Inside an Icon: Top of the Market

San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

This week’s Happy Half Hour takes place from one of the best perches in all of San Diego: Top of the Market. It’s a fully windowed and partially outdoor restaurant, separate and with a more fine dining or special occasion bent than its counterpart downstairs, the equally beloved and lauded Fish Market. To our front are sprawling views of Coronado and the bay. Directly to the right, the Midway, and to the left, hotels, docks, and the Coronado Bridge. We sat down with the restaurant’s executive chef, Robin James, who is, in my opinion, the most San Diego San Diegan to ever do it. His first cooking job was on the line at the iconic Anthony’s Fish Grotto. After that, he got his cooking degree at the Art Institute and became the executive chef at The University Club and Bali Hai. These days, he’s slinging creative seafood dishes at Top of the Market. But what makes him deeply local, despite his life resume and of course being born here, is that his parents met while working at Jack-in-the-box. Come on. He’s a living legend, and we get the story of his parents’ meet-cute in the episode. In addition to his hometown bonafides, James is a serious cook with an Escoffier tattoo, who is consistently trying to take things to the next level. He was always a tinkerer, experimenting with ingredients, often ones that didn’t seem to make much sense together, to see what could happen. He did a lot of that during Covid, while temporarily laid off from work, itching to create, and now he’s stretching his wings more with his seafood menu. One of his more surprising dishes on Top of the Market’s current list are seared sea scallops with Spanish chorizo, dehydrated mushrooms, and big white beans. Scallops, mushrooms, and beans isn’t a dish I knew I wanted, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. James is also cooking an Alaskan halibut on the menu with many green, spring flavors, and served with a punchy tzatziki heavy on the cucumber; he also has a seared octopus served over hummus with pickled red onions and mandolined radishes. There are crudos; and on the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s a chocolate cake a la Elvis, with bananas, bacon and honey. James assured us there are plenty of classics on the menu, too, like the restaurant’s famed cioppino, a hearty fish stew its been serving for decades. There’s good drinking, too, James assures us. The wine list is evidence of that. James and his team have been running thrice yearly wine dinners with top California producers—the next is in September with Grgich Hills. In the meantime, they also have one of San Diego’s best wine steals: a list of 30 bottles of wine for $30, every Tuesday. We’re not talking two buck chuck or plonk; this is from the real wine list, made specially available for those extra fun people who want to clink glasses on a Tuesday. We also talk food news. Baja came up big in the reveal of Michelin’s first guide to Mexico. The French tire company gave one star to Animalon (Javier Plascencia and Oscar Torres), Damiana (Esteban Lluis), and Conchas de Piedra (Drew Deckman and Hugo D’Acosta). Many other Baja California restaurants were recommended or named bib gourmands. Taste of Little Italy will be returning on June 18 and 19 with more than 40 restaurants participating. And OB’s Gianni Buomono Vintners is moving away from its long-held Newport Ave. spot. It’ll be opening soon near Sports Arena.