Colorful Living SUMMER 2019
Magazine
Chef Gordon Ramsey has competition with Chef Ayden Florez
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Frank Somerville visits Diablo Valley College Journalism Class
Color ful Liv ing Magaz ine travels to Ireland with Cy nth ia & Walter Ruehl ig
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Charleen Earley Publisher
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ADVERTORIAL
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Boarding Bettike Paul Mike Mullinix
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Vin Alegro: Where Best Cuisine Meets Best Friends
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By Charleen Earley Photos by JVB Photography
hat started out as a quaint boutique wine and tapas bar, has beautifully blossomed overnight into a restaurant with Premium Blend cocktails, signature appetizers and flavorful cuisine that will have you coming back for more. Vin Alegro is growing organically and esthetically to meet the needs of its Discovery Bay community and beyond. Once you step through the doors, you are immediately transported to a place where the energy and vibe matches the delectable cuisine entrees, the friendly and upbeat service staff, the living wall of plants and what seems like infinite wine offerings. Oh, and you can now order a Lemon Drop, Sex on the Beach and an Upside Down Pineapple Cake too. “It’s like Cheers from that old TV show, a place where everyone knows your name,” said Glenn Hoffman, co-owner of Vin Alegro with Chef Robert Rose. “Our motto here is, 10
Co-Owner Chef Robert Rose
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June 2019
Come as strangers, leave as friends!” Glenn greets guests at the door and if this is your first visit to Vin Alegro, he’ll askpermission to seat you at the decorative couch with other new guests to meet and mingle. “Almost always, the couples walk away as new friends!” added Glenn. You’ll most likely find Chef Robert in the back of the house creating his Secret Menu for the night. But don’t ask the Italian Chef to divulge his specials in advance, because most likely he doesn’t know himself, since this culinary artist is waiting on inspiration. “Everything inspires me,” said Chef Robert, who was born in Napoli, Italy, and came to the states at age 16. “I get inspired walking through the grocery stores, or the smell I get while driving, or a certain color, it’s weird, I never know. It’s like going every day from my memory. When it clicks, it just clicks. I almost feel that it’s just as much a burden as a blessing.” Colorful Living Magazine
Vin Alegro is honored to have esteemed Chef Robert in the house, who has worked at acclaimed restaurants such as Kokkari Estiatorio in San Francisco, Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco and the Bistro Don Giovanni in Napa. A true lover of all foods well seasoned, Chef Robert’s love for cooking and eating is about passion on a plate for his guests. “Honestly, it’s that feeling that knowing how someone, after taking a bite, is completely blown away,” said Chef Robert. “And my wife jokes and says all her friend’s husbands have a sports addiction, but her husband has a food addiction!” While the table menu features such favorites as Costoletta Milanese, breaded and fried pork cutlets, potato salad and mixed greens with olives, tomatoes and balsamic, and Ravioli al Forno, which is roasted house made cheese ravioli and house made vodka sauce, topped with manchengo – the Secret Menu for the evening is Chef Robert’s culinary inspiration – and may sell out fast, not to be repeated the next day. “We don’t have a freezer, so that means all of our entrees are made fresh daily,” said Glenn Hoffman, President of the Discovery Bay Lion’s Club and organizer of Discovery
Bay’s Northern California Boat Show and The Big Cat Poker Run. “We also use produce from local farmers and the Brentwood Farmer’s Market when available and honey and bee pollen from the Loose Rooster Ranch on Bixler Road,” Glenn added. Eager to celebrate their one-year anniversary this September, Vin Alegro’s commitment to offering only the best in service, cuisine and spirits to their guests is their highest priority. “Our local guests rave about our food, that our menu is always new and changing and the freshness of our ingredients,” said Glenn. Chef Robert takes pride in what he cooks for Vin Alegro’s guests. “Cooking for me, even in competition, once the plate leaves my hands, that’s it! I know that that was the best I could do right then and there – and if I’m not feeding that to my family and friends – then it’s not going out!” said Chef Robert, also owner of the Byron Inn Cafe. Vin Alegro offers a Cuisine and Cocktails
menu Wednesday through Saturday to include tapas and entrees to go with your Rich Russian, Cosmo, Whiskey Sour, Margarita and more, and a Brunch menu on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where you can enjoy House Made Biscuits and Gravy, the BEST Ever Spinach Artichoke Dip, Bacon and Eggs, Tuna Tartare, Wine Country Salad and more.
