Monkey Bar, a new outdoor bar and lounge serving cocktails and small bites, opened earlier this month at the Town and Country Resort in Mission Valley.
The new bar specializes in craft cocktails and Asian-inspired shareable plates, with items such as sticky short ribs, shrimp shu mai, lamb meatball, burger and wood-fired pizzas. Monkey Bar is hosting happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays with select $5 wine and beer, a $7 Drunken Monkey cocktail and $9 pizzas. Live music is presented from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays.
The resort is at 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego. Visit towncountry.com/dine/monkey-bar.
Chef Richard Blais, left, and Rubio’s Coastal Grill founder Ralph Rubio introduce the three new street tacos Blais created at a San Diego event Tuesday.
(Pam Kragen/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Blais street tacos debut at Rubio’s
Three new street tacos created by San Diego celebrity chef Richard Blais will debut Wednesday, May 19, on the menu of Rubio’s Coastal Grill restaurants in California, Arizona and Nevada. The new Rubio’s x Blais tacos will be available at all stores through October, when the chain’s langostino taco season returns.
At a press event outside a Rubio’s restaurant in Carmel Mountain Ranch on Tuesday morning, Rubio’s co-founder Ralph Rubio said the collaboration with Blais was two years in the making. Blais said he was a longtime fan of the chain, having sought out Rubio’s fish tacos when he first arrived in San Diego nine years ago. After signing on with Rubio’s, Blais said he came up with more than 20 different taco concepts that blended the chain’s Mexican and Southern California roots with his own travels as a chef.
Three new street tacos created by chef Richard Blais will debut at Rubio’s restaurants on May 19. They are, from top to bottom, the Ancho Po-Boy Shrimp taco, the Hula Hula Carnitas taco and the Blaised & Glazed Crispy Chicken taco.
(Pam Kragen/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The three tacos they agreed on are the Ancho Po-Boy Shrimp taco, Blaised & Glazed Crispy Chicken taco, which is Ralph’s personal favorite, and the Hula Hula Carnitas tacos, which is Richard’s favorite.
The Blaised & Glazed taco was inspired by buffalo chicken wings, with fried chicken tossed in Frank’s Red Sauce and served with a house-made ranch dressing topped with pickled carrots, celery and jalapenos. The Ancho Po-Boy has ancho chile-marinated shrimp flash fried and tossed with blackened Cajun aioli sauce. And the carnitas in the Hula Hula tacos are slow-cooked in a banana leaf and served on a corn tortilla.
Among the taco concepts that ended up on the cutting room floor were a carrot mole taco and a San Antonio-style “puffy” taco with a puffed-up fried tortilla shell.
The Moonshine Beach country and sports restaurant/bar in Pacific Beach.
(Courtesy photo)
Moonshine venues reopen, expand
Moonshine Beach, Good Time Design’s country and western honky-tonk in Pacific Beach, has reopened with a 7,500-square-foot expansion in the adjacent parking lot at 1165 Garnet Ave.
The new all-outdoor area includes a 40-foot bar, a 600-square-foot stage for live music and two raised wooden decks. A new menu featuring dishes prepared on an outdoor grill is being served at picnic tables on an Astroturf-lined lot. The restaurant has reopened for limited hours Fridays through Sundays only. Visit moonshinebeachsd.com.
Meanwhile, its sister venue, The Deck at Moonshine Flats at 335 Sixth Ave. in downtown San Diego, has also reopened with service Fridays through Sundays only. Visit thedecksd.com.
Dishes at the newly opened 1882 Cantina at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula.
(Courtesy of Pechanga)
Pechanga opens cantina
Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula opened a new Mexican restaurant, the 1882 Cantina, on May 5. It takes over the space formerly occupied by the hotel’s Lobby Bar & Grill.
The restaurant’s name was inspired by the history of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. In 1882, U.S. President Chester A. Arthur re-established a government relationship with the Pechanga tribe, setting aside 4,000 acres for the Pechanga Indian reservation.
The dishes prepared by chef Andre Alto include dishes inspired by the cuisines of Oaxaca, Baja California and Estado de Mexico. The menu includes 10 mezcals, 30 tequilas and 10 varieties of margaritas featuring spirits from Latin American countries. The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays. The resort is at 45000 Pechanga Parkway in Temecula. Visit pechanga.com.
Bitchin’ Sauce’s cilantro chili dip has won a silver award at the Specialty Food Association’s 2021 sofi Awards.
(Courtesy photo)
Bitchin’ Sauce wins award
Bitchin’ Sauce, the Carlsbad-based specialty spread and dip company, has won a silver medal in the Specialty Foods Association’s 2021 sofi Awards for its cilantro chili dip. The dip is made with cilantro, jalapeños and raw almonds.
The award-winning flavor will soon be distributed in 500 Target stores nationwide. This is the fourth year in a row Bitchin’ Sauce has won at the sofi Awards. Past winning Bitchin’ dips include the original, chipotle, Bombay, roasted green chili & pepitas and spinach artichoke flavors. Visit bitchinsauce.com.
Vegan wontons at Din Tai Fung.
(Courtesy of Din Tai Fung)
Din Tai Fung adds vegan dishes
Din Tai Fung, the upscale Taiwan-based restaurant chain known for its soup dumplings, has introduced a new line of vegan dishes featuring the plant-based egg substitute JUST Egg.
The new dishes featuring JUST Egg include wontons, wonton soup, noodles with house spicy sauce, noodles with sesame sauce and noodle soup. The chain is joining New York’s Eleven Madison Park and a number of other high-profile restaurants in the U.S. in reducing animal proteins on their menu for environmental reasons.
Din Tai Fung’s San Diego location is at Westfield UTC, 4301 La Jolla Village Drive, Suite 2000, San Diego. Visit dintaifungusa.com.
Cafe Virtuoso is now offering a zero-waste reusable drink glass to customers for $1.25.
(Courtesy of Cafe Virtuoso)
New local products
- Cafe Virtuoso in Barrio Logan has partnered with the nonprofit Clear Blue Sea to launch a new zero-waste reusable container for its coffee drinks. Customers have the option of paying $1.25 for a Mason jar-like glass container with screw-top metal lid and an insulated sleeve made from recycled plastic bottles directly removed from the coastline. Upon return, customers can turn in the original glass container for a new one. Visit cafevirtuoso.com.
Baja Jerky - street taco flavor
(Courtesy photo)
- Baja Jerky, a San Diego-based line of all-natural dried beef products created by Michelin-starred chef Brandon Rogers, has introduced two new flavors this spring: Street Taco and Cracklin’ Pepper. The products are sold at Walmart and Cost Plus stores. Visit bajajerky.com.
Cutwater Spirits’ new Cutwater Mezcal bottled spirits.
(Courtesy photo)
- Cutwater Spirits, a San Diego-based bottled spirits and canned cocktail distillery, has introduced its first mezcal. Cutwater Mezcal was made in collaboration with a distiller in Durango, Mexico. The first release of Cutwater Mezcal ranked among Best of Show at the Denver International Spirits Competition. Visit cutwaterspirits.com.
Kragen writes about restaurants and San Diego artisan food and drinkmakers for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
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