Callie

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Callie, Greek for "the most beautiful"

The name says something about the ambition. Callie opened in 2021 as San Diego native Chef Travis Swikard's homecoming — a restaurant shaped by the decade-plus he spent in New York City cooking alongside Daniel Boulud at Boulud Sud, where the flavors of Greece, Spain, Italy, Morocco, and the Middle East became his working vocabulary. Back in Southern California, he translated that education into what he calls Cuisine du Soleil: light, bright, and bold Mediterranean cooking grounded in the farmers, fishermen, and ingredients of the region just outside the door.

The kitchen behind the cooking

Swikard built a team that mirrors the restaurant's ethos of craft and community. Chef de Cuisine Adrian Tarango was born in San Diego and raised in Tijuana, arriving at Callie as a prep cook and rising steadily to lead the kitchen day to day. Executive Sous Chef Meg Hoag came up through pasta prep with a conviction that scratch-made food should carry real care in every step. On the floor, Director of Operations Ann Sim brings experience from Eleven Madison Park — where she was Captain during its #1 World's 50 Best year — back to her native Southern California. Lead Sommelier Schuyler "Skye" Munroe, shaped by years buying for small producers, runs a wine program that Wine Spectator recognized with its Best of Award of Excellence in 2025, a reflection of how seriously the cellar is curated. Lead Bartender Oswaldo Mendoza, who worked his way from barback to bar lead in New York's West Village, brings the same intentionality to cocktails.

What's on the table

The menu moves through the full arc of a Mediterranean meal — and it does so with specificity. Spreads and breads anchor the beginning: hummus with roasted garlic and spicy green zhoug, babaghanoush with za'atar, taramasalata built on smoked roe and bottarga. The raw and cured section reaches for Japanese kanpachi with black lime and avocado, or uni toast with jamón ibérico de bellota and tomato bread. Salads draw on Moroccan and Levantine pantry staples — barberries, orange blossom labneh, sumac, cashew dukkah. Pastas include a lemon saffron linguine with San Diego uni and bottarga breadcrumbs, and a corn and shishito ravioli with grilled morel mushrooms.

From the grill: Mediterranean octopus with roasted garlic skordalia, harissa lamb chops with tzatziki, and a line-caught market fish sourced locally and priced to the day's catch. Desserts stay true to the register — a Meyer lemon pavlova with rose meringue and pistachio halva, a Turkish rice pudding with coffee-date jam. For those who want the full arc without making decisions, a five-course family-style Mediterranean Feast is available for parties of two or more.

The broader picture

Since opening, Callie has drawn recognition from the Michelin Guide, Esquire, and Robb Report as one of the Best New Restaurants in America — validation that this particular take on Californian-Mediterranean cooking landed. The restaurant also programs guest chef evenings that bring outside voices into the kitchen, maintaining a sense of ongoing conversation rather than a fixed point.

Callie's space, designed by STUDIO UNLTD with branding by Folklor, sits on Island Avenue in San Diego's East Village. The bar stays open an hour past the kitchen, and the wine list — awarded by Wine Spectator — is downloadable in full for those who like to arrive prepared.