There's a new very serious skincare brand for men coming out of San Diego called... 4-Skin? Host Troy Johnson interviews founder Arturo Kassel—one of the city's top restaurateurs (Whisknladle, Catania, Gravity Heights) who watched a friend get fool-level sunburnt, made a joke about what it would take to get men to pay attention to basic skincare—and that's how he ended up launching a high-quality sunscreen and moisturizer with product names like "Morning Rub." Funny? Incredibly serious? Yes. Both.

Behind every great cocktail is at least one terrible idea. Sometimes it's a French onion soup martini. Sometimes it's setting a drink on fire inside the Casbah. And every once in a while, it's the kind of experiment that lands you on a list of America's best bartenders.

This week on Happy Half Hour, Troy Johnson sits down with Dominique Muñoz of Polite Provisions, who was recently named one of the country's top up-and-coming bartenders by Punch. She talks about going from mixing sugary daiquiris at a neighborhood pizza joint to helping lead one of San Diego's most celebrated cocktail bars, where making a drink means understanding history, hospitality, and a little bit of chemistry. Along the way, she shares the stories behind some of her favorite creations, the spectacular failures that taught her the most, and why she's working to make cocktail competitions more welcoming through the mentorship collective she founded, Sirens & Spirits.

Plus, Troy breaks down what's happening in the world of spirits—from America's surprising shift away from alcohol to the rise of canned cocktails and soju—before catching up on the latest San Diego food news, including Tribute Pizza's 10th anniversary fundraiser, MAKE Café's new permanent home, and the return of Rei Do Gado.

This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear the full conversation between humans, listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Sometimes the best restaurant is the one everyone tells you not to open. This week on Happy Half Hour, Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant sit down with chef Mario Cassineri, who left Michelin-starred kitchens behind to make handmade pasta in Barrio Logan. Raised in Milan, he trained under Italy's first three-Michelin-star chef before trading fine dining for a burned-out building everyone else overlooked and building Ciccia Osteria from the ground up.

Mario talks about why he chose Barrio Logan, why hospitality matters more than accolades, and the brutal math of running an independent restaurant right now. He also tells the story behind Ciccia's mushroom flan—a dish that sounds like it should be a terrible idea and is instead one of Troy's favorite bites in San Diego.

Because Italian cooking is a little cruel that way. The fewer ingredients you use, the fewer places there are to hide.

This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear the full conversation (and plenty of Mario's signature unfiltered wisdom), listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Fresh fruit, pillowy mochi, and a philosophy rooted in slowing down. This week on Happy Half Hour, Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant sit down with Gemma Matsuyama Yamada, the pastry chef behind Kimochi, whose seasonal fruit mochi has quietly become one of San Diego's most sought-after pop-ups. After honing her craft at some of the country's most celebrated restaurants—including Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Michelin-starred n/naka—Gemma traded fine dining for a more personal mission: creating handcrafted mochi that celebrates California's best fruit and the joy of being present.

Raised by a Japanese father and an Italian mother, Gemma shares how food became the common language in her household, why mochi is far more than the chewy wrapper most Americans know from ice cream, and how she sources pristine fruit from local farms to make each piece. Along the way, Troy and Jackie sample strawberries, peaches, figs, mangoes, and Asian pears wrapped in impossibly soft mochi while diving into Japanese food traditions, the craft behind great pastry, and the beauty of letting exceptional ingredients speak for themselves.

The episode also covers San Diego restaurant news, including several notable closures, the city's ever-changing dining landscape, and why hospitality should be a lesson everyone learns. It's a conversation about food, family, craftsmanship, and finding meaning in the simple act of sharing something delicious.

This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear from the humans, listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

Encinitas just got its first-ever speakeasy — or rather, its first hidden cocktail den — and the Happy Half Hour crew couldn't even find the front door. In this week's episode, hosts Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant broadcast live from inside Anigma, the stunning new bar tucked behind the legendary Roxy on First Street, joined by Bebemos tequila CEO Preston Caffrey to sip on some of San Diego's best agave and name their favorite hidden gems across the city. Built by the same team behind the Roxy — hospitality vet Paula Vrakas and former 91X radio guy Mark Dobbins — Anigma's five-plus years in the making and every inch shows it: velvet curtains hand-sewn by Paula's mom, an 1860s bullet-riddled tin ceiling rescued from a Cheyenne, Wyoming saloon, and a light fixture salvaged from the beloved, now-closed Captain Keno's that greets guests as they walk in. Reservations drop on OpenTable at noon on Wednesdays, two weeks out, for the 50-person space open Wednesday through Saturday — and yes, you'll need to decode a riddle just to find the entrance. The crew also rounds up their favorite under-the-radar spots across San Diego, from Alchemy Choose Thy Poison's menu in Barrio Logan to the 92-year-old diner at Tobey's 19th Hole overlooking Balboa Golf Course, proving once again that this city's best discoveries are the ones you have to earn.

