San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

Welcome back to the Happy Half Hour! This week, we checked in with Chef Phillip Esteban, a National City native who has worked at David Chang's Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York City and most recently as the research and development chef for Consortium Holdings. We'd initially planned to have Phillip on the show back in March to talk about his upcoming culinary projects in National City, which we feat...

Happy Half Hour has returned! After a nearly three-month hiatus, we're excited to have the show back up and running. A note on today's episode: Happy Half Hour is a podcast about San Diego's restaurant industry. We know that listeners download it to hear Troy's recommendations, and to find out what local chefs and restaurant owners are working on. For many people, the show is a form of escapism an...

We're here at Ballast Point Brewing in Little Italy, and today, we have Colby Chandler, Ballast Point's vice president and specialty brewer. Colby is the second-longest employee of Ballast Point—he's been with the company for 23 years. He was involved in the creation of their award-winning flagship beer, Sculpin, where he took two gold-medal-winning IPAs and melded the recipes into one. His versio...

We're here at Provisional Kitchen, one of the restaurants in the Pendry Hotel in downtown San Diego. Today, we have David Duran, the director of food and beverage at the Pendry, talking to us about their new superfood brunch cocktails. David got into the hospitality business at age 17 in Las Vegas and moved to San Diego in early 2017, where he took the job at the Pendry. Today's guest is Jon Mangi...

Today we're here at our sponsor, Provisional Kitchen, Café & Mercantile, one of the restaurants in the Pendry Hotel in downtown San Diego, and today, we have Chef Brandon Sloan with us. Brandon is the Chef de Cuisine of Provisional, where he serves up a sunny side up ostrich egg—an egg so large that it equals 16 chicken eggs and feeds four people. Today's guest is Gaston Martinez, the founder and...

Today's guest is Alex Pierson, the founder of Amplified Ale Works. Alex got his start in the restaurant business when he opened a Middle Eastern restaurant in 2009, California Kebab. While running the restaurant he started brewing his own beer at home, which led him to start a brewery in Pacific Beach in 2012 and adopt the name, Amplified Ale Works. In 2016, he moved production to Miramar and open...

Today's guest is Bill Vivian, the owner of Regents Pizzeria in La Jolla, a pizzeria that specializes in both Chicago and New York-style pizzas. They're also famous for their chicken wings, which range in spice levels from mild to explosively hot. We highlighted the "Scorpion Wings" from Regents in The Adventurous Eaters' Checklist feature in San Diego Magazine's Food Lover's Guide. If you want to...

Today's guest is Lan Thai, chef at Enclave, the restaurant inside JuneShine Ranch's kombucha brewery. Enclave's menu is based around the concept of food-as-medicine and its partnership with Juneshine is a "match made in organic heaven," according to Lan. We highlighted the roasted beet salad from Enclave in the January issue of San Diego Magazine, which is devoted to tips on healthy eating. Lan's...

Welcome back to the Happy Half Hour! Joining us in the studio today is Lara Worm, co-founder of Bivouac Ciderworks in North Park. We've mentioned Bivouac before on the show, and you're probably familiar with the brand, but we share the big news that they just recently released their ciders in cans—including the popular San Diego Jam. You can buy the cider at BevMo, Jensen's and Barron's, and soon...

This week's very special guest is Brendan Watters, the new CEO of Ballast Point and co-founder of Kings and Convicts Brewing Co. Kings and Convicts is the small brewery from the Chicago area that just purchased Ballast Point last month from Constellation Brands. Ballast Point shook the craft beer world when they sold to Constellation Brands for $1 billion over four years ago. We got to know Brenda...

Welcome back and Happy New Year! After the holiday break, we kick off 2020 by catching up with Matteo Cattaneo, who is from Bergamo, Italy, and the founder of Buona Forchetta, the popular pizzeria. We last had Matteo on the show back in the spring of 2017, but so much has happened since then. Buona Forchetta now has three locations throughout the county, and in late 2018, Matteo opened an Enoteca...

Welcome back and happy holidays! We are wrapping up 2019 with two year-end episodes to discuss the best food, the coolest trends, the biggest headlines, and the saddest goodbyes that we featured on the show this year. In part two, the team discusses some of the food predictions that national studies and media said would be big in 2019, including: cannabis and CBD infused everything, hard seltzers...

