When Todd Brown, owner of the Pacific Beach iconic sports bar and wing t Bub’s at the Beach, tattered his last tot after a 25-year run, he ed the food and beverage baton to Krista Barrella.
She is a New Jersey transplant and up-and-coming restaurateur who is dramatically transforming the business at 1030 Garnet Ave. into a sophisticated, hip cocktail bar. Barrella’s goal: to seamlessly integrate her classic East Coast tastes and nostalgic dishes with vibrant West Coast vibes.
At 16, Barrella got hooked on the food and hospitality industry while working at The Lobster Shanty in Tom’s River in the Garden State. There she snagged her first real job with a paycheck.
Heading west to Cal State San Marcos, where Barrella earned a bachelor’s degree in business istration with a focus on marketing, laid the foundation for her Pacific Beach venture.
<bsp-module data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000166-e527-da7d-a36e-e5afb82d0000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1695879331843,"cms.content.publish":{"_ref":"00000169-9d4f-dc67-a56b-bf6f5b490000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1695879331843,"cms.content.update":{"_ref":"00000169-9d4f-dc67-a56b-bf6f5b490000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"module":{"theme.00000166-300c-ddc8-a177-f44f8d870000.:infobox:Infobox.hbs.imageTransformation":null,"theme.00000166-300c-ddc8-a177-f44f8d870000.:infobox:Infobox.hbs.leftAlignTitle":false,"theme.00000166-300c-ddc8-a177-f44f8d870000.:infobox:Infobox.hbs.leftAlignDescription":false,"theme.00000166-300c-ddc8-a177-f44f8d870000.:infobox:Infobox.hbs.leftAlignLinks":false,"title":"Want to visit?","description":"bar Ella
Address: 1030 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach
Hours: 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily (initial hours, once open)
Website: barellapb.com
Good to know: Plans for a weekend brunch are on the horizon.","items":[],"_id":"0000018a-da48-de03-a5ae-faf90f2e000c","_type":"1bd71488-cfff-3e76-bbca-93f270e46b6e"},"theme.00000166-300c-ddc8-a177-f44f8d870000.:core:enhancement:Enhancement.hbs.alignment":"align-left","_id":"0000018a-da48-de03-a5ae-faf90f260000","_type":"c5b60bfe-fc18-3e1d-bd70-75608e803f66"}”>“(I was) hoping, wanting, wishing something would happen in my career to capture my vision to own a place, move up and forward,” Barrella said.
Her 20-year stint in the restaurant biz, culminating as general manager at PB’s Tavern at the Beach where she began tending bar, put Barrella strategically within hearing range of the industry grapevine regarding Brown’s plans to shift ownership. She jumped at the chance to become Bub’s successor. And her surname, a perfect play on words, is immortalized in the eatery.
Planning to open by the end of October (or sooner if the universe permits), the new space will replace the dark, sporty, woody, divey backdrop of Bub’s with a light, bright, natural and clean ambience filled with plenty of white and green inspirational statement pieces. The eatery will also feature a variety of seating styles (booths, high tops, bar), and levels of seating (counter height, lounge height, dining height).
“Our vision is to have an overall feeling of brightness, a social setting with communal tables to encourage people to chat with their neighbors,” said Barrella, who worked with North County Custom Builders to bring this vision to life. She’s also hoping to offer outdoor seating, which is dependent on the city granting a patio extension.
Now for the food part. The menu will reflect the Jersey girl’s favorite East Coast dishes she enjoyed growing up with a West Coast twist, all the while striving for “the creation of a sharable style of eating among friends.”
Let’s start with appetizers that inspire this social component of dining ethos by adopting a tapas-style with an American flair. It includes an assortment of seafood dips, baked clams casino (one of Barrella’s favorite dishes — see recipe below), a whimsical charcuterie with grilled bivalves, seasonal cheeses and fruits, and family-style cioppino showcasing a mélange of local treasures of the sea and unforgettable flavors.
For salad heads there’s the roasted beet caprese topped with a cloud of whipped feta bursting with earthy flavors and pops of color. There’s also a classic Caesar prepared table side, borrowing a page from the cookbook of the 1960s-themed “Mad Men” TV series. Some options will also be available to please youthful palates.
The Garden State transplant also wants to incorporate her childhood gustatory memories into the dessert menu. She recalls her mom concocting homemade chocolate delights for the holidays, and now envisions recreating those nostalgic sweets using a kitschy mold with the restaurant’s logo imprinted on the chocolate medallions.
Barrella is also fond of zeppoles, “a powdered sugar fried dough ball like an Italian doughnut or beignet that didn’t go to college,” she mused. “We’re lucky to have a lot of great purveyors in San Diego,” added Barrella, who will be locally sourcing the produce and do her best to use organic and GMO-free items where seasonality and availability permits.
Finally, up to the lips and over the gums — a bright and eclectic cocktail menu is in the works, an important component of the eatery especially with the owner’s bar-tending ion and 15-year tenure in the industry. Barrella said she wants to focus on bringing a lively, fun, bar forward program to Pacific Beach to refine the cocktail culture of the community.
The intrepid restaurateur will be incorporating beverage concepts and recipes from her globetrotting adventures, bringing exciting eccentricities to the menu along with the tried-and-true favorites. Classic staples like the old-fashioned and the Manhattan, martinis and margaritas will get the party started, while simple, delicious, and creatively colorful cocktails will really shake things up like the eye-popping Garibaldi, coincidentally the name of the flamboyant California State marine fish, bringing a West Coast flair to the drink menu. The recipe will reflect the shocking orange hue of the subtropical species blending whipped orange juice with Compari liqueur, the iconic red Italian bitter.
Many cocktail ingredients will be made in-house, such as the simple syrups along with assorted condiments, marinades and sauces for the food items. Happy hour will offer appetizer and drink specials throughout the week.
A Pacific Beach resident for 16 years, Barrella said she has noticed a recent shift from the historical demographic of young clubbers to a still young but more sophisticated crowd.
“(It is) demanding a little more elevated atmosphere where friends can go out, have a good time, and enjoy each other’s company and conversation” that’s not drowned out by eardrum-blasting DJ music, she said.
The fledgling restaurateur is also mindful of the socio-economics of Pacific Beach, wanting to keep dining-out costs relatively affordable.
Barrella said she ultimately aspires to make bar Ella, “a place for people of all kinds of backgrounds to share a great meal with friends and family, or to meet new people who could become an extension of their family, whether they’re locals or visiting from out-of-town. We want to be known as the place you think of when you want a fun and delicious meal regardless of the occasion or day of the week.”
I’ll drink to that!
Recipe from bar Ella
Ingredients:
• 6 Littleneck clams, baked
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ small onion, diced
• ½ bell pepper, chopped
• 1 C. Italian breadcrumbs
• 4 pieces bacon, crisp, chopped
• 1 T. salted butter
• 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, sliced
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) In a small saucepan, sauté garlic and onion in butter until translucent.
3) In a large mixing bowl combine garlic, onion and remaining ingredients.
4) Place clams in an oven-safe baking dish. Stuff with mixture and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes until crisp. Squeeze with fresh lemon and enjoy!
Courtesy of bar Ella
