Executive Chef Paul Niles is excited. You can almost see his mind ticking as he talks. He's been in charge of the Thee Bungalow kitchen for just about a year, but he’s already looking into the future. To him, the restaurant is ripe with potential, and the menu is a constantly changing, seasonal project.
Niles stepped into a difficult role when he took over the kitchen of Thee Bungalow in March 2007. It is one of the few restaurants in San Diego with a rich 30-year history and a loyal neighborhood following. He found himself with the opportunity to revamp and revolutionize the menu, but also found that he had to balance his creativity with tradition. He didn’t want to upset the restaurant’s regulars by eliminating their favorite dishes.
In a smart move, Niles decided to change the menu "somewhat." He left many of the traditional favorites on the restaurant’s menu, adding an array of contemporary, innovative dishes that demonstrate his own creative talents. Regulars will still find their old favorites such as Roast Half Duck and Osso Bungalow, although they may notice the dishes now come with more creative sides. "There used to be the same potato and vegetable on every dish," Niles explains, adding that is trying to mix things up a bit. He'd like to "bring the food love up," in hopes guests will begin to appreciate a more varied, interesting menu. His focus, as with the restaurant's previous focus, remains on French cuisine, but he is trying to bring in more flavors to each dish, to "be more edgy." Examples of dishes he's added include a flavorful rendition of Seared Foie Gras, and a delectable rendition of Pan Seared Pacific Seabass with pea shoot greens and lemon paprika vinaigrette.
Seafood is something that guests can expect to see constantly on the menu. Prior to being offered the position at Thee Bungalow, Niles worked for the Cohn Restaurant Group at Blue Point Costal Cuisine, as Chef de Cuisine under Jonathan Hale. He also served as Executive Chef of Ra Sushi Bar. His experience and expertise working with seafood is clear from the first bite of any seafood dish on Thee Bungalow’s menu—he executes the delicate ingredients to exquisite perfection.
A Southern California native, Niles’s other culinary experience includes a chef tournat position at Paradise Point Resort and Spa on Mission Bay, and four years in several kitchens at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. Niles’s formal education comes from the culinary program at the Art Institute of Phoenix, which he enrolled in after realizing his “love for food and creating dishes.”
One of the more creative challenges Niles has at Thee Bungalow is working with the restaurant’s extensive wine list. With over 800 selections, many of which are older or rarer bottles, Niles finds that it’s “hard not to pair” his dishes with wine. His most creative pairings come during the restaurant’s frequent wine dinners, for which Niles will create a unique menu centered on a particular winery or producer. His aim in creating dishes for these dinners is to “make [the] wine shine.” A recent dinner featured a vertical tasting of four Andrew Geoffrey Cabernet Sauvignons, paired with four of Niles’s creative, French-inspired dishes, including wild mushroom crepes with caramelized shallot & red grape chutney, grilled venison chop with parmesan & cranberry crispy polenta and a juniper & wild honey glaze, and braised Kobe short ribs with roasted red beet, Parisian gnocchi, baby tot soi, and cabernet reduction.
Overall, Niles favorite part of working at Thee Bungalow is the opportunity to be creative. He finds the most challenging part, “being responsible for everything,” to also be the most fun. He really enjoys seeing the restaurant grow, and has already seen changes since he’s taken the helm. “There are more later reservations,” he observes, adding that the restaurant is starting to become not just a neighborhood spot but a culinary destination.
As for the favorite dishes of his guests, he says they seem to like it all. “The menu is a really balanced menu,” he explains, adding that no dishes seem to be ordered any more or less than the others. Sure, he adds, some nights he’ll sell fifteen of one dish and another night he’ll sell only two (“it depends on the weather,” he’s observed), but over the course of time, he finds that all of his creations are equally desired by his guests. What more could a chef hope for?