HOLIDAY 2013
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速
the TEAM ASHLEY HICKSON
KRISTAL DOCTER
Judy Haynes, White Christmas
Mary Hatch Bailey, It’s a Wonderful Life
Born and raised in New Jersey, Ashley Hickson has enjoyed living in sunny Southern California since she was 17. After graduating from Chapman University in Old Town Orange, Ashley pursued her dreams and began the journey of helping found LOCALE Magazine. Often referred to as Erik’s right and left arm, Ashley is THE go-to girl for everything LOCALE. She enjoys being an intricate piece to LOCALE’s puzzle and is proud of the downto-earth, innovative magazine. For advertising, marketing, accounting, and to find out where Erik is, call LOCALE Magazine and Ashley will answer all of your questions.
A writer transformed by the beatnik’s before her, Kristal Docter headed West after earning a degree in Creative Writing from Southwest Minnesota State University. Her career has been driven by diversification as a newspaper editor-inchief, copy editor, corporate advertising professional, stylist, non-profit marketing maven and brand contributor. Throughout her cultured journey, Kristal continued asserting an appetite for all things linguistic, and has become an influential voice at LOCALE as their original foodie and now Editor in Chief. She is also the creator of independent writing company VergeINK. A vocab vixen, Kristal prefers a pen and paper, is an eternal book whore, live music lover, casual culinary artist, conch diver and will always be a farm-girl at heart.
ERIK HALE
Clark Griswold, Christmas Vacation Short days, crisp evenings, morning fog and holiday party invitations mark the beginning of my favorite time of year. It means that presents are wrapped, football is on TV, apple pies are in the oven, and radio stations have Christmas tunes on repeat. I love the Holidays. This issue is definitely a testament to our staff’s determination. We produced twenty stories by driving hundreds of miles, taking thousands of photos and making hundreds of thousands of keystrokes in what seemed like million degree heat. We were thinking about your Winter all Summer. Our Second Holiday edition will serve as your guidebook to this amazing season. We take you into Kitchen 1540 at L'Auberge Del Mar for a deconstructed holiday meal set atop a festive fantasy table setting. You will be guided through a Holiday "How To," plus a shopping extravaganza with the ladies from NUBRY in “That’s What She Said.” Our cover and fashion spread narrative were shot at the gorgeous Grand Del Mar Hotel…make sure you wait until the last page before making any assumptions; this “Tryst Twist” feature has a sweet ending. Then, we will escort you to our favorite local watering holes for drinks that will keep you warm this winter. Lastly, we will take you into several local restaurants for a special "NKOTB: New Kids On The Block" edition of our Panoramic series, exploring our favorite new restaurants in 180-degree pictorials. All of this is topped off with a 250-item, locally sourced holiday gift guide that will help you shorten your shopping list. I hope this edition helps you "Live Like a Local" and encourages you to shop local, too. 8 |
| Holiday 2013 Issue
MIKE TODD SMITH
Buddy the Elf, Elf After living in San Diego for a year now, I realize why so many people call this amazing place home. Not only are we blessed with a downtown, but San Diego also has absolutely everything. From the suburbs to the beaches to the mountains, San Diego is a wonderful place to call home. I never expected the warmth and generosity we've received, but I will never forget it, and that’s why San Diego will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you to all of our friends and fans for the overwhelming hospitality; we can only get better as we grow.
REILLY KAVANAUGH
Cindy Lou Who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas With a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design under her belt, this Redlands native has produced creative for major fashion labels, institutions and ad firms. Reilly Kavanaugh is a tiny artist, at 4 feet 11 inches, who is much tougher than she looks. As the newest member of LOCALE, she exhibits a youthful energy and fierce, current designs. She’s a girly tomboy who simultaneously dresses like a fashionista and struts her stuff at the firing range with the accuracy of a sharp shooter. Reilly is also a CrossFit fanatic and is allergic to almost everything.
the CONTRIBUTORS
WRITERS
MEGAN BISHOP
This Jersey girl found her passion for fashion while living in sun-soaked South Florida. After falling in love with the editorial spreads of Ocean Drive, Megan knew she had found her calling. In 2007, she tried her own hand at the magazine biz by launching a fashion, art, music and lifestyle publication based in Miami.
years. A native of California residing in Orange County for most of his adult life, Ed finds satisfaction in moonlighting as an unsuccessful writer while also co-owning a small real estate investment firm.
becoming a California girl after one too many Chicago winters. An aspiring rockstar, socialite and philanthropist, Carolyn has many projects and is always looking for more. She is usually singing, either in a bar, coffee shop, hotel liquidation sale or her own head. www.Carolynsamuelson.me
BRITT HACKMANN Britt Hackmann is the cofounder of Nubry.com, fashion and style blog that creates editorials, lookbooks, and social media advertising campaigns for brands. Britt is born and raised in Florida and Ohio and started her career in Boston, specializing in marketing and retail analytics. She has a BS in Entrepreneurship and an MBA from Babson College. Come find her this summer at the SD Polo field! @nubry
NATALIE HOLTZ Natalie Holtz is a writer living in San Diego. She received her BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2010. A word sleuth and book junkie, she prefers paper over e-books and loves few things more than surfing four to fivefoot waves. You can follow her projects in process on her blog: www.thesurferstokeproject.com.
EMILY VILLANUEVA Emily Villanueva is sensitive, superstitious, slightly scatterbrained and far too forthcoming. She is a wandering wordsmith who spends 90 percent of her time (and paychecks) on food. When she’s not busy stuffing her face, she’s stuffing her head with delicious literature, music and art, because brain food is important, too, kids.
DISTRIBUTION
NICOLE FERA
Nicole is a New Jersey native who studied English and Journalism at Monmouth University, Long Branch. She moved to sunny San Diego to enjoy all that it has to offer, including the beach, the music scene and the opportunity to share her love of Journalism with others. She hopes to continue writing by making a career of her first true love: words.
GRETCHEN HACKMANN Gretchen Hackmann is the cofounder of Nubry.com, fashion and style blog that creates editorials, lookbooks, and social media advertising campaigns for brands. Gretchen has called the east and west coast her home for the last decade during which she launched several fashion and tech startups. She has a BS in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from Babson College and a PhD in style. Her favorite fashion trend to date is “the claw.” @nubry
MEGHAN MEREDITH Meghan Meredith is a Southern California native. She is a freelance writer and photographer who has worked with The Chopra Center for Well-Being shooting for the Oprah Winfrey Network. Her work has been seen in Pilates Today and IDEA Health and Fitness. She also participates in storytelling projects involving creative writing, photography and film. www.meghanmeredith.com
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Visit
our website for daily tips on fashion, food and what’s happening near you.
AFTON LARSON
Afton Larson is an authentic San Diegan; self-taught foodie; eformed cynic; hug dealer. There’s E.E., Saunders, Plath, and Eugenides, and then there’s me, fangirling. I’m the reason all the baconwrapped dates are gone. Twitter @afton_brooke//
RICK RAMIREZ When racks run out, Rick runs in.
