Husband and wife lead Ranch 45 in Solana Beach

Husband and wife duo Pam and Aron Schwartz are leading Ranch 45 in Solana Beach as the restaurant continues to navigate pandemic life and raise their profile in the neighborhood.

“We started doing to-go food two days a week,” said Aron, a chef who most recently worked at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, recalling his initial involvement at Ranch 45 with Pam, who is also a chef and the general manager.

Pam and Aron Schwartz

(Courtesy)

“That turned into opening three days a week,” Aron continued, “and really it went from to-go, to to-go on the patio, to service on the patio back to to-go on the patio. Now we’re doing full dinner service with seasonal menus.”

Aron will be leading dinner service. Looking ahead, he said, the restaurant will be “continuing what we started 15, 16 months ago and turning it into a full dinner service, seasonal menu.”

That menu includes locally-sourced produce and meat, and includes dishes such as grilled gem lettuce with cotija, pumpkin seeds and chipotle vinaigrette; mushroom risotto with portobello fries, shaved pecorino and fine herbs; and crispy five spice duck confit with greens and turmeric truffle vinaigrette.

Pam’s culinary experience includes the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta, sous chef at the AAA Five Diamond Aubergine in New York, Morton’s The Steakhouse in Las Vegas and lead line cook at Nobu. She said business is slowly returning to normal as more tourists make their way to San Diego.

“Looking into the future and having Aron on board, we’re really taking what we started at the beginning of the pandemic, and have seen a need and a desire for our neighborhood to have a place to get a great, simple dinner outside,” she said.

Ranch 45 is located at 512 Via De La Valle in Solana Beach. For more information, visit ranch45.com.