The Marine Room Debuts Las Vegas-Style Lounge in La Jolla | Eater San Diego

"After a two-week pause, I'm noting that the 81-year-old La Jolla institution is reopening on Wednesday, October 5 with a Studio UNLTD–designed 30-seat lounge at the center of the restaurant meant to attract a younger clientele; the new Lounge at the Marine Room will have its own exclusive food and drink offerings, a separate reservation system and a $100-per-person minimum for a two-hour dining experience. Executive chef Mike Minor, who took over the kitchen in 2021 and also oversees culinary operations at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club and the Shores Restaurant, brings more than 25 years of experience from Las Vegas (including work with Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken at Border Grill in Mandalay Bay) and is injecting a slice of Vegas nightlife and indulgence into the oceanfront restaurant. His dedicated lounge menu features caviar service, dry-aged bluefin tuna carpaccio with black winter truffles, beef tenderloin tartare with bone marrow butter, and a caviar-topped surf-and-turf of Hokkaido scallop and kurobuta pork belly, while new cocktails include an Old Fashioned with wagyu-infused whiskey and the Sunset View (Plantation Pineapple rum, coconut syrup, lime, and strawberry). The Marine Room will continue serving its existing menu—updated with specials from Minor—in the traditional dining areas Wednesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., with the lounge open the same days from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and its unequaled beachfront setting has for decades drawn restaurantgoers to La Jolla." - Candice Woo