The project has been a long time coming at 2335 Morena Boulevard, where Old Trieste operated from 1963 until May 2019. Founded by Trieste, Italy native Ramiro "Tommy" Tomicich and later operated by his son Larry and family, the old-school Italian fine dining institution was known for white tablecloths, tuxedo-clad servers, martinis and, during an earlier era, a strict jacket requirement.
SanDiegoVille first reported in 2019 that the Old Trieste property was being transferred to Vaught, one of the primary partners of San Diego hospitality company Verant Group, which owns an extensive collection of local restaurants and bars. Plans for the site evolved considerably in the years that followed, and SanDiegoVille has now learned that The Butcher's Wife will move forward as an independent project operated by Joey Vaught rather than as a Verant Group concept.
The Butcher's Wife is planned as an American cuisine restaurant with a full bar operating under a Type 47 liquor license, according to information provided to SanDiegoVille by a source familiar with the project. Rather than simply replacing Old Trieste with another standalone restaurant, the redevelopment is envisioned as a larger, multi-concept destination that expands the property both outward and upward.
The restaurant was conceived by Vaught and longtime Bay Park restaurateur Antonio "Tony" D'Amato, the founder of nearby Baci Ristorante and Luce Bar & Kitchen. D'Amato died unexpectedly on June 30 at age 73 while traveling overseas with his wife, Maria, bringing a devastating loss to a family and neighborhood restaurant community he helped shape over nearly five decades. D'Amato's death and legacy were previously reported by SanDiegoVille.
Following D'Amato's death, Vaught temporarily put work on The Butcher's Wife on hold to help D'Amato's family complete another project that had been particularly important to the late restaurateur: a substantial remodel and expansion of Luce Bar & Kitchen.
D'Amato opened Luce in Bay Park in 2012 as a more casual counterpart to Baci, the fine dining Italian restaurant he founded on West Morena Boulevard in 1979. Luce developed its own identity as a neighborhood gastropub, with a menu blending California and Italian influences and a beverage program centered around wine, craft beer and cocktails.
The expansion currently underway at Luce will include a new gelato and espresso shop appropriately named Tony's, created to honor D'Amato and complete an idea he had hoped to see come to life. According to information provided to SanDiegoVille, D'Amato had long dreamed of opening a neighborhood shop reminiscent of those he knew in Italy, where locals could stop for gelato and espresso.
Tony's will be operated by D'Amato's children and is expected to debut alongside the expanded and remodeled Luce sometime between late October and early November. The project adds another chapter to the family's Bay Park restaurant legacy only months after D'Amato's passing.
Born in Porticello, Sicily, D'Amato immigrated to San Diego as a teenager and began his restaurant career washing dishes at Mister A's before working his way through the industry. He eventually opened Baci in 1979, building the restaurant into one of San Diego's enduring old-school Italian dining destinations before expanding the family's footprint with Luce more than three decades later.
With work on Luce and Tony's nearing completion, attention is now returning to The Butcher's Wife. Vaught is expected to operate the project locally and independently, with the restaurant currently anticipated to be completed in spring 2027, although construction schedules can change as development progresses.
The transformation will mark an entirely new era for a property with an unusually deep connection to San Diego's restaurant history. Old Trieste opened there in May 1963 and remained in business for more than half a century, surviving enormous changes to both the surrounding neighborhood and the city's dining scene before its longtime owners and employees decided to retire in 2019.
There is also a poignant symmetry to the redevelopment. Old Trieste was founded by an Italian immigrant who spent decades building a neighborhood restaurant institution, while D'Amato, himself a Sicilian immigrant who devoted much of his life to hospitality in the same corner of San Diego, helped envision what would eventually replace it.
Now, nearly eight years after Old Trieste's closure and following D'Amato's death before he could see the project completed, The Butcher's Wife appears to finally be headed toward the finish line. In the meantime, Tony's will arrive just down Morena Boulevard as a more immediate tribute to D'Amato, ensuring that his name and influence remain deeply embedded in the Bay Park neighborhood where he spent much of his life welcoming San Diegans.
The Butcher's Wife is being developed at the former Old Trieste property at 2335 Morena Boulevard in San Diego's Bay Park, with completion currently anticipated for spring 2027. Tony's gelato and espresso shop and the expanded Luce Bar & Kitchen are expected to open in late October or early November 2026.
Originally published on September 20, 2026.