www.localemagazine.com
ED HALEY Ed Haley currently writes for Screenpicks.com, doing entertainment and film reviews and has been on the Hollywood film critic circuit for several
CAROLYN SAMUELSON Carolyn Samuelson recently accomplished her dream of
the CONTRIBUTORS
PHOTOS
photographed celebs, musicians and gold medal athletes all over the world. He writes and directs music videos; and is also working on a feature film, projected to be out in 2014. www.JeffFarsaiPhotography.com
and graphic design. Our work has been published by brands including CASIO, G-Shock, The Associated Press, Oakley, Microsoft, CBS, Fuel TV, Transworld and Nylon Fashion Magazine. Director/Producer/ Cameraman Antonio Pullano has created content in over five countries. For lifestyle and editorial photography, product and service videos and unparalleled event coverage choose www.lovinlife.ca
NANCY VILLERE
STYLE BY F.E.A
Nancy Villere has been a professional photographer for 18 years. Her passion for photography lies in the discovery of another human being. She is currently uncovering her purpose as a photographer through her studio work at Crush Photo Studios. Fashion, commercial and boudoir photography are Nancy’s emphasis. It is her greatest joy to witness the freedom and selfconfidence women experience after their sessions. www.crushphotostudios.com
Francisco, Eddie and Alex Barragan are three freelance fashion stylists from Orange County who collectively form Style by F.E.A. Working as a team, the Barragan brothers give clients the unique experience of having three creative minds working as one. Apart from being fascinated by all things fashion, the brothers have a genuine interest in helping others look and feel their best. www.stylebyfea.com
DHRUMIL DESAI Dhrumil Desai is a fashion and beauty photographer who focuses on creating sophisticated photos. His images develop a relationship between the viewer and the photo by having a strong character present. He created a series of photographs taken from the window seat of an airplane, which won him an award in the Fine Arts category in the 2nd National Photo Awards held by the Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. www.dhrumildesai.me
FRANK ISHMAN Born in Connecticut and raised in Southern California, Photographer Frank Ishman received his education and training at Morehouse College and the Art Institute of Atlanta. Frank has lived and worked around the world in locations like London, India, New Zealand and throughout the United States, and has recently moved from Brooklyn New York back home to the Los Angeles area. www.frankishman.com
ADAM GENTRY
Adam is a Southern-California native, a photographer and an entrepreneur. He is passionate about profiling interesting people whether they are a break-through artist, a fledgling stylist or simply someone with a compelling story to tell. www.gentryimages.com
SHANNON O’NEIL
SIERRA PRESCOTT Sierra Prescott is a lifestyle fashion photographer, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. People are her passion, so she photographs them for a living. Working or not, you’ll never see her without a smile on her face. www.sierraprescott.com
Jeff Farsai specializes in editorial, celebrity, fashion, sports and wedding photography. After earning his B.F.A. in photography and visual communication, he dove into the commercial world of photography. Jeff has
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RICH LANDER Rich Lander is a Wedding and Portrait photographer based in Southern California. He loves working with people and getting the opportunity to tell their story through a visual medium. He also has a really, really big sweet tooth! www.chardphoto.com
Shannon O’Neil of Cargo Creative is a freelance prop and event stylist and visual merchandiser. She has moved up and down the California coast, pursuing her education, work opportunities and exploring the beauty the coast has to offer. Now, returning home to her native Laguna Beach, Shannon is doing a variety of freelance projects and gathering inspiration for her work through travel, nature and music. www.cargo-creative.com
Create free or featured business and calender event listings on www.localemagazine.com!
JEFF FARSAI
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STYLISTS
LOVINLIFE MULTIMEDIA LovinLife Multimedia is your world travelling, commercial resource for professional photography, video productions
Promote your business or event to our tens of thousands of monthly, local online visitors. Visit www.localemagazine.com/register to get started
TABLE OF
HOLIDAY EDITION 2013 ISSUE
CONTENTS 78
64 144
120 92
102
COVER FEATURE
53
82
TRYST TWIST
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| Holiday 2013 Issue
68
34 152 148 46
30
110 130 116 26
NATIVE KNOWLEDGE Monday through Sunday, By Locals
EAT 30
EAT EXPERT: IBERICO’S CULINARY MATADOR Head Chef Luis Cardenas Creates Modern Spanish Cuisine
34
HERE PIGGY, PIGGY The Best of Bacon
46
MEALS DECONSTRUCTED: STARTING FROM SCRATCH A Guide to Festive Feasting
DRINK
53
SIP SERVICE Salut to San Diego’s Cold Weather Drinks
64
DRINK EXPERT: Vince and Julie Marconi Partner with Breathe Legal™
68
PANORAMA New Kids on the Block
78
SHOP
SHOP EXPERT: TRUCKER STYLE Katie McCarthy’s Chic Mobile Boutique Hits San Diego
130 FIRST TIMER’S GUIDE : SCENT-VENTION Bottle a Custom Fragrance at Local Parfumerie, Tijon Boutique
82
FASHION SPREAD: TRYST TWIST A Pictoral of Uptown Holiday Fashion
135
GUIDE
92
LOCALE LOOKS Effortless NYE Style
FEATURE
102
THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID How to Throw a Holiday Party— NUBRY Style
HOME
DO
116
DO EXPERT: COLOR VISION Tetrachromatic Concetta Antico Paints with Colors
152
SU CASA: UNDERSTATED ELEGANCE Discovering a Hidden Gem in La Jolla
120
VS. SPA’S Where to Find Prime Pampering
110
ESCAPE TO LA A Rogue on the Run
144 148
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2013 TAKING A STAND The Story of Barney Miller and Project Walk HOME EXPERT: SCOUT'S HONOR It’s All About Design at Scout at Quarter's D
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All rights reserved © 2013, the entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any forms or by any means without express written prior permission of the copyright owner. LOCALE MAGAZINE ph: 858.848.9101 | fax: 949.682.4807 info@localemagazine.com COVER: Photography By: Jeff Farsai Model: Tatiana Vitrano of Shamon Freitas Talent Agency, www.shamonfreitas.com Hair & Makeup By: Noel Sweeny of Hey Saylor Cosmetics, www.heysaylorcosmetics.com Styled By: Style by f.e.a., www.stylebyfea.com Location: The Grand Del Mar, 5300 Grand Del Mar Ct, San Diego, www.thegranddelmar.com Clothing Provided by: Adolfo Sanchez, www.adolfosanchezdesigns.com Jewelry Provided By: Geoffrey Scott, www.geoffreyscott.us TRYST TWIST: Photography By: Jeff Farsai Models: Tatiana Vitrano and John Dewall of Shamon Freitas Talent Agency, www.shamonfreitas.com Hair & Makeup By: Noel Sweeny of Hey Saylor Cosmetics, www.heysaylorcosmetics.com Styled By: Style by f.e.a., www.stylebyfea.com Location: The Grand Del Mar, 5300 Grand Del Mar Ct, San Diego, www.thegranddelmar.com Clothing Provided by: Zara, Adolfo Sanchez, La Perla, Novencento Boutique and Friar Tux Shop Jewelry Provided By: Mark Patterson Jewelry, www.markpatterson.com, Geoffrey Scott, www.geoffreyscott.us LOCALE LOOKS: Photography By: Antonio Pullano of Lovinlife Multimedia Styled By: Style by f.e.a., www.stylebyfea.com Makeup Provided By: Brie Leach for MAKE UP FOR EVER Hair By: Katlyn Sieminski of Vivace Salon Locations: Katsuya, Andaz Wine Room, Stingaree, Bassmnt, Lucky Bastard Saloon Clothing Provided by: Dolcetti Boutique, Twirl, My Sister's Closet, Friar Tux Shop Accessories Provided By: My Sister's Closet, Flashbacks, Twirl
Thank you to Refresh Talent Agency and ZARZAR Modeling Agency for providing all models in Locale Looks. Models listed in order from left to right on opening spread. REFRESH TALENT AGENCY www.refreshtalent.com Dylan Stallard Chase Drews Loree Rapp ZARZAR MODELS www.zarzarmodels.com Brooke Rilling
COVER MODEL TATIANA VITRANO Tatiana Vitrano is an ItalianAmerican born in San Diego. Traveling to foreign countries, trying new and exotic foods and yoga are a few of her favorite things to do. She has been modeling for more than five years and loves the everchanging fashion industry. San Diego is her favorite place to be, because it’s so peaceful and beautiful.
