{"id":251318,"date":"2017-03-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-familiar-address-reinvented\/"},"modified":"2017-03-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T08:00:00","slug":"a-familiar-address-reinvented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-familiar-address-reinvented\/","title":{"rendered":"A familiar address reinvented"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Prior to closing the cherished Tractor Room last year, restaurateur Johnny Rivera assured he would hold out for a buyer committed to \u201cenhancing the neighborhood\u201d before selling it.<\/p>\n

He made good on his promise with Concept Two Seven Eight, which opened in early January with a concise menu of \u201cnew American\u201d cuisine and a cocktail program that puts things like dragon fruit and pink guavas into your glass.<\/p>\n

The redesign bears the trappings of a Nantucket cottage with paned windows, pillowed banquettes and white-painted joinery comprising the tall ceiling. It\u2019s a radical, airier departure from the dim hunter-lodge motif that defined The Tractor Room.<\/p>\n

\"A
A new restaurant emerges in place of The Tractor Room (Fotograf\u00edas de Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Concept Two Seven Eight is the brainchild of Executive Chef Jessica Fisher, a San Diego native who worked her way through kitchens in San Francisco and New York as both a savory and pastry chef. She co-owns the restaurant with her mother and her mother\u2019s domestic partner, and named it fondly after the address of the Brooklyn apartment building she lived in before returning here.<\/p>\n

In addition, she recruited bar manager Billy Potvin, a New Yorker touted by Zagat, Thrillist and other media for his aesthetically imaginative cocktails flaunting fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs.<\/p>\n

Visiting too early in the day to let loose on Potvin\u2019s creations, such as the \u201cRocket #9\u201d made with mescal, green chartreuse, pineapple, ginger and spiced cranberries \u2014 or his tempting tequila-based \u201cHoly Fool\u201d incorporating cactus, passion fruit and ghost pepper salt \u2014 we plunged straight into Fisher\u2019s menu of simple yet well-executed dishes.<\/p>\n

\"A
Baked chicken skins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In one of the best presentations I\u2019ve encountered of trendy chicken skins, Fisher lays them out on a cookie sheet overnight with light seasonings and bakes them to a fine crisp similar to potato chips.<\/p>\n

Shaped cleverly as drumsticks, they were deliciously naughty, yet light and greaseless.<\/p>\n

\"A
Shishito toast with egg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019ve grown weary over ubiquitous avocado toast, Fisher\u2019s version using shishito peppers proves invigorating.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The roasted chilies are layered onto a fat slice of good, crunchy bread sourced from Prager Brothers Bakery in Carlsbad, and set upon house-made ricotta with a soft-boiled egg.<\/p>\n

The mild kick from the peppers is contrasted by faint drizzles of yuzu honey, resulting in a savory-sweet flavor profile we found brilliantly catchy.<\/p>\n

For another starter, my companion was especially taken by the fried cauliflower, which broke the norm somewhat with its egg-less cumin-kissed batter and accompanying chipotle aioli. To a degree, it reminded me of Indian pakora, sans the full range of curry spices. There\u2019s also the option of whole cauliflower served with shallots, crispy capers and artichoke hearts.<\/p>\n

\"A
Ricotta-stuffed squash blossoms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ricotta-filled squash blossoms we tried were fried with the same deftness as the cauliflower, with each cocoon-shaped blossom maintaining their delicate integrity opposed to some I\u2019ve had in other restaurants that turn messy at the touch of a fork because they\u2019re riddled by residual oil.<\/p>\n

Given the satisfying portions of our appetizers, we skipped over raw zucchini and grilled Caesar salads, as well as Greek-style flatbread, carnitas street tacos with jalapeno-cilantro crema and a few other shareable dishes.<\/p>\n

\"A
Burger with melted cheddar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the short assortment of main entrees, my companion chose cacio e pepe, a bowl of fresh pasta from Assenti\u2019s in Little Italy that Fisher dresses with only butter, Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m guessing her time spent in San Francisco and New York was the inspiration for this exquisite peasant-style dish since it evades most Italian restaurants in San Diego.<\/p>\n

I opted for the house burger topped with cheddar, trusting it would be worthy of somebody\u2019s \u201cbest burger\u201d list once it\u2019s widely discovered. Indeed, the half-pound patty was fresh and flawlessly seasoned and sported the preferred 80\/20 meat to fat ratio. The lettuce was crisp, the tomatoes were ripe, and the \u201cspecial sauce\u201d containing finely chopped pickles sated all my condiment needs.<\/p>\n

Fisher refers to herself as \u201ca community-giving millennial\u201d and has committed to giving a portion of gross sales to organizations such as the San Diego LGBT Community Center. So far the restaurant\u2019s donations have been earmarked expressly for its youth services program.<\/p>\n

Concept also aims to become a social hub for diners and drinkers alike. At 7 p.m. every Wednesday, for example, a classic movie from past decades is shown on the heated patio with free popcorn.<\/p>\n

\"AIn addition, the kitchen recently began serving weekend brunch, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The menu features everything from Cobb salads and tofu scrambles to breakfast pizza and egg or cauliflower tacos.<\/p>\n

\u2014Frank Sabatini Jr. is the author of \u201cSecret San Diego\u201d (ECW Press), and began his local writing career more than two decades ago as a staffer for the former San Diego Tribune. Reach him at <\/em>fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":816,"featured_media":251319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A familiar address reinvented","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/816"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}