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The Chef And Garden Showcasing San Diego’s Fresh Farm-To-Table Scene

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The Chef And Garden Showcasing San Diego’s Fresh Farm-To-Table Scene


Sergio Jimenez has traveled to Denmark and Iceland. He’s made his way to the outskirts of Copenhagen and Reykjavik and buried himself in the culinary art of one of some of the world’s most acclaimed chefs. He’s trekked up and down the California coast delving into the origins of America’s farm-to-table movement. Jimenez has basked in the flavors of the globe’s freshest menus, absorbed the experience around him. He’s taken notes. And he’s taken those notes home to San Diego.

Jimenez starts most mornings with a stroll to the chef’s garden at Rancho Bernardo Inn about 30 minutes north of downtown San Diego. He browses aisles of tomatillo, rosemary, fennel and fig. He pilfers through plants, picking ingredients for the night’s menu the way an artist might carefully blend oils on a palette. Flavors are his colors. His canvas—the kitchen and tables at AVANT—is just steps away from the garden.

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Here, the 28-year-old chef de cuisine lets his culinary creativity run wild.

The tables take some time to get to: a bit of a drive from downtown San Diego, out into the rolling hills of its suburbs, through a residential neighborhood, onto the refined grounds of the Rancho Bernardo Inn and up to a terrance with sublime sunset views of the valley below.

Increasingly, it’s a drive that patrons seem delighted to make.

Daily Deliveries from the Garden

The Rancho Bernardo Inn opened its doors in 1963 as a 30-room retreat tucked neatly beside a golf course designed by Torrey Pines architect William Bell. In the ensuing decades, a residential community sprang up around the course which busied itself hosting PGA and LPGA events while building a devoted following and adding 250 more guest rooms.

Along the way, a dedicated group of diners began frequenting the inn’s former on-site restaurant, El Bizcocho, which underwent a $2.5 million transformation in 2013 to become AVANT. A decade into AVANT’s life, Jimenez is guiding the restaurant into a farm-to-table destination built around Southern California’s endless growing seasons.

The on-site chefs garden located beside the golf course illustrates Jimenez’s inspiration. “I usually come out to the garden once a day,” Jimenez says. “I spend a couple of minutes look at what we have, picking our garnishes for the night. Then, I collaborate with our gardener and my crew to pick out things for our mixology program and culinary pieces.”

As Jimenez browses the garden, he pauses to point out burgeoning ideas: infant grapes that could one day become a signature wine, grape leaves that can become a flavorful ash, ghost apples with a sweet and sour tang, eggplant grown specifically for a single event, and lime leaves whose oil smells “like Fruity Pebbles.” Each is destined for a unique twist on Californian cuisine inspired by Jimenez’s family Mexican restaurant in Chula Vista.

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“I want to make something that’s unique, and modern. I never want to stick to the traditions. I’m not going to put creme brûlée on the menu for the rest of my life. I have to evolve, because I owe it to diners as guests of mien to deliver an experience unlike the same one the’ve already had.”

Nontraditional Dishes with Classic Flavors

Having a garden puts Jimenez in a small percentage of chefs with access to fresh ingredients right outside of their backdoor. And the payoff can help transform a guest’s night out.

Jimenez recalls an evening this summer when a pair of diners was having a bad night. “You can tell they’ve had a bad day,” he explains. “I do a private chef’s table, so I am able to see people’s reactions and I can tell if someone is not enjoying their time.”

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“I had a chef’s table event in July and one of the guests during her first and second course wasn’t really looking at me. At first, only her husband was making eye contact and engaging in the conversation. But slowly, I started talking and telling her my direction, and as soon as I said one of the ingredients was a guajilo chili, it reminded her of one of the dishes that she grew up eating.

“Her eyes got wide. She was perked up and engaged and her whole night seemed to turn around.”

The dish was a hominy risotto. Born of a desire to connect guests with nontraditional dishes with classic flavors, the risotto—a classic Italian dish—showcases a blend of peppery, smoked flavors from a chili prominent in Mexican cuisine that reminded the guest of her grandmother’s kitchen. “As a child, she didn’t know what the ingredient was because her parents were half Mexican and half Italian,” Jimenez explains. “So we just happened to hit the nail on the head with that one.”