time as part time to full Kristal moved from Reilly became our full and our Editor in Chief #LoveOurTeam r. ne time in house desig n fu re mo #blondeshave
This issue began with our first company retreat. We bonded over mexican food in Lake Arrowhead. #games #beer #giantchickenbreast #cards #BPF
i took my baby girl to her first day of school. #cried #stopgrowing #Iamherpromdate
working on this We had more than 30 people eboard Holiday issue for you. #whit ehappyshirtonErik ryb wor ont #D s eep urp #weloveo Took the family on a weeklong roadtrip to yosemite #familytime
We traveled to L’auberge Del Mar to show you our fantasy Holiday table setting and feast. #sofestive
ed to be the media We were so lucky to be ask n Diego. What a sponsor of Fashion Week Sa eroni blast! #FWSD #runway #p
o #DLand nie nniepxo t in I took @ro again #mickeyandm rt hi es m sa #
hungout with friends
#bestbuds
meshirt I road a swan at a pool party #sa
Trevor and
We visited bars an Diego. New rest d restaurants all over San aura drinks were our nts, bacon and winter focu #HerePiggyPigg s. #sipservice y #NKOTB
We noticed our Mar taken up residen ch 2013 covergirl had ce in Southern Cal on quite a few billboards ifornia. #yay # proud
I stuffed ou
r faces. #so
big #13
attended fashion @ronniepxo #e2
day shooting our cover We spent an amazing and Del Mar. Did you and spread at the Gr #luxury #trysttwist figure out the twist? #LaPerla
I got to drive a Maserati for a week thanks to our friends at Ferrari Maserati of La Jolla #jamesbond #escapetoLa #sosick #vroom #hotelerwin
#Legend Please read the friend Barney’s amaz story about my good ing drive. #babysteps
riend erin
week with my girlf
ERIK HALE PUBLISHER
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E V I T NA WLEDGE KNO
a l s // c o L r o f B y Lo c a l s
DAY IN S D N U S Y A B E MO ND W H E R E TO
SARA STROUD
NHUNG DELOERA Manager, Business Development American Express Company
MONDAY: Mondays are “shoulder day” at LA Fitness
Co-owner, Carnitas Snack Shack
Burger Lounge
in 4S Ranch, followed by a tanning session at Urban Sun Tanning. Nights call for a stop at our favorite new spot, Sushi on the Rocks. Their Don Roll is “da bomb.” www.lafitness.com | www.urbansuntan.com www.sushiontherock.com
MONDAY: On Mondays, we head over to Toronado for $3 local drafts and the charm of Nate Soroko. It’s like our second family. www.Toronadosd.com
TUESDAY: For lunch, Salad Style’s Soba Noodle, Vegetable and Chicken salad offers the perfect balance. After work, I take a boxing session at the Boxing Club in UTC. My trainer, Jessica Lopez, makes sure I burn 1000 calories. I opt for take-out at Star Anise in UTC afterwards. www.saladstyle.com | www.theboxingclub.net www.staranisesandiego.com
WEDNESDAY: One of my first stops is the bBar. Any of their delicious juices or superfood smoothies are a great start. By hump day, I’m craving Mexican food. Diane Powers did right by opening Casa Sol y Mar in Del Mar Highlands Town Center. www.livebeaming.com | www.casasolymar.com
THURSDAY: Thursdays at Lobster West is where I stare at the Lobster Roll, but order one of their lobster or crab salads instead. If I’m in Carlsbad, I stop into Kasi for some fast, healthy Indian Food. www.lobsterwest.com | www.kasifoods.com
Sushi on the Rocks’ Don Roll is “da bomb.” - N h un g
In dustr ial Gr in d
SUNDAY: First stop is Zion Market. My husband and I also hang out at Paris Baguette (located inside the market). Then, it’s dinner and a movie night at Cinepolis Del Mar. www.zionmarket.com | www.parisbaguetteusa.com www.cinepolisusa.com 26
WEDNESDAY: We try and make it to Salt and Cleaver at least once a week. We love everyone there, and the food is delicious. We inevitably end up spending hours there. www.enjoysausage.com
THURSDAY: We head over to Session’s Public in Point Loma. Chef Brandon Brooks is cooking up some great stuff. He just debuted a great new menu, and the inviting atmosphere keeps us coming back! www.sessionspublic.com
FRIDAY: There is one place that just can’t miss,
FRIDAY: I trade in happy hour for some “me time.” Master Stylist Truong Dahn at Salon de Claude in 4S Ranch is about the only person I trust with my hair. I also look forward to my facials at Neu Look Spa. Then, it’s date night with the hubby, Italian style, at Bice Ristorante in downtown. www.salondeclaude.com | www.neulookskin.com www.bicesandiego.com SATURDAY: Mornings and afternoons are spent at the pool, then it’s off to Burger Lounge for the best turkey burgers. Saturday is my “drinking day,” so I enjoy mojito martinis and dinner at the Pacific Coast Grill in Cardiff. www.burgerlounge.com | www.pacificcoastgrill.com
TUESDAY: We are closed on Tuesdays, but after meetings, we usually end up at Fathom Bistro Bait & Tackle. It’s the best place to view our beautiful sunsets, and it helps that they have awesome food and beer. It’s also one of the only places in San Diego, where you can throw a line in the water, without a fishing license. www.fathombistro.com
Yakitori Yakyudori and Ramen on Covoy. There is nothing on the menu that we don’t love. There is usually a line, but we will wait. It’s worth it. No website, but give them a call at 1-858-268-2888
SATURDAY: One of us tries to hit up Industrial
Casa S ol y Mar
Grind on Park Ave every Saturday, and sometimes they will even bring it to us! These ladies make a fierce iced coffee, and it’s the only way to start a busy day. www.industrialgrindcoffee.com
SUNDAY: Hanis works until the wee hours on Sundays, which gives me time to spend with my adorable piggy, Carnitas. He loves mommy time. Carnitas: Speck@facebook.com
RAY LOWE Owner of FISH 101
MONDAY: Start with a surf with our team riders Taylor Knox, Josh Kerr at our heavily guarded super secret home break. Afterwards, we grab ramen noodles at Raki Raki on Convoy Street with a choice of both chicken broth or pork broth. Be sure to try the Super Deluxe Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen the fried Chicken Karaage. www.rakirakiramen.com #heavilyguardedsupersecrethomebreak
Saturday = spa day. - Ca rr i e
CARRIE JONES Vice President / Director of Reputation at i.d.e.a.
MONDAY: The 6am Pilates class at Core40 in
TUESDAY: Hike the Torrey Pines trail. Then, a lunch meeting at Haggo’s Organic Taco. Get the Burgundy Beef burritos. I work evenings at Fish 101, so my family heads into the restaurant for dinner. My threeyear-old son loves the salmon, but the real reason he loves the restaurant… the soft serve ice cream.
