Candy Land Café, a pop-up activation and restaurant inspired by the San Diego-born board game Candy Land, will open Thursday in a Little Italy-area restaurant.
Created by Bucket Listers, the events company that previously brought Barbie and “Golden Girls” restaurants to the same location in 2024 and 2025, the Candy Land Café features a life-size version of the candy-themed world immersive sets, games, hands-on activities and themed food items. The café has been installed for a limited engagement inside the Bayside Kitchen + Bar restaurant at 2137 Pacific Highway in downtown San Diego.
San Diego is the first city in the U.S. to host Candy Land Café, which seems fitting, since the game itself was invented in San Diego 78 years ago. In 1948, grade-school teacher Eleanor Abbott was recuperating from a battle with polio in a San Diego hospital when she conceived the game to entertain the children recovering in her hospital ward. She sold the game concept to Milton Bradley the following year and it became the toymaker’s top-seller. Hasbro purchased the rights to the game in 1984.
Guests can visit the Candy Land Café by booking a pre-paid reservation slot online at bucketlisters.com/experience/candy-land-cafe-sd. Reservations can be booked from 12 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $24.50, which includes a 90-minute visit, $10 food credit and $5 merchandise credit. Children under age 2 do not require a ticket. Bookings are now available through Oct. 4.
Fashion designer-turned-chocolatier Michelle Lomelin, seen here in her Sweet Petite Confections shop in Clairemont in 2016, closed her retail business on June 30. (Howard Lipin / U-T File)
Candy shop closes its doors: Sweet Petite Confections, a Clairemont candy shop and commercial kitchen opened by clothing designer-turned-chocolatier Michelle Lomelin in 2015, closed its doors June 30. The shop sold hand-made artisan candy and pastries and hosted chocoate-making classes and tasting events.
In an Instagram post May 12, Lomelin said the last four years of of business had been difficult due to rising costs, include the quadrupling of raw chocolate prices. And ongoing construction that blocked convenient access to the shop also reduced shop sales. Lomelin said she will sell the commercial kitchen and “semi-retire,” but will carry on with a cottage business permit that will allow her to continue making chocolates for custom orders. Updates will be available online at sweetpetiteconfections.com and instagram.com/SweetPetiteConf.
The newly remodeled dining room of Trattoria Don Pietro in Old Town San Diego. (Trattoria Don Pietro)
Italian restaurant reopens after revamp: Tratttoria Don Pietro, an upscale Sicilian-inspired restaurant in Old Town San Diego, will reopen Thursday following a monthlong renovation. The restaurant was opened in April 2021 by Pietro and Joe Busalacchi of the Busalacchi restaurant family. It serves house pasta dishes, pizzas, plated entrées, and it has an ambitious nightlife/bar program with craft cocktails. The restaurant temporarily closed in mid-June for an interior refresh that included updates to its dining room, bar and patio. The menu has also been updated with several new dishes. Trattoria Don Pietro is at 2415 San Diego Ave., San Diego. Details at instagram.com/donpietrosd/.
Allmine and Maison Mundua restaurants will collaborate on an immersive seasonal farm dinner on Aug. 1 in Valley Center. (Allmine)
Allmine and Maison Mundua hosting monthly farm dinners: Allmine restaurant in Oceanside and Maison Mundua in Valley Center are collaborating on a series of monthly outdoor seasonal farm dinners that will take place at the Maison, a rustic farm property off Couser Canyon Road. Allmine owner and event producer Roxana Pavel will collaborate with Maison Mundua leaders Kimetz Martinez, Ashlinn Gallagher and chef Sid Hilarides on the events. Each dinner will be designed as an immersive experience, where guests will tour the property, which is a working citrus, persimon and pomegranate ranch, and enjoy a communal meal made with local seasonal ingredients and wines. The next dinner, from 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 1, will be focused on the maison’s art gallery and outdoor art installations. It’s priced at $188.58. The Sept. 20 dinner will celebrate harvest season. An autumn gathering will feature live-fire cooking. Details can be found at allmineoceanside.com/events.