Happy St. Patrick’s Day…Cheers!!
My friend, and teammate, Amy’s husband has been part of the renovation of Lido Marina Village on the Balboa Peninsula. That’s the first I heard that there was even a plan to rejuvenate this gem tucked in the corner below the PCH bridge. When I lived in my little cottage down near Lido I rarely went over to this area. It was tired, a bit stinky and really, just not much reason to go. You could see the potential of the little shopping village…quaint, right on the water, ambiance. How did it become so disheveled?
Since I’d heard of the renovation from Amy I’ve basically been watching from the water, during our turn around in the channel at rowing practice, to see the progress of the project. About a month or so ago I noticed the sign for the restaurant NOBU, slated to open in April, and what looked like another restaurant adjacent to it might already be open. I checked online and the restaurant was already open and called Zinque (pronounced zin-kae the website is lezinque.com which was a bit confusing when trying to find it). I had to see what it was all about and how the “village” was shaping up. WOW…I predict the village will be a new go-to hang out…and the restaurant was yummy!
There were four of us and we sat out on the patio overlooking the water…with tons of crew practices rowing in the bay beyond. They have a happy hour nightly that ends at 6:30..so we started out with drinks and a couple of the flatbreads….alsacienne /pancetta, onion, gruyère and mushroom/ wild mushrooms, gruyère, herbs….from the happy hour menu, as well as some Castelvetrano Olives. Among the four of us there were hamburgers, fries, brussel sprouts, tuna tartare tartine and pate…and I’m pretty sure nobody was disappointed! I’d highly recommend. The wait staff was nice and the ambiance is lovely.
The village itself has been upgraded so nicely and it’s just the face lift this place needed. You should probably go now before the construction is done and it gets really crowded! I envision that it will be THE PLACE to go, see, and be seen! It screams upscale, chic, exclusive. I can see an episode of “THE HOUSEWIVES…” filmed here. It’s pretty cool…..the shops are very well curated, but, warning…quite expensive.
Looks great!! Will have to check this out.
You captured the ambiance of the revived Marina so well…and, it is a destination for the rich and famous and locals as well😉