F ish 101
TUESDAY: Working in Little Italy, I try to take advantage of the neighborhood. I get my pick-meup from Pappalecco, where you’re bound to hear a plethora of languages. Located next door to my office is Queenstown Public House, my go-to lunch. www.pappalecco.com www.queenstownpublichouse.com
www.haggosorganictaco.com | www.fish101restaurant.com www.strausfamilycreamery.com
WEDNESDAY: Get a babysitter for date night and head over to Del Mar Highlands for Italian food at Davanti Enotecta. The polenta dish is a staple. Then, we walk to Cinepolis. Popcorn, cold beer or a craft cocktail, all delivered to you in a reclining seat. www.davantisandiego.com www.cinepolisusa.com THURSDAY: Go to Cardiff State Beach. Park your car in the parking lot next to the sand. It’s a perfect place to have a family picnic and watch the surf. Pick up Machado Acai bowls at Sambazon café. On the way home, stop by Seaside market and pick up a couple of Kobe beef tri tips for BBQ night. End your meal with desserts from Sweet 101 by Jessica Park. www.sambazon.com/café | www.sweet101desserts.com www.parks.ca.gov
WEDNESDAY: My SweatNet membership let’s me
Cinepolis
Another beach morning, because it’s San Diego! Head to Moonlight Beach. - Ra y
FRIDAY: Another beach morning, because it’s San Diego! Head to Moonlight Beach. The playground and beach are great for kids. Pick up a cold brewed Kyoto iced coffee from Lofty Coffee Co. In the afternoon, I head to the restaurant to sample beers from our Craft beer vendors. Favorite beer of the week is the Danish Red Lager from Figueroa Mountain. www.loftycoffeeco.com | www.figmtnbrew.com www.parks.ca.gov SATURDAY: Stroll down to Café Ipe / Revolution Roasters to pick up a couple pounds of freshly roasted coffee beans. Owner Dan Scheibe has perfected his craft of small batch roasting. The “Dancing Goat” is my go to blend. Stop at In ‘N’ Out burger for a cheeseburger and fries. www.revoroasters.com | www.cafeipe.com www.in-n-out.com
Carmel Valley is where I get a full body sweat sesh in just 40 minutes. On the way to work, I swing by the Whole Foods in Del Mar for one of their Farmer’s Garden green drinks. www.core40.com | www.wholefoodsmarket.com
drop in at barre, Pilates or yoga studios all around SD at a huge discount. After, I visit my hair stylist Edward at Cut Salon—he’s meticulous. Then, it’s a family outing to Islands for burgers and yummy drinks. www.sweatnet.com | www.islandsrestaurants.com
THURSDAY: As a working mom, I take advantage of any spare moments, which means lunch at Westfield UTC to hit up Nordstrom, Madewell and Anthropologie. Tender Greens for a salad before heading back to the office. Then, it’s dinner at Samurai in Solana Beach. Be sure to try the Spicy Tuna Special roll. www.westfield.com/utc www.samuraijapaneserestaurant.com FRIDAY: It’s date night, so the husband and I hit up Blue Ribbon in Encinitas. The Whipped Goat Cheese is a must, as is the Butterscotch Pudding. Then, we make our way down Hwy 101, stopping for sunset cocktails at Pacific Coast Grill and a final nightcap at the lobby bar at L’Auberge. www.blueribbonpizzeria.com www.pacificcoastgrill.com www.laubergedelmar.com
L'Aub erge
SATURDAY: Saturday = spa day. Best little gem is Bergamot in Leucadia. You’ll feel like you are in Bali as you lounge in the gardens on daybeds. For dinner, it’s Sea & Smoke in Del Mar’s Flower Hill. Order the Niman Ranch Braised Lamb Shoulder and the Wood Roasted Main Lobster. www.bergamotspa.com | www.seaandsmoke.com
SUNDAY: Leucadia farmer’s market has a great
SUNDAY: A hike at Torrey Pines is how we start our
selection of local organic produce, cheese, eggs and meat. I keep going back for Annel and Drew’s breakfast sandwich. Another nice treat to end the week is dinner at Sushi Ota. Sit at the sushi bar and enjoy the “omakase” menu from Ota San. www.anneldrewskitchen.com | www.otasushi.com/wp
day, since life with a toddler doesn’t include sleeping in! We head to Balboa Park to people watch and visit our favorite museum, The San Diego Museum of Art. We love to grab fresh groceries from Seaside Market in Cardiff for a home-cooked dinner. www.sdmart.org | www.seasidemarket.com
Sea & Smoke
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IBERICO Spanish Bistro and Gin Club 909 Prospect St Upstairs Ste 290 La Jolla, CA 92037 858.454.1958 www.ibericobistro.com
THE EXPERT
LUIS CARDENAS Executive Chef Originally From:
Quaretaro, Mexico
T
PER X E T
EA
IBERICO’S CulinaryMatador T R E XP
TE
EA
Head Chef Luis Cardenas Creates Modern Spanish Cuisine
berico, a Spanish bistro located in the heart of La Jolla on Prospect Street, is the newest addition to the area and features an avant-garde, sophisticated ambience. The décor is classic, yet modern with wooden furniture, brightly colored accents and a beautiful bar set up right in the middle of it all. A quick review of the menu conjures ideas for my next wine night. Who’s behind this insightfully global menu? Iberico’s new Executive Chef, Luis Cardenas, who was born in Queretaro, Mexico into a family of chefs and food-lovers, which is where his passion stems from. He is the 25-year-old head chef of this beautiful new restaurant here in the San Diego area, but this
WRITTEN BY: NICOLE FERA 30 |
| Holiday 2013 Issue
is not his first executive chef position. Chef Cardenas has held this position at several Spanish Cuisine restaurants in Mexico as well as at an upscale Italian restaurant. He is also a graduate of the Institute for Higher Studies Gastronomic and two-time winner of the Festival De Paella, which is held in the beautiful vineyards of Mexico each year. These are just some of the many accomplishments this amazing Chef has already achieved in his young life. I learned all of this, along with how passionate and dedicated he is about the food that he cooks and creates, during our intimate interview.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: NANCY VILLERE OF CRUSH PHOTO STUDIOS
Q: How did you come to hold the executive chef position at Iberico? Chef Luis Cardenas: I was working as an executive chef for a restaurant in Mexico, and the owners actually reached out to me because they were familiar with my work and my style of cooking. The restaurant is brand new, and they needed someone with my style of cooking to match the ambience they wanted to create. They offered me the position, and here I am at this beautiful new restaurant doing what I love for a living in this new, wonderful city. Q: So, you moved to San Diego specifically for this job and opportunity? What made the move worthwhile to you? LC: I have worked in restaurants since I was fourteen years old under my father and grandfather, but this was a big opportunity to create a menu that featured traditional Spanish dishes with a modern spin. I had the freedom to come up with dishes I knew people would love and that I am proud to serve. Q: You created the entire menu from scratch? You must have a favorite item, then, that you love to cook and share with people. LC: Yes, my sous chef, Omar, and I created the menu together, which was exciting to work on. There’s a little bit of everything on the menu, including tapas for people looking to try a little bit of everything and share with friends. Although I love everything on the menu, the Chamorro de Cordero, which is braised lamb shank, is definitely my favorite because of its rich flavor and how we take the time to prepare it. It’s baked for 12 hours to get those fantastic flavors, and it’s definitely worth the time and effort we take to make it. Q: That sounds amazing. Looking over the menu, I notice there are a lot of interesting dishes that you don’t see at most restaurants. Where did you draw your inspiration from when creating them? LC: My father, grandfather and the rest of my family have always inspired me. I grew up in restaurants because I come from a family full of chefs and owners, so I fell in love with cooking at a young age. These are dishes that are traditional in Mexico and where I’m from, but we’ve elevated them to go along with the ambiance and atmosphere of the restaurant. We serve delicious, classical food, but for the fine diner in La Jolla. Q: I can see exactly what your intentions were upon looking over this menu, so congratulations on completing that vision. You received such an early introduction to food, did you attend any culinary schools or are you self-taught?” LC: Yes, I worked in restaurants growing up, learning from my father, but then, I went to IGES, Institute for Higher Studies Gastronomic, which is where I deepened my culinary knowledge. This helped polish all of my skills and allow me to gain the job opportunities I had in Mexico and now here in San Diego. Q: You’re such an accomplished chef for someone who is only twenty-five years old. Not only have you been an executive chef for more than one well-known restaurant, you are also an award winner. Can you tell me a little bit about the Festival de la Paella in Mexico? LC: The Festival de la Paella in Mexico holds a contest every year for the best dish, and I have won the past two years in a row. It’s always exciting to create the best meal that I can, and then have my family and friends around for when I have been declared the winner. I won’t be able to participate this year, but now my family has a new restaurant and city to come and enjoy with me. Q: Has your family been to Iberico yet to visit and taste all of your delicious food? LC: My family has already visited the restaurant and me since I moved here, and thankfully, they loved everything. It’s a nice place for them to come visit, and they get to enjoy my work. My family and friends are my favorite people to cook for and that’s where it all started.
Chef Luis Cardenas
WITH US
is a graduate of the Institute for Higher Studies Gastronomic and two-time winner of the Festival De Paella.
Q: That’s amazing to have such a wonderful family and support system. I’m sure your cooks have become like a family to you as well. Do you all work well as a team?” LC: It’s all about the people that I work with – they are the people who make all of this food and this menu possible. We have a solid group of people that I can count on to make each meal special and delicious. It’s one of the best groups of people I’ve had the pleasure of working with.
Q: Do you have any rituals that you and your staff do to get through a busy night? LC: After every shift, we all come together to toast the hard work we have done for the day, because it’s important to be thankful for all of their hard work. Being a chef requires long hours of hard work with a fast pace when the restaurant is full, so after each night, it’s good to toast our success. Q: I’m sure your teamwork comes through in the quality of the food. Do the long hours ever get to you? LC: The long hours that you put into this business are worth it, because it is what I love to do. I think that shows in my food and how passionate I am about what I do. The people that I work with feel the same way, which is why we are such an amazing team.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BOOKING ONE OF OUR PRIVATE DINING ROOMS FOR YOUR NEXT PARTY, PLEASE EMAIL EVENTS@WNLHOSP.COM
Q: With so many years of cooking under your belt already, do you have any future ambitions or goals that you would like to accomplish? LC: Food will always be my passion, because cooking is what I was born to do. For now, I love my new job, new home and new opportunity here at Iberico. I hope that someday, I can own a restaurant where I can put out sincere, elevated food and continue to put my passion into creating dishes people will love.
