Stratus Financial LLC, a Newport Beach-based provider of financing for student pilots seeking commercial flight training, was ranked No. 1 in the Business Journal’s 2024 and 2025 lists of fastest-growing locally based private companies.
Now, Stratus COO Brandon Martini has taken his high-flying success to an even loftier goal: opening a restaurant.
Martini is the proprietor of Solera Kitchen + Wine Bar on Main Street in Seal Beach, which opened June 29. By mid-July, the 31-seat restaurant had welcomed more than 1,200 guests—an impressive feat for a new dining establishment.
According to Martini, who co-founded the restaurant with entrepreneur Todd Wohrman, he wanted to bring an elevated feel to Seal Beach and near his home in Sunset Beach.
“I wanted something local and close by to me so I can get here whenever I can, and have all my good friends come and visit,” he told the Business Journal. “Seal Beach afforded that perfect location for us. It’s quaint and has a nice beach vibe, which I absolutely love.
“I tell everybody you can come here in either a bikini or a full suit, and we’ll serve you. But we’re going to give you elevated service no matter what.”
Martini said he looked at potential restaurant locations in Corona del Mar and Huntington Beach before nabbing the Main Street location, which is two blocks from the pier.
Solera is not a typical beach eatery.
Executive Chef Michael Droma, whose background includes The Bazaar by José Andrés, runs the from-scratch seasonal kitchen, which includes handcrafted charcuterie.
Martini, a certified sommelier, oversees the wine program, which features selections from Napa and as far away as South Africa. He even has a Château Mouton Rothschild 2019—rated between 98 and 100 points by leading wine publications—lurking on the list.
Droma has created separate lunch and dinner menus with only a handful of similar items on both.
“Brandon gave me a guideline of what he wanted and what was expected, and then from there, all of this is just based on my training that I did prior,” said Droma. “I’ve been creating menus left and right for other restaurants, especially the restaurant that I opened in South Korea, which was a changing menu all the time.”
Many menu items have aviation names, such as The Boarding Pass, Pre-Flight Bread Service, The Hangar, Tailwind Kale and The Smooth Landing.
“I’m entrenched in aviation,” explained Martini. “I’m a pilot instructor myself; it’s my whole life. It’s what afforded me to build this place, so I wanted to make sure that part of my life was incorporated in this new part of my life and new chapter. And family is number one for me, too. On our dinner menu, the first dish on our mains is named Austin’s First Choice, and Austin is my son.”
Droma and Martini agreed that one of their favorite menu items is dubbed Captain’s Crock: French onion soup—his favorite soup in the world.
“I’ve traveled to several countries and all over France to try the best French onion soups. If it’s French onion soup, I want it,” Martini said.
Martini and Droma collaborated to create a dozen versions of the soup until they came up with one they both loved.
“I think we have the best French onion soup around,” Martini said.
Martini may be right. I am normally not a fan of French onion soup, but this is a soup I would order every time.
Popularized in Paris, traditional French onion soup involves slowly caramelizing onions in butter and deglazing them with wine, dry sherry or cognac. Droma’s version calls for beef stock, duck stock and chicken stock, along with an abundance of different types of onions, plus a slab of focaccia bread topped with melted cheese.
Even the bread-and-butter plate is elevated, with three types of bread and three different butter blends.
The citrus-marinated artichoke hearts are creative and delicious, while the cornbread – baked in an oblong skillet and served with a dollop of butter on top – is some of the best I’ve had.
And then there’s the burger: Beef patty, giardiniera spread, house sauce, Swiss cheese, and a side of leafy greens (or sub yuca fries for salad). This is a delicious, gloriously messy burger that now ranks in my top five burgers in OC.
It’s only available for lunch, but it’s so good I wouldn’t be surprised to eventually see it on the dinner menu too.
I also tried the duck mole, which was superb, along with two decadent desserts.
The plating on every dish was lovely, the service pleasant and friendly, and the ambiance reminiscent of a café in Europe.
Solera is a hidden gem that won’t stay hidden for long.
Solera, 210 Main Street, Seal Beach, (714) 988-7335, solerasealbeach.com.