David Rottenberg
David Rottenberg's Latest Posts
Exotic Appeal – Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar
Sami Ladeki is an icon on the San Diego Restaurant scene. He has been in the business for over 25 years. His chain of pizza restaurants, Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza & Grill, has been a leading innovator of flavors and styles for that old favorite and has been in the forefront of introducing tapas to local […]
Classical Italian – Acqua Al 2
The descriptive term “classical” is often applied to such things as music and architecture. But it can also be applied to food, to mean traditional or the way it has been prepared for a long time or perhaps the way my mother used to make it. I think of it as classical when I return […]
Champion Quality — The Patio on Goldfinch
A champion is a winner. Gina Champion-Cain is a winner in much more than name. She’s a winner in her real estate business, her lifestyle branding and marketing, and her ventures into retail marketing, Over the past several years she has also established herself as a winner in the local restaurant business. About 15 months […]
Passionate Neighbors
by David Rottenberg All restaurants serve food, in one form or another. Two local restaurants do more. They infuse their dishes with passion. And, to make it easy to enjoy both the restaurants, they are located next door to each other. The two are Wellington Steak & Martini Lounge and its neighbor, The Red Door, […]
DELI-cious D.Z. Akin’s
Customers were lined up three deep at the takeout counter at D.Z. Akin’s, waiting to pick up fish, chicken, brisket, matzo and other goodies essential for the upcoming Passover holiday, but no bread. Bread is not part of the Seder celebration. In the adjacent dining room, diners were biting into delicious mile-high pastrami sandwiches, overflowing […]
Seasons 52 – Dieters Delight
Dieting is difficult. Very few people like to do it. At its best – and maybe at its worst – it requires motivation, self control, and self deprivation of many of one’s favorite foods. The difficulty is perhaps why our country has one of the world’s highest obesity rates. But, now there’s help. A relatively […]
Where Our City Began
Casa de Reyes in Old Town San Diego“When the weather is good, the people come out,” Jose Pulido said proudly, as he surveyed a sea of tables where customers were obviously enjoying his cuisine. Pulido is the executive chef of Fiesta de Reyes (the party of kings), a complex of restaurants, bar, shops and […]
Choices! Lots of them! —- Dining at Pacifica Del Mar
Choices! Lots of them! There is much to consider when dining at Pacifica Del Mar, the award winning restaurant atop the Del Mar Plaza, located in the heart of the picturesque town that hugs the coastline between La Jolla and Encinitas. Some of the choices — where to dine in the venue’s several areas and […]
Cannonball Makes A Big Splash At Belmont Park
It may be winter but don’t stop enjoying the lovely beaches of San Diego. America’s finest city enjoys America’s finest weather, with many “beach days” even when other parts of our country are covered with deep snow. It is great fun to lie on the sand wearing a bathing suit in balmy sunlight even in […]
Saltbox Gastro Lounge
Young children often like to make up new words. So do adults. That’s how language grows. For example, take the Greek word for stomach, gaster. Add to it lounge. Put them together to get “gastro-lounge,” that emphasizes the stomach, serving high quality food. Or, take the common words salt and box. Put them together […]
