Hawthorn's

WE MAY NEVER SEE DAVID WITT on the stage, but he most definitely has chosen a life in the theater. Restaurateurs spend their lives at work, and Witt passes his days and nights at his new Hawthorn’s in the Stephen & Mary Birch North Park Theatre, the beautifully restored centerpiece of San Diego’s most-newly-reborn neighborhood.

In mid-April, Witt closed his long-running Fifth & Hawthorn (which had its own theatrical connections, given heavy patronage by Old Globe regulars) and opened Hawthorn’s, a much larger and more ambitious eatery. When Witt moved uptown, he took his menu in an uptown direction as well, and certain new dishes—Châteaubriand tamales, anyone?—are well enough scripted to bow on Broadway. These are the creations of Jonathan Pflueger, whom Witt hired as consulting chef in midsummer and who still plays the role to a limited degree.

Diners with long-enough memories will remember Pflueger for creating excitingly contemporary menus for the Star of the Sea when it reinvented itself in the mid-1990s. The balance of the menu came along from Fifth & Hawthorn, as did executive chef Andreas Banuelos.

The location in a theater is new for the city of San Diego (Coronado’s Lamb’s Players Theatre operates the Encore Café) and actually rather rare in the world. The front room houses the open kitchen and is comfortable, friendly and informal. But the main dining room, housed in the building’s original lobby, is more the place to sit back and relax in a fun, not-quite-campy theatrical setting. A solid wall of glass brings the street scene into the room, and even if it’s just a stretch of University Avenue, all the world’s a stage, right?

The menu offers dramatic flourishes of its own, like one evening’s special appetizer of pork-scallion-ginger won tons paired with porcini mushrooms in a slightly spicy red miso broth ($11). A first bite provoked a normally reserved guest to nearly shout, “This is delicious,” and the dish certainly deserves a spot on the standing list. Like Japanese gyoza dumplings, these are served in a quintet (six would be unlucky), dressed with sprouts, strips of yellow bell pepper and fabulous bites of porcini that, given the delicacy of the pork stuffing, provide an unexpectedly meaty quality.

One evening, sharing a couple of starters as a prelude to a shared entrée and dessert resulted in a thoroughly enjoyable meal in four acts. After the won tons, Carlsbad black mussels ($9) arrived, steamed marinière-style in Chardonnay flavored with shallots, garlic and herbs, topped with a nest of perfect pommes frites, and it was all good—soft, sweet mussels, crisp spuds and a lightly creamed broth so irresistible that chunks of burning-hot sourdough provided the means for enjoying every last drop.

For the main event, the kitchen split an order of the Châteaubriand tamales ($23), a truly clever, eye-catching presentation. The husks of the tamales, which contain a ravishing filling of foie gras and forest mushrooms, were slashed in a blossom pattern that revealed the filling. Very respectably sized tournedos (small filets mignon) in a tarragon-flavored red-wine reduction paired each tamale, and a heap of buttery spinach sautéed with lots of garlic brought the plate together quite beautifully. For dessert, the bananas Foster Bavarian tart ($7) was a nice, cake-wrapped variation on the original that tasted of bananas, sugar and rum and had a very pleasing effect on the palate.

THERE IS MORE TO LIKE about this menu, such as a caramelized five-onion soup ($8) that should broaden the horizons of anyone who thinks onion soup is always French and baked. Served in a deep bowl, the soup has pungent fun with members of the onion family, some cooked until they melt (yellow and white onions and garlic) and some left crisp and raw, like the scallions and chives that lend a pleasant crunch to the sherry-flavored broth. Musky Manchego cheese and chunks of carnitas crown this huge serving and frankly turn it into a meal; in truth, the carnitas seem misplaced, and the soup probably would be better without them.

Favorites from Fifth & Hawthorn like the jumbo shrimp cocktail ($10) and well-made Caesar salad ($7) share the starter list with Pflueger’s attractive take on ahi tartare ($12), which dresses the minced raw fish with grain mustard, capers and tapenade. On the entrée list, a particularly nice holdover from Fifth & Hawthorn arranges four beautiful, pan-gilded scallops that glisten like vast white pearls over a creamy polenta studded with fresh corn kernels and drizzled with a truffled pan sauce ($27).

Shellfish appear plentifully on the menu, alongside such fish options as pan-seared Alaskan halibut with Peruvian purple potatoes and a clever, lightly curried corn-and-crab chowder ($26). And for meat, it’s a coin toss to decide between the chipotle-spiced barbecued pork chop ($19) and the classic steak-frites ($32), which stars an 18-ounce, bone-in rib-eye finished with sauce Bordelaise. The desserts mostly are catered—two cheesecake choices (each $7) from Incredible Cheesecakes and a chocolate torte with mango and banana ($8) from Extraordinary Desserts. But fans traveling uptown from the original Fifth & Hawthorn are likely to choose the house-made crème brûlée, always one of San Diego’s best.

Hawthorn’s serves dinner nightly at 2895 University Avenue. Reservations are advised, especially when performances are scheduled in the theater; 619-544-0940.

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