CHEF'S TABLES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE AT:
1044 Wall Street La Jolla, CA 92037 858.551.7575 LA JOLLA 7556 Fay Avenue La Jolla, CA 92037 858.875.7737 DEL MAR 1201 Camino Del Mar, Suite 101 Del Mar, CA 92014 858.792.7737 LITTLE ITALY 1660 India Street San Diego, CA 92101 619.398.8383
From left to right: Founder and restaurateur Juan Carlos Gomez and Executive Chef Louis Cardenas
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piggy piggy The Best of San Diego’s Meat Candy
HO DOESN’T LIKE BACON? You could add bacon to cardboard and make it taste good. As long as there are pigs and people alive on earth, bacon will never be over. From bacon martinis to bacon cupcakes, bacon ice cream to bacon chocolate truffles, bacon is The Fonz of meats - it has a cool factor that ho-hum chicken and overrated fish just do not have. It’s the feel good food, the chameleon of carnivorous fare. We love bacon’s fattiness, its saltiness, its versatility and its poetic smoky aroma. The reasons we love bacon are as long as Santa’s naughty and nice lists. So we decided to scour the streets of San Diego in search of its best bacon dishes. During the holidays – the season of indulgence – we’re supposed to treat ourselves. Here are our findings on the most scrumptious bacon dishes in San Diego. Consider it a holiday gift from ours to yours. 34 |
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WRITTEN BY: NATALIE HOLTZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JEFF FARSAI
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Lumberyard Tavern 967 S. Coast Highway 101 Encinitas, CA 760.479.1657
Ignite Bistro
www.lumberyard101.com
6996 El Camino Real Carlsbad, CA 92009 760.438.7800 www.ignitecarlsbad.com
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ith it’s relaxing atmosphere, wine shop, and stellar happy hours, Ignite Bistro has turned into a neighborhood hot spot of which Carlsbad locals just can’t get enough.
In addition to beautiful views and tasty Cabernets by the glass, this American bistro’s cuisine really hits the spot. With a variety of fresh, flavorful dishes, Ignite’s menu combines American staples like Neapolitan Wood-fired Pizzas, with touches of international influences, like Ahi Poke Tacos. Ignite Bistro features two bars, one inside and one outside, and an amazing happy hour, everyday from 3-6pm. There’s a warm, inviting ambience at Ignite - it’s the kind of place you would hang out at with friends. Whether you sit inside next to the panoramic, wall-to-wall window overlooking the hills of Carlsbad, or on the outdoor patio strung with lanterns and adorned with succulents, you’ve got a great seat. Inside, you can watch your favorite sports events on one of the numerous flat screen TVs mounted around the restaurant, making Ignite a great place for sports fans to go on Sunday. Executive Chef Alex Rodriguez prepared Ignite’s most popular bacon dish for us, an appetizer called Man Candy. Man Candy is slow-cooked bacon coated with brown sugar, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. The candied bacon was similar, but far superior to, beef jerky. The spiciness of the pepper with the sweetness of the brown sugar, and the sultriness of the bacon made for the perfect snack - flavorful, filling, yet relatively healthy. Grab some Man Candy (the appetizer definitely, but maybe also living, breathing Man Candy?) or friends if you’re so inclined, sit next to the window, order a nice cabernet (we drank the Hayman and Hill) and enjoy a wonderful happy hour that’s easy on the pocketbook. One of the most unique features about Ignite is The Wine Spot, a small wine shop located just inside the lobby of the restaurant. Head to The Wine Spot on a Wednesday or Friday for twenty bucks off all wines priced at forty dollars or more. Also, everyday, take ten bucks off all wines by the bottle when you take it to go. Ignite also offers great cocktails, including a collection of five different mules. Lucky us.
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his family-owned seaside tavern is a favorite neighborhood hangout located in the heart of Encinitas. With a pleasant open-air atmosphere and casual feel, Lumberyard is a great place to enjoy your favorite sporting events, unwind with friends, or just relax on its pet-friendly patio. With a little something for everyone, Lumberyard Tavern is truly the perfect spot for locals. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, so whenever it’s a good time for you, it’s also a good time for Lumberyard Tavern. Stop in on Mexican Mondays, and sample the Mexican menu and $5 premium margaritas. Come by on Tri-Tip Tuesday, when Lumberyard cooks up Cardiff Crack from Seaside Market, which for years has been known to be the best Tri-Tip in San Diego. Are you a wine person? On Wine Wednesdays, bottles are half off. Sunday is Service Industry Night, so if you’re a server or in the restaurant business at all, waitresses will take half off your bar tab and there are food specials as well. Depending on what nights are good for you, and what makes you itch, there really is something to satisfy every craving at this cozy American eatery. Opened in November 2009, this place used to be an old lumber mill, and owner Lisa Belasco wanted that to shine through in the restaurant’s interior design. Vintage, reclaimed lumber is visible all over the restaurant, giving it a striking appearance, and a comfy, dated feel. One of the best features of the restaurant is the outdoor patio. So get your grub, friends, and one of the 20 craft beers on tap, and go soak in some sunshine and salty sea air. During our visit, Executive Chef Javier Rubio Montoya prepared a Shrimp Burger layered with bacon. The patty consisted of tiger shrimp grilled to perfection, mixed with bell pepper and onion, and topped with strips of maple glazed, brown sugar covered bacon, spicy slaw, avocado, all sandwiched together in a toasted pretzel roll. He paired the dish with a Belgian wheat beer, the fruity and refreshing Alagash White. Another must-try is the Tavern 2X4. A bacon burger at it’s finest, the Tavern 2X4 features two patties, your choice of cheese, topped with four slices of bacon. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, ask your waitress about the Tavern 4X4 Challenge. You’re given a half an hour to eat the burger, which includes four burger patties, cheese and four slices of bacon, and a pound of fries. It might not end well, but if you do it, you’ll get glory and your name up on the plaque that sits on Lumberyard Tavern’s eastern-most wall. | Holiday 2013 Issue | 35
sabuku sushi 3027 Adams Avenue San Diego, CA 92116 619.281.9700 www.sabukusushi.com
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acon mania meets sushi rolls at the creatively delicious Sabuku Sushi in Normal Heights.
Opened in 2011, owner and Sushi Chef Bob Pasela set out to surprise and delight patrons with a nontraditional take on the sushi bar experience. With an offering of over 70 sushi rolls, including an entire collection of rolls featuring bacon, Sabuku is a unique combination of fresh seafood with an innovative American cuisine twist. For our bacon dish, Chef Pasela prepared When Pigs Fry, a fan favorite at Sabuku Sushi. When Pigs Fry is a spicy tuna, bacon and asparagus inside-out roll that is tempura battered and fried, and topped with a bacongarlic aioli and a sweet mandarin sauce. There are so many different textures and flavor profiles in this award winning dish. Between the crunchiness of the bacon, the spiciness of the tuna, and the sweetness of the mandarin sauce, When Pigs Fry is the cheeseburger of sushi. It’s filling, complex, comfort food - a party in
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your mouth. Chef Pasela paired the dish with strong sake, Rock Sake, to cut through the fattiness of this delectable, bacon-ified roll. When you come to Sabuku Sushi, forgo the tables and grab a seat at the bar. Sabuku is unique from other sushi bars in that they got rid of the sushi cases. Chef Pasela designed the bar so that patrons could not only see their sushi being made, but so that they could interact with the chef. Sabuku Sushi features tons of specials, and there is something going on at this Adams Avenue sushi joint every night of the week. Craving a great Taco Tuesday? Head over to Sabuku for their blackened salmon, seared ahi or shrimp tacos. Come on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday for all night long happy hour. Wednesday is Woo Hoo Wednesday, Ladies’ Night, featuring one-dollar bottles of sake for the ladies. On Thirsty Thursdays, the entire alcohol menu at Sabuku is on sale.
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600 5th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.255.7373 www.barleymash.com
Chef Templeton’s menu, described as “progressive bar fare,” is inspired by booze, booze and more booze. Accordingly, Chef Templeton revealed there are very few menu items at Barleymash that do not contain alcohol. Barleymash’s fare, from barley pies to their Bourbon B.B.Q., consists of fresh, filling, flavorful beer grub with a gourmet twist. Large garage-door style windows open the interior to sunny skies, and flat screen TVs on the walls create a comfortable, accepting atmosphere that’s turned Barleymash into a popular local hangout. As Chef Templeton puts it, “We’re the place you want to come five days out of the week. We cater to everybody. It’s a place where the husbands can come and watch the game and the wives can still have a nice glass of wine.” Three long communal tables and the offering of “Splits” (dishes designed for sharing between several people) foster a sense of community and encourage conversation.
