The Dish: Trust Restaurants’ Brad Wise to host fundraising dinner in Rancho Santa Fe for Feeding San Diego

Trust Restaurant Group owner and chef Brad Wise holds a beef cut in his Wise Ox butcher shop.

Also this week, five new restaurant openings in Carlsbad, Hillcrest, Del Mar, Linda Vista and El Cajon and much more

San Diego Union-Tribune

July 14, 2023 8:24 AM PT

Brad Wise, the chef and owner of San Diego’s Trust Restaurant Group, will collaborate with Feeding San Diego in September on a fundraising dinner for the nonprofit’s School Pantry program.

Wise will create a multi-course gourmet meal for the Pairings with a Purpose dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Secret Garden events venue in Rancho Santa Fe. Tickets are $375 and will include the dinner with paired beverages, auctions and live entertainment for 120 people.

Feeding San Diego’s goal is to expand its pantry program, which now provides food for the kitchen pantries at 47 Title 1 schools in San Diego County. A Title 1 school has a high percentage of students living below the poverty line. The pantry program now serves 9,000 households per month, but there are 10 more schools on the waiting list.

“No one should go hungry in San Diego, so I am honored to partner with an establishment like Feeding San Diego to help eradicate food insecurity in our city. As chefs, we’re here to feed people and provide hospitality, and in that respect this organization and myself have the same goal in mind, ” said Wise, whose company operates 10 restaurants including Michelin-recommended Trust and Fort Oak, as well as Cardellino and multiple Rare Society steakhouses and Wise Ox butcher shops. For tickets, visit feedingsandiego.org.

Double chocolate chip cookies from Tiff's Treats.

Tiff’s Treats debuts in San Diego

Tiff’s Treats, a 24-year-old Austin-based bakery service that home-delivers warm, fresh-baked cookies, opened its first San Diego County delivery hub on July 6. Working from a commercial kitchen in San Diego, Tiff’s bakes the cookies only after the online order is received, then delivers them in a heat-insulated gift box within a 5- to 10-mile radius of the bakery. Its cookie varieties include chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin, sugar, sugar with M&Ms, and double chocolate chip. To order, visit cookiedelivery.com.

Creme Brûlée Latte at the Mostra coffee shop in San Diego's Carmel Mountain area.

Mostra Coffee opens fourth location

Mostra Coffee, a San Diego-born coffee roaster and retailer, opened its fourth coffee shop location on July 8 in a ground-floor retail space at the Evoc Hillcrest apartment building at 3935 Normal St. Like other Mostra locations, it serves a full menu of fresh-roasted coffee and other drinks, locally baked pastries and snacks and specialty items reflecting the Filipino heritage of its founders. Visit mostracoffee.com.

White Rice Morena in Linda Vista

Chef Phillip Esteban’s White Rice restaurant group has opened its latest location, White Rice Morena, at 5299 Linda Vista Road, #B, in Linda Vista. Besides carrying the rice bowl dishes found at other White Rice locations, the new outlet serves Filipino street food skewers known as “ihaw ihaw.” Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Visit ricebowlsforall.com.

Chef Char’s at Parkway Plaza

Chef Char’s Seafood N Soul is the winner of Parkway Plaza shopping center’s $20,000 Taste for the Space competition. Chef Charlene Plummer beat out several small food businesses in the cooking contest, whose prize is three months of free rent at the El Cajon mall. Chef Char’s will open in October, serving dishes such as gumbo, fried catfish and jambalaya. For updates, visit chefcharseafoodnsoul.com.

Sweetgreen opens in Del Mar

Sweetgreen opened its second San Diego location Tuesday in the Del Mar Highlands Town Center, suite 111, San Diego. The 22-seat restaurant, open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, serves made-to-order salads, bowls, fish tacos and tostadas. Visit sweetgreen.com/locations.

‘Bachelorette’ viewing parties

Mission Pacific Hotel is hosting Monday-night viewing parties of season 20 episodes of “The Bachelorette” on its rooftop deck this summer. From 9 to 11 p.m. Mondays, the bar’s Girls Night Out events feature light bites and drinks for sale. Guests can also visit the set where scenes from “The Bachelorette” were filmed for episode 3 of this season. For details, visit missionpacifichotel.com/the-bachelorette-oceanside-ca/.

Moules Frites at Saint James French Diner in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Saint James Bastille Day Dinner

Newly opened Saint James French Diner at the Palihotel San Diego in the Gaslamp Quarter will be serving a four-course chef’s menu tonight in honor of Bastille Day, which is the national day of France. The menu features an amouse-bouche plus moules frites, frisée aux lardon salad, duck à l’orange and chocolate soufflé for $89. Optional wine pairings are $25 extra. On Saturday, Saint James will also introduce a new weekend brunch service from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 803 Sixth Ave., San Diego. palisociety.com

Common Stock Ogaysis

Common Stock restaurant and bar in Hillcrest will host a San Diego Pride Parade viewing party called Ogaysis from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The block party at the corner of Sixth and Robinson avenues will include an inflatable slide, live music, summer drink specials and snacks. Tickets are $12 and entrées can be pre-ordered online at eatcommonstock.com.

Tavola Nostra supports Mama’s Kitchen

In honor of Pride week, Tavola Nostra Pizzeria e Cucina in Hillcrest will be donating all proceeds from appetizer purchases to Mama’s Kitchen today and Saturday. Tavola is along the Pride Parade route at 1040 University Ave B101, San Diego. Visit tavolanostrapizzeria.com.

Pride Pilsner debuts

Second Chance Beer Company will release its new Pride Pilsner this weekend in honor of the Pride Festival. The new brew will be available at the festival Saturday and Sunday and all proceeds will be donated back to San Diego Pride to support year-round LGBTQ+ education programs and philanthropic work. Second Chance co-founder and CEO Virginia Morrison founded the San Diego Brewers Guild‘s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in 2019. Visit secondchancebeer.com.

Salt & Straw free pints

In honor of National Ice Cream Day on Sunday, Salt & Straw locations in Little Italy and Del Mar will be offering a free pint of ice cream with the purchase of three pints when ordered for delivery through its website at saltandstraw.com.

Taste of East Village announced

The East Village Business Associations has announced plans for its inaugural Taste of East Village culinary tour, offering bites and sips from more than 35 neighborhood restaurants and bars, from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 29. Tickets will be $35. Visit eastvillagesandiego.com.

Restaurant Week fall dates announced

San Diego Restaurant Week will return Sept. 24 through Oct. 1, with more than 100 restaurants countywide offering prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus start at $20. In the coming months, participants and menus will be uploaded to the website at sandiegorestaurantweek.com.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com

Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is the arts and entertainment editor, as well as the chief theater, dining and opera critic, for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joined the Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater and opera critic. She is the co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera-classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. And in 2022, she was chosen as one of the fellows in the prestigious National Critics Institute, run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterf, Conn.