This recap was written with the help of AI. For the full story — with all the laughs, detours, and cheese math — listen to Happy Half Hour, San Diego Magazine's podcast.

We tried 18 dishes across savory and sweet categories, these are our favorite dishes

Every year, the San Diego County Fair becomes the city's biggest pop-up restaurant with 150+ vendors, a million visitors, and one very serious food fight. In this episode of Happy Half Hour, Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant go behind the scenes of the Fair-tastic Food Competition, now in its fourth year.

Troy and Jackie try all 18 dishes across savory and sweet categories before sitting down with the winners. First up: Nathan Marcus of West Coast Weenies, whose Korean Churro Dog—a mozzarella stick cloaked in churro batter and rolled in corn flakes—took home Best in Show for the third year running. Then, People's Choice winner Nema Causey of Candy Me Up, whose Pistachio Dubai Chocolate Ice Cream Bar stopped the judges (and Jackie) in their tracks.

It's a love letter to fair food, San Diego food culture, and the multigenerational families who travel fair to fair to feed us. Don't miss this one.

This summary was provided to you by AI. To hear from the humans, listen to Happy Half Hour wherever you get your podcasts.

It's Switchfoot Bro-Am week. The epic, annual, San Diego-est thing—one of the best free beach parties in the country that does good for kids who need a community to rally around them. Doesn't just raise money, but makes the kids part of it. For this episode of Happy Half Hour, we asked Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman and drummer Chad Butler to take us to one of their favorite local spots—and they manifested poke bowls at Fish 101. Bro-Am is more rare and awe-striking than most people realize.

A quick story. Before the Grammys, before they sold 10 million-plus records, the north county rock band took their first international tour to Australia in 2005. If you know anything about Switchfoot, the following story makes sense. On the flight home, one of their first instincts was, essentially, "OK this might be the biggest thing we ever do. San Diego showed up for us and kinda gave this to us. So what are we gonna do for the city?" They decided to stage a huge free concert at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, where they grew up surfing. They used the spectacle as a way to raise money for unhoused, at-risk, underserved kids across San Diego County. They had no idea about city permits. They were in way over their heads. But they pulled it off. Twenty-two years later, Bro-Am has raised about $3 million for various organizations that help kids in various ways. Tens of thousands of people show up every year. Famous friends have joined in—Jason Mraz, Lauren Daigle, OK Go, John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls, and members of the Foo Fighters. But again, it's about the kids. In 2024, Switchfoot brought Rady Children's patient Avila on stage and served as her backing band to sing her own song, "Live It Well." The Eastlake Top Choir got onstage to sing "Love Alone Is Worth the Fight." Special stuff. The morning of the festival is a group surf and surf contest with the Challenged Athletes Foundation. There are vendors and exhibits and crowds and four bands: this year it's Switchfoot, Sun Room, Telephone Friends, and local band Kimiku (winner of the annual "Battle for the Bro-Am" friendly competition). As for Fish 101, it's packed because it nails the local soul. Opened as a little Leucadia spot along Highway 101 by two friends and partners—restaurateur Ray Lowe and chef/surfer/spearfisherman John Park—it essentially distilled the laidback foreverness of North County surf culture into a casual fish shop that did it right—fish from local boats, treated simply and treated well. Now they've opened a second shop in Cardiff. While filming the show, the legendary skate photographer J. Grant Brittain stopped in for a bite. The artist who designed Bubble Gum Surf Wax's logo popped in. Pro surfers Jacob "Zeke" Szekely and Finn McGill casually crushed food on the patio, skaters Cordano Russell and Nyjah Huston showed up. None of this was planned (except for the show). Just kind of a usual afternoon at Fish 101. Over poke and a killer grilled filet sandwich (lemon aioli + toasted Sadie Rose brioche), Foreman and Butler talk about the feel-good magic of Bro-Am, the similar quasi-mystical release of live rock shows and surfing. We also name our favorite fish tacos in the city—from Barrio Logan to Oceanside and Hollywood Park. The festival's fundraising night is tonight, June 11 (if you can't make it, you can donate at broam.org—the first $75,000 will be matched and doubled). Then the big free festival is June 13, all day starting with the group surfs at 7 a.m. This year, BroAm is raising money for six kid-focused nonprofits in San Diego: Rady Children's Health — Pediatric care, research, education, and advocacy. Feeding San Diego — Hunger relief through food rescue and nutritious meals. A Step Beyond — Dance, education, academic support, and family services for underserved youth. Challenged Athletes Foundation — Adaptive athletic opportunities for people with physical disabilities. Monarch School — Education and support for students impacted by homelessness. Save The Music Foundation — Music education access for students, schools, and communities.

