of speakeasies & secret delights
You don’t always need a password to savour San Diego’s inventive culinary scene
The vibrant blue storefront in the middle of an outdoor shopping mall gives no hint of what lies inside: a literal apothecary of alcohol. Glass shelves and wooden cabinets contain all manner of liquor from rare whiskeys to vintage gins and liqueurs.
With brilliant colours ranging from deep ruby to emerald green, Raised by Wolves is akin to being inside an adult version of a kaleidoscope.
As magical as that is, the best is yet to come. Take a seat in front of the fireplace where, in a tip of the hat to James Bond films, you are slowly transported into La Belle Epoque Paris instead of La Jolla, an upscale village north of San Diego.
The rotating platform twirls you into a wondrous speakeasy with glass-like ceiling panels, fountains and inventive cocktails. Spend an hour or two over drinks like Pelvic Sorcery, Rattlesnake Venom or Boulevardier in what was named the 2019 Cocktail Bar of the Year by Imbibe magazine.
Just like the secret entrance into the bar, Raised by Wolves opens the door to a different side of San Diego.
The family-friendly seaside city known for its marine life ( both human and animal) is now gaining a reputation for an inventive food and drink scene.
First coming to prominence during Prohibition, speakeasies are again popping up in San Diego behind the walls of restaurants and pubs and even deep underground.
You need to know the secret password of the day to enter one while others require insider knowledge to find them.
A key trait that’s endured since the early days of rum-running is an unusual or hidden entrance. Navigate a passageway behind beer kegs, a rotating wall or enter through a walk-in cooler.
At the Polynesian-style False Idol, you pass through a curtain of faux shrunken heads and grinning skulls embedded in the walls. Inside, tiki gods glare at you as a volcano erupts, flames shoot and booming thunder rocks your seat.
And that’s just the lead up to a drink which could level some destruction of its own. Akala the Fierce more than lives up to its name with chai-infused bourbon, dark rum, vanilla, pimento dram and orgeat syrup.
At US$45, the vast moat of booze is meant to be shared and even then it’s a lot to get through. But it’s an experience not to be missed.
Other spirited areas worth a visit include Old Town San Diego where mezcal is king. You’ll find every manner of cocktail here showcasing the agave alcohol.
The Gaslamp Quarter is always swinging with more than 50 bars and 10 nightclubs.
Beyond the booze, San Diego is also making a name for itself with an abundance of new restaurants with fresh, creative cuisine. Food halls have opened in the Piazza della Famiglia downtown and in the historic Liberty Public Market near the airport.
The Mission Hills district is home to Brooklyn Girl’s bright and airy eatery with its farm-to-table philosophy.
Here you can nosh on locally sourced and seasonal dishes such as a salmon poke bowl, stone brick chicken or wood oven pizzas.
More culture is on tap in Old Town, where Mexican mole meets mezcal (this close to Mexico, it’s spelled with a ‘z’ instead of an ‘s’). Here you’ll find traditional tacos but also modern, contemporary dishes.
At Tahona, you can dabble in Oaxacan-inspired dishes such as the flight of mole or mix and match tacos filled with pork belly or tempura of squash blossom. It’s a small but complex menu crafted to complement its extensive mezcal selection. In April, it will join the speakeasy crowd when it opens Oculto 477, a tiny bar in a backroom named for the number of graves in the cemetery next door. It will also be lit by 477 candles.
A bustling new dining scene has also exploded in Little Italy, a multiblock stretch close to the waterfront that boasts four-star restaurants, sidewalk tacos and even a celebrated roast chicken joint with a giant plastic rooster on the patio. The dining revolution here began with two Top Chef contestants, says Robert Arends, PR manager with San Diego Tourism Authority.
“The arrival of Top Chef veterans like Brian Malarkey and Richard Blais not only helped put San Diego on the culinary map nationally, but also helped elevate the dining scene in neighbourhoods like Little Italy.”
Arends said that helped attract other up-and-coming chefs to the city and spurred locals to be creative with their menus.
Malarkey operates a number of restaurants in the city including the expansive Herb and Wood, where you can catch the celebrity chef overseeing operations in his glass-fronted kitchen. Dishes are inventive, including roasted branzino with olive-chili tapenade and speck or orecchiette in broccoli pesto with garlic confit, calabrian chili, almond and pecorino toscano.
Just down the block is Blais’s gem, Juniper and Ivy, which has earned accolades such as San Diego’s Restaurant of the Year and one of Zagat’s 15 Hottest Restaurant Openings Around the U.S.
There has always been fine dining in San Diego — George’s at the Cove in La Jolla was named one of the World’s Top 10 Restaurants by Fodor’s Choice. And for good reason: Acclaimed chef Trey Foshee has presided over the modern Californian menu here since 1998.
But the surge in San Diego cuisine really started less than a decade ago, becoming the newest chapter in San Diego’s story which began 250 years ago. From those Spanish missionary roots, and with the heavy influence of its Mexican neighbour, drinking and dining in San Diego has become a worldly experience.
Check out sandiego250.com or sandiego.org.