There’s something wonderfully peculiar about Jsix restaurant in Downtown San Diego. It borders two distinct areas, the trendy East Village and the historic Gaslamp Quarter. Its décor includes a backlit bar, flower castings on the ceiling and fezzes on the dining room wall. The menu spotlights coastal California cuisine – with a French twist. It’s all just eclectic enough to appeal to a wide range of tourists and locals alike.
That, in fact, is the point. Both the restaurant and the hotel it’s adjacent to, Hotel Solamar, are owned by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, a brand known for its unique take on destination dining. Kimpton restaurants may be affiliated with hotels, but they are chef-driven attractions onto themselves (among the first was Wolfgang Puck’s Postria in San Francisco).
The star of Jsix is Executive Chef Christian Graves, who came to San Diego in 2006 from San Francisco, where he worked at well-known restaurants including Aqua, One Market and Farallon. He brought with him a slow-food approach and commitment to social responsibility that were in line with Kimpton’s philosophy. Jsix serves sustainable seafood, sources its ingredients from local farmers, cures its meat on the premises (being careful to use the whole animal) and has its own garden, located behind the building’s elevator shaft.
That devotion shines in dishes that are clean, vibrant and surprising. Like a beef tartare appetizer paired with crumbled hardboiled eggs, avocado puree and a salad of shaved green apples, for example. Or seasonal, butternut squash ravioli in a pomegranate truffle sauce. And, of course, fresh seafood selections are menu highlights.
On a recent visit, there was pork belly and fried oysters with fennel salad and capers – the main entrée in Chef Graves’ three-course tasting menu. It was preceded by a vegetarian chili thick with squash, carrots, parsnips and potatoes and followed by fresh blueberry sorbet made in-house. For me, however, it was simple – Jsix had me at olive tapenade.
Upstairs, the restaurant’s sister lounge, LOUNGEsix, boasts rooftop views, fire pits and a poolside bar. With no cover charge and a relaxed atmosphere, it’s a place where its clientele – as diverse as the venue itself – can feel comfortable. “Whether you’re wearing a T-shirt after a day at one of the local beaches or coming back from a military function in a tuxedo, you won’t feel out of place here,” says Jsix/LOUNGEsix General Manager Jeff Brown.
Brown hopes to maintain that casual vibe in the restaurant as well.
“People still want fine dining options like tasting menus, but they don’t want to walk into a restaurant, be escorted to the bar and be gathered by a maitre d’ when their table is ready,” he says. “They want to be able to have a four-course meal at the bar, or just appetizers at a table.” Jsix has altered its menu to cater to this trend. The approach: tapas meet family-style, with plates being either small or large.
Guests are also requesting experiences like Jsix’s Chef’s Kitchen, a monthly interactive cooking event that begins at a local farmer’s market and ends at the chef’s table. For foodies with a hearty appetite, Jsix presents “Chef’s Mercy” on its dinner menu. According to one server, this five-course meal (wine pairings optional) is personalized and special –no two have ever come out of the kitchen the same.
Offerings such as these are part of the overall plan to make Jsix a mainstay on the San Diego culinary scene, Brown says. “We want to have that recipe that will last forever.”
Jsix and LOUNGE six
616 J Street (corner of 6th Ave.)
San Diego, CA 92101
619-531-8744
Hours
| Breakfast: | Daily, 7am-10:30am. |
| Brunch: | Saturday /Sunday, 11:30am-2:30pm |
| Lunch: | Monday-Friday, 11:30am-2:30pm |
| Dinner: | Sunday-Wednesday, 5:30pm-10pm |
| Thursday-Saturday, 5:30pm-11pm | |
| LOUNGEsix: | Daily-11:30am to Close (subject to weather and season) |