{"id":251494,"date":"2017-04-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/uptown-news-food-briefs-april-21-2017\/"},"modified":"2017-04-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T07:00:00","slug":"uptown-news-food-briefs-april-21-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/uptown-news-food-briefs-april-21-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Uptown News Food Briefs \u2013 April 21, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The long-vacant, two-story building at the corner of Ninth and University avenues in Hillcrest that was rumored to become a Japanese restaurant has been fully leased instead to Better Buzz Coffee Roasters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Vista-based company is currently working with designers and architects to transform the house-like structure into a full-production roasting facility and caf\u00e9 that will feature a \u201cring of seating\u201d for customers to view the roasting process, said Daniel Greig, director of coffee production.<\/p>\n

At the center of the operation will be a restored Probat roaster dating to the early 1900s.\"Uptown<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll also have a large tap tower for cold-brew coffee drinks and with the possibility of serving wine and beer,\u201d he said, adding that the still-unnamed project \u201cmight possibly open in the summer, but no guarantee.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upper floor of the building will be designated as offices for the company\u2019s management team as well as for public rental.<\/p>\n

Better Buzz has branched into seven locations in San Diego County through a mix of cafes, drive-throughs and a kiosk in Fashion Valley Mall. The Hillcrest project will be its biggest and offer an expanded menu compared to the other branches. 801 University Ave<\/em>. betterbuzzcoffee.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Bangkok native Vijit Pipatkhajonchai has opened 55 cocina tailandesa<\/strong> in the back of an unassuming liquor store in Golden Hill called San Diego Market Beer & Wine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

His specialty is massaman chicken curry, although the menu also includes tom kha noodles, ginger stir-fry, Thai fried rice and other classic dishes he mastered when operating restaurants in Thailand.\"Uptown<\/p>\n

The small, sleekly designed space features a to-go counter and limited indoor-outdoor seating.<\/p>\n

Pipatkhajonchai, who also owns J&T Thai Street Food<\/strong> in Linda Vista, plans to earmark a portion of his profits for children\u2019s meals in both the local community and his homeland. 2601 Broadway, 619-955-5501<\/em>, 55thaikitchen.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Artisan Bento<\/strong> in Mission Hills has quietly transitioned to become Hachi Ramen<\/strong>, which recently held its soft opening to showcase a variety of classic and contemporary ramen that was added to an established menu of bowls, bento boxes and sushi rolls.<\/p>\n

Owner Shihomi Borillo, who also runs the nearby Azuki Sushi<\/strong>, redesigned the space to include extra seating and a ramen bar. She also expanded the drink menu with sochu cocktails, craft beers and a variety of Baja wines by Villa Montefiori<\/strong>, Monte Xanic<\/strong> and other producers. 2505 Fifth Ave., 619-231-0700<\/em>, artisanbento.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Christian Gomez, the owner of Wet Stone Wine Bar & Caf\u00e9<\/strong> in Bankers Hill, is aiming for a May opening of Fools and Kings<\/strong> in the space previously occupied by Mission Hills Coffee Company<\/strong>.\"Uptown<\/p>\n

The restaurant will showcase a bevy of globally inspired plates served within an Old World environment he\u2019s tailoring after his travels to such cities as Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Lima and San Sebastian.<\/p>\n

In addition to a bar and tables made of live edge wood, customers can expect to see in the offing his house-made sangrias that have become famous at Wet Stone over the years. 4015 Goldfinch St<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

The new Kouch Lounge<\/strong> in Hillcrest doesn\u2019t have any couches.\"Uptown<\/p>\n

But it offers a relaxed, modern atmosphere for socializing over handcrafted lattes, espressos, cold nitro brews and a variety of unique noshes such as Brazilian cheese bread balls, ginger-chicken samosas, and rugulach and hamentashen pastries.<\/p>\n

The family-run caf\u00e9 also offers beer on tap and wines from France, Portugal and Argentina. 3852 Fourth Ave., 619-255-4817, thekounchlounge.com<\/u><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

If you\u2019ve never eaten skinless ground beef sausages from Bucharest, known as mititei, or Transylvanian chimney cakes called kurtos, the new International Deli and Caf\u00e9<\/strong> in Linda Vista offers them in abundance.\"Uptown<\/p>\n

The deli, located in The Presidio<\/strong> plaza, specializes in a host of Hungarian and Romanian sausages made mostly in-house. It also stocks imported Eastern European cold cuts and groceries such as Estonaka kielbasa, Sweet Ann goulash cream and Univer paprika paste.<\/p>\n

The owners have a similar shop in Orange County and source their breads and pastries from a Romanian bakery for both locations. Made-to-order sandwiches and assorted fried flat breads are also available. 5201 Linda Vista Road, 619-294-5755<\/em>, intlmeatanddeli.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Frank Sabatini Jr. puede ser contactado en <\/em>fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Frank Sabatini Jr. The long-vacant, two-story building at the corner of Ninth and University avenues in Hillcrest that was rumored to become a Japanese restaurant has been fully leased instead to Better Buzz Coffee Roasters. The Vista-based company is currently working with designers and architects to transform the house-like structure into a full-production roasting […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":816,"featured_media":251495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Uptown News Food Briefs \u2013 April 21, 2017","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251494","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=251494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}