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A Gathering Place for San Diego’s Chefs

Though Jimenez wears formal chef attire and makes no secret of his aspirations to earn a coveted Michelin star, he hasn’t strayed far from his beginnings in a neighborhood Mexican restaurant. San Diego, he says, is one of the best places in the world to experience garden fresh meals; and its culinary community is brimming with other creative cooks and chefs building their own dishes from its abundant cornucopia of ingredients.

“We’re bringing in chefs from all over the world now,” says Jimenez. “They are staying here and they are opening up their own restaurants, beaucse they see the market and the opportunity for growth. They see San Diego as an untouched market for modern cuisines in a place that has traditionally been dominated by American and French-oriented fine dining. Now, we see more and more farm-to-table.”

For Jimenez, that influx of talent presents an opportunity to create and to mingle. AVANT regularly hosts collaborative culinary events that combine the ideas of Jimenez and flavors from his garden with the skills of San Diego’s mixologists, cooks and chefs. The result has become a calendar of events that serve double duty as signature community festivals and a proving ground for AVANT’s quest for a Michelin star. Like the evolving appetites of diners, Jimenez says it’s all about the flavors.

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“Michelin doesn’t care if you serve the meal on $1,000 China,” he says. “They care about the food.”



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San Diego, CA

After surviving a brutal crash, this San Diego police officer is feeling gratitude and forgiveness

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After surviving a brutal crash, this San Diego police officer is feeling gratitude and forgiveness


When Zachary Martinez awoke in Sharp Memorial in late August, he wasn’t sure where he was or how he’d gotten there.

Martinez spotted his mom and asked what was going on. She said he’d been in a car accident, and his first thought was, “I need to call Austin and tell him what happened.” Austin Machitar was Martinez’s partner at the San Diego Police Department.

Then someone explained that Machitar was dead, and Martinez wondered if he’d be able to go back to being an officer.

The fact that Martinez even had that choice to make is somewhat of a miracle.

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Around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, someone reported a speeding BMW headed east on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. Police initially pursued the driver, but a supervisor quickly called them off because of how fast the other vehicle was going. Martinez and Machitar were on their way to the call when the BMW slammed into the side of their car.

Machitar, 30, was killed. Martinez, 27, was thrown from the vehicle. His neck broke. His brain bled. Multiple ribs were fractured, as were his cheekbones. One of the first officers who got to the scene thought he was dead.

Yet Martinez was back on patrol this weekend, and he addressed reporters Sunday outside the department’s Northern Division headquarters in full uniform, a Taser on his belt and a radio slung over his chest. The only obvious mark from the crash was mottled purple skin pulled tight across the top of his left hand.

Martinez doesn’t remember the collision. He barely remembers the day. He’s got a vague memory of going with a roommate to look at a truck before the shift, and of responding to a call at a motel with Machitar, but both seem almost too mundane to be in the same day that ended his partner’s life.

Martinez does recall being on the ground, surrounded by a strange mix of darkness and light, and asking God that he be given a second chance.

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Martinez spent more than a week in San Diego hospitals before receiving additional treatment, including physical therapy and burn care, in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Once he regained his bearings, it wasn’t hard to recommit to the police department. He’d dreamed of being an officer ever since he was a kid, and one of the reasons he liked his job was Machitar, who’d helped train him and brought a lightness to every shift.

He now wears a black wristband with Machitar’s name on it. “I wish I would have said ‘thank you’ again,” Martinez said. “He had taught me a lot.”

He praised everyone from the mayor and police chief to his colleagues and neighbors for their ongoing support.

The accident also took the life of the driver, 16-year-old Edgar Giovanny Oviedo.

“I forgive him,” Martinez said. “This job, you see people that may not have the best intentions, they may not have done the best thing, but I gain nothing from holding a grudge against somebody.”

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“I hope he’s at peace,” Martinez added.

Staff writer Teri Figueroa contributed to this report.

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San Diego, CA

Aztecs add 6 more transfers, including Central Michigan QB Bert Emanuel Jr.

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Aztecs add 6 more transfers, including Central Michigan QB Bert Emanuel Jr.


San Diego State has received a commitment from Central Michigan quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr., giving the Aztecs a pair of dual-threat transfers to compete for starting quarterback in spring practice.

Michigan transfer quarterback Jayden Denegal signed with the Aztecs following a midweek visit to campus.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Emanuel and the 6-5, 235-pound Denegal both have size, speed and strong arms. Both also have two years of eligibility remaining.

