{"id":172032,"date":"2026-02-10T16:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/172032\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:12:12","slug":"dora-ristorante-offering-julia-child-inspired-menu-for-la-jolla-playhouses-the-recipe-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/172032\/","title":{"rendered":"Dora Ristorante offering Julia Child-inspired menu for La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s \u2018The Recipe\u2019 \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November, Cori Trattoria\u2019s co-owners chef Accursio Lota and his wife, Corinne Goria, opened their second restaurant at the southwest corner of the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla.<\/p>\n

But Dora Ristorante is more than just a Southern Italian restaurant and bar. Situated in the university\u2019s theater and arts district, Dora has a culinary partnership with its nearby neighbor, La Jolla Playhouse.<\/p>\n

As part of that relationship, Dora Ristorante is serving a three-course, pre-theater dinner menu that Playhouse ticket-holders can book before an evening show. The meal is designed to be served and consumed in 80 to 90 minutes, so there\u2019s plenty of time to walk across Theatre District Drive to the Playhouse\u2019s three-theater campus and get settled into theater seats before the shows begin.<\/p>\n

The pre-theater menu has been a hit since day one.<\/p>\n

During the run of the Playhouse\u2019s \u201cWorking Girl\u201d production in November and December, theater-goers made up the bulk of the early-evening diners on show nights.<\/p>\n

Another feature of the pre-theater menu is that chef Lota and his bar manager are creating new dishes and drinks inspired by each show in the Playhouse season. For \u201cWorking Girl,\u201d a musical about an industrious young secretary in 1980s Manhattan, the menu featured New York City-inspired dishes and cocktails.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt worked very well with \u2018Working Girl,\u2019\u201d Lota said of the pre-show menu. \u201cOn the theater nights we\u2019d have people lined up outside the door when we opened at 5 p.m. We\u2019re having fun with it. But it\u2019s not just for people going to the theater. Anyone can enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Dora has introduced its second themed pre-fixe menu, and this one seems especially well suited for the play opening in previews on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Claudia Shear\u2019s world premiere play \u201cThe Recipe\u201d is inspired by the early life of Julia Child, the famed American TV chef and French cookbook author.<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s opening night is Sunday, Feb. 15, and it will play\u00a0Tuesdays-Sundays through March 22.<\/p>\n

\"Local<\/p>\n

Local fish of the day prepared a la meuni\u00e8re, with lemons and capers, is one of the options Dora Ristorante is serving on its pre-theate,r three-course menu as a tie-in to nearby La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Julia Child-inspired play \u201cThe Recipe.\u201d (Accursio Lota)\n<\/p>\n

\"Vichyssoise,<\/p>\n

Vichyssoise, inspired by Julia Child\u2019s potato-leek soup, is one of the options Dora Ristorante is serving on its pre-theater, three-course menu as a tie-in to nearby La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Julia Child-inspired play \u201cThe Recipe.\u201d (Accursio Lota)\n<\/p>\n

\"Insalata<\/p>\n

Insalata nizzarda vegetariana, an Italian twist on Julia Child\u2019s salad Ni\u00e7oise, is one of the options Dora Ristorante is serving on its pre-theater, three-course menu as a tie-in to nearby La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Julia Child-inspired play \u201cThe Recipe.\u201d (Accursio Lota)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The classic French dish coq au vin is one of the options Dora Ristorante is serving on its pre-theater, three-course menu as a tie-in to nearby La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Julia Child-inspired play \u201cThe Recipe.\u201d (Accursio Lota)\n<\/p>\n

\"Julia<\/p>\n

Julia Child\u2019s classic beef bourgignon is one of the options Dora Ristorante is serving on its pre-theater, three-course menu as a tie-in to nearby La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Julia Child-inspired play \u201cThe Recipe.\u201d (Accursio Lota)\n<\/p>\n

\"Dora<\/p>\n

Dora Ristorante owners Corinne Goria and Accursio Lota pose for a photo inside the restaurant. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Local fish of the day prepared a la meuni\u00e8re, with lemons and capers, is one of the options Dora Ristorante is serving on its pre-theate,r three-course menu as a tie-in to nearby La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s Julia Child-inspired play \u201cThe Recipe.\u201d (Accursio Lota)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Chef Lota said that the themed menus he and his wife are creating for each show are inspired by the plot and locales of each show in the Playhouse season.<\/p>\n

For \u201cThe Recipe,\u201d he studied Child\u2019s cookbooks to come up with the menu, which offers diners a choice of four appetizer, four entrees and three desserts.<\/p>\n

Among the \u201cRecipe\u201d menu options are vichyssoise, inspired by Child\u2019s potato-leek soup; insalata nizzarda vegetariana (an Italian twist on Child\u2019s salad Ni\u00e7oise, made with green beans, white anchovies, cherry tomatoes and local egg); classic coq au vin; a gelato twist on Child\u2019s crepes suzette; and (for an extra charge at market price) her classic Beef Bourgignon, a short rib in Chianti wine sauce with winter vegetable stew.<\/p>\n

The menu also includes the option of local fish of the day prepared a la meuni\u00e8re, with lemons, capers and potatoes. A key scene in Shear\u2019s \u201cThe Recipe\u201d is the moment in 1948 when Child tasted sole meuni\u00e8re at a restaurant in Rouen, France, that was so mind-blowing it changed the direction of her life.<\/p>\n

The prix-fixe, three-course menu is priced at $65, with optional add-ons plus beverages. A two-glass wine-flight is also avaialble for $27. Dora is at 9165 Theatre District Drive, La Jolla. For reservations, visit doralajolla.com\/pretheater<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In November, Cori Trattoria\u2019s co-owners chef Accursio Lota and his wife, Corinne Goria, opened their second restaurant at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,421,930,181,412,74,84,76,75,1058,420],"class_list":{"0":"post-172032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-food-and-drink","10":"tag-la-jolla","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-restaurants","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-san-diego-county","15":"tag-san-diego-headlines","16":"tag-san-diego-news","17":"tag-theater","18":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}