V I N A LEGRO
1520 Discovery Bay Blvd. #300 Discovery Bay, CA 94505 925.395.4700 www.vinalegro.com
Co-owner Glenn Hoffman with wife Melissa Hoffman (standing) with customers Nicole Jenkins and her daughter Addie Jenkins of Discovery Bay.
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Wed | 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Thu – Sat | 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Sun | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Brunch Mon-Tue | Closed June 2019
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~ ADVERTORIAL ~
Humble beginnings for Nails by Jimmy By Charleen Earley Photos by JVB Photography
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ou’ll find it’s one of the most family-oriented, friendly and comfortable places in all of Far East County you’ll ever go to have a mani, pedi, waxing and more – and Jimmy Thach, owner of Nails by Jimmy – does everything in his power to make sure of it. He keeps his salon clean, prices low and affordable, hires friendly staff and also gives them Sundays off, “to spend time with their families, since many of them have young children.” Originally opened in 1990 in Pittsburg on Railroad Ave., Jimmy moved his familyowned nail salon to Atlantic Plaza, then to Hillcrest and now, Antioch off Lone Tree Way, since 2004. His son, Phuong Thach is manager, and loves running the business. “What I love about our salon is the people; our customers,” said Phuong. “It’s more about getting to know them and being friends verses being a client. Becoming comfortable with our clients and sharing life stories together – that’s why I love this job.” Dianna Enea of Antioch echoes those same sentiments, since she’s been a customer of theirs since 2003, when Phuong was a newlywed with wife My Thach. 18
June 2019
“It’s very comfortable here,” said Dianna, who gets silk wraps instead of acrylics, because of allergies. “Phuong is just wonderful! He comes in special for me sometimes. I see his wife for all my pedi’s, it’s friendly and they’re efficient. You’re in and out and never have to wait more than 5 to 10 minutes as a walk-in. Phuong also tries to accommodate me whenever I’m going on vacation, he always helps me out.” Phuong says it’s their service that separates them from all the other salons. “It’s our service that sets us apart,” said Phuong. “We make them feel like they’re home, like they’re family and not a dollar sign walking through the door. We get to know them on a personal level, and since everyone likes different services, we want to meet their needs.” “It’s also about treating people how you want to be treated. I always believe that honesty goes a long way too,” added Phuong, who lives in Oakley with My and their two sons, Sean, age 12 and Jaydon, 10. Jimmy is semi-retired and lives in Oakley with the love of his life, Kathy Thach, while 80% of his time is spent with community involvement. Jimmy’s journey to America and
creating a successful business for himself and family is one of strength, bravery and love. “Dad was born and raised in Vietnam, but we’re actually Cambodian!” said Phuong. “We still have a little community left in Vietnam, but where we lived, it was actually Cambodia until the Vietnamese took over in the 1940s, when the French divided the land. We we’re basically like the American Indians.” “It was tough for my dad, when you’re in Vietnam and you’re not Vietnamese,” Phuong continued. “We came over to America because the communist took over. Dad left the country in 1982, escaped Vietnam to go to Cambodia where he got on the bus to ‘go to work’ because he spoke Cambodian. From Cambodia he found a gorilla group in a refuge camp in Thailand in 1983. He made it to Chicago in 1985.” When in Chicago, Jimmy contacted a friend who had lived in Vietnam but was now living in Bay Point, CA. From Chicago, Jimmy was Pittsburg-bound and enrolled in the Pittsburg Adult Education Center taking classes at night, while working at McDonald’s, car washes, landscape businesses and restaurants during the day. “Dad ran into someone who ran a nail salon Colorful Living Magazine
Photo by Charleen Earley Dianna Enea of Antioch has been a client of Nails by Jimmy since 2003.
