After a quick close and remodel, Napa Valley Grille has opened at Horton Plaza in the space formerly known as California Café. The restaurant opened with quite a splash on a Friday late last month. (I must add it’s pretty gutsy to open for your first night of business on a Friday Ð you are asking to get slammed.) I attended an opening party the night before and was quite impressed with how together they were.
Both concepts are owned and operated by California Café Restaurant Corp., which is based in Yountville. Bob Hurley, who was opening chef for the Napa Valley Grille in Yountville, will oversee culinary operations for the Grille, while working with on-site chef Joseph Foley, an eight-year veteran of the company. Hurley, who is a bit of a Napa celebrity, just returned from an appearance at the James Beard House in New York. Renzo Roder will take the helm as g.m. He most recently was with Spectrum Foods, serving as g.m. of Tutto Mare in La Jolla.

California Café Restaurant CEO Hazem Ouf notes, "California Café was a very successful concept since the day it opened 10 years ago; however, when it became time to remodel, we decided that the Napa Valley Grille was a better fit for the location."

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Diane Biggwither and Debra Stanton have teamed up to open Ala Carte, a fine food and take-out shop. It opened last month Downtown at 921 Sixth Ave,, between Broadway and E Street, and boasts healthy, homemade meals. Customers may eat in or order food available for pick up Monday through Friday between 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Alternately, they will plan, shop and send a chef to your home to prepare a meal. They also offer frozen entrées and a full catering service.

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Did you miss out on charm school? Are you, as we used to say in high school, a "doofus"? Well, here's your chance to become proper, polished and confident. Susan Witt Protocol Services is offering seminars entitled "Dine Like A Diplomat." Solana Beach resident Susan Witt says an executive must have more than just technical know-how in order to get and retain a job. "Bright, high-ranking executives are losing contracts everyday simply because their table manners are appalling to the other person representing the prospective company." Executives can learn the art of business entertaining and dining skills at Witt's seminars slated for April 4 and May 2 at Trellises Garden Grille restaurant in the Town and Country Resort. The cost is $125 per person and includes topics such as "How to make an entrance and work a room," "Silverware savvy" and "Handling accidents." A multi-course tutorial dinner is included. Here are a few of the do's and dont's Witt offers at her seminars:

• If you’re the one who asks a client to lunch, it is your responsibility to choose the location.
• Arrive early, not just on time. Don't order anything or even touch a glass; everyone in your party should arrive to a pristine table. Leave your napkin on the table until everyone has arrived.
• Never let a guest eat a course alone. If he orders an appetizer, the host should do so also. If your guest declines dessert, so should you. (Does that mean that someone dining with me must also order two entrées?)
• For more information call (858) 259-9051 or e-mail Witt at suwit@worldnet.att.net.

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The Blue Crab Restaurant on San Diego Bay has appointed Michael Diaz as executive chef. He is a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. He is offering Saturday seafood cooking class luncheons starting in the spring. For more information call (619) 224-3000.

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American Sushi LLC has signed a $1.3 million lease for the 4000 square foot space formerly known as the Floral Emporium Building in Hillcrest. Sushi Ito, a chain of more than 50 restaurants throughout Europe and Mexico, is working toward an April opening. Ito is known for slick décor, great graphic design and darling little Volkswagen Beetles that deliver outrageous quantities of sushi to offices at lunchtime.

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Karl Strauss Breweries' newest brewery restaurant, located in Carlsbad, hosted a beermaker's dinner on Feb. 7. Master of ceremonies was none other that Karl Strauss himself (after he wrestled the microphone away from co-owner Chris Cramer, that is).

Executive chef Felipe Meza served a four-course meal complementing featured beers. The main course was a "Soy-Stout Marinated New York Steak topped with Scallion Anise Sauce" and served with goatcheese mashed potatoes. It accompanied the "Oatmeal Stout and Extra Special Bitter." It’s hard to say which I enjoyed more, the steak, the beer or the scuffle between Strauss and Cramer.

Karl Strauss Breweries is not your little two-guys-from-college-open-a-corner-brewery anymore. This is the fourth Brewery Restaurant for the company and is a gorgeous freestanding building that was built from the ground up. It boasts high-beamed ceilings and has the feeling of a "Houstons" restaurant, right down to the pager they give you when you have to wait for a table. Additionally, the company has plans to expand to Los Angeles and Orange County this year.

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March 7 is Mardi Gras so y'all head Downtown to the French I mean Gaslamp Quarter and Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler or let the good times roll. Two sure-to-be-hot spots will be The Bayou Bar and Grill, San Diego’s grandpappy of Cajun-Creole fare and The New Redfish Restaurant and Voodoo Lounge. Both restaurants located in the Gaslamp will be participating in the parade up Fifth Avenue later that evening. The parade will feature marching bands (along with a few independent partiers I’m sure), floats (one that will carry the "King and Queen") and plenty of spectacle. If it’s anything like last year, get there early and take your camera Ð the only problem will be finding a place to develop your photos, if you know what I mean.

Terryl Gavre spends her entire day thinking about what she is going to eat for dinner. She believes the world would be a better place if everyone worked once as a foodserver. She is owner of Café 222, Downtown and Del Mar.