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f a sports bar and a fancy restaurant met and had a baby, Barleymash would be their kid. Located in the heart of the Gaslamp, Barleymash is a fun, high-energy restaurant and bar that worships at the altar of the three B’s: beer, bacon and bourbon. Barleymash is not your typical sports bar, so don’t make that mistake or you’ll hurt Executive Chef Kevin Templeton’s feelings. Rather, through it’s scratch-made dishes, innovative menu, and casual environment, Barleymash combines the best of fine dining with the comfort of your neighborhood pub.
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Chef Kevin Templeton’s passion for food shows through, and the amount of bacon dishes at Barleymash is dizzying. Looking for pork belly? Go for the All In. Have you got the bacon sweet tooth? Try the Salted Caramel Brûlée, which is topped with a thick slice of chocolate-covered bacon. For our samplings, Chef Templeton prepared two dishes. First, he cooked up the scrumptious Bacon Blue Cheese Iron Fries. Smothered in hickory-smoked bacon, natural blue cheese crumbles, green onions, tomatoes, pickled onions, and basilbleu cheese sauce, these fries were so good, I don’t care if they give me a heart attack. Be sure to wash down this fatty, delicious dish with a great craft IPA. For us, Chef chose Green Flash’s Surf’s Up Symposium IPA. Chef also served us his interpretation of the jalapeno popper — the Deconstructed Popper. This dish is flat bread covered with fresh jalapenos, cream cheese, perfectly cooked bacon, ranch sauce, crispy-fried tobacco onions and a little habanero jelly. The sweet and spiciness of the habanero jelly is a party in your mouth. To cut through the fattiness of the fries and to add to all the bad stuff going into your body, Chef Templeton suggested drinking Maker’s Mark bourbon.
Head downstairs to the Shout House-esque lounge called Ginger’s to sip on a craft cocktail and listen to the acoustic acts, piano players and singers who perform nightly.
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Slater’s 50/50 2750 Dewey Road #193 San Diego, CA 92106 619.398.2600 www.slaters5050.com
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later’s 50/50 is bacon paradise housed in a fun, approachable, yet gourmet sports bar. And from bacon milkshakes to bacon breakfast burritos, bacon brownies to bacon macaroni and cheese, the amount of bacon dishes at Slater’s is almost overwhelming. It’s like this awardwinning American cuisine restaurant tucked into Liberty Station was picked up and dipped in bacon. And with 111 rotating craft brews on tap, Slater’s is not just a haven for bacon-lovers, but it’s heaven for beer-lovers as well. Scott Slater opened Slater’s 50/50’s in November 2011 with “excesstacy” in mind. And with a menu dominated by scrumptious, indulgent, push the envelope dishes like the Donut Burger and Fried Chicken and Pancakes, excess and ecstasy are Slater’s 50/50’s middle names. Executive Chef Brad Lyons prepared Slater’s B’B’B’ Bacon Burger, a 50 percent ground beef, 50 percent ground bacon patty, topped with bacon American cheese, a sunny side up egg, bacon island dressing, bacon ketchup, baconnaise, and two strips of bacon, all sandwiched between a bacon pretzel bun. The
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burger comes a la carte, so Chef Lyons suggests ordering some fries with bacon ketchup. This burger is perfect with Slater’s Bacon Old Fashioned, a house-made-bacon-infused Basil Hayden Bourbon, shaken with a touch of maple syrup, maple flavored bitters and garnished with orange zest. Or, if you prefer vodka, go for the Bacon Mary, house-madebacon-infused Three Olives Vodka and premium Bloody Mary mix rimmed with bacon salt and garnished with a thick slice of bacon. Not in the mood for a burger but still have a hankering for bacon? There is a plethora of bacon dishes at Slater’s, it just depends what you’re in the mood for. Try the Jalapeno Bacon Mac n’ Cheese, the Macaroni and Cheese Balls, or the Maple Bacon Milkshake. There’s 50/50’s Famous Bacon Brownie, two moist chocolate brownies sandwiching chocolate ganache and candied bacon, served a la mode. Slater’s serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and each has their own rich and delicious bacon creations. “When should we come to Slater’s?” we asked. Scott Slater says we should come on a sunny Saturday afternoon, sit in the beer garden, and do a little day drinking. All the beers at Slater’s are local; San Diego craft beers that are rotated daily, and you can order one from the bartender right there at the outdoor bar. Need a little advice on what to pick? No worries. All the bartenders and servers at Slater’s are Cicerone Certified Beer Servers, meaning they have expertise in selecting, pairing and serving a wide variety of beers.
Underbelly 750 W First Street San Diego, CA 92101 619.269.4626 www.godblessunderbelly.com
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olks, we have an…oink…winner. With a name like Underbelly, I knew I was in for some porky goodness when I walked into Little Italy’s pint-sized ramen shop. But while the bacon blew my mind, Underbelly’s Ramen may be one of the best things I have ever eaten. As part of the Consortium Holdings repertoire of establishments (who also operate Craft & Commerce and El Dorado Cocktail Lounge), Underbelly is a tribute to traditional Japanese ramen houses with an urban flare. Its ramen-centric menu and trendy beverage program, including 27 internationally focused, rare draft beers, are a match made in culinary heaven. Owner Arsalun Tasavoli studied at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, and was inspired by Japanese food culture. Tasavoli is very serious about staying true to Underbelly’s Japanese roots, emphasizing quality and consistency, while respecting traditional Japanese ingredients and customs. So, don’t ask for a spoon at Underbelly. There isn’t a spoon in the entire establishment. From the windows that fold down into tables, to the fluorescent “Underbelly” sign on the white-tiled ceiling, to the wall of succulent plants bordering the entrance to the restaurant, Underbelly boasts exotic urban decor designed by Paul Basile. The entire restaurant is metal, glass and windows, which open the floodgates for natural light. At 1,100 square feet, the intimate space of Underbelly is designed to bring people together to get lost in the art of conversation.
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After touring the newly remodeled restaurant, we caught up with Chef Michael Moira who told us a little about his roots in sushi and Asian cuisine. Chef Moira prepared the Underbelly Ramen for us. The dish is a heavenly mixture of creamy broth, ramen noodles, char-su belly, applewood smoked bacon, kurobuta sausage, a soft-boiled egg, bacon-wrapped mushrooms, ginger, scallions, bean sprouts, seaweed and sesame seeds. All the elements of the dish are perfectly cooked. The meats are intensely flavorful, tender, melt-in-your-mouth, bacon-ey goodness. That perfectly cooked, lightly sweet soft-boiled egg enhances the decadence of the dish. The yolk is just right. Not runny, but not cooked all the way through. The dish is light, yet filling, sweet, yet salty. This ramen is truly a gift from the bacon gods. Chef Moira paired the dish with Japan’s Belgian-style, Hitachino Nest Beer, a perfect compliment to this dish.
A second installment of the restaurant is in the works, and the new North Park location is expected to open in January 2014. At the new space, in addition to ramen, a yakitori menu (or skewered meats) will also be served.
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Alchemy 1503 30th Street San Diego, CA 92102 619.255.0616 www.alchemysandiego.com
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estled in the heart of South Park, Alchemy radiates the charm, art and creativity of the community that surrounds it.
“Cultural fare” is the vision behind the eclectic menu and craft cocktails at this community-focused neighborhood hot spot. With hints of cuisine from all around the world, Alchemy boasts a highly sustainable menu showered with exotic flare. Executive Chef Ricardo Heredia told us he looks to create “simplistic, neighborhood dishes he cannot find anywhere else.” And with everything from Kimchee Fried Rice to Chicken Paillard, we think he’s doing a great job. Alchemy provides two menus: a brunch menu, and a dinner menu, both of which change constantly. From the trail of real library books stamped across the ceiling to the stainless steel tree freestanding in the center of the restaurant, the interior design of Alchemy is extraordinary. Organic design is the inspiration behind the decor, and in the spirit of that organic nature, Alchemy provides a venue for local artists to showcase their art. Pieces by the selected artist are displayed all around the restaurant for six weeks at a time, then rotated out, to give patrons an idea of how each artist can dramatically change the feel of the space.
