Longtime local restaurateur Jacquèe Renna says the moment she rode the elevator to the top of the new Sasan apartment building in Mission Hills, she was sold on the view.

Tonight, she will host the grand opening of Communion, a 116-seat indoor-outdoor, fine-dining rooftop restaurant with a lush, 270-degree panoramic view of Mission Hills and the surrounding communities.

Communion is one of two restaurants Renna has opened this month in the Sasan building at 901 W. Washington St. Paradis, a street-level cafe and bar, debuted Nov. 2.

Renna said her goal was to create two community-focused and affordable restaurants where local residents can feel comfortable coming together regularly over food and drinks, rather than just for special occasions. That’s why she named her new restaurant Communion.

“The vibe here is so fun. It’s very neighborly and we want to be part of the neighborhood. Everything we do is shared plates, so you can eat a little or a lot, and we have a big bar area where people who are single can come in and dine alone and feel comfortable,” she said.

Restaurateur Jacquèe Renna’s stands inside her Communion restaurant in Mission Hills, when it was still under construction. (Pacifica Restaurants)

Renna makes her home in La Quinta, where she owns the La Quinta Cliffhouse restaurant, as well as Pacifica Seafood restaurant in Palm Desert. But she grew up here in North County and she longed to open a restaurant in her hometown. Her late husband, Kipp Downing, who passed away from cancer in 2021, once owned three Pacifica restaurants around San Diego County (including the surviving Pacifica Del Mar) before selling or closing them years ago.

Renna said she will divide her time between her desert restaurants and her new Mission Hills venues. Her daughter, Hailey Renna, is also onsite as the assistant general manager of Communion.

Communion’s executive chef is Mike Moritz, formerly of Mille Fleurs and at Mister A’s restaurants. Renna described Mortiz’s menu as global coastal cuisine featuring local ingredients, including locally caught seafood and produce and proteins from area farms and ranches. Some of Mortiz’s dishes that she’s most excited about are his roasted fish bone marrow, Wagyu beef tartare with house chicharrónes and linguine with clams and shaved white truffles. Shared plate prices range from $15 to $48, plus there’s a 45-ounce porterhouse for $185.

The patio deck of Jacquèe Renna’s new rooftop restaurant Communion in Mission Hills, which offers a panoramic view of San Diego. (Pacifica Restaurants)

“We want to be really accessible,” she said. “We’re fine dining but not white tablecloth. We don’t want people to feel like it’s stuffy, but not so casual that people will be flip-flops in tank tops.”

Aly Lyng is the restaurant’s pastry chef. She’ll make foccacia breads for the dinner menu and her desserts include a Basque cheesecake, Colombian buneulos and a chocolate tart with espresso ice cream. The restaurant’s bar serves 11 cocktails and an international selection of wines by the glass.

Lyng is also overseeing the pastry program downstairs at Paradis, which Renna said has been very successful since it opened a few weeks ago. Paradis serves a coffee, pastry and brunch menu by day and turns into a pintxos bar at night. Pintxos is a Basque word for single-bite snacks served on skewers, like Iberico ham and Manchego cheese. Paradis offers a happy hour and a DJ on weekends.

Communion

Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. daily

Where: 901 W. Washington St., San Diego

Info: 619-606-5568

Online: dinecommunionsd.com