Nick & G's plans to close in mid-October for a full renovation and menu overhaul, with a reopening planned for November, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. No exact final service date has been reported yet. For the next several weeks, the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada will be a construction site. Nearly every other dinner and lunch option in the Village this fall is run by someone who was already part of the Village story: a chef returning to the Ranch, an owner who took over a longtime space, a building owner who turned a spare conference room into a sandwich counter. The Village did not have to recruit anyone new to fill this fall's calendar. It reshuffled people it already had.
One corner, four names
The building at 6106 Paseo Delicias has been through more restaurants than most Village addresses. The short version is a run of handoffs:
- The 1920s. The Lilian Rice building is built and becomes the home of the Millar family, one of Rancho Santa Fe's earliest families.
- Delicias, 24 years. The space's longest-running restaurant tenant.
- Ponsaty's, August 2016 to August 2017. Grand Restaurant Group opened it with its former corporate chef, Patrick Ponsaty, on Aug. 2, 2016, as the Union-Tribune reported. It closed in early August 2017, according to Eater San Diego.
- Nick & G's, 2017 to now. Local resident Sandra DiCicco-Bonar of Grand Restaurant Group opened it.
The same restaurant group has controlled the room through two concepts and nearly a decade, and it is now redesigning the room itself.
The chef whose name was on the door is cooking a few blocks away
Patrick Ponsaty is back in Rancho Santa Fe. The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe named him executive chef in early 2026. He now oversees Lilian's, Bing's Bar, The Café, and all events and weddings at the property. He came from Hotel del Coronado, where he had been executive sous chef since 2017 and led 1500 Ocean. His earlier positions include corporate chef at Grand Restaurant Group, the same company now rebuilding his old dining room. Andrew Archibald, the Inn's managing director, said in the announcement that the Inn was "honored to welcome him back to the Rancho Santa Fe community."
What has changed on the plate at Lilian's since he arrived has not been reported in detail. The Inn's announcement said he would focus on San Diego ingredients: fresh-caught fish, seasonal produce from nearby farms, and responsibly sourced meats from local purveyors. San Diego Magazine's July 2026 guide describes Lilian's as the Inn's flagship, with sustainable seafood, grass-fed meats, local produce and sushi at dinner. For a Maître Cuisinier de France who trained with Alain Ducasse, the November gap at his former address makes this a good month to try the room he runs now.
What the corner becomes in November
The renovated Nick & G's will change its look and its menu. The plan covers a redesigned dining room and bar plus new private event and patio spaces. A large olive tree will anchor the center of the dining room, surrounded by new custom banquettes. Diners will see through a new wine cellar into a lighter bar and lounge, and the kitchen will be visible. The patio gets a wave-shaped shade canopy. The back courtyard is planned as a garden with water features. The palette borrows from the Amalfi Coast, with yellows, oranges and blues. Carballo developed the design with Rachael Lorraine Harris and Michael Soriano.
Chef and partner Alex Carballo is leading the work with Gianina Pickens, the "G," who is now chief operating officer of Grand Restaurant Group. Carballo spent about 20 years in San Diego kitchens, including Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens and Fox Point Farms, and he was the opening chef at The Crosby Club. He describes the goal this way:
"You should feel like you're taken away someplace else. In Rancho Santa Fe you already get that amongst the trees and beautiful Spanish architecture… to enter the restaurant you will see and feel the difference, feel the warmth and nature."
The new menu will be smaller and lean toward coastal Italian-Americana: handmade pasta, seafood, pizzas and seasonal shared plates. Some current favorites will stay. Carballo plans to use the closure for wine pairing, hiring and service training.
6024 Paseo Delicias picks up the slack
While the corner is closed, much of the Village's dinner traffic will likely end up a short walk away at 6024 Paseo Delicias, where Jennifer Fields now runs two restaurants. She took over the former Rancho Santa Fe Bistro on Nov. 1, 2025, and opened Paseo in Suite C that month. In September she added Paseo Pizza and Gelato in Unit D, with a grand opening on Sept. 25 and 26. Make Me Up RSF opened in Suite I of the same building in late August, so the address now covers dinner, a family pizza night and a beauty bar.
Here is what each Village option covers while Nick & G's is closed:
Where | Address | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
Paseo | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Suite C | American bistro: pasta, salads, burgers, meat and seafood, California wine, sushi and omakase |
Paseo Pizza and Gelato | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D | 18 signature pies, build-your-own, rotating gelato, house craft beer; open daily 12 to 9 p.m. |
Lilian's | The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe | The Inn's flagship under Ponsaty; seafood, grass-fed meats, sushi at dinner |
Mille Fleurs | Rancho Santa Fe Village | Long-running French dinner room with a weekend piano bar |
Rancho Sandwich and Creamery | 6110 El Tordo | Breakfast and lunch, sandwiches, soft serve |
The namesake pie at Paseo Pizza has Grande mozzarella, imported burrata, crispy prosciutto and arugula, finished with balsamic glaze and olive oil. Thyme in the Ranch and Caffe Positano are both still operating. They are daytime spots for coffee, pastry and breakfast, not dinner stand-ins.
Lunch comes from a landlord with a spare room
The newest daytime option follows the same pattern of locals building in their own space. Rancho Sandwich and Creamery sits under the clock tower at El Tordo and La Granada. Owner Chris Miller, a Rancho Santa Fe resident, owns the building and runs a private investment firm. He built the shop in an underused conference room in his bank building. Owning the building helped, but getting permits from six county and state entities still took a year, including a new plumbing system. Miller told the Union-Tribune that more than 100 people a day came in during the soft opening, with no marketing beyond the sign and some balloons. The menu covers breakfast burritos, avocado toast, bagels and muffins, and the murals are by Carmel Valley's Hanna's Murals. One of them reads "Ice cream fixes everything." Across the street, a new pharmacy building was still under construction as of late June.
The one Saturday night already on the calendar
During the closure, the Village's biggest group dinner will be a taco bar. The Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society's Fandango Street Party is Saturday, Oct. 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. at La Flecha House, 6036 La Flecha. It includes margaritas, wine and beer, with live music by the Harmony Grove Band. Advance tickets are $35 for members, $45 for non-members and $20 for children 12 and under. Tickets at the door are $50, so buying ahead through the Historical Society's Fandango page saves $5 to $15 per adult.
The Golf Club kitchen runs on its own schedule
Covenant members waiting on the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club have a separate timeline. In an Oct. 4 update, the Association said its clubhouse and restaurant renovation was still aiming for a fall opening. The new kitchen has a temporary certificate of occupancy from the county, so staff can begin prep and training. The snack bar is scheduled to be done by year-end and will have a small upper patio. On Oct. 1 the Association board approved an $850,000 entry plaza, paid for entirely by the golf club, with completion targeted for the first week of February 2027. Director of agronomy Tom Huesgen said an expected wet El Niño winter could slow the work, and there will be some access challenges during construction. The clubhouse could open before the plaza is done, which means the first meals there may come with some construction fencing.
At White Label Home Collective, we keep track of how the Village is changing, including which corners are being rebuilt and who is cooking where. If you are thinking about how your own Rancho Santa Fe property fits into that picture, we would be glad to schedule a private, white-glove consultation.
