The Great Wines of Northern France The Northern section of France excels in the production of white wines. There are four distinctly different and famous regions: Champagne, Burgundy, Loire Valley, and Alsace. Champagne The Champagne region is France’s northernmost wine-producing area. Grapes here have a difficult time ripening, as the weather is generally cooler,…
French Flair Meets Pacifica Del Mar Chef Pascal Vignau has joined Pacifica Del Mar, following his previous tenure at Hilton Carlsbad Oceanfront Resort & Spa and eight years as chef/owner of acclaimed Savory Casual Fare. Prior to founding Savory, Vignau was executive chef at the (formerly Four Seasons) Aviara Resort, which offered San Diego County’s…
Top of the Market After 26 years as a harbor-side dining icon, Top of the Market’s ascension to a higher tier of fine dining is a literal rise from the ashes. In 2015, a fire significantly damaged the second-story, USS Midway-adjacent perch as well as its ground-level sister eatery, The Fish Market. Rather than reconstruct…
Valentine’s Day Dining How to Make the Evening Flow Smoothly where a few hours of time dedicated to a special loved one, is just around the corner. Aside from the traditional flowers, cards, chocolate, and Champagne, it is a time when a special meal might be shared, typically and with high anticipation, at a fine…
Duke’s La Jolla Newly implanted in the two-story shell of Top of the Cove, Duke’s La Jolla is the latest in a family of oceanfront eateries tracing back to the Hawaiian Islands. Rather than provide a whopping appetizer-course’s worth of background, I’ll leave the origin story abbreviated, focusing on the present instead of the past.…