JoJo Ruiz's guest appearances

JoJo Ruiz

San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

OwlTail

Why does brunch feel so good in all the right parts of your soul? It is redemptively irresponsible. It’s breakfast, if breakfast were better. If your weekend was a pinball game, brunch is that bonus ball. You’re not really sure what you did to deserve it, but it’s extending your play time, so—hey there, little bonus ball. Anyway, point is, our annual sold-out Brunch Bash is back. April 22 at Carmel Mountain Ranch Estates. You should come. Because, on a very nice stretch of grass, we’ll loiter under the expensive San Diego sun and lose the appropriate amount of composure as we sample fried chicken and waffles, house-smoked lox benedict, banana bread with espresso mascarpone, croissant French toast, Mexican donuts, polenta with pork belly, Italian meatball soup, chilaquiles, granolas, parfaits. And there will be bloody marys and bubbles and agua frescas and tequila coffees and hard kombucha and iced horchata and organic superfruit hard cider and CBD beverages. Basically, people we admire make some pretty amazing things. At these parties, we invite all of them to some great place to share them with you, and to spread the word of the good things they do.To keep with the theme, this episode of “Happy Half Hour” we invited one of our favorite chefs, JoJo Ruiz—who has helmed many a brunch at Lionfish (Pendry Hotel), and Serea (Hotel Del). He tells us about the new restaurant concepts he and Clique Hospitality are opening—a sushi handroll joint called Temaki in Encinitas, and Joya Organic Kitchen in Torrey Pines. And then we discussed the joys of brunch. “I think I may be the only chef I know who likes cooking brunch,” says Ruiz. In “Hot Plates,” we talk about Wildwood Flower, a new bakery/general store in Pacific Beach that’s doing wild fermented sourdough breads, grinding their own flour every day. The famed Peterson’s Donuts in San Diego—with the bear claws as big as your face—has sold to someone who cares about the legacy. And our pick for Best Filipino Food in last year’s “Best Restaurants” issue—White Rice—is expanding to a second location in Normal Heights. For “Two People, Fifty Bucks,” David raves about Swan Bar, chef Jojo becomes the second guest in two weeks to rave about the mystical tequila charms of Cantina Mayahuel, and Troy marvels at a damn good burger at The Joint, a place known for sushi.

Why does brunch feel so good in all the right parts of your soul? It is redemptively irresponsible. It’s breakfast, if breakfast were better. If your weekend was a pinball game, brunch is that bonus ball. You’re not really sure what you did to deserve it, but it’s extending your play time, so—hey there, little bonus ball. Anyway, point is, our annual sold-out Brunch Bash is back. April 22 at Carmel Mountain Ranch Estates. You should come. Because, on a very nice stretch of grass, we’ll loiter under the expensive San Diego sun and lose the appropriate amount of composure as we sample fried chicken and waffles, house-smoked lox benedict, banana bread with espresso mascarpone, croissant French toast, Mexican donuts, polenta with pork belly, Italian meatball soup, chilaquiles, granolas, parfaits. And there will be bloody marys and bubbles and agua frescas and tequila coffees and hard kombucha and iced horchata and organic superfruit hard cider and CBD beverages. Basically, people we admire make some pretty amazing things. At these parties, we invite all of them to some great place to share them with you, and to spread the word of the good things they do. To keep with the theme, this episode of “Happy Half Hour” we invited one of our favorite chefs, JoJo Ruiz—who has helmed many a brunch at Lionfish (Pendry Hotel), and Serea (Hotel Del). He tells us about the new restaurant concepts he and Clique Hospitality are opening—a sushi handroll joint called Temaki in Encinitas, and Joya Organic Kitchen in Torrey Pines. And then we discussed the joys of brunch. “I think I may be the only chef I know who likes cooking brunch,” says Ruiz. In “Hot Plates,” we talk about Wildwood Flower, a new bakery/general store in Pacific Beach that’s doing wild fermented sourdough breads, grinding their own flour every day. The famed Peterson’s Donuts in San Diego—with the bear claws as big as your face—has sold to someone who cares about the legacy. And our pick for Best Filipino Food in last year’s “Best Restaurants” issue—White Rice—is expanding to a second location in Normal Heights. For “Two People, Fifty Bucks,” David raves about Swan Bar, chef Jojo becomes the second guest in two weeks to rave about the mystical tequila charms of Cantina Mayahuel, and Troy marvels at a damn good burger at The Joint, a place known for sushi.

