If you’ve dined out at San Diego sit-down restaurants post-pandemic, you’ve surely noticed some changes wrought by the higher rent, ingredient and labor costs. In an effort to stay afloat, many restaurant owners have been forced to raise their prices, trim their staffs, menus and hours, add surcharges, set time limits on how long diners can stay and introduce refundable reservation fees to discourage no-shows.
That’s why the co-owners of newly opened Finca in North Park lovingly describe their California tapas eatery, wine bar and bottle shop as a restaurant rebel. Most of the dishes on the 90-seat restaurant’s extensive menu are in the $11 to $14 range, guests are happily encouraged to dine and drink at their leisure, service is more than effusive and it’s open seven days a week.
Business partners Dan Valerino, Joe Bower and Ricardo Dondisch weren’t sure if Finca’s concept would survive in today’s market conditions, but they needn’t have worried. Since the doors opened Feb. 7, Finca has been packed every night. On a recent weekday evening, all three men were working the restaurant’s kitchen and dining room — not just to ensure things ran smoothly but to relish their customers’ reactions and satisfaction.
The curved bar at Finca restaurant and bottle shop in North Park.
(Courtesy of James Tran)
All three men have long roots in San Diego’s restaurant scene. Restaurant investor Dondisch co-owned The Hake restaurant in La Jolla, where Valerino was general manager. When that restaurant closed in 2017, Valerino became G.M. of Juniper & Ivy, where he met chef Joe Bower and they became close friends. In 2020, Valerino and Bower launched the restaurant management company Bottle Boon, which now runs the Sorrento Valley restaurants Green Acre Campus Point and Casa Tacos & Tequila. Finca is the trio’s first joint project.
Named after the Spanish word for “estate,” Finca represents the kind of restaurant that all three men say they love the most — affordable, inviting, surprising and fun, with great service.
Finca was built on the ground floor of a new multistory apartment building at the corner of North Park Way and Grim Avenue. It’s just across the street from popular Tribute Pizza, which was built inside a 1951-era U.S. post office, whose original exterior was lovingly restored. Taking a cue from Tribute, Valerino said he, Dondisch and Bower wanted Finca to have a similar settled-in feel, with a retro neon monument sign out front, rows of gently lit art deco-style interior lamps and original artwork on the walls painted by Bower’s brother, Patrick, and Dondisch’s wife, Gabriela.
Fried chicken and caviar with Cava sparking line from Spain at Finca restaurant and bottle shop in North Park.
(Courtesy of James Tran)
Bower’s eclectic opening menu boasts 26 items, plus desserts, though he said the lineup is in transition as he responds to diner tastes. The shareable plates have proven far more popular than the traditional plated entrées and charcuterie items, so he’s planning to go pretty much full tapas soon. The most popular dishes are the zesty patatas bravas with jalapeño crema and roasted garlic; charred octopus in tomato sauce; minimalist New York strip steak tataki (sliced) in a rich fermented scallop ponzu sauce; creamy charred eggplant dip with house potato chips; earthy bone marrow with red pepper jelly; and hamachi crudo with lemony Morrocan olive oil, avocado and Fresno chiles.
My favorite menu item was the playful boneless fried chicken and caviar dish, served with crème fraiche, caviar and a dusting of ranch herbs. The menu suggests pairing the dish with a half-glass of Cava, a crisp Spanish sparkling wine, which complemented the flavors nicely. If you’ve got room for dessert, the tangy guava and cream cheese pie baked in puff pastry was a nice finish to the meal.
Finca restaurant and bottle shop in North Park has a robust Spanish and California wine program.
(Courtesy of James Tran)
Valerino, an experienced sommelier, oversees Finca’s robust wine program, which includes an onsite bottle shop with more than 100 varieties of organic and sustainably farmed Spanish and California wines and a fast-growing wine club program. Wines start at $7 for a half-glass, $14 for a full glass and $41 for a bottle, or diners can buy a bottle from the bottle shop and have it with their meal for a $15 corkage fee. There are also beers, ciders, wine-based cocktails and house sangrias made with Monastrell red wine, passionfruit, pear and Amontillado sherry.
In tribute to Spain’s winemaking industry, Valerino is making his own Spanish-style vermouth in-house. He expected to only sell a few $10 glasses of the strongly flavored fortified wine each night, but it has become so popular he can barely it in stock. What does it taste like? Strongly medicinal, with grapefruity tartness and bold underlying notes of black licorice.
Did I love the vermouth? Not so much. But I did appreciate the time and care that Valerino, Bower and Dondisch have put into their shared passion project, which is clearly resonating with local diners and drinkers looking for a fun and friendly place to share a meal, some wine and some time.
Finca
Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (bottle shop will soon begin opening in the afternoons)
Where: 3066 North Park Way, San Diego
Phone: (619) 202-3564
Online: finca.wine