Zen Modern Asian Bistro Is Opening at the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Roster - Eater San Diego
"Set to open by the end of the year is a second location of Zen Modern Asian Bistro, which will land at the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center, replacing two restaurants that have since departed the Carmel Valley food hall. The longstanding Chinese restaurant, offering both traditional and contemporary dishes, was established in 2016 in the Sabre Springs neighborhood near Carmel Mountain Ranch by a father-son team, Henry and Ethan Yang. Ethan Yang is already a familiar face at the Sky Deck, where he operates a Japanese spot called Glass Box which is one of the original anchors of the food collective. The family’s menu for the Skydeck location will feature Chinese specialties such as Peking duck, sauteed lobster with garlic, congee varieties, and made-to-order dim sum in addition to popular shareable dishes like fried rice, wok-fried noodles, and dumplings. Other dishes, from beef noodle soup to scallion pancakes, will draw from their Taiwanese heritage. Ethan Yang tells Eater that he’s also considering modern fusion dishes, like lobster rolls with an Asian twist. They will be knocking down a wall between the spaces that formerly housed J’s, a New American and Mediterranean restaurant, and Ziziki’s, a modern Greek street food restaurant, to make room for a larger dining area and a 30-seat bar. Now approaching 70 years old, Henry Yang was the head chef at the iconic Chinese restaurant Mr. Charlie’s Fortune Cookie in Rancho Bernardo before he launched Zen Modern Asian Bistro. “This will be the last hurrah for my father,” chef Ethan tells Eater. After the Sky Deck opening, Yang says he’s looking to scout a third Zen location, possibly beyond North County." - Helen I. Hwang