Follow Switchfoot HERE. Discover more at San Diego Magazine.

The chef and owner of Luigi's shares his journey from opening a small bar above Lake Como to lines forming around the block in Golden Hill for his pies.

At 23, Luigi Agostini left his hometown of Varese, Italy for America, finding his way to San Francisco in search of adventure and new beginnings. Living with 17 other strangers, he soon began working in restaurant kitchens across the city and eventually found his niche in making pizza. From Los Angeles to Hawaii, and eventually San Diego, he honed his craft before opening his first pizzeria in Poway in 2002. It was an instant hit.

Six years later, when Guy Fieri walked in to record Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, lines began to form around the block to try Luigis' pizzas. Today, the shop continues to be one of the city's favorite places for a pie. In the episode, Agostini shares the lore surrounding his Crime Scene pizza made with meatballs, ricotta, and sauce on top. We also chat about Venim Locus, the Japanese-Mediterranean wine bar he opened next door to his Ocean Beach pizzeria through the back of an old tattoo shop, where a former Nobu chef de cuisine who showed up during Covid makes his own bread, butter, and pickles, and a mix-and-match charcuterie program.

The episode ends with a San Diego pizza fantasy draft including Tribute Pizza, TNT, Long Island Mike's, Amalfi Cucina Italiana, Milo's, Pizza Kaiju, Wayfarer Bakery, Catania in La Jolla, and Love Letters Pizza on El Cajon Boulevard.

The border is a huge part of why San Diego's food culture took off. The kitchen exchange of chefs and ideas and burning wood and seafood acid parties across San Ysidro built a Mexican-American style that's unlike anywhere else in the US.

That bordertown verve is the topic of conversation for the dinner party this week on Happy Half Hour. Hosts Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant welcome back Claudette Zepeda—Imperial Beach–raised, border-crossing kid, plus Top Chef and Iron Chef Mexico alum—to talk through the stories in her debut cookbook Cooking the Borderlands: Spice and Smoke Between Mexico and the States, out June 2.

They discuss how cartel violence around 2008 accidentally transformed San Diego's food scene when Mexican chefs came a few miles north and brought live fire, ash, char, and high-acid cooking into North Park and Little Italy kitchens with them. Claudette shares about manifesting her way into Bracero (the short-lived, highly acclaimed Mexican restaurant that earned a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant in America), and how getting fired forced her hand into a new way of cooking.

In food news, Urban Kitchen Group's new Bankers Hill restaurant debuts in 2027, Lucien earns a Michelin Guide recommendation, Fleurette launches chef Travis Swikard's first-ever tasting menu, Sugarfish opens in Little Italy, and the story of how Candy Land was invented in a Talmadge bungalow by Eleanor Abbott, who died in 1988 with $1.8 million in royalties and never once left her house. Discover more at San Diego Magazine HERE. Follow Claudette HERE.

Leucadia's charm is in no small part because someone planted eucalyptus trees for railroad ties, but that wood turned out to be useless. So they just let those peely giants grow and grow, which is why the Leucadia stretch of PCH is now a majestic leafy canopy into what Troy calls "the mood"—not a city, but a state of mind. Spiritually Spanish, no sidewalks, dirt under your toenails, more than its share of people who may or may not use crystals as financial advisors. Leucadia's pretty grand. Plus, the neighborhood used to be called "Merle," which we can all agree is fairly fantastic. This "mood" made it the perfect setting for a Bebemos Golden Hour at Mario Guerra's Spanish tapas spot on North Coast Highway.

Happy Half Hour co-hosts Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant, along with Bebemos co-founder Preston Caffrey, indulge in a Bebemos Golden Hour and Spanish tapas at Valentina. Valentina GM Todd Henderson and Executive Chef Enrique Ñol walk the HHH crew through the menu: Potato pave done Thomas Keller-style in twelve to eighteen layers and fried into what they cheekily calls patatas bravas; jamón ibérico croquettes that give last night's dinner a second (and better) life… and, tequila; a matrimonio of salt- and vinegar-cured anchovies that pairs well with vermouth… and, tequila; pan con tomate that arrives as a Catalonia versus the rest of Spain political argument (plus tequila); salmorejo with blue crab; mushroom migas with an egg yolk the color of 1980s Tang. The crew also clinked champagne courtesy of Preston's wife, Shiloh, of We Drink Bubbles.

Tune in to find out which dish won the Leucadia fantasy draft, why Valentina's vibe and food are unique, and which of its dishes pairs best with Bebemos, the tequila of San Diego. Discover more at San Diego Magazine. Follow Bebemos HERE. Follow Valentina HERE.