Coming to Temecula
March 20, 2014
Opening in Fall 2014! We're bringing our popular sustainable seafood concept to Temecula Wine Country!
Temecula, California
Bluewater Grill Seafood Restaurants has announced plans to bring its popular mix of hyper-fresh sustainable seafood and shellfish, monthly chef’s tastings and neighborhood happy hours to Temecula Wine Country in July.
Bluewater Grill Temecula opens in Fall 2014, joining Bluewater Grill locations in Newport Beach, Redondo Beach and Tustin, Calif., and Phoenix, and an over-the-water Bluewater Avalon that debuted last year on the Avalon waterfront on Santa Catalina Island.
The new restaurant will take over the former Fish House Vera Cruz location at 26700 Ynez Road in Temecula and will re-open for lunch and serve lunch and dinner daily, as well as operate a full service seafood market and retail counter featuring local Temecula Wines.
Bluewater Grill owners and founders Jimmy Ulcickas and Richard Staunton know the owners of Fish House Vera Cruz restaurant and property owners personally. “When Fish House Vera Cruz approached us about the prospect of rebrand the restaurant as a Bluewater Grill, it was a natural fit,” said Ulcickas. “Bluewater Grill is the perfect conversion of the Fish House Vera Cruz to a more modern and contemporary casual seafood concept. We’re working closely with the City of Temecula to completely remodel the dining and outdoor patio space and add a full-service bar to create perfect fish house destination.”
Bluewater Grill will hire a local chef who will undertake rigorous training to master the Bluewater menu and sustainable seafood preparation. In addition, Bluewater will hire local management, servers, bartenders and kitchen personnel as well as retain qualified existing employees who made Fish House Vera Cruz a favorite in the valley. Potential applicants can go to www.bluewatergrill.com/careers and fill out an application!
“It’s a thrill to bring Bluewater’s commitment to the absolutely freshest sustainable seafood – ranging from small plates and simply prepared fish dishes to the most elaborate chef creations – to Riverside County for the first time,” said Ulcickas. “Given the Temecula area’s continuing emergence as a destination for fine wine and cuisine, we expect Bluewater Grill to be a nice fit with locals and visitors alike. We’re excited to be able to add spectacularly prepared sustainable seafood and shellfish to the mix of options.”
Richard Staunton, Bluewater co-founder, said the restaurant will close March 31 in order for his to remodel it to accommodate a bar and lounge attached to the existing patio space. The popular retail seafood market will be upgraded to include an extensive offering of local wines for retail purchase by the bottle. Consistent with other Bluewater locations in California and Arizona, Bluewater Grill Temecula will feature a contemporary fish house theme featuring authentic artifacts collected from Bluewater founders’ years of fishing experience off the coast of Southern California.
The new restaurant will also follow the Bluewater formula of printing new lunch and dinner menus regularly to be able showcase the freshest seafood and shellfish, and offering a separate kid’s menu certified by the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program and a popular weekday small plates menu of $4, $5 and $6 drink and appetizer specials.
“While we serve up to 40 varieties of seafood and shellfish, if it isn’t the freshest possible, we won’t put it on the menu,” added Ulcickas. “That has been our philosophy since Day 1, and we’ll continue that commitment to the freshest fish, ingredients and cooking techniques in Temecula.”
Another expected highlight will be a year-long calendar of seasonal seafood specials and monthly tasting events which pair seafood and shellfish with hand-selected wines, sakes or specialty draught beers. Hosted the second Tuesday of every month, the events have become a popular monthly diversion for local seafood aficionados and Bluewater Grill’s large fan base.