{"id":197561,"date":"2025-09-03T19:06:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/197561\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T19:06:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:06:14","slug":"top-chef-carl-schroeder-sells-market-restaurant-bar-in-del-mar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/197561\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Chef Carl Schroeder Sells Market Restaurant + Bar\u00a0in Del Mar"},"content":{"rendered":"

He started it, now they\u2019ll carry it.<\/p>\n

One of San Diego\u2019s top chefs<\/a> for the last 20-plus years is stepping out of the kitchen he made famous. Three-time James Beard semifinalist Carl Schroeder is selling his Michelin-recognized<\/a> restaurant, Market Restaurant + Bar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Schroeder is clear that the restaurant will not only carry on under new owners\u2014longtime Market regulars and fans, Monica and Bernd Brust\u2014but grow in ways he\u2019d always wanted it to. And his tight-knit team\u2014led by chef de cuisine John Thompson, who\u2019s been with Schroeder from day one\u2014will stay on to helm the next evolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys deserve their own shot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"FoodCourtesy of Market Restaurant + Bar<\/p>\n

Schroeder chokes up a bit talking about the decision. Market has been the centerpiece of his life for nearly two decades. He and his team made it through the pandemic<\/a> together. His wife Brandi ran the business; Thompson has been his rock for over 20 years, first at Arterra and then opening Market together in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201c[People] say people you work with or that work for you shouldn\u2019t be family,\u201d he says. \u201cI look at them as family.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also admits his family at home\u2014Brandi and their kids Jake, Eric, and Ava\u2014has borne the brunt of what it took to make Market a constant, never-flagging hit: \u201cThey\u2019re probably the ones that paid the biggest price for my obsession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the term \u201cfarm-to-table<\/a>\u201d is overused to the point of being meaningless. It\u2019s a shame, because it used to truly describe the rare thing Schroeder and a handful of San Diego chefs were doing in the early 2000s\u2014knowing farmers by name, cooking in season based on what came out of their dirt. It\u2019s why they named it Market, a philosophy that won\u2019t change as he moves on.<\/p>\n

\"ChefCourtesy of Courtesy of Market Restaurant + Bar<\/p>\n

Schroeder completely connected to the farm-to-table ethos about 25 years ago, sitting at the bar at the (now closed) Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, California. He\u2019d been working in Bay Area restaurants<\/a> like two Michelin-starred Aqua by Michael Mina and Domaine Chandon in Yountville. When chef Bradley Ogden<\/a> came out to the bar and offered him a job, Schroeder said yes. (Maybe it was the drinks, or maybe it was because he was sitting between Academy Award\u2013winner Robert Redford and rockstar Huey Lewis. Either way, he stayed for five years.)<\/p>\n

At Lark Creek, Ogden and his team worked closely with local farms<\/a> to create a menu that changed every night. That made sense to Schroeder right away. \u201cI just couldn\u2019t imagine doing a menu that was always the same and being excited about it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And in the 19 years since he opened Market, he and his team have remained committed to that ethos (and the real meaning behind its name). Even in a new-new-new cult of restaurant media, the accolades never really waned\u2014from the Beard nominations<\/a> to the Michelin nod to this year\u2019s pick for \u201cBest Restaurant in Del Mar<\/a>\u201d from SDM food critic Troy Johnson. It\u2019s no stretch to say Schroeder helped build San Diego\u2019s now-acclaimed restaurant culture<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ChefCourtesy of Market Restaurant + Bar<\/p>\n

Market was his first restaurant as chef and owner, and he says it never crossed his mind that he might one day walk away. It\u2019s been his first thought every morning and last thought every night for years upon years. Trusting its legacy to someone else, rather than simply closing the doors, was an option he hadn\u2019t really considered. It had to be right.<\/p>\n

For him, the Bursts are right. They promised Schroeder to keep it a family business focused on sourcing from local farms, and keep the core kitchen team not just intact, but invested in. On September 1, he handed the keys over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Carl built with Market is extraordinary,\u201d says Monica. \u201cBernd and I are so proud to carry on that legacy as a family-owned restaurant, and work with the same talented culinary team that helped him build it over all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Schroeder doesn\u2019t have anything professional lined up (yet). He\u2019ll take his sweet, slow time. \u201cMy parents are getting older, so I\u2019d like to take a while to take care of them,\u201d he says. \u201c[I\u2019ll] make it to my daughter\u2019s track meet. I\u2019ve never been to one. I feel good about where I\u2019m at. I feel like anything I do from here, foodwise, is just a cherry on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that won\u2019t be anytime soon. \u201cFor now I\u2019m gonna float around the pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Market Restaurant + Bar is open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays at 3702 Via De La Valle, Del Mar<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorCourtesy of Fonda Del Barrio<\/p>\n

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events<\/p>\n

City Tacos Owner Opens New Concept In Barrio Logan<\/p>\n

Fonda del Barrio<\/a> isn\u2019t your typical Mexican restaurant offering tortas, tacos, and the other (beloved) basics. Created by Gerry Torres of City Tacos and Tour de Tapas, the brand-new Barrio Logan<\/a> eatery is melding pre-Hispanic techniques and ingredients with European influences to create dishes like Cholula-style pollo en mole de ugayaba (a 27-ingredient guava mole), Sayulita-style octopus, Mexico City\u2013style flan de elote, and much more. The menu<\/a> spans across Mexican regions and cuisines\u2014basically, it\u2019s a map of Mexico in every bite. Fonda del Barrio is now open at 2234 Logan Avenue (the former Barrio Dogg space) for dinner every Tuesday through Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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