in Oakland, who encouraged him to go to school to learn how to do nails,” said Phuong. “Dad worked and lived for free and got his license. The guy said once you get your license, I’ll still pay you, but a year later, he only paid him tips.” “It’s common to be taken advantage of, but my dad said he learned a lot and he felt that the guy gave him better than what he had, so he partnered with a guy and did most of the work – and saved all his tips,” added Phuong. With all the money he saved, together with his license and education, Jimmy opened his own salon and the rest is history, however Jimmy will forever be humbled by the life he lived in Cambodia. “He met my mom when he was a Buddhist Monk as a teenager in Vietnam, he was around 14 or 15-years-old,” said Phuong. “As a Cambodian in Vietnam, you are allowed to learn to read and write, and they also become a monk so that you don’t get drafted into the war too.” “Captured by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, they knew my dad wanted to come to the United States, but they kept him there because he was a really good cook,” Phuong added. “He got close to the leader Pol Pot to become his personal cook.” Pol Pot was a Cambodian revolutionary and politician and served as the general secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea from
1963 to 1981. Known as a Marxist–Leninist and Khmer nationalist, he led the Khmer Rouge group between 1963 and 1997. “During that time, my dad somehow went to catch fish for dinner, but he came back to camp late and got a beating with a bamboo, and it broke the bamboo. It bruised him so bad that he had that injury all the way till he got to Chicago,” said Phuong. “He always tried to escape and finally got to the refugee camp and once you get there, you’re basically free from the communist people, and you wait for a sponsor from a French, Canadian or Australian.” Phuong said his dad got involved with a church and the church connected him with the people from the U.S. “He landed in 1985 in Chicago, all alone and no money, but he knew the people who placed him in low income housing. It was freezing cold, he told us. He got lost so many times in the subway, and he didn’t know English yet, so he would use markers to find his way back.” In addition to being a Buddhist Monk, Jimmy was an artist specializing in Cambodian art to include paintings and murals with oils and sketching. “He still does it today for our community,” said Phuong. Through his dad’s stories of survival, determination and a desire for a better life, Phuong talks about his love for America.
“I always tell my kids and people how much I appreciate this country,” he said. “This is as closest to heaven as you can get, to having nothing to having everything possible. In America, all you have to do is reach out, work for it and get it.” “My mom, my brother and I all escaped the same way our dad did – our dad sponsored us to come over,” said Phuong. “I got here in December, 1989, I was 12-years-old!” Dai Thach, who is Phuong’s younger brother, is a firefighter in Oakland. He’s married to Lisa Thach, and the two have sons Landon and Liam. Appreciation and hard work is how Jimmy and Phuong run both their personal life and business life. “Everything that I do in life, I strive to do better. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to put everything out there that I’ve got, and the same thing with doing nails,” said Phuong. “I learned along the way, helping my dad at the shop while going to high school – I actually wanted to be a police officer. I tried, but it wasn’t meant to be. Being the older brother, I put a lot of my personal life aside to help the people I come in contact with, and to carry on my dad’s legacy too.”
N A I L S BY J I M M Y 5887 Lone Tree Way, Ste. L Antioch, CA 94531 925.778.1147 phuongthach101@gmail.com
Photo by Jody Hanson: Phuong Thach with Roberta Tellez, one of his clients since 2000, a loyal customer who has stayed with Nails by Jimmy over the years.
Colorful Living Magazine
Mon – Fri | 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sat | 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sun | Closed June 2019
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June 2019
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Now accepting Vendor Applications
Specials WRISTBAND DAY: Thursday 9/19 - Unlimited ride wristband available for purchase online and during pre-sale (9/9-9/17) for $30 (Only good on 9/19 and 9/22) BUDDY DAY: Friday 9/20 - Purchase 1 Unlimited ride wristband for $40 and get one for free (Only good on 9/20/19 and purchased at the festival) Saturday - All games and rides regular price WRISTBAND DAY: Sunday 9/22- Unlimited ride wristband available for purchase online and during pre-sale (9/9-9/17) for $30 (Only good on 9/19 and 9/22)
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June 2019
PRE-SALE COUPONS: $30 starting Monday, September 9th, thru Tuesday September 17th at the Walnut Festival office located in Heather Farm Park at 500 N San Carlos Drive, Walnut Creek, CA, between the hours of 10:00am and 4:00pm, Monday-Friday or Online now (will need to pick up tickets/coupons in Walnut Festival office between 9/9-9/17)
www.thewalnutfestival.org Colorful Living Magazine