“I love competition,” Emanuel said Sunday morning before catching a flight home to Houston. “It brings out the best in people, so I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s always good for you. Iron sharpens iron.”

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Emanuel and Denegal were among more than two dozen transfers who made recruiting visits to SDSU the past two weeks.

Seventeen of the players have made commitments, including six who visited this weekend.

In addition to Emanuel, SDSU also received commitments from wide receivers Jacob Bostick (Texas A&M) and Trayvon Rudolph (Northern Illinois), defensive lineman Malachi Finau (Hawaii), linebacker Mister Williams (Incarnate Word) and cornerback Kai Rapolla (Cal Poly).

San Diego State has greeted more than two dozen transfer recruits the past two weekends. (Kirk Kenney / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Emanuel said he is impressed with the culture SDSU coach Sean Lewis and his staff are establishing.

“Everyone here is in love with football,” he said. “They aren’t just here for the money. They truly love football and that’s the type of team I want to be a part of. … The energy in the program is great, and I believe in (Lewis’) plan and system to go out there and help us win games.”

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SDSU got a glimpse of Emanuel in September, when he subbed for Central Michigan starting quarterback Joe Labas at times against the Aztecs. Emanuel attempted one pass while rushing six times for 32 yards in a 22-21 Chippewas victory.

Emanuel has been most impressive running the ball, carrying 145 times for 844 yards (6.1 ypc) and 12 touchdowns. The highlight was a 2022 game against Buffalo, when he rushed for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Emanuel is 27 of 51 passing for 439 yards and five touchdowns with three interceptions.

Emanuel’s career has been sidetracked by injuries, but he’s healthy now and eager for a fresh start with the Aztecs.

“What I bring to the field is my dual-threat ability,” he said. “I am able to attack the defense through the air and also on the ground with my legs.”

Emanuel views himself as a good fit for the SDSU offense as “a dynamic quarterback here helping us win a lot of games and putting up a lot of points in the near future.”

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Emanuel is the son of Bert Emanuel Sr., who was a college quarterback at UCLA and Rice before playing eight seasons in the NFL as a wide receiver.

“It helps a lot being able to sit back and just talk ball with him, any day, all day,” Emanuel said. “I know I can just call him and talk football.”

Among the newcomers joining Emanuel is Rudolph, who collected 151 receptions for 2,032 yards and 10 touchdowns during his time at Northern Illinois. The Huskies just happen to be SDSU’s Week 4 opponent on the 2025 schedule.

Rapolla had 41 tackles this season at Cal Poly, with three fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

Williams, who is the older brother of SDSU safety Prince Williams, had four sacks among 78 tackles this season at Incarnate Word.

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SDSU received commitments from Denegal, running back Christian Williams (Coastal Carolina), a Helix High School graduate, and defensive back Dwayne McDougle (Idaho) after midweek visits.

The transfer commitments began pouring in just more than a week ago after SDSU brought in 11 players for visits. Seven players from that group have committed.

The offense added wide receiver Myles Kitt-Denton (Northwestern State), tight ends Jackson Ford (Tulsa) and Seth Adams (Southeastern Louisiana) and offensive lineman Bayo Kannike (Utah Tech).

The defense added edge Niles King (Grand Valley State) and linebacker Tanner Williams (Utah State). Punter Hunter Green (Northern Colorado) also signed.

SDSU had 22 players enter the transfer portal, though two who announced (wide receiver Jordan Napier and linebacker Brady Anderson) have decided to remain with the Aztecs.

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San Diego, CA

Police Investigating Fatal Shooting at Independent Living Facility in Oak Park

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Police Investigating Fatal Shooting at Independent Living Facility in Oak Park


Law enforcement at the scene of a fatal shooting in Oak Park, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. Courtesy Onscene.Media

Law enforcement is investigating a fatal shooting that took place Saturday night at an independent living facility in the neighborhood of Oak Park.

Police responded to calls about an assault with a deadly weapon on the 3100 block of 54th St. at around 10:24 p.m. and arrived to find a man with a gunshot wound to his upper torso.

“[There are] several people inside the house that detectives are speaking with,” Lt. Lou Maggi with San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit told Onscene.Media.

“About nine people inside the house and then several more people outside.”

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He added that investigators do not yet have a description of a suspect, but they do not believe that the shooting was random or that there is any threat to the community at large.

SDPD is asking anybody with any information to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293, or San Diego Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

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