Tasting Room Del Mar Now Open | Get A First Glimpse Inside North County's Newest Eatery

June 2, 2016

Tasting Room Del Mar has recently debuted on the main thoroughfare of the coastal community. Owned by father/son-duo David and Evan Taylor, Tasting Room Del Mar presents a unique concept with the goal of offering diners a gastronomic educational experience consciously designed to be enhanced through suggested food & beverage pairings.

Tasting Room Del Mar's 2,400-square-foot indoor/outdoor space features a rotating selection of locally procured small plate selections crafted by Executive Chef Steven Lona and Chef de Cuisine Jenny Goycochea, whose menu has been artfully curated to complement the tasting room’s continuously revolving sustainable wine and local beer offerings while showcasing the best of the season.

Paying homage to the strong connection between craftsmen and consumers, Tasting Room Del Mar has partnered with respected local artisans including Prager Brothers Artisan Breads, Suzie's Farm, Baker & Olive, and Catalina Offshore Products to make sustainability within reach and encourage guests to engage in conscious thinking, an educational element that is paramount to the overall culinary experience.

Menu highlights include On Preservation: a deconstructed plate comprised of creamy duck rillete, pickled and fresh beets with a side of toast; All in the Family: Cucurbits, a light concoction of cucumber, watermelon and Vietnamese herbs; and Hen By Pasturebird, a preparation of a fully-pastured red hen served with red fife, fresh spring flora, and a delicate piccata sauce. Complementing the savory side of the menu, Lona engages guests’ palates by offering unique takes on desserts. Bessie is a tribute to the dairy cow, and presents complex milk textures, while the more familiar A Likely Story, features rich, crowd-pleasing flavors like coffee, chocolate, and salted caramel.


As the head of the wine program, Sommelier Rusti Gilbert, formerly of the highly lauded Addison and most recently of The Cork & Craft, oversees a dynamic list of small production boutique wines that strike a palatable synergy with the rotating seasonal menu thematics. Although the wine selection has a strong international emphasis, focusing on regions in France, Germany, and Spain, 40% of the wine list is comprised of local California wines that highlight Rhone varietals from the Central Coast.

To continue rounding out the nuanced menu flavors, Tasting Room Del Mar’s beer selection includes 28 rotating taps, offering a variety of styles ranging from Belgian ales and lagers to sours and hoppy beers, with the intention of supporting local San Diego breweries while also highlighting innovative brewers throughout California and across the US at large. The taps run from a high quality system designed to preserve the integrity of the beverage offerings and their purity of flavors. In addition to noteworthy brews, several of the restaurant’s state-of-the-art taps are dedicated to cold brew coffee, kombucha, cider, and mead. In addition to wine and beer by the glass or bottle, Tasting Room Del Mar also boasts a temperature-controlled wine cellar with a 900-bottle capacity for guests looking to take their libations to go.

With an equal emphasis on the structural elements of the space, Tasting Room Del Mar was designed in a manner intended to encourage guests to imbibe and indulge in a relaxed setting. From beer growlers repurposed as light fixtures to a textured oak wine barrel wall and bourbon- barrel bar stools designed by San Diego artist Gustaf Rooth of Planet Rooth Design Haus, every design detail is deeply intertwined with the restaurant's libation-centric concept.

In addition to the restaurant's intimate interior space, Tasting Room Del Mar also boasts a spacious outdoor seating highlighting the energy of the Del Mar community. The outdoor space is set off with a 6-seat bar housed in what is still referred to as ‘The Flower Shop’ – a once fully functioning botanical post that has been a staple of the neighborhood for years. With several different seating areas and vantage points, the patio reflects the versatility of the menu and the restaurant's unique but approachable style of dining.

In conjunction with the restaurant’s forward-thinking, progressive nature, guests will soon have the opportunity to place their orders on Tasting Room Del Mar’s user-friendly app, intended to expedite the process while providing pertinent information and context. The restaurant will also focus on creating fundamental partnerships with experts in such fields as wine-making, craft beer production, and sustainable farming to host events, seminars, and tasting dinners giving guests an opportunity to explore and further understand the unique elements and ideology associated with creating craft food and drink.

Tasting Room Del Mar is located at 1435 Camino del Mar. For more information, visit tastingroomdelmar.com and check out the menus below.