Copyright San Diego Union-Tribune
Five years is a long time for a restaurant to go from concept to creation, but for chef Andrew Bachelier, his wife Larah Bachelier and their famous business partner, skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, the timing for the debut of their long-awaited Chick and Hawk eatery-bar in Leucadia feels just right. Following a five-day soft opening this past week, the casual sit-down/take-out restaurant and bar has closed for a two-day rest and recalibration before its official grand opening on Wednesday. I made two dining visits during last week’s preview and worked my way through most of the menu and a couple of the cocktails. On both days, the wait for tables was brief, servers were friendly and knowledgable, food delivery was efficient and diner reactions to the menu and the colorfully designed venue were strongly positive. Chick and Hawk is a fun, funky, ’80s-’90s skating-inspired restaurant-bar with very tasty food and a sunny, uniquely Southern California vibe. On my second visit Sunday afternoon, Hawk arrived at the restaurant with some family members and naturally drew the lion’s share of attention from the capacity crowd of diners. But it was Andrew Bachelier — who stood quietly for hours by the kitchen pass expediting each plate to ensure consistency and accuracy, and sometimes stepping in as a server when needed — who was last week’s undercover star. Bachelier has solid cooking chops. He spent six years at Michelin three star Addison by William Bradley and was the founding executive chef at Campfire and Michelin-starred Jeune et Jolie retaurants in Carlsbad. He and his wife, Larah, own Atelier Manna in Encinitas, an elegant, 3-year-old European-inspired café that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award last May. Bachelier’s Chick and Hawk menu is small and focused. Its centerpiece is two sandwiches, the Birdman, a Nashville-style spicy fried chicken sandwich, and the Seabird, a fresh-caught fish sandwich. There are also duck fat fries (plain or loaded), a veggie bowl, two Asian-inspired appetizers, shave ice/soft-serve dessert and a kid’s chicken tenders meal. The vast drinks menu includes 11 cocktail (many named after skate tricks), mocktails, sparking wines and Champagne and canned and draft beer (including the new Cheep Skate, a canned American lager collaboration with ViewPoint Brewing). And for those who’d like to splurge, there’s a caviar service, of Osetra caviar with house-made Kennebec potato chips and french onion crème fraîche. Larah Bachelier was the retaurant’s lead designer. She collaborated with fabricator Taylor Morgan and Hawk on the 70-seat restaurant’s interior design, leaning into the colors, fabric patterns and household kitsch of ’80s-’90s Southern California, where Hawk and Bachelier both grew up. Day-Glo lights give the interior a soft pink/blue hue. Old small-screen TV sets suspended in wire cages from the ceiling show a continuous stream of old skating films and there’s a large portrait of Hawk skating on the wall. The wall separating the outdoor patio from the small parking lot is a (for display only) quarterpipe skate ramp, and the sinks in the customer bathrooms are miniature skate bowls. The exterior walls of the restaurant are decorated with commissioned murals by prominent skate/punk/graffiti artists, including Shepard Fairey (the large multipanel mural on the back wall), Mark Gonzales (the heart-head layback skater over the patio) and Dave Persue (the long, graffiti-style Chick and Hawk logo mural on the wall behind the parking lot). Here’s a quick taste of the Chick and Hawk menu from my visits, with the caveat that some dish ingredients, plating and pricing may have changed in response to staff experience and diner feedback from last week’s soft opening. The Birdman Five years in development, Bachelier’s signature chicken sando — which bears Hawk’s high-flying nickname — is so crispy, its leftovers still delivered crunch the next day right out of the fridge. Juicy chicken thigh meat is brine-marinated, dipped in a secret batter coating, fried and then dusted with layer upon layer of powdered spice mix. There are 3 levels of heat, each named for increasingly difficult skating flips, the 360 (hot, but approachable), 720 (really spicy) and 900 (“extra crazy hot,” though my 36-year-old son had no problem devouring it). The satisfying Birdman is topped with spiced purple cabbage slaw, creamy kimchi “comeback” sauce and pickles on a soft potato bun. $18. The Seabird C&H’s take on a fried fish sandwich starts with an inch-thick fillet of market-fresh fish (it was tuna on my visit). Diners can choose whether their fish is battered and fried or “blackened,” meaning seasoned and seared. To allow the delicate flavor and texture of the melt-in-your-mouth fish to shine, the Seabird’s accompaniments are less aggressive than those of the Birdman. It’s served with mashed avocado, butter lettuce, crisped shallots, house tartar sauce and American cheese on a potato brioche bun. $24. Eyrie Fries This hearty, shareable plate of duck-fat fries is served with aioli, Parmesan and fresh herbs, as well as a generous drizzle of truffle hot sauce. The fries are savory, salty and extra crunchy, and the spice level is fairly high. Eyrie fries are $14, but chicken or albacore can be added on for an additional charge. A smaller side dish of spice-free fries, plenty for two diners, is $8. Maitake bo ssam My favorite dish on the menu is this delicious, vegetarian twist on the Korean pork lettuce wrap dish. Flavorful maitake mushrooms are batter-dipped and tempura-fried and served with bite-size carrot and daikon strips, minty/citrusy shiso leaves for wrapping and a lovely not-too-sweet peanut sauce. You can make six two-bite wraps with this dish, which I’d order again as a main entrée. $17. Tuna Tataki Locally-caught tuna is lightly seared and served in a tart and fragrant sauce of carrot, orange and ginger vinaigrette. The portion is not large for the price, but the fish is sashimi grade. $22. Cocktails Beverage director Nick Sinutko played on ’80s/’90s flavors, drinks and skating culture for the inspired, 11-cocktail lineup. The refreshing Japan Air includes Japanese gin, pickled ginger, citrus, club soda and a shiso leaf for added tang. The quirky light green Ecto Cooler is what happens when you combine tequila with the flavor of green apple Jolly Ranchers. Another unique concoction is the Neon Bell, a light blue, lime aperitif-infused cocktail inspired by Taco Bell’s Baja Blast (which is Mountain Dew with lime flavoring). $15-$16. Chick and Hawk Hours: Grand opening is at noon Wednesday, Nov. 12. Hours, noon to 8 p.m. daily (and until 10 pm on the weekends when the bar will stay hope late) Where: 145 Leucadia Blvd., Encinitas