We are wrapping up 2019 with two year-end episodes to discuss the best food, coolest trends, biggest headlines, and saddest goodbyes in San Diego's restaurant scene. This special episode is Part 1. Some big headlines this year included Addison becoming the first and only restaurant in San Diego to receive a Michelin Star. We also discussed the news that the owner of The Patio Group was charged by...

We're kicking off December with a small announcement: After a good run, we're retiring the column VIT (Very Important Taco) as we head into 2020 and are redesigning San Diego Magazine. We're adding new departments and columns throughout the magazine, including the food section, as we're about to unveil a brand new look. Don't worry, we still plan on writing about tacos, but we're making room to fe...

Today is our special Thanksgiving episode, and joining us in the studio is Colleen Foster, Environmental Officer for the City of Oceanside, to talk about the new Green Oceanside Kitchen and its mission to end food waste and serve the community. Green Oceanside is a commercial kitchen and storage facility that is part of the city's new food rescue program, where they teamed up with local nonprofit...

This week's special guest is Fernando Gaxiola, founder of Baja Wine and Food. Fernando was born and raised in Mexico and has a degree in engineering, as well as an MBA from Arizona State University. He spent years traveling and consulting around the world, but in 2011, settled in the San Diego-Tijuana area. In 2013, he launched Baja Wine and Food, a tour company which takes people to the boutique...

Welcome back to the Happy Half Hour podcast! Our sponsor this week is the SoNo Fest and Chili Cook-Off, and with us today is long-time chili competitor and beer donor, Lee Chase from Automatic Brewing, Tiger! Tiger!, Blind Lady Ale House and Panama 66. SoNo Fest is now one of the largest festivals in the North and South Park neighborhoods and is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year on Decem...

This week's special guest is Rick Chapman, the co-founder of Coronado Brewing Company, which has been open for over 23 years. Rick and his brother, Ron, opened the brewpub in the heart of their hometown of Coronado in 1996. Since then, their beers have won some major awards, including the 2014 World Beer Cup Champion for Best Mid-Sized Brewery, and they won four medals at the 2019 Great American B...

Welcome back! We're here at the Hotel Del Coronado with Sara Harper, the director of marketing for the Hotel Del and Beach Village at the Del. Sara oversees all the branding for the iconic resort. This week's special guest is here right in time for Halloween. Joining us is Amar Harrag, the co-owner of Tahona restaurant and mezcal bar in Old Town, which has a new speakeasy that just opened called O...

Welcome to a very special episode of the Happy Half Hour! This week, we are sailing through San Diego Bay on the High Spirits, a vintage ship belonging to Hornblower Cruises and Events. We're chatting with the marketing manager, director of food and beverage, national sales manager, executive chef, and the captain who make the Hornblower cruises sail so smoothly. Hornblower offers several differen...

This week's special guest is Matt Sieve, the owner of Madison on Park. Matt opened the restaurant and bar in University Heights four years ago, and their newest drink, called the "Queen of Crowns," is going to be featured as the cocktail of the month in the November issue of San Diego Magazine. Recently, Madison generated buzz for being at the forefront of making CBD cocktails in San Diego. Matt i...

This week we have a very special episode, and it's a must-listen. Our guest is Steven Yeng, the co-founder of OB Noodle House, The Holding Company and Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, which launched nationally and will be available in all 50 states by the end of this month. Steven is a Cambodian-born immigrant and polio survivor, and he grew up in Ocean Beach, where he met his now-wife, Brittany....

This week's special guest is Brandon Zanavich, owner of The Friendly in North Park. The Friendly is known for its New York-style pizza and "dirty flat top cheeseburgers." Customers aren't allowed to modify anything on the burgers, so what you order is what you get: butter-braised onions, American cheese, and garlic aioli all piled on top of a grilled burger patty. Brandon recently teamed up with H...

This week's special guest is Justin Vaiciunas, the executive chef at the new Guild Hotel on Broadway, and its in-house restaurant Luca. Justin is from Detroit, where he was the chef at the city's prestigious Detroit Athletic Club. He loves to travel and experience new cultures, foods, and cooking techniques. His taste for adventure recently brought him to Food Network to compete on the show, "Cutt...

Welcome back! This episode is brought to you by our sponsors, Angela Landsberg, executive director of North Park Main Street, and Sara Crichlow from Redwing Bar & Grill on 30th Street. Redwing has karaoke seven days a week and a full patio bar in the back, so get ready to drink, eat and then belt out your favorite song. This week's special guest is Eric Adler, co-founder of Puesto. Eric grew up in...