Six restaurants in San Diego earn Gambero Rosso honors

A selection of dishes from Cori Trattoria and Pastificio in North Park.

Dec. 23, 2021 6 AM PT

Gambero Rosso, an Italian food and wine rating group and magazine, has honored six San Diego restaurants this month in the categories of Italian fine dining, trattoria-bistro, pizzeria and wine list.

The highest overall ranking went to Cori Trattoria and Pastificio in North Park, which earned the top rating of three gambero (shrimp) in the trattoria-bistro category. Last spring, Gambero Rosso also honored Cori in the “New Opening of the Year” category. Cori was opened in early 2020 by Sicily-raised chef Accursio Lota and his wife, Corrine Goria.

“We are so thrilled to receive this honor,” Lota said, in a statement. “My wife Corinne and I have put our hearts and souls into Cori and this award is a total honor for us. My goal is to always be true to my Italian heritage and Sicilian roots, while emphasizing fresh local ingredients. We want our guests to experience dishes that reflect tradition but also a little bit of the unexpected.”

Other honored local restaurants are Solare, which earned one forchette (forks) of a possible three in the fine dining category; Civico 1845, which earned two gambero in the trattoria category; and Buona Forchetta, which earned one spicchi (slices) of a possible three in the pizzeria category. In the wine list category, both Ambrogio15 and Cucina Urbina earned two bottiglie (bottles) of a possible three. The full list can be found at: gamberorossointernational.com/restaurants/.

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Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is the arts and entertainment editor, as well as the chief theater, dining and opera critic, for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joined the Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater and opera critic. She is the co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera-classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. And in 2022, she was chosen as one of the fellows in the prestigious National Critics Institute, run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterf, Conn.