When it comes to art, some people forget to add substance to it. The glitz and glamour of whatever you’re seeing are fabulous, but in the end, you realize it was a sub-par show with many sequins. It comes on many fronts; books, movies, music, events, etc. Sometimes restaurants can fall under that too.
When Bar Kindred opened in 2015, it was a future goal. Becoming a vegan in 2010, I hadn’t really come across a lot of vegan restaurants. So whenever something new and unique came along, I made it a goal to visit it. The artisan vegan scene was beginning to pop off. So as someone that experienced vegan food before any ritz and glam, I was excited to try something with passion behind it.
In 2015 Kory Stetina partnered with Consortium Holding’s founder Arsalun Tafazoli and opened the restaurant. Offering punk-rock vibes with a creative passion for food, the restaurant was branching off from the hippy vibes of Cafe Gratitude and created a truly unique style. The walls were decorated with pink pop-cultural rococo wallpaper, and metal, occult, and free vibes filled the rest of the room.
When it comes to the punk vibe, I generally associate it with creative freedom. Preconceptions and biases are reserved for those constrained under conformity, punk things, and style question conformity. So when a vegan restaurant popped up that was under the punk style, it just meant two things; art and breaking barriers.
However, for some reason, I hadn’t gone. I wasn’t a San Diego regular. Life became more work-centered because working several minimum-wage jobs each week tends to drain you entirely for the weekend. So, even though it was a goal to visit sometime in my life, everything under the sun got in the way.
So for our first wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to go to San Diego for a weekend trip. When we arrived at our booked Airbnb, I looked to see if there were any vegan restaurants near me, and surprisingly Bar Kindred was within walking distance.
Needless to say, I pleaded to go.
He said yes because he’s my husband.
When we realized that it was so close and it was the goal for us to go to for our night-before-our-anniversary dinner. The restaurant was already closed for the afternoon, so we decided to risk it and try our luck. It worked in our favor, and a couple of hours later, we arrived at the restaurant.
Located in South Park at the corner of Beech and 30th, the area has a modern vibe, beachy look, and feeling similar to Venice in Los Angeles. However, you are transported to a rock and roll paradise once you walk into the eatery. Like I wrote before, the walls around the restaurant are wallpapered with pink pop cultured metal creatures. They look like flower-happy campers from far away, but up close, they are strange versions of Rainbow Bright and Cats on Acid. On the back of the eatery is a centerpiece which is a giant Baphomet altar concoction. Barber-style booths and stools are the primary forms of seating. Even though there were plants, they were forgettable compared to the incredible rock and roll interior. Whoever designed Bar Kindred took time, energy, and heart to make something unique invoking excitement when you enter.
When we arrived, there were seats ready for us. We were lucky because after we came, there was a wait. We were seated in the rotating two-person booth towards the faux Baphomet centerpiece in the back. Next to the standard booths were small rotating booths perfect for two people. While they looked cool, they were definitely not comfortable. Shortly after, our waitress came and offered us our menus.
The first thing to come to us was the drinks. We ordered two drinks: the Hidden Wheel, a blanco tequila, aloe liqueur, prickly pear juice, hibiscus bitters, and the Spinal Tap, gin, strawberry liqueur, rhubarb, pears, key lime, and tiki bitters. They were fantastic; the best combination of flavor and thought that makes you forget you’re having a cocktail. It felt clear that the recipes of these cocktails were thought of by someone that wanted to create something unique, and the person that made it really enjoyed making something with skill. Trying their drinks makes you truly understand why some bartenders are considered artisans.
When it came to the meal, we had ordered the Fried and Pickled, beer battered dill slices, buffalo pickled cauliflower, and ranch dressing, the Cosmo Knots, everything spice puff pastries, togarasmi pub cheese, and chives. For dinner, my husband had the High Steaks, za’atar crusted grilled maitake medallions, Calabrian chile oyster mushrooms, crispy saffron sushi rice, pomegranate, almond tzatziki, and toasted pine nuts, and I had the Grilled Cheese which was a herbed béchamel, tapioca mozzarella, apple, braised kale, caramelized onion between two slices of sourdough. All of that food came on time, and all of that food came warm. We were indeed excited to try it all and hungry enough to eat it all. However, despite ordering so much, we weren’t that impressed. All that food was just ok.
It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t good, either.
Something about it seemed to just not entirely be there. Sometimes you want to be amazed when it comes to a restaurant that boasts about its good food. You want to leave the restaurant feeling like you experienced something that couldn’t be recreated at home. Something you can go to others and brag about. Something that betters the trip you were on. However, the food at Bar Kindred was nothing like that. It was uninspiring. There was no sort of general mood burst or lag for me. My feeling was just. I was just. It was just me once again. Nothing was inspiring.
Even my husband wasn’t wowed by the meal. He had been vegan for five years and experienced some fantastic stuff. Unfortunately for Bar Kindred, that wasn’t one of the amazing things.
However, we left the restaurant thinking that we were wrong. Maybe I had a bad night. Maybe Bar Kindred was better for Brunch than it was for dinner.
So the next day, we showed up at Bar Kindred. We had gone again for breakfast because it was a) close and b) something we wanted to try again. Our first experience was like a date where you realized you would rather be friends than anything else; it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something that sparked anything. However, like a “not-quite-there” date, we had wanted to give it a second chance. We had tried the Benedict, an herb-crusted tofu fake egg with sautéed kale, seared seitan, cauliflower hollandaise, on top of an English muffin with roasted asparagus, the Crusties, Banh Mi French Toast sticks, banana custard, powdered sugar, and mint, the Pancakes, bourbon butterscotch, caramelized apple, and toasted peanut topping, with whipped coconut cream, and the Biscuits, which were biscuits. I also added the horchata latte because if you put the word horchata on it, I am bound to buy it. So again, I was very excited to give the meal a second chance, and again, I was disappointed.
Bar Kindred was not it. The food was just ok, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t unique. The meals looked fancy, and we sat in one of the big booths, which had much better seats, but we left feeling blah. The service seemed subpar; the waitress wanted to do anything else than talk to us, which was fine. Working on a weekend can be challenging. Believe me, I hate doing that, and none of the food was that flavorful. The only thing I could speak highly of was the drinks. That latte was something I would have again.
Leaving the restaurant, I was again struck with the same sense of blah. Nothing about the food or the experience was memorable. Even as I write this, I have to look at my photo album to try to remember what I had. If not for that, I would have said I’ve never gone to Bar Kindred.
Bar Kindred was ok. It was just ok. Maybe it has been around for so long, and perhaps it was still struggling after the pandemic, but the restaurant was lackluster. It might look amazing, but the Ritz and glam were all it was. There was no substance. The food wasn’t remarkable, and even though the drinks were good, that shouldn’t be the sole reason to go there. But if someone was going to experience a memorable vegan San Diego for the first time, I would suggest skipping Bar Kindred. But, again, even though the food wasn’t bad, that isn’t a reason to go to an eatery.
