Callie, executive chef Travis Swikard’s premier East Village restaurant, opened more than a year ago and is still one of San Diego’s hottest tables.Shareable dips and spreads, house-made pastas, grilled seafood, and their best-selling Aleppo chicken are standouts. But save room for dessert, too, especially the Meyer Lemon Pavlova, decorated with rose meringue kisses and honey-whipped labneh and topped with pistachio halva. For the easiest date night ever, choose their Mediterranean Feast, a curated five-course, family-style meal that covers you from dips to dessert, with an optional wine pairing.

The first solo restaurant for San Diego native Travis Swikard, who spent a decade in Manhattan working alongside acclaimed French chef Daniel Boulud, features dishes from across the sunny Mediterranean with a California twist. The Mediterranean feast ($75 a person, $115 with wine pairings) is an approachable way to sample five of Callie’s greatest hits. Start with the dips and vegetable crudite to see Swikard adding his California touch to traditional dishes: the labneh is made with avocado, and roasted poblanos are added to the baba ghanoush.

This modern, Mediterranean-inspired restaurant lives up to its Greek name, which translates to “the most beautiful.”. Why we love it: Chef Travis Swikard has serious street cred having cooked under French chef Daniel Boulud in New York City for years before returning to his SoCal hometown. At Callie, he sends out beautiful and thoughtfully-plated dishes like spot prawns al ajillo, aleppo chicken and pappardelle with a spicy Kurobuta sausage ragu.

There’s no restaurant that pays tribute to San Diego quite like Callie. That’s thanks to San Diego local and Callie’s executive chef, Travis Swikard, whose “cuisine du soleil” features a Mediterranean-inspired menu that prominently features locally sourced ingredients from across San Diego county. Bangers here include the Aleppo Chicken, grilled lamb dolmas, lemon saffron linguine, and a dreamy Turkish rice pudding for dessert.

Spanish patatas bravas, North African merguez, Lebanese fattoush: a dinner at Callie might give you the travel bug. The roomy interior is decorated with terracotta tagines and stacks of cookbooks, and one step in the blue-tiled washroom will have you checking ticket prices to Chefchaouen. Each order of babaganoush comes with a puff of house pita that hits your face with steam when you rip it open.

The opening of chef Travis Swikard’s long-delayed project in the former Bottega Americano space was pushed back again last month, with the goal of debuting when both the pandemic and restaurant market stabilize. Formerly the right-hand man to Michelin-starred French chef Daniel Boulud in Manhattan, Swikard returned to his native San Diego in 2018 to open his own restaurant. Cohn Restaurant Group’s David Cohn and chef Deborah Scott have partnered with Swikard on the large-scale project that will be an affordably priced, contemporary California-Mediterranean restaurant.

From his swank East Village dining room, Travis Swikard embarks on a broad survey of culinary touchstones on or not far from the Mediterranean Sea. Pastas such as pappardelle tangled in duck and pork sausage ragù are a highlight. Otherwise, go heavy on inspirations from the sun-drenched southwest Asian/North African region: dips like hummus with the added depth of roasted garlic and smoky baba ghanouj dusted with za’atar, followed by a soulful reimagining of dolmas (grape leaves) stuffed with grilled lamb merguez.

Mediterranean octopus, kampachi crudo, warm chocolate chip tahini cookies and a winning selection of bubbles and wine—there’s a reason the name of this Mediterranean kitchen means “most beautiful” in Greek. Callie’s menu is peppered with a whimsical montage of homegrown morsels that translate into a bold reflection of Spanish, Italian, Moroccan, Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine. Sweeping past the contemporary 30-seat cocktail bar and communal dining room, you’ll find a stocked kitchen of local ingredients.

Chef Travis Swikard comes back to his hometown wreathed in glory, having earned his wings helming restaurants for culinary icon Daniel Boulud in New York City. Hip locals can now reap the benefits of the years he spent honing his craft in fine dining kitchens at this sharply designed and boisterous spot. The cuisine takes advantage of the best ingredients SoCal has to offer in highly shareable dishes featuring the bold, sunny flavors of the Mediterranean.

Before joining Here, Chef Travis Swikard trained himself under the legendary icon Daniel Boulud in New York City. This place combines Mediterranean cuisine with the fresh produce of southern California in a mouth-watering way. Chef Travis magically combines vegetables and seafood with Middle Eastern spices to create a perfect dish, like the kampachi crudo with spicy Israeli hot sauce and black lime or the warm chocolate chip tahini cookie.

Getting a Callie reservation might be harder than avoiding traffic on the 5 during rush hour. That’s because people move quick to secure dishes like lemon saffron linguini with bits of local uni, and juicy Aleppo-spiced chicken that gets a little sweetness from coriander honey. If it’s your first time, the Mediterranean feast for $75 a person is a great way to try a variety of their food, and the wine pairing is worth the extra $40.

