New restaurant concepts in San Diego are big and ambitious
By JENNIFER McENTEE, Special to The Daily Transcript
Some of the biggest names in San Diego’s hospitality scene are revealing fresh offerings in the coming months, from big remodels to new construction.
The new rooftop restaurant Rustic Root is set to open on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter in early June.
Rustic Root is a project by RMD Group, hospitality entrepreneur Ken Lovi and executive chef Antonio Friscia. The same bunch is behind Don Chido, a Mexican eatery that opened in the Gaslamp Quarter last summer.
Rustic Root is slated to offer “rustic” American cuisine, with dishes such as elk chops, fried chicken, lobster pappardelle and furikake-crusted hamachi.
The new venue is being billed as the Gaslamp Quarter’s only dedicated rooftop restaurant, though it will have multiple levels: a 2,500-square-foot rooftop space, and a 500-square-foot downstairs patio that opens to a 2,500-square-foot dining room and bar.
OCIO Design Group is the architect alongside RMD Group’s construction division RMD Development. Interior design for Rustic Root is by Davis Ink Ltd. and includes a giant Sudoku wall, life-sized animal topiary bushes and street-style lamps.