Aries Rooftop takes over Hotel La Jolla this November

La Jolla's skyline is about to get a new name on its highest floor. Aries Rooftop Restaurant & Lounge is taking over the 11th-floor space at Hotel La Jolla this November, replacing Sea & Sky, and the name behind it is one San Diego food people know well. Chef James Montejano, who has earned the nickname the "People's Chef," is a San Diego native and a graduate of the California Culinary Academy with more than 35 years in the kitchen. Before this, he was executive chef at L'Auberge Del Mar and its flagship Adelaide, and he ran Greystone in the Gaslamp District. His resume reads like a tour of the region's best kitchens: training under George Morrone and Michael Mina at the Aqua in San Francisco, working with Jeffrey Strauss at Pamplemousse Grille in Solana Beach, and leading at the La Valencia Hotel, the Four Seasons, International Smoke in Del Mar, Huntress steakhouse, Swagyu Chophouse, and McCormick & Kuleto's. He's also the visionary behind Euphoric Spirits.

The menu is leaning into the location, with Pan-Pacific coastal cuisine built around fresh seafood and seasonal dishes. The space is designed to be as much about the view as the food, with sweeping Pacific Ocean views, a DJ, and live music. The terrace has been fully renovated and looks out over La Jolla Shores and the Pacific, finished with bold patterns and soft coastal tones. It's the kind of spot that works as well for a long dinner as it does for a drink at sunset.

This isn't the first time the 11th floor has changed hands. It used to be Clay's Restaurant, then Cusp Dining & Drinks, which Kimpton Hotels introduced in 2012 and which closed in August 2023 after an $8 million renovation. Sea & Sky followed, led by James Beard Award-semifinalist chef Anthony Wells, who left at the end of 2024. The current $8 million renovation of the 110-room Hotel La Jolla, part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, adds a demonstration kitchen enclosed in glass, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, new Italian marble, and new stone countertops. The hotel rooms themselves come with balconies or private patios, premium beds, free Wi-Fi, Nespresso coffee, and spa touches.

Behind the scenes, the project is a collaboration with Minutella and Guttilla, who are also developing the Copper Cowboy Country Restaurant & Saloon in the Gaslamp Quarter. The operator is La Jolla Shores Restaurant LLC, with AM Restaurant Holdings Inc. and GG Food Group Inc. as members and managers, currently holding a temporary license pending transfer. The hotel sits in La Jolla, about 12 miles north of downtown, with Black's Beach a mile away, La Jolla Shores 2.5 miles off, La Jolla Cove 4.7 miles out, the Torrey Pines Gliderport 0.6 miles away, and the Salk Institute just 0.1 miles from the door. The whole area is built around its beaches, tide pools, and the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park, so the rooftop's focus on the coast fits right in. If you've been waiting for a reason to head back up to La Jolla Shores this fall, a new rooftop with a San Diego chef at the helm is a good one.