Located in the vibrant East Village, Callie offers a Mediterranean dining experience that is both bold and inviting. Helmed by Chef Travis Swikard, this restaurant is known for its vibrant shareable plates that emphasize the essence of Mediterranean cuisine. The menu is a reflection of Chef Swikard’s culinary philosophy, focusing on fresh, locally sourced ingredients and innovative cooking techniques.

Callie, which is Greek for ‘most beautiful,’ is one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. Using ingredients from local farmers and fishermen, Chef Travis Swikard creates memorable California-Mediterranean dishes and his amazing team provides impeccable service that’ll keep you coming back. Get the baba ganoush with the house pita, the uni toast, anything with squid ink, and the Aleppo chicken.

Where: 1195 Island Ave, San Diego, CA 92101Presided over by Chef Travis Swikard, this East Village restaurant takes its name from the Greek term kallos, referring to a thing of beauty. Michelin’s inspectors seem to agree. They say the cuisine at Callie “takes advantage of the best ingredients SoCal has to offer in highly shareable dishes featuring the bold, sunny flavors of the Mediterranean.

Where: 1195 Island Ave, San Diego, CA 92101Presided over by Chef Travis Swikard, this East Village restaurant takes its name from the Greek term kallos, referring to a thing of beauty. Michelin's inspectors seem to agree. They say the cuisine at Callie "takes advantage of the best ingredients SoCal has to offer in highly shareable dishes featuring the bold, sunny flavors of the Mediterranean.

Named after the Greek word for “the most beautiful”, Callie does an excellent job of showing off the most beautiful Michelin Star restaurants in San Diego. With Chef Travis Swikard at its helm, Callie combines all of the glorious flavours of Greece, Morocco, Spain, Italy and the Middle East in the eatery’s menu. Guide To Michelin Star Restaurants in Los Angeles

When it's time for dinner, San Diego can satisfy any craving, whether it's omakase sushi at Soichi Sushi, hearth-cooked local seafood at Fort Oak or Mediterranean small plates at Callie. Mexican food is easy to come by too – from tacos, margaritas and aguas frescas at Lola 55 and Fish Guts to a wood-fired Michelin-starred tasting menu at Valle (above).

This highly praised Mediterranean restaurant nabbed the top spot on San Diego Magazine’s best restaurants list in both 2022 and 2023. With a Greek name translating to “the most beautiful,” Callie sources local ingredients to lay down small plates, pasta, fish, and meat, including an oft-praised aleppo chicken. Subscribe and get 1 year for $18

Callie brings the diversity of Mediterranean cuisines together with the ingredients of the greater San Diego region. Callie puts the farmers, fishermen, and ingredients of the greater San Diego region at the forefront, and blends them with a Mediterranean palette. At Callie, the two come together to create light, bright, and bold flavours.

Experience the flavors of the Mediterranean right in SoCal at Callie, one of many Bib Gourmand San Diego restaurants where you can enjoy delicious dishes without breaking the bank. For those exploring Michelin star restaurants in San Diego, while Callie doesn't technically have a star, it offers an accessible taste of fine dining.

Let me start off by saying that Callie is definitely one of the top contenders when it comes to romantic dining experiences in San Diego. From the moment you step into the restaurant, you are greeted with an elegant atmosphere that sets the perfect mood for a night of love and laughter. The service at Callie is truly exceptional.

The name Callie is of Greek origin and derives from the Greek word kalos, which means beautiful. Chef Travis Swikard brings the stunning Mediterranean coastline together through food. Callie guests will taste diverse flavors from the Mediterranean coastline, including Greece, Spain, Italy, Morocco, the Middle East, and more.

Callie (1195 Island Ave., San Diego): "The cuisine takes advantage of the best ingredients SoCal has to offer in highly shareable dishes featuring the bold, sunny flavors of the Mediterranean. Vegetables and seafood steal the show, with spice as a key supporting character.

1195 Island AveSan Diego, CA 92101(619) 255-9696 Visit Website See Menu Open in Google Maps. With a Greek name that literally translates to “the most beautiful,” this eatery with a sophisticated feel puts together amazing Mediterranean dishes plus wine and beer.

The honor was also given to four other San Diego restaurants, including Animae, Callie, Fort Oak, and Menya Ultra. From the letter, Spatafore gleaned that the judges had come to Little Frenchie at some point for brunch and liked what they saw and tasted.

Callie gets its name from the Greek term “the most beautiful”. This hot new restaurant is located in the East Village and opened in 2021. Chef Travis Swikard is originally from San Diego and fell in love with the flavors from Greece, Italy, etc.

1195 Island Ave, San Diego, CA 92101Phone: 619-255-9696 Visit Website. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Callie (@callierestaurant)

New Mediterranean with super fresh ingredients in the heart of downtown San Diego, you should make reservations at Callie weeks in advance!.

Callie: the tasting menu is incredible, and the whole experience is just A+: I love the interior, and the service is top-notch.