La Valencia Hotel on Prospect Street once prepared meals for its three dining rooms plus onsite weddings from one hectic kitchen with a 50-year history. Plates of food from that kitchen were delivered to the spacious blue-and-gold Mediterranean Room with its Spanish tile and ocean views, and to the adjoining patio; to the mahogany and red leather Whaling Bar famed for hosting La Jolla Playhouse stars; and to the 10th-floor Sky Room dressed in white linen with a panoramic view of the ocean, the sky and Scripps Park. In 2007, the 80-year-old hotel began a $4 million renovation to add more cooking space, starting with a remodel of the Sky Room and the construction of a small, adjacent kitchen. The next step came nearly a year ago when the hotel dug into the foundation under the Mediterranean Room to build a second kitchen, plus remodeled the Mediterranean Room and patio in the process, which was completed 11 1/2 months later to open on Thanksgiving Day. “The kitchen accounted for 99 percent of the cost [of the remodel],” said Justin Wilson, food and beverage manager. Rendering its only kitchen unusable created a tricky dilemma the hotel managed by bringing in four trailers to temporarily house a kitchen on the patio for the past year. The Mediterranean Room has since been redecorated in navy blue and gold hues to match the color scheme of the Spanish tiles. Sand-colored linens are now added to the tables at night to create a dining atmosphere. “The décor still has the same essence but it’s a little more clean and modern,” Wilson said. The patio was leveled and accentuated with a new fireplace and fountain. There are plans to remove the thick bush barrier and add spotted landscape to create a permeable screen between the patio and the street. The pathway connecting the hotel lobby and its west wing was landscaped and revamped to hide the garbage bins and kitchen activity. The upheaval that consumed the hotel for the past year has left no visible traces. The Christmas tree sparkles in the lobby. The elevator operator slides back the metal gate and pushes open the heavy wooden door to ferry guests between floors to reveal that not all has changed.   A new taste The hotel has also hired a new executive chef, Sean Eastwood, who is working to create new menus for the hotel’s three restaurants. The Sky Room will be a place for cooks to show off their culinary technique and, since the restaurant is small, will enable the kitchen to use more exclusive ingredients. Eastwood said he is working with 15 local farmers and purveyors to provide ingredients for the Sky Room. “It’s not a high-volume outlet so we can use more prestigious ingredients, like wild game and specific fishes caught by line,” Eastwood said. “It will have more emphasis on where the ingredients come from and the story that’s behind the ingredients.” The Mediterranean Room will stay true to its name by offering seafood inspired by culinary traditions from the Mediterranean rim. “There will be a lot of seafood items and a lot of emphasis on fresh ingredients,” Eastwood said. “We won’t necessarily manipulate a lot of flavors but will let the quality of the ingredients shine through.” Eastwood and his food and beverage team have yet to determine the menu for the Whaling Bar, but Eastwood said the warmth and history of the room will stay in the forefront. La Valencia Hotel is located at 1132 Prospect St. For information, call 454-0771.