Caroline’s Seaside Café – a new breakfast and lunch cafe serving up healthy, creative California-style cuisine – opened its doors on Aug. 8 at the Scripps Seaside Forum in the heart of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) campus. The café’s menu focuses on locally-grown produce, hormone-free meats and poultry and organic, Fair Trade-certified ingredients that adhere to UC San Diego’s sustainable food services plan. Caroline’s Seaside Café has menu options for everyone, offering hot and cold breakfasts and lunches, fresh pastries and vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free menu items. Patrons can also get their caffeine fix with coffee and espresso drinks made from locals’ favorite blends from Bird Rock Coffee Roasters. Both the inside and outside space of the oceanfront LEED-certified building will be used for everyday dining, private dinner parties and wine tasting. “The entire building is eco-friendly. Everything here is sustainable and we have a full ocean view at the café,” said barista Sharina Trager. “It’s a casual café, but the wood and glass features make it very sleek.” Guiseppe Ciuffa owns and operates Caroline’s Seaside Café at high standards, focusing on the use of organic and sustainable ingredients and utensils. Yet somehow, menu items at the café remain affordable. All of the breakfast and lunch items on the menu are less than $10. Despite the pricing, “the portion sizes are great,” assured Trager. “Everything here is really fresh and everyone leaves full.” Caroline’s Seaside Café is located on the second floor of Scripps Seaside Forum, located at 8610 Kennel Way. Hours of operation are Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Gciuffa, Inc. owns and operates Giuseppe Fine Catering, the Museum Cafe at La Jolla’s Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla and the Sculpture Court Café at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.