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For our sampling, Chef chose to showcase his “all about bacon” BLT, which he told us, is his expression of the BLT’s he remembers from childhood. He thickly sliced eight strips of applewood-smoked bacon, topped it with vine-ripened tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and a roasted garlic aioli - pressed between two slices of soft pancetta-filled, bacon bread from local bakery Bread and Sea. Chef paired the scrumptious sandwich with Taro chips, an edible root highly popular in Asia and Africa. The light, but flavorful Taro chips are a fun, crunchy, and nutritional twist on traditional potato chips. The perfect compliment to the BLT is the Bacon Bloody Mary made from bacon-infused vodka, a house-made Clamato® juice mix, and garnished with a piece of crunchy, salty bacon. Another of the most popular bacon dishes is the Taro Tacos. Chef Heredia takes the taro root and turns it into taco shells, fills them with braised pork belly, spicy cucumber, and finishes them with a little bacon salt, bacon fat powder, and microcilantro. Chef Heredia’s Taro Tacos pulled the gold ribbon at a bacon competition here in Del Mar, and he is making them for another upcoming bacon contest in Las Vegas. Trust us when we say, these tacos are finger-licking good.
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Sit under the third table from the entrance under the shade of trees, that’s Chef Hanis’ favorite spot.
Carnitas’ Snack Shack 2632 University Avenue San Diego, CA 92104 619.294.7675 www.carnitassnackshack.com
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here’s a lot to love about Carnitas’ Snack Shack. This North Park porkcentric eatery has a cult following and the respect of the San Diego culinary community, and it’s easy to understand why with the best baconcentric menu I’ve ever seen. We love their hours (they’re open until 12am), and we love their well-crafted menu of tasty, seasonal items. They deliver, and they pour great locally sourced craft beers. There’s a giant metal pig on their roof (cool!), and they’ve got all the greats qualities of a food truck and none of the bad. So maybe rather than asking, “What’s to love about Carnitas’?” a better question is, “What’s not to love about Carnitas’?” From their Pork Belly App to their Triple Threat Pork Sandwich, “all things pig” is the name of the game at this wait-in-line, because everyone loves them, restaurant. The menu items at Carnitas’ are between six and nine dollars, and everything is a la carte. The chefs source their ingredients as locally as possible to support local and family farmers, bakers, ranchers, wineries and breweries, which in turn, provides the best farm-fresh food. This also means the menu at Carnitas’ changes often. Need more reasons to love Carnitas’? Each year they participate in many charity and outreach programs, giving back to the community as often as possible. Head Chef Hanis “The Pig Guy” Cavin and Sara Stroud use bacon in ten of their dishes, and pork in nearly their entire menu. Their adorable pet and mini-pig, Carnitas, is the inspiration behind the restaurant’s name, and now, he’s a YouTube 42 |
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star (over a million views). All things considered, Chef Hanis and Ms. Stroud are truly the Buddhas of bacon, and Carnitas’ Snack Shack is pork heaven. And while the food is to die for, so is the space. The outdoor patio at Carnitas’ features planters full of trees, hanging blue lanterns, a fun and colorful spraypainted mural of pigs and a vegetable garden. In addition to the vegetables (which Carnitas’ uses in their dishes), Chef Hanis revealed to me that he had flowers put in because, as he said, “Flowers make me smile.” Best of all, there’s an outdoor bar called The Pig Pen, which serves up the best local craft brews just make sure you bring cash. The outdoor patio and bar at Carnitas’ is one of the best things about it – it’s a relaxed, positive, beautiful area to drink a beer, study for a final, catch up with friends, or heck, do all of the above. For us, Chef Hanis prepared the SnackShack BLT. Soft, thick brioche bread from local bakery Con Pane is loaded with salty, crunchy bacon, a few slices of ham, tomato, lettuce, and a house-made aioli, a mix of pickled carrots, onions, peppers and a little bit of cauliflower. The bread is so soft it melts in your mouth; then, you’ve got the tanginess of the aioli, and the nice fattiness of the bacon. Yum would be a huge understatement. Enjoy this over-the-top BLT with a locally brewed IPA - there are plenty to choose from at The Pig Pen. Chef also cooked up the Triple Threat Pork Sandwich, another favorite at Carnitas’. Shredded pork, a pork schnitzel, loaded up with two thick pieces of applewood-smoked bacon is sandwiched between a thick, fresh bun. It’s salty, smokey, bacon-ey goodness, just make sure you come hungry. Still beggin’ for bacon? Finish the meal with the Bacon Bourbon Truffle of the Bacon Crunch Bar, or as Chef Hanis calls, it the “Twix for adults.”
Kitchen 1540 at the L'Auberge's Guide to
FESTIVE FEASTING WRITTEN BY: EMILY VILLANUEVA PHOTOGRAPHY BY: FRANK ISHMAN STYLED BY: SHANNON O’NEIL
1. GARLIC POWDER 2. CARDAMOM 3. FENNEL POLLEN 4. BLACK PEPPERCORN 5. CLOVE 6. SEEDS
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o other time of the year revels in food as much as the holidays. Spring blooms with the harvesting of fresh fruits and vegetables and summer is prime barbeque time, but winter is when we indulge in rich, comforting, belly-warming meals (and consequently, break out the sweatpants). It is the season of feasts and festivities, of family potlucks and office parties. It is a time for tradition…for harking back to the ritual of food as a centerpiece for celebration, as a way to bring people together, and as a work of art. The food being done by Kitchen 1540 at the L’Auberge Hotel is definitely a work of art, and Chef de Cuisine Jon Bautista is the artist-in-residence. Bautista has been a constant in the kitchen’s leadership rotations, and with the recent departure of former Executive Chef Scott Thomas Dolbee, he is now at the helm. Although it falls in the vaguely trendy genre of “Modern American Cuisine,” the restaurant’s nouveau-classic fare is as fresh as its ocean views, with a decidedly Californian focus on the seasonal and sustainable. For example, Bautista sources his produce from Chino Farms, a Rancho Santa Fe farm and hometown mecca for California’s best chefs.
7. PAPRIKA 8. CELERY SALT 9. SEA SALT 10. BAY LEAF 11. MUSTARD SEEDS 12. NUTMEG
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“It’s what a chef is supposed to do,” Chef de Cuisine Jon Bautista said, in reference to the culinary world’s current obsession with “slow food.” “Local, fresh, organic… that’s how it should be in all restaurants! It’s just the right thing to do.” The menu at Kitchen 1540 is cheekily divided into six sections—coastal, inland, hot, cold, local, and sides— and mainstays like the oaxacan black mole pork loin with white chocolate and halibut with clams, mussels, and king crab are high-end yet casual, luxe without the fuss. The restaurant itself, designed by New York architect Andre Kikoski, mirrors this pared down luxury with sleek interiors, white vaulted ceilings, and modern furniture in vivid colors, a more contemporary approach than the typical seaside retreat. Private outdoor cabanas lend an intimately chic vibe while the private dining room—where we staged our celebratory spread—is wrapped in wine-encased walls. More like a close friend’s private beach estate, this place feels less like a hotel and more like an elegant home—exactly where one wants to be for the holidays. 46 |
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SUGAR
FLOUR CORNMEAL
NASTURTIUM FLOWERS
BUTTERMILK
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CORNISH GAME HEN bbq baked beans | cornbread | shaved vegetables WATERMELON RADISH
ASPARAGUS
PURPLE CARROTS
KOHLARBI
YELLOW SQUASH
MEALS
BUTTER
WHITE BEANS
SORREL
CORNISH GAME HEN
celebratory dining room spread NEXT PAGE
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TOP 10 TIPS FOR HOSTING A
holiday party
1. Send an invitation...whether it’s paper or email, everyone loves an invite! 2. Set the mood with light snacks and drinks that are both delicious and good for starting conversation 3. Compile a custom playlist. Nice dinner music sets the ambiance for the evening. 4. Make a seating chart. Each guest should have at least two people to connect with, so seat guests by similar interests, profession, age, etc. 5. Always use cloth napkins; it takes dinner up a notch. 6. Florals really set the mood and add so much color and detail. One of my favorite San Diego florists is the Bloomin Gypsy. 7. Stock a full bar to keep the drinks flowing. 8. Print menus. Menus add a nice detail to the tablescape. San Diego papergoods designer, Wylde Paper Co. is a great option! 9. Don’t forget the most important course – dessert. 10. Whether you plan to play them or not, prepare afterdinner games for a more memorable party experience.
