Lucrezia, an upscale, 10,000-square-foot, 300-seat Italian dining destination, has opened at Westfield UTC in La Jolla.

Built by Grupo Hunan, an international Restaurant group based in Mexico City, Lucrezia was inspired by the elegant restaurants along Italy’s Amalfi Coast. The indoor-outdoor restaurant features a Calacatta Viola marble bar, imported Marra Forni pizza oven, grand piano, full-size outdoor olive trees and a formal white-jacketed wait staff.

The menu offers Italian classics through a modern lens created in collaboration with chef Miguel Torres Flores, a specialist in Italian cuisine who runs Caccio restaurant in Tijuana. His signature dishes include daily crudo specials, Oreganata pizza, spicy calabrese Romaine salad, rigatoni spicy vodka, veal Milanese and bistecca alla Fiorentina. Flores also curated the beverage menu with international wines and cocktails made with tequila, mezcal, vodka and Italian liqueurs.

Lucrezia is open from 5 to 10 p.m. daily, with service until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. 4301 La Jolla Village Drive, Suite 1050, San Diego. Valet service is available. Visit lucrezia.us.

Books & Records opens in Bankers Hill

Books & Records, a new restaurant and bar that will offer live jazz music on select nights, opened Aug. 31 in the space formerly occupied by Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant in Bankers Hill. The 80-seat venue’s name was inspired by the San Diego neighborhood’s history as a banking and finance center 100 years ago.

Books & Records is the latest project from Common Stock Hospitality, led by owners Brian Douglass and Anderson Clark, who together own 5-year-old Common Stock restaurant in Hillcrest. Culinary director Sam Deckman’s menu will feature modern locally-sourced takes on Southern classics. Shareable plates will include Wagyu tartare, scallop and shrimp aguachile, charred broccoli with labneh, carbonara mac, curry mussels, cioppino linguine, duck carnitas and whole roasted Ensenada bass prepared al pastor-style.

The bar program is headed up by Chris D’Apice featuring modern twists on classic 1920s-era cocktails inspired by the neighborhood’s banking heyday. Books & Records, at 2204 Fourth Ave., is open from 5 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Visit booksandrecordsbar.com.

Beshock adds 3 concepts in East Village

Ayaka Ito, the founder of Beshock ramen shops in East Village and Carlsbad, has added three new concepts next to her East Village location in partnership with co-owner Masaki Yamauchi. Last month, a bar and bakery opened, and next week an omakase sushi bar will debut at Market and 14th Streets.

Asa Bakery, modeled after the “kissaten” coffee bars in Japan, serves a variety of brewed coffees and teas as well as artisinal breads and pastries. House specialties are hojicha and matcha teas from Shizuoka, Japan. Bar Kamon is a new cocktail bar inspired by the Taisho era in Japan, when Western influences began showing up in the country’s classic cocktails in the early 20th century. Finally, on Sept. 15, Sushi Gaga will open, serving an 18-course chef’s choice menu to just 10 guest a night for $250. Details at https://www.exploretock.com/sushigaga.

Cottage eateries open in Carlsbad

The Cottages at Carlsbad Village, a culinary and retail hub created from three historic beach cottages at 2956 Roosevelt St., recently opened with four locally-owned restaurant concepts, a record shop and communal outdoor seating.

Two of the Cottage restaurants are owned by Oceanside restaurateurs Jessica and Davin Waite (Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub, Brine Box, The Plot, Shoots Fish & Beer). They have opened the first quick-service version of their plant-based/zero-waste sit-down restaurant The Plot, and a second location of their Shoots seafood taco and poke outlet. The Plot Express serves a grab-and-go menu of sandwiches, salads and bowls, including a lentil gyro wrap and lion mane mushroom Cubano sandwich.

The other outlets at the Cottages are a coffee shop run by Oceanside-born Revolution Roasters and a scoop shop by University Heights-based Stella Jean’s Ice Cream. There’s also Pack Rat Records, selling vintage vinyl LPs inside a 1960s-era trailer.

Dining events

This inaugural six-day festival opened Wednesday and continues through Sunday with a few more events to come. Tonight, a Napa Valley winemakers tasting and food event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Rancho Valencia resort. Tickets are $240. The festival concludes with the Grand Tasting 2023, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Surf Sports Park in Del Mar. More than 100 restaurants will participate, with a different lineup of just over 50 eateries each day. Tickets are $175 at delmar.wine/tickets/.

Taste of Gaslamp: Now in its 27th year, the culinary tasting tour will feature more than 20 restaurants across 16 blocks of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $45-$55. tasteofgaslamp.com

Harvest for Hope foodie fest: The Emilio Nares Foundation will host its 20th annual Harvest for Hope fundraiser this weekend featuring a festival-like tastings event featuring dozens of local restaurants, winemakers and brewers. The foundation raises money to battle childhood cancers and support families facing a child’s cancer diagnosis. Tickets are $190. 2 p.m. Sunday. Coasterra, 880 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego. Visit enfhope.org

Marisi Tuscan Harvest Wine Dinner: Marisi Italian restaurant will host a five-course dinner prepared by executive chef Erik Aranow with wine pairings from wine director Chris Plaia. Cost is $375. 6:30 p.m. Thursday. 1044 Wall St., La Jolla. Reserve at (858) 401-6787 or via OpenTable.

Bazaar del Mundo tequila dinners: Bazaar del Mundo shops and restaurants founder Diane Powers is hosting multi-course tequila tasting dinners in the coming weeks at her three area restaurants. At 6 p.m. Thursday, a $60 dinner featuring Teremana Tequila will be served at Casa de Pico, 5550 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa (619) 463-3267. At 6 p.m. Sept. 28, a $60 dinner featuring Código 1530 Tequila will be served at Casa Guadalajara in Old Town, 4105 Taylor St., San Diego; (619) 295-5111 or email [email protected]. And at 6 p.m. Oct. 5, an $65 dinner featuring Cantera Negra Tequila Will be served at Casa de Bandini, 1901 Calle Barcelona, Carlsbad. Reserve at email (760) 634-3443 or [email protected].

Sandpiper crab feast: Sandpiper Wood Fired Grill & Oysters and its Executive Chef Marty Fay will swap out standard Sunday dinner service on Sept. 17 in favor of a family-style, all-you-can-eat steamed crab meal. There will be two seatings at 4 and 6:30 p.m., featuring Maryland blue crabs, shrimp, potatoes, corn, Caesar salad and choice of dessert. Cost is $85, with optional $5 draft beers. 2259 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla. sandpipersd.com

Taste of Encinitas: Encinitas 101 MainStreet Association hosts its 34th annual self-guided culinary tour, with live music in seven locations. Tickets are $45 ($50 on day of event) and include bites at 15 more restaurants and up to 10 samples of wine, beer, ciders and non-alcoholic drinks. 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 19. Visit shopencinitas101.com.