Paul McCabe, the former executive chef of L’Auberge Del Mar’s Kitchen 1540, has moved from the coast to the ranch. He is partnering with Delicias owner Owen Perry and general manager Alex Campbell in a redo of the longtime Rancho Santa Fe restaurant.
“I wasn’t looking per se, opportunity just comes once in a while,” says McCabe. “To be offered a partnership in [Delicias] is very exciting. But it’s bigger than this, too. We have plans to open up several other restaurants. That’s the big picture for what’s going on.”
McCabe says this new venture, with three to five more restaurants in the works for San Diego and Orange County, is a good fit for his entrepreneurial spirit. “I like to build things and get them running,” he explains. “And, then, once they’re running, I’m always looking at, ‘OK, where do we go from here?’” He says Delicias has a great location and much potential. “It just needs everything to come together just right to really take off again and really be successful. I like that challenge.”
McCabe says he will tweak the current Delicias menu only slightly through the holidays. In January, the restaurant will close for a while to update the dining room, re-launching in February with a new menu as well as a new look. For now, McCabe is playing his plans for the restaurant close to the vest. “I don’t want to show all my cards,” he says. But based on McCabe’s past successes, the new Delicias is bound to taste delicious. (858/756-8000, www.deliciasrestaurant.com) ANDREA NAVERSEN
