Frank Sabatini Jr. | Downtown News
The doors have reopened at Jsix in East Village after a radical renovation that took two months to complete. With new interior brick walls and communal tables occupying both the bar and dining areas, the restaurant feels more casual compared to its original high-gloss design. Among the new appointments are wood-framed flat screens above the bar, birdcage lights and a giant photograph of the Coronado Bridge dominating a wall in a separate dining area created for private parties and spillover business.
Executive Chef Christian Graves and his sous chefs have transformed the menu, adding numerous small plates such as chicken dumplings in consommé, anise-lamb meatballs and farm-fresh veggie nibbles. Heading up the revised drink menu is Nate Howell (formerly with Cusp in La Jolla), who has introduced inventive cocktails using American spirits distilled in various states throughout the country.
Breakfast and dinner are served daily, with lunch available Monday through Friday and brunch served on Saturdays and Sundays. 616 J St., 619-531-8744.
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The new Moonshine Flats is being dubbed as a “country-rock party spot,” and with five bars to prove it. Since its recent opening, the rustic multi-level nightclub has seen guests break into everything from line dancing and karaoke to billiard matches and beer pong. Serious drinkers can recline in old-fashion barbershop chairs as waitresses administer shots of hooch. 344 Seventh Ave., 619-501-4600.
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What cocktails pair best to dishes like diver scallops and beef tenderloin? Find out when Chef Fabrice Hardel of the Westgate Hotel teams up with veteran mixologists from Rumbling Tins Co., during a libation-fueled dinner in the hotel’s Fontainebleau Room, at 6:30 p.m., March 13. The drinks will be prepared directly in front of guests as they learn the history of classic cocktails and how to properly recreate them at home. The cost is $79 per person. 1055 Second Ave., 619-238-1818.
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The Gaslamp’s bustling chophouse, Lou & Mickey’s, is preparing for a remodel in the coming months, which will result in new floor-to-ceiling windows, centralized bar seating and a redesigned patio. Word is that the restaurant will stay open throughout most of the redo. Famous for its prime steaks, the menu also features fresh seafood such as live Maine lobsters and wild king crab from the Barents Sea. 224 Fifth Ave., 619-237-4900.
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The latest and greatest Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from 20 wineries throughout the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County will be available during an afternoon tasting followed by a barbecue dinner, March 30, at Marina Kitchen in the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel. Wine pours by members of the Santa Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance begin at 3 p.m. Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $60 for both or $22 for the wine tasting only. 333 W. Harbor Drive, 619-699-8222.
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Chad Cline of Waterfront Bar & Grill and Harbor Town Pub has spearheaded the new Werewolf, a pub-like venture in the Gaslamp District that recently replaced Gaijin Noodle + Sake House. With more than 30 beer taps and a cocktail menu in place, the bill of fare includes salads, sandwiches, wings and burgers, one of them named “the triple threat,” which is topped with maple-glazed pork belly and a fried egg. Quirky décor abounds, such as the mind-boggling wall of spent bullet shells. 627 Fourth Ave., 619-234-0094.
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The East Village will see its first distillery emerge when Old Harbor Distilling opens by early April in a 7,500-square-foot facility that will focus initially on rum production. The venture is being launched by former Hess Brewing Company employee Michael Skubic, who plans to also make whiskeys down the road. Tours of the distillery, which features a tasting room, will be conducted on weekends. 270 17th St.
