Frank Sabatini Jr.

Salt & Cleaver to open in Hillcrest soon

Frank Sabatini Jr. - Reporter, San Diego Uptown News
April 13th, 2013

A new Hillcrest restaurant that underscores many of the world’s favorite sausages is slated to open the week of April 15 in a dramatically redesigned space that formerly housed St. Tropez Bistro and, more recently, Cote Sud.

Stocked with a full bar featuring 20 beer taps, Salt & Cleaver is marked by an illuminated 600-pound wrought iron wall on its front patio along with backlit signage set against knotted timber.

Food Flashes: New chefs, new kitchens reshape Hillcrest

Frank Sabatini Jr. - Gay San Diego
June 8th, 2012

Mo’s Universe welcomes new chef, Sean Magee, who will oversee the menus at Gossip Grill, Urban Mo’s, Baja Betty’s and the upcoming Hillcrest Brewing Company, due to open June 8. Magee helmed the kitchen at Proper Pub downtown after working for Urban Solace and the Grant Grill. “He has great energy and he’ll bring a lot to all four restaurants,” said Chris Shaw, founder and owner of Mo’s Universe. The position opened recently after Gossip Grill Chef Mary Jo Testa left to launch a restaurant in Italy. Magee said most of his changes will materialize by fall.

DINING REVIEW: A door worth knocking on in Mission Hills

Frank Sabatini Jr. - Gay San Diego
May 19th, 2012

When Trish Watlington proclaims her Red Door Restaurant and Wine Bar serves farm-to-table food, she is not talking about purchasing tomatoes and carrots from the local farmers markets. Instead, she nurtures a decent-sized garden at her Mount Helix home, where things like kale, radish, eggplant and lettuce ripen before ending up in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Her newly appointed executive chef, Miguel Valdez, said he could not be happier.

DINING REVIEW: Song, food and potent martinis

Frank Sabatini Jr. - San Diego Uptown News
April 28th, 2012

SAN DIEGO -- Martinis Above Fourth fills a rare niche in that it’s one of the few restaurant-bars in Uptown that looks down to a street. Not exactly a towering rooftop like Bertrand at Mr. A’s or Top of the Park, but its second-floor perch in central Hillcrest is high enough to incite a feeling of exclusiveness, as though you’ve entered into the lesser castle of the land.

Clucking for pies

Frank Sabatini Jr. - Gay San Diego
March 9th, 2012

A friend in our trio quipped, “I feel like we’re in North Dakota,” as we settled into a blue vinyl booth at the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop, which celebrates its 74th birthday on May 8. Indeed, a backcountry sentiment is struck by the constant rattling of food carts pushed by waitresses who address you as “sweetie” and “honey.” In addition, several high shelves serve as nesting grounds for flocks of ceramic chickens, all donated over the years by avid consumers of the eatery’s homey chicken pies.