Cannonball restaurant newest addition to Belmont Park — Belmont Park has opened its newest dining concept, Cannonball, a Pacific Rim-inspired restaurant serving sushi and small plates. The diverse menu flavors influenced by various locales and their proximity to the Pacific Ocean complement beach craft cocktails and sake.
Designed by Colkitt&Co and Hollis Brand Culture, Cannonball is situated on a 6,000-square-foot rooftop perched high above the Mission Beach boardwalk. The oceanfront restaurant and lounge is lined with pool tiles, ringed with fire pits and dominated by a central bar set at an angle that allows every seat an ocean view.
Executive chef Brad Wise of Belmont Park and the former exec sous at JRDN, has developed a menu that includes small plates, as well as impressive sushi and raw bar offerings. In addition to beer and sake, creative craft cocktails are plentiful. There are libations like the Dragonberry Mojito — featuring Bacardi’s Dragon Berry rum — as well as the signature Bellyflop mixed with Grey Goose, watermelon purée, fresh lemon juice and cucumber. The Drunken Botanist is made with Bombay Sapphire, lemon juice, raspberry and basil seeds.
Cannonball is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, visit www.cannon-ballsd.com, or call (858) 228-9283.
For more information on Belmont Park and upcoming events, visit www.belmontpark.com. Latin culture is alive and well in Pacific Beach — At the Latin Chef, located at 1142 Garnet Ave., customers can enjoy authentic Peruvian and Brazilian cuisine. But the cultural experience doesn’t stop there.
A few nights each week, André Monari performs live music. His style encompasses a combination of African rhythms, Brazilian beats and American blues. Fernando Pastor, a recording engineer at Pacific Beat Recordings, described Monari’s music as rich, creative and free flowing. “Musically, I don’t think there is any place in the world with such variety,” Pastor said.
Recently, Monari played guitar and sang with JC Boissy on bass and Michael Atesalp on drums. It was the first time the trio had played together, but they sounded as if they had performed together for years. Midway through the performance, Melanie Atesalp joined in to sing improvising lyrics and exemplify the free-flowing nature of the music. — Ethan Orenstein