Pepino Eatery & Bakehouse, the long-awaited Peruvian-inspired restaurant of former Herb & Wood sous chef Sebastian Becerra, will host its grand opening Nov. 2 in La Jolla.
First announced in early 2024, Pepino started out as a breakfast/lunch pop-up that Becerra created in his La Jolla backyard during the pandemic. Pepino will open in the Sycamore Court center at 7556 Fay Ave., Suite F, in La Jolla. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays.
Becerra named Pepino after the Spanish word for cucumber, which is also his Peruvian grandfather’s nickname. The restaurant’s menu is subtly inspired by Becerra’s Peruvian cultural roots, his family and his memories of surfing at Windansea Beach and his many years living and working in New York City.
The opening menu, created by Becerra and Pepino sous chef Marissa Williams, will include breakfast served all day, with lunch items available after 11 a.m.
A selection of breakfast menu items that will be served at Pepino, a Peruvian-inspired restaurant and bakeshop opening Nov. 2 in La Jolla. (Chris Tran)
One of Pepino’s breakfast items will be a California-style breakfast burrito inspired by loma saltado, a Peruvian stir fry of beef, onions, tomatoes and French fries. He’ll also serve a cafe con leche overnight oats dish, a New Yorker breafast sandwich and a sweet potato bowl with Peruvian-style roast chicken.
For lunch, he’ll serve a pan con chicharron (fried pork and sweet potato) sandwich, which is what he grew up eating on visits to family in Punta Hermosa, Peru. He’ll serve a Peruvian solterito (chopped) salad, and side dishes including yuca fries with huancaina (spicy cheese) sauce, cheese tequeños (similar to mozzarella sticks) with guacamole and more.
A California-style breakfast burrito inspired by Peru’s loma saltado beef and fries stir fry dish at soon-to-open Pepino Eatery + Bakehouse in La Jolla. (Chris Tran)
There will also be a variety of house-baked pastries and sweets, some of them inspired by Peruvian recipes from his mother and godmother.
A La Jolla native who grew up in San Diego, Becerra earned a degree from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, then worked in the high-end San Francisco restaurants COI and Rich Table before moving to New York’s Michelin three star Eleven Madison Park.
He returned home to San Diego in 2019 to serve as sous chef at Herb & Wood in Little Italy. When the pandemic shuttered the retaurant, he launched Pepino in his backyard. Sous chef Williams, the former executive sous chef at Herb & Sea in Encinitas, came into the project at that time, volunteering to help him serve long lines of backyard customers.
Pepino was such a success that Becerra decided to focus his energies on turning it into a permanent neighborhood restaurant in La Jolla. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, he found the Fay Avenue location last year and has been working on the project ever since.
Pepino’s menu will feature locally-sourced ingredients, including eggs from Happy Hens in Ramona, coffee from Talitha Coffee Roasters in San Diego and bread from Sadie Rose Bakery in Oceanside. The restaurant’s craft sandwich boards and wooden plates were made by woodshop students at La Jolla High School.
Pepino’s sommelier and wine curator Lucas Lanci is creating a program of natural California and South American wines, a well as a small selection of Peruvian and local beers.
The 1,400-square-foot restaurant’s interior was designed by Vanessa Whitley with a sculptural light installation by La Jolla surfer and ceramicist Joe Skoby, a tapestry by Julia Becerra and a painting by Becerra’s grandmother in Peru.
A grand-opening celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 2 with DJ Adam Salter. For more details, visit instagram.com/pepino_sd.
Originally Published: October 21, 2025 at 10:31 AM PDT