When the Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar opened in 2001, the interior\u2019s glut of mahogany fixtures almost seemed to defeat the purpose of the design. Here was an ideal locale, mere millimeters from the ocean and virtually next door to the Prospect Street bustle three blocks up the way \u2014 still, those dark walls gave the place a dungeon-y look and feel while the sun had its way with the spectacular immediate area.
\nBut even as socially conscious wardens renovate their prisons, so too do restaurateurs conspire to strike while the iron\u2019s hot. Gone is the Nine-Ten\u2019s dead of night amid its reopening last month, replaced by lighter walls and several varieties of open lighting that features postmodern chandeliers. Pristine new furniture and tile abut to-die-for artwork that mimics La Jolla Cove in every sense.
\nAnd don\u2019t forget the bar, with its new lighting and a whole different feel to the Grande Terrace patio.
\nSix months and $300,000 later, Nine-Ten is making up for lost time, sporting a look only a reconstructive surgeon could love. It\u2019s ironic that the menu (which has always been great) now comports with such an appealing setting. From the oatmeal, berries and house-made granola at the start of the day to lunch\u2019s grilled octopus and New York steak, the Nine-Ten serves fare on a par with its counterparts up the street \u2014 you\u2019ll find that\u2019s especially true at dinner when the Roasted Colorado Lamb Loin insistently rests on its laurels. And if you forgo the vaunted half-baked chocolate cake or the caramel mousse, with its pumpkin cheesecake core, we can\u2019t be held responsible.
\nNeither can we get enough of local photographer Dana Montlack’s stunning art, which runs the length of the dining room\u2019s northern wall. It\u2019s an absolutely splendid complement to the seascape that awaits in one of the Village\u2019s quieter neighborhoods \u2014 a series of slats screams the lush blues and browns from the ocean beyond, oranges and greens providing the cadenced complement. The room\u2019s appointments handsomely frame this marvelous uproar of color and light, a flawless interpretation of the water\u2019s perpetual rise and fall.
\nIf the art is meant to get you to linger a while, there\u2019s only one appropriate setting \u2014 the bar, which amid its renovation is no scissorbill itself. The same fresh, earthen look greets the casual bar customer \u2014 and management is happy to offer appetizers like lamb meatballs and short-rib ravioli and signature cocktails like the 910 Manhattan, with its orange coriander-infused whiskey and sweet vermouth. This is a good one \u2014 you might want to make sure you\u2019ve eaten first.
\nWhatever you decide, please be assured that this is some kind of facelift, from the fantastic wall art to lighting that must have been designed by an architect. Kudos to La Jolla\u2019s Robinson Brown Design for the magnificent plan, to Nine-Ten management for staying the course and to you for delighting in all of it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar opened in 2001, the interior\u2019s glut of mahogany fixtures almost seemed to defeat the purpose of the design. Here was an ideal locale, mere millimeters from the ocean and virtually next door to the Prospect Street bustle three blocks up the way \u2014 still, those dark walls gave the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":274414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Nine-Ten Restaurant and Bar looks good enough to eat, thanks to renovation","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274413","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\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}