Jessica and Davin Waite, the husband-wife team behind The Plot, a plant-based/seafood restaurant in Carlsbad and Oceanside, have been leaders in San Diego’s food scene for over a decade. Their inventive and sustainable seafood and plant dishes have attracted a loyal following and acclaim from critics, scoring best-restaurant accolades in San Diego Magazine (Best New Restaurant of the Year in 2020) and VegNews (Best San Diego Vegan Restaurants of 2022), to name two.
Now you can find it in Orange County.
On Friday, Jan. 5, The Plot opened in Costa Mesa inside The Camp, a green and eco-friendly retail space. The Costa Mesa location will be The Waites’ first eatery outside of San Diego County.
“There’s so much stigma about what vegan food is,” said co-founder Jessica Waite, whose husband, Davin, started preparing plant-based food for her. “His food was just so good. And I didn’t have to carry my own condiments around anymore.” This helped spark the idea for The Plot, which first opened in Oceanside in 2020, then an express version in Carlsbad followed in 2023. (The Waites also own and operate Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub, Shoots Fish and Beer, and Brine Box, all of which can be found in Oceanside.)
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While the couple have seemingly opposing culinary practices — Jessica is a vegan and a name within the sustainability movement while Davin, an omnivore, is regarded as an skillful sushi chef who honed his skills in Hokkaido, Japan — their combined creative efforts are what, in part, make The Plot a success.
“Most of our chefs either eat seafood or to some degree meat, but are excited to create bad-ass plant food,” she said.
The sustainability aspect of The Plot, which means a little- to no-waste method of…
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