Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

White: Out

Ex-Counterpoint chef going the pop-up route

Chefing is a transient line of work. It’s common for culinary professionals from exec chef on down to prep cook to have lengthy résumés populated by a plethora of bullet-points denoting previous employers. It’s just the nature of the biz and nobody bats an eye when they hear a kitchen worker has left their post. Well, unless they are a part of the small sect of San Diego chefs that qualify as household names. They garner the attention of the dining public who, when they hear of a transition of any kind beg the questions: what, where and, inevitably, why?

In most cases, the why part is, frankly, nobody’s business but those who are part of the businesses in question. When everybody else in town is talking about they why, I feel inclined to as well, but prefer when I can stick to the what and the where. That’s what I’ll be covering here when talking about a recent chef move.

It was less than a month ago that I headed to South Park with some friends to get a second extensive taste of the cuisine being put out by the new chef to take-over neighborhood epicenter for food and socializing, Counterpoint (830 25th Street). That chef was Chad White, most recently of Point Loma’s Gabardine and Sea Rocket Bistro in North Park. We ordered nearly a dozen dishes. I photographed them all, took notes and was pleased that all that effort was worth it. The food was both delicious and creative; indeed worthy of being written about.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/nov/24/35926/ Photo © Mike Pawlenty / Chefs Press, Inc.

This weekend, as I sat down to write, my iPhone buzzed. A text message had come through from White. As we thumbed our way through a conversation, he shared with me that he was no longer at Counterpoint. Considering I’d interviewed him less than two months prior, then spoken with him more during my last visit and both times he’d been extremely pleased with his job and the food he was putting out, this came as a shock.

Turns out, he wasn’t as ecstatic as he’d seemed and was jonesing to do something far different than the standard restaurant chef nine-to-five (make that eight-in-the-AM-to-midnight). Freshly severed from Counterpoint, he’s already working on his new venture, a pop-up operation called Plancha Baja Med. White’s new mission is to celebrate Mexican cuisine—not gringo-Mex, but the food he’s fallen love in since taking a huge interest, like most of the foodie world it would seem, in the authentic and cutting edge farm-to-table cuisine, both rustic and refined, being put out south of the border.

Starting on December 4, he’ll be posting up at North Park’s Carnitas’ Snack Shack (2632 University Avenue) on Tuesday evenings, presenting multi-course menus. Plancha is in its earliest stages. There aren’t many details, but surely there will be in the near future. A good way to stay on top of it is by following White on Twitter (@PlancaBajaMed).

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Next Article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night

Chefing is a transient line of work. It’s common for culinary professionals from exec chef on down to prep cook to have lengthy résumés populated by a plethora of bullet-points denoting previous employers. It’s just the nature of the biz and nobody bats an eye when they hear a kitchen worker has left their post. Well, unless they are a part of the small sect of San Diego chefs that qualify as household names. They garner the attention of the dining public who, when they hear of a transition of any kind beg the questions: what, where and, inevitably, why?

In most cases, the why part is, frankly, nobody’s business but those who are part of the businesses in question. When everybody else in town is talking about they why, I feel inclined to as well, but prefer when I can stick to the what and the where. That’s what I’ll be covering here when talking about a recent chef move.

It was less than a month ago that I headed to South Park with some friends to get a second extensive taste of the cuisine being put out by the new chef to take-over neighborhood epicenter for food and socializing, Counterpoint (830 25th Street). That chef was Chad White, most recently of Point Loma’s Gabardine and Sea Rocket Bistro in North Park. We ordered nearly a dozen dishes. I photographed them all, took notes and was pleased that all that effort was worth it. The food was both delicious and creative; indeed worthy of being written about.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/nov/24/35926/ Photo © Mike Pawlenty / Chefs Press, Inc.

This weekend, as I sat down to write, my iPhone buzzed. A text message had come through from White. As we thumbed our way through a conversation, he shared with me that he was no longer at Counterpoint. Considering I’d interviewed him less than two months prior, then spoken with him more during my last visit and both times he’d been extremely pleased with his job and the food he was putting out, this came as a shock.

Turns out, he wasn’t as ecstatic as he’d seemed and was jonesing to do something far different than the standard restaurant chef nine-to-five (make that eight-in-the-AM-to-midnight). Freshly severed from Counterpoint, he’s already working on his new venture, a pop-up operation called Plancha Baja Med. White’s new mission is to celebrate Mexican cuisine—not gringo-Mex, but the food he’s fallen love in since taking a huge interest, like most of the foodie world it would seem, in the authentic and cutting edge farm-to-table cuisine, both rustic and refined, being put out south of the border.

Starting on December 4, he’ll be posting up at North Park’s Carnitas’ Snack Shack (2632 University Avenue) on Tuesday evenings, presenting multi-course menus. Plancha is in its earliest stages. There aren’t many details, but surely there will be in the near future. A good way to stay on top of it is by following White on Twitter (@PlancaBajaMed).

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

1500 Ocean hires well-traveled chef

Next Article

Bobby Flay and Local Chef Rumble in Kitchen Stadium

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader