California English announced Thursday that its final day of service will be Friday, September 25.
"It's hard to say goodbye, but we are closing our doors," the restaurant wrote on Instagram, adding that it hopes to serve customers "one last time" before the closure.
The restaurant opened in February 2023 at 9276 Scranton Road within Longfellow Real Estate Partners' Biovista life-science campus. Conceived by Blais as a marriage of Southern California ingredients and classic British fare, California English offered dishes like fish & chips, Scotch eggs and Sunday roast alongside afternoon tea, brunch and a full cocktail program. Longfellow described the restaurant at opening as a centerpiece of its efforts to make Sorrento Mesa's office campuses more of a live-work-dine destination.
Although California English launched as a Richard Blais concept, its more recent day-to-day operations have been overseen by the local hospitality team behind Hillcrest's Common Stock and Bankers Hill's Books & Records.
Common Stock Hospitality was founded by longtime friends and former Hillstone Restaurant Group employees Brian Douglass and Anderson Clark. The pair opened Common Stock in Hillcrest in 2018 and later operated Farmer & The Seahorse in Torrey Pines before opening Books & Records in the former Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant space in 2023. Their broader hospitality company, Back Forty Hospitality, specializes in restaurant concept development, operations and management.
According to Common Stock co-founder Brian Douglass, Longfellow recently approached the group about potentially taking over the California English lease rather than continuing merely to oversee operations. The team ultimately declined and another group is reportedly lined up to open a new concept in the space.
The decision comes as Douglass and his partners are already balancing Common Stock and Books & Records in San Diego while working on a new Orange County project. The group is in the process of opening a food hall in the former Terrace Kitchen space at 17220 Laguna Canyon Road within Irvine's Spectrum Terrace office campus. Irvine Company materials describe the existing Terrace Kitchen space as an onsite dining facility with rotating culinary stations, artisan coffee, grab-and-go offerings, wine and craft beer.
Douglass spoke highly of both Blais and Longfellow when discussing the California English closure, saying the decision not to assume the lease was not the result of a sour relationship but rather the practical reality of the group's growing workload. He was particularly complimentary about the experience of partnering with Blais and working with Longfellow.
The arrangement is somewhat reminiscent of Common Stock Hospitality's earlier tenure at Farmer & The Seahorse. Douglass and Clark took over operations of that Torrey Pines restaurant in 2020 before stepping away approximately three years later to refocus on their own concepts and other projects.
For Blais, California English's closure removes one of his most visible San Diego restaurant projects but comes amid an increasingly broad national portfolio.
Blais first became nationally known through Bravo's Top Chef, finishing as runner-up on the show's fourth season before returning to win the inaugural Top Chef All-Stars. He has since become a fixture on culinary television and currently appears alongside Gordon Ramsay and Nyesha Arrington on Fox's Next Level Chef. Fox renewed the competition series through a sixth season, and Blais returned as a mentor for its fifth season in 2026.
A Culinary Institute of America graduate, Blais trained early in his career at some of the world's most celebrated restaurants, including The French Laundry, Daniel, Chez Panisse and el Bulli. He later established the culinary consulting company Trail Blais and became a James Beard Award-nominated cookbook author. His books include Try This at Home, So Good and Plant Forward.
His restaurant footprint has also expanded well beyond San Diego. In addition to projects in Florida, Blais has more recently partnered with Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort on Arizona restaurants La Zozzona and Tiki Taka, while his Trail Blais portfolio also includes Kestrel at Indian Wells Golf Resort. He continues serving as culinary director for VIP dining at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.
Blais nevertheless remains closely connected to the San Diego dining scene. He was the founding chef behind Little Italy's Juniper & Ivy and helped launch The Crack Shack before those businesses expanded beyond his direct involvement.
Most significantly, his Ember & Rye remains open at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Carlsbad. Blais opened the steak and seafood restaurant in 2021 as part of the resort's $50 million renovation. Ember & Rye temporarily closed for approximately nine months after a kitchen fire in August 2023 before reopening in June 2024. Today, Park Hyatt continues to bill it as a Richard Blais steakhouse, serving steaks and seafood overlooking the 18th green of Aviara Golf Club. The restaurant also received a 2026 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award.
California English's departure also brings an apparent end to what was originally envisioned as a larger Blais-Longfellow partnership in Sorrento Mesa.
When California English debuted, plans called for Blais to develop a second restaurant approximately a mile away at Longfellow's Bioterra campus. Longfellow publicly described the proposed second restaurant as part of its continuing collaboration with Blais, while Blais said at the time that the projects were helping transform Sorrento Mesa from somewhere people simply drove through into a place to dine and gather. That second concept never materialized.
California English will remain open through Friday, September 25, at 9276 Scranton Road in San Diego's Sorrento Mesa. For more information, visit californiaenglishsd.com.
Originally published on September 3, 2026.
California English's departure also brings an apparent end to what was originally envisioned as a larger Blais-Longfellow partnership in Sorrento Mesa.
When California English debuted, plans called for Blais to develop a second restaurant approximately a mile away at Longfellow's Bioterra campus. Longfellow publicly described the proposed second restaurant as part of its continuing collaboration with Blais, while Blais said at the time that the projects were helping transform Sorrento Mesa from somewhere people simply drove through into a place to dine and gather. That second concept never materialized.
California English will remain open through Friday, September 25, at 9276 Scranton Road in San Diego's Sorrento Mesa. For more information, visit californiaenglishsd.com.
Originally published on September 3, 2026.