Cool Koll Brew

Owner Charles Koll opened the restaurant Viewpoint Brewing Company (2201 San Dieguito Road, 858-356-9346) in a former factory space facing the San Dieguito Lagoon in July 2017. All went well. Then CV19 took over. The result: “business was awful in 2020 reports Charles. Though Viewpoint did prepare food for take out, the closing of indoor dining took its toll and many of the staff were furloughed. But “we have come back stronger in 2021” says Charles who offered former staff members the option to return to their jobs. During the downtime he worked to “manage responsibly” and come up with possible solutions. The use of the floor space, muchopen to the lagoon, was redesigned to meet required standards and customers have now returned.

 

Charles with Mo Katomski, the brewer, run quite a brewing set up on site. The beer is made in a super sanitized area of shiny stainless steel fermenting tanks. The used grains are sent off to local farms to feed pigs and cows and possibly become part of a dog treat. Viewpoint’s beers are available locally at L’Auberge in Del Mar.

 

If you still prefer take out to dine in, you can order your freshly prepared meal from Viewpoint, one of the first to offer M’Porte, a sustainable metal container that you buy once for $25 and continue to reuse when you return for your next take out meal as well as at various local restaurants. Otherwise, know that the restaurant’s take out containers are compostable. And towards further sustainability, customers can recycle their own empty bottles to buy beer. Another option: order their meals sold in frozen form by In Good Company, a source for frozen meals packaged from local restaurants delivered in sustainable, returnable containers.