A dining concept encompassing all the elements of a large-scale cookout is coming to Point Loma, when The Patio Group completes its most ambitious project to date at the old firehouse in Liberty Station.
Slated to open by late summer, Fireside by the Patio will devote more than half of its 10,000-square-foot space to the outdoors, where customers can witness their meals prepared on a variety of grills fueled by mesquite, apple and peach woods.
“We’ll have smokers, pizza ovens and a Yakitori station. Gas won’t be used for any of them,” says executive chef John Medall, hinting that he’ll roast whole pigs on the weekends. The pet-friendly grounds will also boast an al fresco bar and four fire pits in addition to copious flora, which has become an aesthetic trademark within the company’s other restaurants: The Patio on Lamont Street in Pacific Beach and The Patio on Goldfinch in Mission Hills.
Inside the 80-year-old structure, construction is underway for a communal dining area, a second bar and a kitchen earmarked for prep work. A few firehouse vestiges will remain, such as the station’s original doors and roofline.
“We’re dealing with a historic building, and we will celebrate that,” says Patio Group owner Gina Champion-Cain. “Unlike our complete redos at Lamont and Goldfinch, this will go a lot faster because we already have a gorgeous, beautiful shell in place.” Fireside by the Patio will also set itself apart from the company’s other restaurants with significantly greater seating capacity for nearly 400 indoor-outdoor guests as well as service counters allowing customers to place food orders electronically on tablets.
“The environment will be much more casual in comparison,” adds Champion-Cain.
Medall plans to uphold several core dishes popular at Lamont and Goldfinch in an effort to “breed familiarity.” They include ahi poke tacos, Spanish octopus and the beef and bleu flatbread mantled by New York steak, creamy Gorgonzola and roasted mushrooms.
But the menu will be ultimately defined by meats and locally sourced vegetables cooked under the open skies with smokers and grills. Some of the dishes in development are hand-cut bacon with brown sugar and Sriracha glaze, which he terms as “man candy,” plus healthy salads, crafty flatbreads and banh mi sandwiches stuffed with peach-molasses pork shoulder.
For the weekend pig roasts, he foresees plating up meals for two with a choice of sides such as fire-roasted corn and sweet potato fries.
“I have a lot of ideas and we’ll be trying all different things.”
Champion-Cain says the notion of launching a project in the historic firehouse materialized when Liberty Station’s property management firm, Corky McMillin Co., presented the idea based on her other successful, green-inspired restaurants.
“They thought we’d be a great addition to the north end of Liberty Station. And when we saw the building and its backyard areas, we thought so too. This is a concept that wouldn’t work in a traditional shopping center because most of the cooking will be done outside.”
The Patio Group also owns The Swell Café in Mission Beach and The Front Porch culinary shop in Mission Hills. In addition, it will open a commissary kitchen and coffee-roasting facility by late summer on Hancock Street in Point Loma.
Fireside will serve lunch and dinner daily, plus weekend brunch. The property is located at 2855 Perry Road. For updates, visit www.thepatiorestaurants.com.
