Bill Berkley lured Jean-Georges chef Tony DiSalvo to the West Coast using his three-story culinary playground as bait. I’m guessing the location two blocks from the beach in San Diego County’s prettiest, most affluent enclave didn’t hurt either. Set amidst a row of high-end shops, the complex contains a sidewalk cafe, an indoor grille, a wine bar/lounge, a fine dining room on the second floor, a beach bar on the upstairs patio, and coming soon, a top-floor steakhouse and oyster bar. Jack’s is named for Mr. Berkeley’s father.

We ate at the sidewalk café, which comprises a kiosk and a row of tables, each lined with a stylish bamboo mat and topped with glass cube featuring rounded pebbles and a flame-red flower. Jack’s most casual section still had a menu with headings as diverse as Sashimi, Crispy, Fresh, Skewers, Soups and Salads, Paninis & Sandwiches, Pizza, Pasta, and Sides. All these great-sounding options made it tricky to decide. Since there were only two of us, there was no way to sample them all. We ordered one item each from the Crispy, Skewers, Salads, and Pizza categories, then strolled to our table carrying a plastic number.

The kiosk also serves as a coffee and tea bar, so we took two drinks with us, a steaming chai latte and an ice-blended strawberry lemonade flecked with chunks of fresh strawberry.

We had no trouble filling our wait time. Printed on our plastic number were famous movie quotes, which we matched to Rocky, Casablanca, and Some Like It Hot.

Upstairs at the open-air “beach bar,” a musician was playing the steel drum.

Our food arrived quickly on geometric white plates. This was just one touch that made it clear we weren’t exactly eating at a beach shack.

Dungeness crab spring rolls came with a dipping sauce of papaya mustard, which was alternately sweet and spicy. There was hardly any filler to bind the crab beneath the crisp wrappers.

In the restaurant world, there isn’t a pairing that’s more tired than beets and goat cheese. Chef DiSalvo clearly recognized this, since his roasted beet and pistachio salad came with cubed Asian pear, gruyere emulsion and micro greens. It was a much more complex, flavorful “salad.”

Crisp-crusted shrimp skewers came with a black pepper, lime, and pineapple dipping sauce. Pairing fresh seafood with sweet, tropical sauces is a winning formula at Jack’s.

The cafe offered several pizzas, including our thin-crusted selection topped with roasted eggplant, sweet sausage and asiago. The crust was a little too chewy, but the toppings worked well together.

Before I left, the hostess gave me a tour. This is Jack’s Grille, the “casual” indoor section of the complex. It may be casual, but it still has fire and water features. The upstairs dining room is even nicer, but not quite as dramatic.

If a casual sidewalk café is turning out such interesting, flavorful dishes, I can only imagine what Chef DiSalvo is achieving indoors. Actually, I can do more than just imagine. I plan to book a table in the dining room on my next trip to San Diego.

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This entry is filed under California, Californian, San Diego, Southern California.