When last we spoke with Rhett Terrebonne, it was 2023 and the restaurant-industry veteran was deep into renovations of the multi-story production facility at Mission Hills’ iconic Mission Brewery Plaza. He had taken over the lease for the space the year prior with plans to make it the permanent home for his passion project Niuhi Brewing. Producing small batches of beer out of Setting Sun Sake Brewery’s later-shuttered Miramar facility, Terrebonne had debuted Niuhi’s beers at several local festivals, receiving feedback encouraging him to take his business to the next level.
Unfortunately, the state of disrepair and difficulties working with property management representatives at Mission Brewery Plaza led him to pull out of the space. Since then, Terrebonne has been working for Alaska Airlines, and he recently acquired his commercial pilot’s license, but he never let go of the aspiration of starting his own beer brand. And now, he’s closer than ever to making it happen by utilizing a long-dormant brewing facility that’s part of Modern Times Beer’s downtown San Diego pub, Timestead.
Maui Brewing purchased Modern Times through a court-ordered receivership auction in 2022, before divesting in the business roughly two years later. As part of that offloading, Modern Times was split into three entities focused on different facets of the business: beer, coffee and public venues. The latter two have been the charge of UK-based 30-year hospitality professional Duncan Ward, who set up Modern Times Pubs, a stand-alone entity encompassing the company’s Far West Lounge in Encinitas, North Park Flavordome and the aforementioned Timestead, which was installed in connected Gaslamp Quarter spaces that previously housed The Local Eatery & Drinking Hole and Resident Brewing.
One of Terrebonne’s friends bartended at The Local ahead of the venue’s acquisition and shared news of what was going on with him. He asked if she would put him in touch with Ward. A few months later, the pair met up to discuss the possibility of Terrebonne utilizing Resident’s production facility to launch a beer band independent of Modern Times. As those talks progressed, so did the scope of Terrebonne’s involvement, to the point where he is now majority owner of the 12,400-square-foot Timestead. Not only that, but he is on track to take over as general manager of the venue later this month.
Ward will maintain a stake in Timestead and the venue will remain within the Modern Times Pub structure without changing its identity, branding or menu. It will also continue to serve Modern Times’ beers and coffee products, as well as a curated list of beverages from local producers. If all goes as planned, that roster of liquid assets will soon include ales and lagers from Terrebonne’s own Makali’i Brewing.
“In layman’s terms, Makali’i means ‘new beginning.’ It will not be Modern Times or Niuhi, though the concept will remain Hawaiian like Niuhi was as I’m sticking to my roots,” says Terrebonne. “I will be doing a mixture of everything from IPAs to lagers to Pilsners and wheat beers. They will be available at Timestead and I will also be working on setting up distribution.”
Terrebonne is eager to start brewing Makali’i beers but doesn’t want to put the cart before the horse. Right now, his main focus is on acquainting himself with his day-to-day duties as Timestead’s GM so he can maximize the business’ potential. He says shutting down the venue to renovate and redecorate following The Local’s moveout impacted the venue’s ability to retain a percentage of its regular customers, but he hopes to win some of them back while converting current and future customers to regulars.
Modern Times Beer’s Timestead is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego