Delayed by the city’s bureaucratic hoops for obtaining final approval for a beer and wine license, Chef Chris Walsh is inching closer to opening his much-anticipated Bite restaurant at 1417 University Ave. in Hillcrest. This is Walsh’s second venture in the biz, having owned and operated Café W until it burned down in 2003. He hopes to open Bite by mid-April. The 2,400-square-foot space will seat about 70 people and feature a menu of small plates and bistro-sized entrées. Items will include blue cheese crème brulee with anise-fig bread panini and intense herb sprout salad; a deconstructed niçoise salad with seared tuna and peppercorns; and a caramelized onion tart. The interior sports a mid-century design – “a Palm Springs in the ’60s feel” – painted in chocolate brown and shades of yellow.

Eclipse Chocolat, owned by William Gustwiller of University Heights, has bolstered its line of chocolate bars with six uncommon flavors: Kyoto Green Tea, Chile, Hazelnut, Sea-Salt Nib, Gingerbread Crumb, Sweet Basil-Mint and Moroccan Spice. The hand-wrapped bars weigh 3.2 ounces each and are made with organic spices and herbs. Gustwiller started the Web-based chocolate company two years ago and sells also to restaurants, retailers and hotels throughout Southern California. Offline, the chocolates can be purchased at Taste Artisan Cheese & Gourmet Shop in Hillcrest, Venissimo in Mission Hills and Cream in University Heights. His latest goal is to open a retail shop in San Diego by Christmas. To order online, go to www.eclipsechocolat.com.

Wine Smarties queen Lindsay Pomeroy, known about town for raising people’s awareness about old and new world wines, has teamed up with German import specialist Damon Goldstein of TrulyFineWine.com and restaurateur Axel Dirolf to present an all-German food and wine pairing on March 25. The event will be held from 5-8 p.m. at Chef Axel’s Bistro, 7097 University Ave. in La Mesa. It will feature five wines from a cache of labels that Goldstein discovered on a recent trip to Germany, plus meal courses that incorporate both traditional and nouveau German cuisine. The cost is $65, including tax and tip. For reservations, call 619-955-8884.

In addition to running Wine Smarties, Pomeroy also joined the staff at the sprawling Dussini Mediterranean Bistro in the Gaslamp as its wine specialist. In her revision of the restaurant’s “glass program,” she’s added a cabernet by Fallbrook Winery, a rosé made from syrah by J. Jenkins in Julian and a hard-to-find syrah by Mission Hill in British Columbia. She’s now in the process of restructuring the entire wine list.

The fiercely popular Ichiban in Hillcrest is opening a second location down the street on March 23, in the space formerly occupied by Antico Tuscano, at 1288 University Ave. The new restaurant will be called Ichiban on the Rocks and offer an expanded menu of sushi and noodle dishes, but with a greater focus on modern Japanese cuisine. It will also sell beer, wine and sake.

Executive Chef Tony Wilhelm has revised about 65 percent of the menu at Inn at the Park to include frog legs provençale, grilled elk chops and rack of venison with red wine and chocolate reduction, among other delicacies. But persnickety eaters need not run in fear because the new spring menu, introduced last month, retains many of the restaurant’s top-selling dishes, such as beef Wellington, prime rib and the kitchen’s lauded pesto-salmon salad. Of the frog legs, Food and Beverage Director Kevin Winger said: “We’re surprised on how well they’re selling. We’ll be keeping them on the menu.” The restaurant, located inside the Park Manor Suites on Sixth Avenue, is one of a few in San Diego County that features live entertainment seven days a week, starting at 7 p.m. nightly.