Paradisaea, the 1-year-old restaurant in La Jolla’s Bird Rock community named for a species of birds on the island of New Guinea, was awarded a prestigious Bib Gourmand honor on Tuesday by the Michelin Guide.
Paradisaea, which serves a California cuisine menu, is one of seven restaurants in California awarded the honor, which represents what Michelin Guide inspectors designate as serving “good food at moderate prices.” It’s one step below the coveted Michelin star.
Paradisaea is the 13th San Diego County restaurant to receive a Bib Gourmand honor, and it joins 54 other local restaurants that have been honored by the Michelin Guide since its inspectors added the San Diego area to their list of California regions they review in 2019.
La Jolla residents Eric and Zoe Kleinbub built their restaurant to be casual and affordable enough to be a come-as-you-are neighborhood hangout for locals. But it’s also elegant enough in its food preparation and service to be a date-night destination for San Diegans looking to try someplace new. The restaurant’s name is pronounced “para-DEE-see-uh.”
Eric and Zoe Kleinbub are the owners of Paradisaea in La Jolla.
(Douglas Friedman)
Eric earned a culinary degree at the now-shuttered Tante Marie Cooking School in San Francisco and Zoe’s mother owned several restaurants in New York City. When the couple decided to leave San Francisco in 2015 to start a family, they moved to the same La Jolla neighborhood where Eric grew up (his parents live right across the street).
In 2018, the Kleinbubs purchased a historic 1949-era building at 5680 La Jolla Blvd. designed by famed architect William Kesling. Locals called it the “piano building” because it once housed a piano store. With the Georgis & Mirgorodsky design firm, the Kleinbubs renovated the building, but kept its Midcentury Modern look and bones, and they decorated it with a tropical bird of paradise theme.
The 4,500-square-foot building is now home to both Paradisaea and a sister eatery, Dodo Bird Donuts, a daytime cafe.
When the restaurant opened last year, its culinary director was Mark Welker, who spent 10 years with the Michelin three-star restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City and the luxury NoMad Hotel chain.
But last month, Paradisaea left the restaurant and his tropically-inspired menu has been updated with a more California-focused farm-to-table cuisine style. The lead dish that Michelin inspectors name in their review is the coconut shrimp appetizer that Welker created.
Coconut shrimp at Paradisaea restaurant in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla.
(Courtesy of John Dole)
The restaurant’s new executive chef is Jeff Armstrong, who has most recently served as executive chef with the Urban Kitchen Group in San Diego, where he oversaw menu development for ARTIFACT at Mingei, The Kitchen at MCASD and Gold Finch Modern Delicatessen in La Jolla.
Before moving to San Diego, Armstrong owned an Asian street food restaurant in Colorado and worked at high-end restaurants in New York and Washington, D.C.
Paradisaea also has a new general manager. Patrick Cabido, a native of Stockholm who has been in the U.S. hospitality business for more than 20 years, most recently served as general manager of Cesarina in Point Loma. Before that, worked at Il Dandy and Herb & Wood restaurants.
The other 12 San Diego County restaurants that hold Michelin Bib Gourmand honors are: Callie; Campfire; Cesarina; Ciccia Osteria; Cucina Urbana; Dija Mara; Mabel’s Gone Fishing; Morning Glory; Solare Ristorante; Lola 55; Kettner Exchange; and Juniper & Ivy.
The six other California restaurants awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand award on Tuesday are: Baroo, Hibi and Olivia in Los Angeles; and Dalida, Kiln and Movida in San Francisco.
For more on the new Michelin honorees, visit guide.michelin.com/us/en/article/dining-out/michelin-guide-california-new-additions-restaurants.