"Top Chef" Winner Richard Blais Sets Early February Opening Date For New San Diego Restaurant California English

January 12, 2023

Celebrity chef Richard Blais, known for leading roles on Bravo's Top Chef and Fox's primetime hit Next Level Chef, will open his newest restaurant California English in early February within a San Diego office complex.

A former winning contestant and frequent guest judge on Bravo's hit cooking competition Top Chef, Richard Blais is a current resident of San Diego and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. The celebrity chef may be most known as the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars in 2011 and as a judge on Fox's hit primetime cooking competition Next Level Chef. Blais is also a successful chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and frequent culinary television personality, appearing in such programs as Iron Chef America, Chopped All-Stars, MasterChef, Guy's Grocery Games, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Cooks vs Cons.

Chef Blais has worked in the kitchens at such acclaimed restaurants as The French Laundry, Daniel, Chez Panisse, and el Bulli. He also currently owns and operates Trail Blais, a culinary company that has consulted on, designed, and operated popular eateries including multiple outposts of Flip Burger Boutique located in the Southeast. In San Diego, he helped build The Crack Shack brand and launch Juniper & Ivy in Little Italy. Most recently, Chef Blais opened steak and seafood restaurant Ember & Rye in Carlsbad as part of Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa's $50 million renovation.
Last year, Chef Blais partnered with Longfellow Real Estate Partners, a privately held developer of life science buildings, to develop a pair of new restaurants at the company's two San Diego sites in Sorrento Valley. The first restaurant, California English, is set to open in early February. 
California English will be a 6,000 square-foot indoor/outdoor space at the Biovista Life Science office building off Mira Mesa Boulevard. Expect an approachable, all-day menu of "SoCal meets Great Britain" cuisine that will combine British classic dishes with Southern California flare and local ingredients. Blais conceived of his new restaurant concept that combines English and California cuisines after a several months-long residency in London. Highlights from the food menu include Scotch eggs, a Sunday roast, a modern take on fish & chips, and plenty of steak. There will also be a full bar, expansive outdoor patio and veranda. 
Blais is also working on conceptualizing another restaurant to install at Longfellow's Bioterra science campus in Sorrento Mesa, which is expected to open in 2024. Based on the success of the initial two restaurants, Blais will likely work with Longfellow on other restaurant & bar concepts for its additional "live-work-play" facilities in San Diego and beyond. 
California English is scheduled to soft open at 9276 Scranton Road in San Diego's Mira Mesa on February 2, with a full opening date planned for February 6. For more information, visit californiaenglishsd.com.