Paradisaea restaurant’s new chef unveils his first menu
Jeff Armstrong, formerly of Urban Kitchen Group, has introduced a more approachable American menu at the 21-month-old, Michelin-recommended Bird Rock restaurant
Sometime this fall, The California Michelin Guide will announce the restaurants its undercover inspectors have deemed worthy of new Michelin stars.
But for the 54 San Diego County restaurants that have already earned Michelin status — be it stars, Bib Gourmand honors or recommendations — the annual ceremony is also that nail-biting moment when restaurant owners and chefs learn whether they’ve retained their Michelin status. The honors reward the chef’s vision and the restaurant’s food quality, consistency and service on an annual basis.
Paradisaea, a tropically themed restaurant that opened in September 2022 in La Jolla’s Bird Rock community, earned a Michelin recommendation last December, though inspectors had based their award on the menu created by its former chef Mark Welker, who had already moved on by the time the announcement was made.
Where to find and what to know about San Diego’s Michelin starred, Bib Gourmand and Recognized restaurants
But Paradisaea owners Eric and Zoe Kleinbub, needen’t worry. New executive chef Jeff Armstrong has just introduced his first full menu and the food is not only just as good, it’s also more inviting for diners seeking a more accessible neighborhood restaurant rather than special occasion fine dining.
Armstrong was the Kleinbubs’ original choice for chef when they announced plans to open a restaurant several years ago, but during construction delays, Armstrong left town for a while.
When Welker left last year, the Kleinbubs once again approached Armstrong, who in the meantime had returned to San Diego and, as executive chef for Urban Kitchen Group, he created the opening menus for UKG’s Artifact at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park, The Kitchen at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla and Goldfinch Modern Delicatessen in Torrey Pines.
Armstrong said he was excited to lead Paradisaea because he shared a vision with the Kleinbubs and was eager to focus his energies on perfecting just one menu that reflects his personal style of cooking.
And what’s that? Highly seasonal menus that feature California and American ingredients prepared with classic techniques in fresh and contemporary ways. Only a few items from the original menu — including the jalapeno Caesar salad, rice pilaf, fingerling potatoes and steak au poivre — have been retained, although Armstrong said he has reworked them a bit.
Besides the new spring menu, Armstrong has recently introduced Sunday Supper, a French-inspired three-course, prix-fixe bistro menu available on Sundays only for $65. The menu changes weekly but look for dishes like bouillabaise, coq au vin and chocolate pot de creme.
Armstrong has also created a $105 prix-fixe chef’s menu featuring an amuse-bouche and five courses. More than half of all Paradisaea diners are now ordering the chef’s menu because it allows them to sample many items from the spring menu in smaller tasting portions.
The tasting menu is also one of the ways Armstrong and the Kleinbubs hope to impress Michelin inspectors when they return for a check-in on Paradisaea. The trio’s ultimate goal, like at many other local restaurants, is to earn a Michelin star. San Diego has just five Michelin starred restaurants — three-star Addison and one-star Jeune et Jolie, Valle, Soichi Sushi and Sushi Tadokoro.
I sampled the chef’s menu on a recent visit and spoke with Armstrong about his inspirations. Here’s a taste.
Cavatelli
Hand-rolled cavatelli pasta served with green asparagus, pickled white asparagus, toasted pine nuts, preserved lemon, sabayon foam and crispy chicken skin crumbles. One of the menu’s best new dishes, this dreamy pasta melts in your mouth. The acid of the lemon is just enough, the featherlight foam delivers creaminess and the chicken skin and pine nuts add add satisfying texture.
Ravioles du Dauphiné
This French pasta dish is a hand-rolled sheet of nine mini ravioli that arrive attached, like a sheet of stamps. Each ravioli is filled with light housemade ricotta cheese and the dish is topped with a creamy carrot nage broth, pickled carrot slices and micro herbs. The nage delivers a bold, layered and delicious flavor on this fun-to-share dish, where you cut and serve your own ravioli.
Heirloom chicken ballotine
This ultra-savory and flavor-packed dish is made from deboned chicken rolled in bacon and roasted, then served with a rich chicken demi glaze, golden chantarelle mushrooms, rhubarb black pepper compote. and topped with a savory tuile. This dish is Armstrong’s personal favorite for its technique, presentation and ultra-rich flavor.
Veal tenderloin
Another ultra-satisfying entree, the veal is fork tender, and served with deeply earthy morel mushrooms and grassy English peas over a delicious roasted spring onion puree.
Ora King salmon
This New Zealand farm-raised salmon is one of the menu’s prettiest dishes, served with turnips and charred cucumbers and a gorgeous green and zingy smoked dill cream sauce that’s poured over the dish tableside.
Panna Cotta
One of the restaurant’s new dessert is a seasonal fruit panna cotta served in a bowl. On my visit, the dish was flavored with fresh-squeezed blood orange juice, and topped with a fresh-baked shortbread cookie and blood orange supremes. Crumble the cookie and stir it and the orange sections into the panna cotta for texture. If you love a light and refreshing dessert like I do, this bright, citrusy dish is the perfect end to a big meal.
Cocktails
Also new at Paradisaea (pronounced “para-DEE-see-uh.”) is a new cocktail menu with 18 new drinks (with or without alcohol), all named after (and resembling in color and, in some cases, shape) tropical flightless and tropical birds, including the Paradisaea species of birds in Southeast Asia that gave the restaurant its name. Even if you don’t drink, check out the cocktail menu, which was stunningly designed by a San Francisco artist to resemble a birder’s field guide.
Paradisaea
Hours: 4 to 8 p.m. Sundays; 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 4 to 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Where: 5680 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla
Phone: (858) 255-8011
Online: paradisaea.com
pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
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