With so many restaurants in downtown San Diego, being able to compete means putting out memorable experiences that make people come back again and again. Hotel Palomar’s Saltbox Dining & Drinking is making sure to stay on top of its game by putting a new Chef de Cuisine, Jeremiah Bryant, at the helm. Previously working in the kitchens at El Bizcocho and Delicias restaurants in SD, he plans to bring menus that continuously showcase the city’s best local ingredients and work closely with Saltbox’s Principal Bartender Jen Queen, to bring out the fresh flavors in both their food and drink offerings. Bryant’s innovative gastro-lounge menu features a mix of approachable and elevated dishes like main courses of Autumn Risotto with wild mushrooms, roasted onion, butternut squash, and truffle, or the Esplendido Sandwich with housemade baguette, pulled pork, capicola, gruyere, pickle, and pickled onion. There are also salads, brick oven flatbreads, and munchies like housemade soft pretzels and SoCal Poutine with carnitas.

The cocktail menu features charmingly named concoctions like the Cinnamon Toast Punch made with makers mark, snap, cereal milk, and chocolate bitters, or the Cat’s Pajamas with tequila, benedictine, jalapeno, and grapefruit. If you want to recreate your dining experience at home, the Saltbox site offers their own ‘Recipes From The Kitchen’ where you can currently learn how to make Tobacco Ice Cream, Grilled Yellow Tomato Soup or the classic John Daly. Guests can begin savoring Chef Bryant’s new dinner menu on October 21 in Saltbox’s swanky lounge or under the stars on the open air patio.