100 Very Best Restaurants: #30 – Del Mar

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The prices—$98 sea­food paella!—might make your heart quicken, but there’s much that dazzles at Fabio Trabocchi’s Spanish-luxe Wharf dining room. We could make a meal of the gorgeous seafood tower alone—it’s ringed with East and West Coast oysters, cocktail prawns, and saffron-scented mussels—plus a couple glasses of Cava. Or small plates such as vinegary marinated sardines with black garlic, Ibérico-ham-filled croquetas, and crab-stuffed piquillo peppers. Don’t miss the bookends—the cocktails and desserts are both fabulous. And so is that paella. Very expensive.