Paradisaea, a 1-year-old restaurant in La Jolla’s Bird Rock neighborhood named for a species of birds on the island of New Guinea, has received recognition in the Michelin Guide, making it eligible for the distinguished Michelin Bib Gourmand or Michelin Star honors.
Paradisaea (pronounced “para-DEE-see-uh”) is one in every of seven California eating places newly awarded Michelin Guide standing.
For the document:
2:26 p.m. Dec. 12, 2023Paradisaea obtained recognition within the Michelin Guide. The authentic model of this text contained incorrect info.
Paradisaea, which serves California delicacies, joins 54 different San Diego County eating places which have been honored by the Michelin Guide since its inspectors added the San Diego space to their record of California areas they evaluation in 2019.
La Jolla residents Eric and Zoe Kleinbub constructed Paradisaea to be informal and reasonably priced sufficient to be a come-as-you-are neighborhood hangout for locals. But it’s additionally elegant sufficient in its meals preparation and repair to be a date-night vacation spot for San Diegans on the lookout for someplace new.
Zoe and Eric Kleinbub personal Paradisaea in Bird Rock.
(Douglas Friedman)
Eric Kleinbub earned a culinary diploma on the now-shuttered Tante Marie Cooking School in San Francisco, and Zoe Kleinbub’s mom owned a number of eating places in New York City. When the couple determined to depart San Francisco in 2015 to start out a household, they moved to the La Jolla neighborhood the place Eric grew up (his mother and father reside throughout the road).
In 2018, the Kleinbubs bought the 1949-era “Piano Building” at 5680 La Jolla Blvd., designed by famed architect William Kesling. It obtained its nickname as a result of it as soon as housed a piano retailer.
The Kleinbubs labored with design agency Georgis & Mirgorodsky to renovate the building however saved its midcentury fashionable look and bones. They adorned it with a tropical hen of paradise theme.
The 4,500-square-foot building is now home to each Paradisaea and Dodo Bird Donuts, a daytime cafe.
In the previous month, Paradisaea has named each a brand new government chef and basic supervisor.
When the restaurant opened final yr, its culinary director was Mark Welker, who spent 10 years with the Michelin three-star restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City and the posh NoMad Hotel chain.
But final month, Welker left the restaurant, and his tropically impressed menu has been up to date with a extra California-focused, farm-to-table type. A lead dish that Michelin inspectors title of their evaluation is the coconut shrimp appetizer that Welker created.
Coconut shrimp at Paradisaea restaurant
(John Dole)
The new government chef is Jeff Armstrong, who most just lately was government chef with the Urban Kitchen Group in San Diego, the place he oversaw menu improvement for Artifact on the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park, The Kitchen on the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla and Goldfinch Modern Delicatessen in Torrey Pines.
Before shifting to San Diego, Armstrong owned an Asian road meals restaurant in Colorado and labored at high-end eating places in New York and Washington, D.C.
Paradisaea’s new basic supervisor, Patrick Cabido, is a local of Stockholm who has been within the U.S. hospitality business for greater than 20 years. He most just lately was basic supervisor of Cesarina in Point Loma. Before that, he labored at Il Dandy and Herb & Wood eating places. ◆
