It’s that momentum that allowed Bost and Resnick to open their most ambitious restaurant yet, 22-seat chef’s counter Lilo, to immediate success last year. “Nobody gets a menu [at Lilo] until the end, so the sense of trust is so important.” Diners might glean hints of what’s to come if they spot dishes like local sea urchin canapés decorated with toasted pumpkin seeds and delicate alyssum flower on social media, but most arrive and wait to see what will happen. For Resnick, Lilo’s popularity is a sign that San Diego diners are more excited for new experiences and unique offerings than ever before in his 20-plus year restaurant career.
Similarly, Swikard says his more rustic and casual Mediterranean restaurant Callie, which opened in 2021, was “step one” in building diners’ trust before opening Fleurette in December 2025, where the cooking is a little more intricate and technique driven, with the help of a custom-built stainless steel Athanor cooking suite from France, and French brigade style service featuring a large team of cooks divided among different stations. “This style of cuisine [at Fleurette] is my purest expression of myself that I’ve ever shown in San Diego,” Swikard says. And Hokkaido sea urchin has nothing on the sweet plump tongue of live local urchin, which he serves in its striking purple shell on a bed of the creamiest soft scrambled eggs with black truffle sherry sabayon.
There’s broad diversity in more elevated dining across the city too. Restaurants used to play it safe, defaulting to fish tacos and relying on rooftop views to bring in crowds. But now hot new restaurants aren’t afraid to push the boundaries. Kingfisher, 24 Suns, Matsu and Deckman’s North at 3131 are all noteworthy openings in the past few years, showcasing Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and Baja Californian flavors with beautiful presentations and remarkable craftsmanship. Tara Monsod (San Diego’s only ever James Beard finalist) unapologetically showcases her Filipino heritage, serving pig ears, beef tendon, and dinuguan, Filipino pork blood stew, at Asian steakhouse Animae.
