On the Menu: Globally-inspired Cherryfish opens in Pacific Beach

Born and raised in San Diego, Chef Marcus Twilegar said he was regularly exposed to a lot of different cultures, ethnicities and food.

It’s a lifestyle he’s now put into the menu at his newest restaurant, Cherryfish, which opened Nov. 20 in Pacific Beach.

The globally-inspired menu ranges from sushi rolls to shareable plates and grilled dishes, complimented by a full bar.

“I’ve grown up eating this food my whole life,” he said, describing the menu at Cherryfish as “modern American izakaya.”

Modern American, he said, is a kind of fusion of everything. The cuisine pulls flavors from the melting pot of American cooking, combining them with local, seasonal ingredients.

“Izakaya refers to a kind of Japanese gastopub style — a mix of drinks, snacks and food,” Twilegar said. “It’s where groups come together to celebrate and have fun and converse after work, sharing plates and happiness.”

As a San Diego chef for the past 17 years, Twilegar also brings his deep respect for the ocean and local fisherman to the menu, which he traces back to his own roots and childhood lifestyle.

“Fish is a big part of who I am. I’m Filipino, Charmorro, Portuguese and English, and fish is a big part of all those cultures,” he said.

With the exception of a few items coming from Mexico, Twilegar sources nearly all of his fish for the restaurants from Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, 598 Harbor Lane.

“I go down myself and handpick all the fish,” he said. “San Diego has access to some of the best fish not only in the nation, but in the world.”

When he was younger, Twilegar said his family had a seafood market, and later, a Mexican restaurant. His grandparents and uncles showed him how to butcher fish, and he often fished with his family at home as well.

His appreciation for fishing led Twilegar to head the Fishes to Families program with the San Diego Fishermen’s Work Group for the past five years. The program provides 250 meals every week and a thousand pounds of prepared fish fillets to local residents facing food insecurity.

Seafood at Cherryfish includes sablefish, snow crab, spiny lobster, tuna and more.

Twilegar said it’s hard for him to pick his favorites, as he loves everything on the menu, but he described some of the dishes that are special to him.

“Our short rib tomahawk is braised for 4 1/2 hours and it just shreds apart,” he said. The dish is served with Japanese sweet potato, tatsoi, broccolini, heirloom carrots and a sweet soy demi.

The swordfish belly skewers, served with tangerine and beet char siu; the kanpachi sashimi with blood orange aguachile and pomegranate salsa, and the uni Okinawa potato dumpling with yuza-parmesan cream are favorites, as are the toro and wagyu rolls on the sushi side, he said.

Starters on the menu include edamame with black garlic crunch, miso soup, shishito peppers with a miso honey glaze and crispy garlic, and miso soup with charred tofu, seaweed and shimeji mushrooms. Tsukemono, pickled local micro-farm vegetables, and sunomono, pickled cucumbers, round out the starters.

The chef has included a number of dishes meant to be shared, such as gyoza, popular Japanese dumplings. Twilegar’s version includes spiny lobster, Napa cabbage, daikon, ginger and miso butter ponzu.

Spicy tuna meant for sharing is served with fermented chile, avocado, charred scallion chutney and crispy garlic rice, while oysters are served with cherry blossom ponzu, and pink peppercorn sawsawan.

Twilegar said the kimchi flatbread, served with shoyu braised beef cheek, came about by accident, but has become one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes.

Other sharable dishes include bison tartare, snow crab handrolls, spiny lobster rolls and Wagyu fried rice.

A number of sushi menu dishes include butterfly sushi, consisting of smoked eel, charred avocado and cucumber with a black garlic unagi sauce, while the no imitation sushi combines snow crab, cucumber, avocado, pickled fennel, charred negi cream cheese, everything furikake (a dry, flavorful Japanese condiment) and vibrant gree wasabi tobiko (flying fish roe infused with wasabi).

The popular “shrooms” sushi combines oyster mushrooms, gobo root (also known as burdock root), avocado and a sweet soy sauce.

In addition to the short rib tomahawk plate, diners can choose from chicken katsu and sablefish.

The sablefish plate comes with a blood orange miso glaze, Japanese turnips, baby bok choy, kabocha squash and tangerine.

The chicken katsu dish includes smoked cabbage and coal-roasted heirloom carrots with a kelp salsa verde.

Twilegar is especially pleased with the charcoal grilled specialties on offer. Served with black garlic demi, nori chimichurri and yuzu kosho yakiniku, options include spiny lobster (half or whole), swordfish, beef tenderloin, an Australian Wagyu strip steak and a beet “steak.”

The menu continues with late night choices, including shishito peppers, spicy tuna, a chicken katsu sandwich, the CB smash burger and a sake bomb special.

Side dishes, including citrus salad, kobocha squash, Japanese sweet potato and rice, and a few select desserts, round out the menu.

The bar menu was given every bit as much thought as the regular menu. A wide range of drinks, including cocktails, white, red and zero proof wine, champagne, sake grenades, draft beer, sake, soju and zero proof mocktails.

Originally slated to open in September 2024, Twilegar said he has no regrets holding off the official opening, that it was the correct thing to do.

“We wanted to get the team right, the building right and the design right to create something special and unique for PB,” he said.

In addition to Cherryfish, Twilegar runs Dockside Fish and Palmys, both in Pacific Beach.

Dockside Fish is a pop-up restaurant at the same address as Cherryfish and only open on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. It uses fresh-caught fish and seafood from Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.

“It started with just me and now it’s six cooks and a chef,” he said.

Call 619-897-3115 for details on Dockside Fish.

Twilegar is also the chef at Palmys, a neighborhood cafe, espresso bar, market and garden, offering healthy breakfasts, brunches, lunches and dinners with indoor/outdoor dining options.

Palmys is at 976 Felspar Street in Pacific Beach. It is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Visit atpalmys.com or call 858-886-7111.

For the recipe to make Cherryfish’s Edamame in Black Garlic Chili Crunch, visit PBMonthly.net.

Want to visit?

Cherryfish

Address: 966 Felspar Street in Pacific Beach

Hours: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday-Sunday and closed Mondays.

Phone: 858-788-3000

Website: cherryfishsd.com

Good to know: The restaurant has a private dining room and hosts private events.

Recipe from Cherryfish

Edamame in Black Garlic Chili Crunch

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. edamame in pods

• 2 qt. water

• 2 qt. ice water

• 1/3 C. chili garlic crunch

• 1 T. black garlic paste

• 3 T. avocado oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• More water as needed

Instructions:

1. Boil edamame for 5 minutes. Strain and place into an ice bath. Remove from the ice bath after 5 minutes or until cool.

2. In a bowl, mix chili garlic crunch and black garlic and 2 T. avocado oil. Set aside.

3. In a pan, heat 1 T. of oil and put in the edamame. Once heated, splash about 2 T. of water and cover for 1 minute. Add in 4 T. of the black garlic crunch mixture. Stir until evenly incorporated and serve.

Recipe by Chef Marcus Twilegar