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At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina
Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Farmer's Table in Chula Vista takes on a second identity for dinner: Acqua e Farina, Trattoria Romana
Video:
FEAST!: At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina
There's a red tractor parked in the grass outside Farmer's Table in Chula Vista. It fits the rustic imagery cultivated by the restaurant brand, now going on 8 years in La Mesa, and the past 3 here. And it lines up with the popular brunch menu, reliant on farm staples like eggs, pork, and potatoes. But I'm not sure it matches all the bottles of Aperol by the bar.
See, the Farmer's Table recently underwent a bit of a remodel. Its dining patio was fenced up and shaded. Cured meats and colorful homemade pastas were hung up around its kitchen. And as of the past couple weeks, each day at 4pm, Farmer's Table Chula Vista turns into a totally different restaurant: Acqua e Farina, Trattoria Romana. With spritzes and apertivos at the ready.
Restaurant decor that doubles as farmer's brunch and Italian
The staff changes over, for the most part, but it's the same owner: chef Alberto Morreale. For years, Morreale has made a mark on greater San Diego dining with restaurants including Farmer's Bottega in Mission Hills, La Mesa BBQ spot Smokey & the Brisket, and a couple other Farmer's Table locations. But thing is, the guy grew up in Sicily, and learned to cook in North Italy. Yet it was only last year he finally gave us an Italian restaurant—also in La Mesa--called Limoncello. Which I whiffed reporting on because I never think to look to La Mesa for Italian.
A Margherita pizza
Not that I think of Chula Vista. The last time someone recommended an Italian spot in Chula Vista to me, it came with the caveat, "Just don't eat too much of the cheese."
From what I'm told here, the Farmer's Table brunch has been enthusiastically embraced in South Bay. But its dinner menu never piqued much interest, to the point the restaurant was going to just close for dinner. But then, here you have an Italian chef, who just developed an Italian menu, in a city that could use a good Italian restaurant.
The Acqua e Farina caprese salad: an organic heirloom tomato stuff with burrata, served in basil pesto
Acqua e Farina simple means water and flour, key to the pastas and Neapolitan style pizzas served here. The menu indeed features Roman standards, such as the pastas carbonara and amatriciana, though caccio e pepe gets translated to a pizza topped with black truffle shavings. Most of the pizzas for $16-17, while the pastas normally run in. the $20-24 range. However, that's if you ignore a couple of the specialty offerings.
Number one would be the Spaghetti Nero Mediterraneo, a seafood dish featuring shrimp, mussels, clams, and pasta blackened with squid ink ($26).
The spaghetti nero Mediterraneo, with squid ink pasta, shrimp, clams, and mussels
And number two would be something trending in San Diego recently, but maybe new to Chula: a pasta dish tossed in a carved-out cheese wheel. In this case, a wheel of Grana Padano aged 24 months, given a hot cognac rinse. This pasta special changes weekly, given a market price (the shrimp and mushroom special this week cost $39), and tossed at your table, the cheese and cognac combination melting directly into the heated pasta.
Chula Vista now may also order treats like a pork Osso Bucco with saffron risotto ($32), or steak Fiorentina, a dry aged, 32-ounce porterhouse prepared as they do in Florence: cut thick and cooked rare (and intended for two, also at market price). And they can stick around for a brightly colored cannoli ($12), or wake up tomorrow morning and come back for some French Toast.
Here's something you might be interested in.
At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina
Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina
Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Farmer's Table in Chula Vista takes on a second identity for dinner: Acqua e Farina, Trattoria Romana
Video:
FEAST!: At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina
There's a red tractor parked in the grass outside Farmer's Table in Chula Vista. It fits the rustic imagery cultivated by the restaurant brand, now going on 8 years in La Mesa, and the past 3 here. And it lines up with the popular brunch menu, reliant on farm staples like eggs, pork, and potatoes. But I'm not sure it matches all the bottles of Aperol by the bar.
See, the Farmer's Table recently underwent a bit of a remodel. Its dining patio was fenced up and shaded. Cured meats and colorful homemade pastas were hung up around its kitchen. And as of the past couple weeks, each day at 4pm, Farmer's Table Chula Vista turns into a totally different restaurant: Acqua e Farina, Trattoria Romana. With spritzes and apertivos at the ready.
Restaurant decor that doubles as farmer's brunch and Italian
The staff changes over, for the most part, but it's the same owner: chef Alberto Morreale. For years, Morreale has made a mark on greater San Diego dining with restaurants including Farmer's Bottega in Mission Hills, La Mesa BBQ spot Smokey & the Brisket, and a couple other Farmer's Table locations. But thing is, the guy grew up in Sicily, and learned to cook in North Italy. Yet it was only last year he finally gave us an Italian restaurant—also in La Mesa--called Limoncello. Which I whiffed reporting on because I never think to look to La Mesa for Italian.
A Margherita pizza
Not that I think of Chula Vista. The last time someone recommended an Italian spot in Chula Vista to me, it came with the caveat, "Just don't eat too much of the cheese."
From what I'm told here, the Farmer's Table brunch has been enthusiastically embraced in South Bay. But its dinner menu never piqued much interest, to the point the restaurant was going to just close for dinner. But then, here you have an Italian chef, who just developed an Italian menu, in a city that could use a good Italian restaurant.
The Acqua e Farina caprese salad: an organic heirloom tomato stuff with burrata, served in basil pesto
Acqua e Farina simple means water and flour, key to the pastas and Neapolitan style pizzas served here. The menu indeed features Roman standards, such as the pastas carbonara and amatriciana, though caccio e pepe gets translated to a pizza topped with black truffle shavings. Most of the pizzas for $16-17, while the pastas normally run in. the $20-24 range. However, that's if you ignore a couple of the specialty offerings.
Number one would be the Spaghetti Nero Mediterraneo, a seafood dish featuring shrimp, mussels, clams, and pasta blackened with squid ink ($26).
The spaghetti nero Mediterraneo, with squid ink pasta, shrimp, clams, and mussels
And number two would be something trending in San Diego recently, but maybe new to Chula: a pasta dish tossed in a carved-out cheese wheel. In this case, a wheel of Grana Padano aged 24 months, given a hot cognac rinse. This pasta special changes weekly, given a market price (the shrimp and mushroom special this week cost $39), and tossed at your table, the cheese and cognac combination melting directly into the heated pasta.
Chula Vista now may also order treats like a pork Osso Bucco with saffron risotto ($32), or steak Fiorentina, a dry aged, 32-ounce porterhouse prepared as they do in Florence: cut thick and cooked rare (and intended for two, also at market price). And they can stick around for a brightly colored cannoli ($12), or wake up tomorrow morning and come back for some French Toast.
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