For The Union-Tribune
What’s better on a chilly day than a steaming crock of French onion soup topped with toasted Gruyère cheese dripping down its sides?
After searching long and hard to find a robust version of our favorite soup, my husband and I finally found one of the best in San Diego at Jo’s Diner in Mission Hills, located at 807 W. Washington St.
Their onion soup had already gained fame and praise from celebrity chef Guy Fieri, who featured the restaurant on “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives” on the Food Network, along with their now-legendary bacon-wrapped meatloaf, short ribs and short rib French dip.
Among the factors qualifying the soup as among the best are the deeply colored, caramelized onions stirred in melted butter, the flavorful beef stock and the thick crust of toasted Gruyère cheese over French bread crostini topping the traditional brown ceramic crock.
Ric Libiran, owner of Jo’s Diner in Mission Hills, developed his own French onion soup recipe after a lifetime of working in kitchens serving French cuisine. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The secret to the soup’s deep, rich flavor is the initial cooking or caramelization of the onions in unsalted butter, as well as use of a hearty beef stock, explained Ric Libiran, Jo’s Diner owner and chief cook at the upscale diner.
“You just keep caramelizing them down until they look like chocolate but to do that, you have to be pretty vigilant. Make sure they don’t burn. You’re just constantly stirring,” scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, he said.
Caramelization is the process of browning the onions, initially at a higher heat and then lowered, which breaks down and releases their natural sugars, allowing them to turn a golden to deep chocolate brown, creating a complex flavor.
Be sure to use a heavy-gauge metal pan, preferably steel, cast iron or aluminum, without a nonstick coating, which inhibits browning, he advised. A ceramic coating on cast iron slows browning.
Raw red onions, seen at the starting point for cooking for French Onion Soup Au Gratin. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Libiran, 63, developed his own recipe after a lifetime working in the restaurant industry, including a lengthy stint in senior management with the Champagne French Bakery Cafe chain, where he learned French cuisine. At 15, he started working as a dishwasher and rapidly worked his way up to line cook and management, continuing to develop his love of cooking. He rejects the title “chef” because he never had formal training, instead learning everything on the job.
After leaving Champagne in 2000, he opened his own French bistro, Café Bleu, first in Hillcrest before moving to his current Mission Hills location, where he first served his version of onion soup.
After consulting other recipes, which vary in the choice of onions, the depth of color of caramelization, choice of stock and use of wine or other alcohol, he opted to use red onions, which he finds are sweeter and don’t require the addition of sugar that some recipes add to assist in the caramelization process.
Caramelized onions for french onion soup au gratin at Jo’s Diner in Mission Hills on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
While he used to make his own stock, his small kitchen’s size makes that difficult. Instead, he uses Minor’s Beef Base, developed for professional chefs’ use, which is available online.
Chicken or vegetable stock also make excellent onion soup, Libiran said, although beef stock is the traditional choice. Other recipes that recommend using yellow or sweet onions or even shallots, or a mixture of onions, call for a lighter, golden-brown caramelization or use white wine or cognac as the alcohol, as well as other seasonings.
For cheese, he uses Gruyère, a traditionally used Swiss cheese that melts well.
“It’s always best to get whole blocks of cheese and grate it yourself,” Libiran said. “(Commercial) grated cheese often has an additive that keeps it from melting.”
When Libiran closed Café Bleu in 2017, he knew he wanted to replace it with something more “approachable” and clearly casual. He reinvented the eatery as Jo’s Diner, while retaining its most popular dishes.
“Even though we were very casual at Café Bleu, I would get calls from customers, ‘Can my 16-year-old son eat there? Is there a dress code?’” Libiran explained that because the café offered French cuisine, many assumed it was stuffy and snobbish.
“I wanted to do something more everyday which is why I chose a diner, for an ‘everyday Jo,’ which is how I came up with the name. My background is more in casual fine dining, so I just want to take a familiar comfort food and make it a little bit nicer, offering good quality food,” he added.
In addition to serving breakfast all day and an array of burgers, sandwiches and salads, plus a carefully selected short list of wines and beers, he carried over two of the bistro’s most popular dishes, French onion soup and boeuf bourguignon, which he tweaked and renamed short ribs, offered also as a short rib French dip.
What’s next for Libiran and Jo’s Diner?
Having grown up in a Filipino family in San Diego, with a mother who was an excellent cook, as the cuisine has gained more prominence he plans to add more Filipino dishes to the menu, to accompany one of his best sellers, his mother’s lumpia.
I’m sure his mother would be proud — and customers delighted.
French Onion Soup Au Gratin. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)French Onion Soup
Use a metal pan without a nonstick coating for your soup; a nonstick coating will prevent the onions from browning properly, while an enameled coating will slow their browning. To slice onions evenly, use a food processor or mandoline. To control the saltiness of the soup, choose a low-sodium beef broth, either homemade or commercial. Ric Libiran recommends using Minor’s Beef Base, which is available online and used in many restaurants. Alternatively, buy a beef broth marked low or lower-sodium. It’s best to grate your own cheese, since many grated cheeses contain an additive to prevent melting.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 1/2 quarts red onions, peeled and cut into about 1/4-inch slices (about 2 1/2 pounds or 4 to 6 medium onions)
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
4 bay leaves
1/2 ounce (5 tablespoons) fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup medium-bodied red wine (similar to a Burgundy or pinot noir)
1 quart beef stock (recommend low sodium; see Note)
1 1/2 quarts water
12 crostinis (French roll or bread slices baked to a crisp)
8 ounces Gruyère or Swiss cheese, shredded
Libiran adds red wine during the soupmaking. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
An herb pouch is added to caramelized onions during the cooking process. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Libiran adds beef stock. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Bread and cheese (to be melted) tops French Onion Soup Au Gratin. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Libiran adds red wine during the soupmaking. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
ExpandDIRECTIONS
1: Melt butter in a 4-quart heavy-base round sauce pan over medium-high heat. DO NOT BURN.