JoJo Ruiz Is Everywhere

We’ve got another exciting Happy Half Hour episode for you! This week, we’re recording from our sponsor, 10 Barrel Brewing. We got to speak with brewer Ben Shirley who recommended the creamy and crisp Frosty Mug or the most popular IPA, Cali Love. Our special guest this week is Jojo Ruiz, the head chef at the new Serea seafood restaurant at the Hotel Del Coronado. Serea is the iconic resort's new oceanfront eatery that replaced 1500 Ocean, and Chef Jojo, who opened Lionfish and also worked at Ironside, has created a "sea-to-table" menu of sustainable seafood sourced from local fishermen. Jojo explained how San Diego is at the forefront of the sea-to-table movement, and he thinks that the mackerel fish and the Soupfin shark are underrated in the culinary world. His pick for Two People, $50 is Cantina Mayahuel, and the staff suggested Phuong Trang and Shank &amp; Bone for pho, Il Dandy, and brunch at Fort Oak.In Hot Plates, the owner of the popular Breakfast Republic chain opened a new brunch spot in North Park, North Park Breakfast Company, to help alleviate the crowds at Breakfast Republic. The Guild Hotel downtown just opened with a new restaurant, Luca, with Chef Justin Vaiciunas from Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” leading the kitchen. Lastly, there’s a new happy hour in town! Wayfarer Bread in Bird Rock just launched a summertime happy hour on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and will include a changing menu with various crudités, dips, and a local brewery or winery.This week's Hot Topic is about a polarizing beverage: LaCroix sparkling water. CNN said the brand's popularity with Millennials is fizzing out, and sales of the lightly flavored, fizzy beverage are "in freefall." As Americans drink more seltzer than ever before (sales of the beverage have doubled in the past five years), there's lots of competition now, especially for the boozy kind. Nevertheless, Jojo still prefers a LaCroix over a beer after a long day at work.It’s not too late to join us for our live taping of Happy Half Hour at Eppig Brewing’s Waterfront Biergarten next week, July 8, at 3 p.m. We will be sampling the first of three collaboration beers we are doing with Eppig, Fall, and Coronado brewing in celebration of our Best of San Diego issue. There is no charge to come down, but there will be discounts for everyone in our Insider’s Program. We hope to see you there!

We’ve got another exciting Happy Half Hour episode for you! This week, we’re recording from our sponsor, 10 Barrel Brewing. We got to speak with brewer Ben Shirley who recommended the creamy and crisp Frosty Mug or the most popular IPA, Cali Love. Our special guest this week is Jojo Ruiz, the head chef at the new Serea seafood restaurant at the Hotel Del Coronado. Serea is the iconic resort's new oceanfront eatery that replaced 1500 Ocean, and Chef Jojo, who opened Lionfish and also worked at Ironside, has created a "sea-to-table" menu of sustainable seafood sourced from local fishermen. Jojo explained how San Diego is at the forefront of the sea-to-table movement, and he thinks that the mackerel fish and the Soupfin shark are underrated in the culinary world. His pick for Two People, $50 is Cantina Mayahuel, and the staff suggested Phuong Trang and Shank &amp; Bone for pho, Il Dandy, and brunch at Fort Oak. In Hot Plates, the owner of the popular Breakfast Republic chain opened a new brunch spot in North Park, North Park Breakfast Company, to help alleviate the crowds at Breakfast Republic. The Guild Hotel downtown just opened with a new restaurant, Luca, with Chef Justin Vaiciunas from Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” leading the kitchen. Lastly, there’s a new happy hour in town! Wayfarer Bread in Bird Rock just launched a summertime happy hour on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and will include a changing menu with various crudités, dips, and a local brewery or winery. This week's Hot Topic is about a polarizing beverage: LaCroix sparkling water. CNN said the brand's popularity with Millennials is fizzing out, and sales of the lightly flavored, fizzy beverage are "in freefall." As Americans drink more seltzer than ever before (sales of the beverage have doubled in the past five years), there's lots of competition now, especially for the boozy kind. Nevertheless, Jojo still prefers a LaCroix over a beer after a long day at work. It’s not too late to join us for our live taping of Happy Half Hour at Eppig Brewing’s Waterfront Biergarten next week, July 8, at 3 p.m. We will be sampling the first of three collaboration beers we are doing with Eppig, Fall, and Coronado brewing in celebration of our Best of San Diego issue. There is no charge to come down, but there will be discounts for everyone in our Insider’s Program. We hope to see you there!