Like many of you, my wife and I canceled our vacation plans. I’ve been working from home and I needed to getaway. For my birthday, my wife and I drove to San Diego so that we could enjoy a good dinner that was not handed to us in to-go boxes. After checking out the possibilities, I selected Valentina in Encinitas.
The establishment on Coast Hwy was previously named Moto Deli because the owner, Mario Guerra, loves motorcycles and wanted to create a sandwich and beer place for bikers to enjoy. He since had a baby girl and decided it was time to reflect on his new life. Valentina was named after his baby girl.
The city of San Diego came off the state watchlist and is currently in the State of California’s pandemic red tier. As a result, San Diego restaurants are allowed to accommodate 25% of their indoor dining capacity. I was happy that we were seated on one of their sidewalk tables. Each table setup was socially distanced.
The Tri-color Baby Beet Salad is a great way to set the tone for dinner. They use farmers market quality ingredients which exhibit freshness. Endive and red leaf lettuce is tossed in a delicious orange vinaigrette. The sliced almonds add another dimension to this salad.
Huge seared scallops ($29) (probably diver scallops) are served in a romesco sauce with crispy shallots and zucchini. The scallops are perfectly seared so that they are crisp on the edge and tender inside. While I thought the romesco sauce was too bold for scallops, it worked nicely with the zucchini and shallots.
Seafood paella is one of my favorite dishes and the Paella Mariscos ($32) had my name on it. The dish was loaded with fresh seafood such as shrimp, mussels, and calamari steak served over bomba rice that was seasoned with saffron. The seafood was prepared to perfection, but I was slightly disappointed to not have a burnt / crunchy rice experience which is typical of traditional Spanish paella.
While we were full, the Vanilla Creme Brulee screamed out to us and we ordered that as well as local coffee prepared in a french press. It was a truly wonderful experience.
Valentina Restaurant, 810 Coast Highway, Encinitas, CA 760.943.6686
restaurantvalentina.com