommelier is another San Diegan, Eddie Osterland.

Foodbuzzsd will take a short break until the New Year unless there is breaking news. Happy Holidays to you all

The release of Beaujolais Nouveau is a big deal in November and a couple of places will be celebrating its arrival Thursday, November 18. The Gamay grape stars in this wine and it is meant to be drunk within six months of bottling.  Each year it’s released on the third Thursday of November – literally only weeks after it was still growing on the vine and because it is a light friendly wine, it’s a great reason to party!

At the Wine Vault & Bistro arrive anytime after 5:30 and enjoy a four-course Beaujolais Nouveau Family Style Menu for: $25 2010 Dupeuble Beaujolais Nouveau: $7 glass / $22 bottle. If you’re not on their mailing list, it’s worth it if you are interested in good wine dinners and tastings. For reservations:  (619) 295-3939.

Euro Food Depot will celebrate on November 18 from 6pm to 10pm with wine, cheese, charcuterie and macarons.  Four pours and food $30.  For information:  858-452-9200.

Downtown, Bacchus Wine Market presents Beaujolais Nouveau and other first releases on Friday, November 19^th (4pm to 8:30pm) and Saturday. November 20^th (2pm to 8:30pm). Cost is $15 each day.  For information: 619-236-0005.

LATE ADDITION: While we’re wining, The WineSellar & Brasserie, Paris Driggers is the new general manager and wine buyer.  He’s been in the business for 15 years selling wines to top notch venues and brings a wealth of experience to the shop.  Upstairs in  the Brasserie chef Kevin Smith (who has worked in many of California’s top kitchens, including Patina in Los Angeles) is updating the menu.  This gem of a store and restaurant is tucked away in an unlikely industrial park, just down the hill from Qualcomm and is worth a visit.  9550 Waples Street, (858) 450-9557.

Oh what a mess has been wrought with the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Restaurant, owner Joseph Melluso, chef Amy DiBiase and the Union-Tribune’s, Keli Dailey.  This is a sordid story about editors and a reporter looking to sensationalize a story with writing that gives all parties, most notably the readers, a bad taste and does not help the San Diego restaurant community.

For those of you who missed it, Buzz reported on November 5 that DiBiase (whom Buzz knows) had left Cosmopolitan.  Next came Dailey’s one-sided story (relying only on owner Joseph Melluso) that appeared online on November 10, then the next day, in edited form, printed in the Business section of the paper. Melluso said (among other things) that there were financial and creative issues that caused the split.  Missing in the story is any acknowledgement that he, as the owner, had anything to do with the problems.

As a seeming consequence of the many negative online comments about the U-T story, either Dailey or her editors must have thought it wise to connect and interview DiBiase, as the original Dailey “story” noted, “DiBiase could not be reached Wednesday evening for comment”.  When Dailey did catch up to DiBiase the “rest of the story” – that is, her side of it — can be found online (and so far not in print).

Why run a half-reported story?  And more important, it seems that lately the U-T has resorted to old-fashioned tabloid journalism to report on such restaurant matters.  Restaurants open and close, chefs come and go, and any major newspaper notes such things in just a few paragraphs.  But the U-T has recently evolved into gotcha journalism, with the snarky story about Roseville closing, then this mess.

Buzz checked to see if the paper ever ran anything when Jeff Thurston left the Cohn’s Prado where he had been for many, many years. Nothing. Why? By contrast, the recent change of chefs at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego merits a mention in Dailey’s online column (which is at should be, a few sentences at best).

So what gives?  What purpose did Dailey’s story serve to the public, to the restaurant or to the chef or even to the owner?  No purpose at all except to harm the business and reputations of those involved.