June 20 - Tuscany! A Wine Dinner with San Felice Winemaker

Wow! Let’s have Tuscany in San Diego! We have the wine-maker from the famous Tuscan winery, San Felice, here for a Wine Dinner at Solare. His name is Leonardo Bellaccini and we have been great friends for several years now via an intro by Bruno Cumar; and was just with him at his winery in April. Leonardo is a very charismatic guy and engaging presenter. This is a 4-course dinner with 5 San Felice wines including their Gran Selezione and their Vigorello. $89/person includes the dinner and the 5 wines. 6:45pm Dinner and 6:15pm Reception. Yes! This dinner is on a Monday and we are opening special for Leonardo!! RSVP Today. – Sold Out

June 18 - Cooking Class – Authentic Pizza from Scratch

Great Father’s Day Idea! Have you ever wanted to learn how to make pizza in the authentic style from the renowned city of Napoli? How about a tasty Sfincione from Sicily; Focaccia from Liguria? Here is your perfect opportunity — Pizza Chef Brian will guide you through each step – starting with making the dough from scratch. Each student will take home extra dough to show off their pizza making skills that evening at home! The fun starts at 10:30am at Solare with an Italian-style coffee of your choice and a pastry. Italian wine is served for students interested in “cooking with wine”. – Class size limited — $75/student that includes the class, wine, and lunch. Contact us for details.

June 16 - Best Restaurants Party with San Diego Magazine!

Celebrate San Diego Magazine’s Best Restaurants issue with an evening of indulgent bites and chef encounters. The top restaurants (Go Solare!) and their chefs (Go Accursio!) will takeover the kitchens at Pirch in UTC (4545 La Jolla Village Dr.) on June 16, to prepare signature dishes for an intimate crowd. Enjoy live entertainment, drinks, and product demos. 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Space is limited and this event will sell out. Advance purchase of tickets is highly recommended. All the details are here. See you at the Party! Yay!

June 05 - “Solare “Heart of Spring” Dinner

Solare at our best! We are having a hyper-local “Heart of Spring” feast on Sunday, June 5, to celebrate the flavors and tastes of Spring in San Diego. You will not want to miss this dinner! This is extra-special as we will be doing the dinner outside on the lawn next to Solare … Under the Sky! We have one long community table … and we have teamed with folks across San Diego County for all the ingredients and drinks. As examples, we are working with Tommy Gomes at Catalina Offshore to have a freshly caught 70+ pound fish be prepared “gills to tail” for the dinner. We have San Diego ranchers and farmers with lamb and pork, such as Cook Pigs in Julian. We have teamed with San Diego County wineries, breweries, and distillers of fine spirits. Wine, beer, and cocktails included.  Live music … and more! Please send us a note if you would like purchase a ticket ~ 5pm ~ $125/person excluding tax/gratuity. Advance confirmed reservations required. ~~ Here is a cool photo of the Table and Dinner from last year.

May 18 - EAT.DRINK.READ. A Culinary Event for Literacy

Solare is so proud to join again the 7th annual “EAT.DRINK.READ. A Culinary Event for Literacy”. This event by Josh Kopelman and the San Diego Council on Literacy’s (SDCOL) promises to deliver delicious bites and brews on Wednesday, May 18, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. here in Liberty Station. Eat.Drink.Read. will raise needed funds to support SDCOL’s LITERACY 20/20, a five year campaign to advance literacy in San Diego County by 2020 and more than 25 affiliate programs it supports. Guests experience imaginative dishes created by more than 15 of the County’s finest chefs, with each bite inspired by the chefs’ favorite books. Beers from San Diego breweries and regional wines will accompany the cuisine, allowing samplings from a wide variety of local craftsman. Guests also get a chance to try tastings from local chocolatiers, bread makers, coffee roasters and other artisanal treats. ~~ Learn everything and get tickets here. Can you guess what our book is?

May 11 - Jesse Katz Winemaker Dinner – think Aperture & Devil Proof!

Jesse Katz … Master Winemaker and owner of both Aperture Cellars and Devil Proof Vineyards … is leading this 4-course dinner. Chef Accursio is designing some very special dishes to highlight and complement Jesse’s wines from Alexander Valley. These are all 90+ point wines! The Aperture Cab is one of the best representations of cabernet sauvignon you will ever have … and for Jesse’s Malbec from Devil Proof Vineyards, Robert Parker (Wine Advocate) himself wrote that “This may be the finest Malbec I have ever tasted from California.” Jesse has also worked at some of the greatest chateaux and wineries in the world – from Screaming Eagle to Petrus. He may be the only winemaker who can say that. The Devil Proof Malbec is a genuine California “cult wine” and we are delighted to be pouring it for this special dinner. Jesse will be joined by his father … photography great, Andy Katz … who was instrumental in helping cultivate Jesse’s passion for wine and winemaking. The 4-course dinner with 5 wines (including a course with side-by-side pours of the 2012 and 2013 Aperture Cab) is $110/person. RVSP asap and meet Jesse and Andy over the course of an incredible evening. 6:45pm Dinner and 6:15pm Reception.

Oh! One additional fun story: Andy does all the photography for the labels of Aperture and Devil Proof, and for Devil proof, Andy created the artwork for the label cover from a photograph he took in Cuba in the early 90s. The woman in the photo had a saying which was “Live Well, Drink Well, and the Devil Can’t Get You” which is what led Jesse to the name, Devil Proof for his 100% Malbec from a single block of a dry farmed vineyard in Alexander Valley.