2: Add onions. Let stand 5 minutes before stirring.
3: Reduce heat to medium. Cook onions stirring frequently while scraping the pan. The correct doneness is when the onions take on a dark chocolate color (approximately 45 to 60 minutes).
4: In a spice or tea bag, add black peppercorns, bay leaves and fresh thyme. Set aside.
5: Once the onions reach the correct doneness, season with kosher salt. Cook another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
6: Turn heat to high and carefully stir in the red wine. Bring to a boil.
7: Carefully add the beef stock and water. Add herb sachet. Bring to a boil.
8: Reduce heat to maintain a hard simmer. Continue cooking until soup reduces by half (about 1 hour).
9: Set broiler on high. Ladle soup into 12-ounce oven-proof soup crocks. Lay 2 to 3 crostinis to cover the top of the soup. Cover crostinis with 2 ounces of shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese. Place under broiler and cook until cheese is melted and toasted.
Note: Although beef stock is recommended; some users may prefer chicken stock or vegetable stock; some basic recipes for those follow.
Recipe from Ric Libiran of Jo’s Diner.
Basic Beef Stock
Makes about 8 cups
INGREDIENTS
6 pounds beef soup bones
1 large onion
3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
12 1/2 cups water, divided
1 large tomato
1 medium potato, unpeeled, cut into chunks
2 stalks celery, including some leaves, cut into thirds
1/2 cup chopped parsnip
4 sprigs fresh parsley
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
8 whole black peppercorns
DIRECTIONS
1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2: Trim root end off onion, then slice or quarter onion, peel and all. Place onion and carrots into a large, shallow roasting pan with beef bones.
3: Roast, uncovered, in the preheated oven, turning bones occasionally, until bones are well browned, about 30 minutes.
4: Drain off fat. Transfer browned bones, onion, and carrots to a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Pour 1/2 cup water into the roasting pan and rinse; pour this liquid into the soup pot.
5: Add tomato, potato, celery, parsnip, whole parsley sprigs, salt, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns to the pot. Pour in remaining 12 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 hours. Strain stock. Discard meat, vegetables, and seasonings.
Adapted from Wolverine’s recipe on Allrecipes.com.
Basic Chicken Stock
A minimum of 4 pounds of chicken for the 4 quarts of water is needed to produce a good, flavorful stock. Packing in even more chicken — up to 8 pounds per 4 quarts water — will yield an even richer, deeper stock. Different parts of the chicken will contribute different amounts of gelatin to the stock: Breast meat produces a deliciously flavorful stock that is very thin, while wings produce a slightly less clean flavor, with lots of gelatin. If your stock still looks thin like water, even after being fully refrigerated, add the gelatin solution as instructed in the recipe. Feel free to add other herbs, such as fresh thyme or bay leaves.
Makes about 3 quarts
INGREDIENTS
4 to 8 pounds chicken parts, such as wings, bones, breasts and legs
4 quarts water
2 large yellow onions, diced
4 large carrots, diced
4 large celery ribs, diced
8 crushed medium cloves garlic
2 large sprigs parsley
2 packets unflavored gelatin, dissolved in 1/2 cup (120 ml) cold water (optional; see note)
DIRECTIONS
1: Combine chicken, water, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and parsley in a large stockpot and bring to a simmer over low heat.
2: Lower heat, maintaining a very gentle simmer, and cook for 1½ hours.
3: Strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer, let cool, then transfer to containers and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 6 hours.
4: Skim off and remove any fat and scum on the surface. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months. If stock is thin even after being fully refrigerated, add optional gelatin solution to stock and bring to a boil until fully dissolved, then refrigerate or freeze.
Recipe adapted from SeriousEats.com.
Basic Vegetable Stock
You can also use all vegetable scraps to make vegetable stock (leek tops, fennel tops, carrot tops, scallion tops, onion skins, herb scraps and herb stems). Six loose-packed cups of roughly chopped veggie scraps can be used in place of the vegetables listed below.
Makes about 8 cups
INGREDIENTS
2 medium onions, halved
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 to 2 medium celery stalks, chopped
Leek or fennel tops, chopped
1 garlic bulb, halved
Handful fresh parsley
1 small bunch fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
10 to 12 cups filtered water
DIRECTIONS
1: Place the onions, carrots, celery, leek tops, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat (If 12 cups of water won’t fit in your pot, you can use 10). Reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered, for 1 hour.
2: Strain and discard the vegetables. Season to taste and use in your favorite soup recipes.
Recipe adapted from LoveandLemons.com.
For more stock recipes, see:
www.simplyrecipes.com/basic-stock-recipes-5216446
www.seriouseats.com/homemade-stocks-and-broths-for-superior-sauces-soups-and-stews
Originally Published: March 31, 2025 at 3:55 PM PDT