LUCIEN

Chef of Michelin-Starred Kitchens Opening Fine Dining Restaurant in San Diego | Eater San Diego

"Coming to downtown La Jolla’s La Plaza La Jolla complex on Girard Avenue, Lucien is a 30-seat fine-dining restaurant due to open by early 2025; named after chef Elijah Arizmendi’s newborn son, it’s his breakout project after a career that began at 14 and took him through acclaimed kitchens including Wayfare Tavern, Cotogna, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Spago in Las Vegas, and the two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Daniel. Co-owned by Arizmendi and Brian Hung—who will run the restaurant with his wife Melissa—Lucien will focus on hyper-seasonal tasting-menu dishes (with a la carte offerings at the bar and outdoor courtyard) reflecting influences from French, German, and Japanese chefs. After traveling to France to stage and check on a custom Molteni stove, Arizmendi plans to spend the rest of the year building relationships with local farmers, fishermen, and ranchers; the chance to work directly with area producers, which he wasn’t able to do much in New York, is what excites him most about cooking in San Diego." - Candice Woo