A Del Mar Love Story
- Lynn Gaylord | Ocean Front
Amanda Devine grew up here on 10th Street in Del Mar, having gone to Del Mar Hills Elementary, Earl Warren, and then Torrey Pines High School. Gio Morelli, on the other hand, grew up in Victorville and moved here while attending San Diego State University. Upon graduating, he worked at Sbicca’s on 15th Street here in Del Mar. And that is where the two would meet.
Gio was the bartender and Amanda was a managing partner with the owner, Dan Sbicca. Gio and Amanda’s love produced the cutest, most darling daughter in 2022, and they named her Capri.
When Dan Sbicca decided to sell the restaurant in 2024, it just so happened that Greg and Jen Glassman were looking to retire and find a local interested party who to take over Zel’s restaurant. From that point on, it was all meant to be as Gio and Amanda loved Del Mar and wanted to work nowhere else. They took over the keys in mid-February 2025, renamed the restaurant Coral, and opened two months later in April. With Gio making 95% of any needed and minor improvements, they were more than excited to begin serving their beloved Del Mar.
When asked why they picked the name Coral for the restaurant, they responded: “As coral is the sum of many different parts of the ocean coming together to form a new entity, we see the restaurant as taking pieces of our experiences, both personal and professional, to create a new space. And hence the name Coral.”
As Amanda and Gio have said many times: “We love going to work every day and seeing everyone in town. There is no other place on earth like Del Mar. It is a safe and clean place, and residents take pride in how everything looks. We love Del Mar!”