Menu CHARCUTERIE mostarda | housemade pickles with Serrano ham, lomo, soppressata, strawberry mustard, Concord grape mustard, pickled cauliflower and onions CORNISH GAME HEN bbq baked beans | cornbread shaved vegetables CHOCOLATE MOUSSE feuilletine crust | coconut sorbet with California mango, mint peanut pesto, cayenne peanuts, lemon verbena
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DESIGNED & STYLED BY: Shannon O'Neil Cargo Creative www.cargo-creative.com FLORALS BY: Veronica Lowe The Bloomin Gypsy www.thebloomingypsy.tumblr.com MENUS BY: Alina Dempsey Janes Wylde Paper Co. www.wyldepaper.com
Q&A with Chef de Cuisine Jon Bautista Q: Kitchen 1540 labels itself as “modern American cuisine.” What exactly does the term “modern American cuisine” mean to you? Chef Jon Bautista: Honestly, it means whatever I feel like cooking. It’s having a lot of a freedom…if one day I feel like cooking Swiss food, I can cook Swiss; if I’m feeling Japanese cuisine, I do Japanese. But twisting it up in an interesting way, that’s new but also recognizable. It’s being able to source from a lot of inspirations since we live in a whole pool of cultures. Q: So, why is Cornish game hen a good go-to holiday dish? JB: Cornish game hen is easy and accessible, because if you’re talking holiday, you’re usually talking birds. But Cornish game hen is also a good choice, because it’s not a boring turkey or a gamey bird, and everyone can be served his or her own individual bird. It’s something that everyone will enjoy and easy to do at home if you just use the proper steps. Q: What do you usually make for your family at Christmas dinner? And what is your favorite ingredient to work with, in general? JB: Well, I’m Filipino, so I like to make a dish called Kare Kare, which is a traditional Filipino stew. It’s my favorite, and I do it because I think I can do it better than my mom. (laughs) I’ll twist it up and add green curry paste—it adds a little bit of heat and dimension. And, I’ll braise the oxtail for a long time so it’s really, really tender. I like simple, comfort foods when I’m cooking for family…I cook fine foods at work every day, so it’s not what I feel like doing when I’m at home, you know? And my favorite ingredient? I like Dashi (a Japanese broth), because it’s simple yet complex and diverse. You can use it for fish, meat and in soups. It’s a good substitute for a lot of flavor. Q: What are your tips for cooking during the holiday season? JB: Do dishes that can just sit, things that can finish in the oven, be braised or simmer on the stove. Basically, do dishes that you don’t have to babysit, that way you can be with your guests. If I can have something braise on its own for a few hours so I can be with company, that’s ideal. Since I work so much, my time is really precious with my family, and I try to take advantage of it whenever I can.
“Do dishes that can just sit, things that can finish in the oven, be braised or simmer on the stove. Basically, do dishes that you don’t have to babysit, that way you can be with your guests.”
HOSTING TIP FROM
Chef Jon Bautista
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DRINK
sip
SERVICE SALUT TO SAN DIEGO’S COLD WEATHER DRINKS
DAT Waiver
Tequila Derby
UK Sour
SALTBOX 1047 5th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.515.3003 www.saltboxrestaurant.com
WRITTEN BY: AFTON LARSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY: DHRUMIL DESAI | PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANCE BY: ALEX MA | Holiday 2013 Issue | 53
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outhern Californians take the gold when it comes to prioritizing life: we live here for the gorgeous weather and…the gorgeous weather. Sometimes, though, ever so briefly and especially as the year starts winding down, the holiday spirit gives way to a restless desire for the crunch of fall leaves underfoot, waking up to new snowfall, or an(y) excuse to sink into soft sweaters. Many of us spend summer’s end daydreaming about those cooler climates. I’m talking about the kind of weather where you look like Minka Kelly in a Thomas Kinkade painting; your cheeks are flushed rosy and the impossibly long hair you can’t grow in real life gives you an extra layer of warmth under your scarf. Snowflakes are falling; one lands
Saltbox 1047 5th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.515.3003 www.saltboxrestaurant.com TEQUILA DERBY UK SOUR DAT WAIVER *See page 53 for images
playfully on your eyelash and Ryan Gosling’s twin tells you you’re charming before kissing it away. Your nose isn’t running for once. It looks like winter but you’re only cold in the way that the A/C on full blast in summer feels cold. So it’s awesome, basically. There are those among us who try to fake the seasons (I see you, jean skirt and UGG boots), but it’s not a change of clothes that really gives you Winter Wonderland. There’s only one way to get the best of both worlds in the city of sunshine, and it starts off cold but goes down warm. Come away with me as we sip ourselves through San Diego’s cold weather drinks.
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andles flicker. Low lighting gives way to privacy and plays up intrigue. When the night calls for shadowed chic, the lounge at Saltbox in Hotel Palomar has your drink in mind. Principle mixologist Jen Queen keeps the tempo behind the bar. From a household where Mom managed a local dive, Queen received an early induction to barkeep culture. Queen has paced herself to success ever since, settling into culinary cocktail bliss while making up for lost time. Taste trips to Jalisco in Queen’s TEQUILA DERBY, a drink in keeping with her pursuit of Master Mezcalier. Grapefruit, tea, and agave filter through the added jalapeno heat. Her scotch-based UK SOUR charges blended Highlander with a candied kumquat reduction. Old Vine Zin, lemon zest, and a float of pomegranate prove color-blocking works just as well off the runway.
For a playful order, try the DAT WAIVER, a drink built on rye whiskey, toasted almond syrup and the subtle influence of angostura bitters. Queen adds an ounce of poppy seed orgeat to finish the joke: historically, DAT Waivers were authorized for otherwise deserving recruits who failed their drug screening. Turns out consuming poppy seeds can trigger a false-positive test result. She’s clever. And above all, she’s quality – in sociability, in presentation, and in execution. This holiday season, when every weekend has an occasion to dress and drink up, trust Saltbox to gift-wrap your evening for you. After all, a cocktail from Jen Queen is a present to yourself.
Orkney Rebel
Small Bar 4628 Park Boulevard San Diego, CA 92116 619.795.7998 www.smallbarsd.com
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ou’re young. You’re wild. You’re free. Naturally, you love house parties. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring the gang back together. Memories are made with every pong shot that hits. 4621 Park Boulevard is home of the professional kickback. Enter Small Bar by way of a side alley, not unlike those in the residential neighborhoods you’ve shuffled through after midnight. Inside, the intimate space hugs close. Despite tight quarters, each group feels pleasantly anonymous. You blend. You don’t have to try. In the best possible way, you are background noise.
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Small Bar Mule
The space itself is decorated with pieces you’d expect to find on an episode of “Cash in the Attic”—cool collectibles you can’t believe someone’s forgotten. Old drink propaganda, concert black and whites, and a Technicolor Beatles poster attract attention rather than gather dust. A “Just the Tips” jar tells customers they’re dealing in fun, funny and good times. The music hits its groove and I order the ORKNEY REBEL. ATTN: Everyone, you’ll earn your stripes with this one. It’s the tattooed, leathered, motorcycled bad boy of cocktails. The scotch and the bartender’s heavy pour mean business.
On the softer side, the SMALL BAR MULE (copper mug, check) throws back to the days you could stomach Friday night vodka specials. This time, it’s a necessary upgrade from co-ed to classy. Small Bar hands out some real-talk on their menu with a PSA everyone can appreciate. “Read our lips. No due taxes. Tax is already included in our price. We also do not make gratuity mandatory, because we’re not a-holes.” Read mine: Come quick. They fill up fast.
Karl Strauss Brewing Company Downtown, Sorrento Mesa, 4S Ranch, Carlsbad www.karlstrauss.com
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y dad calls my mom every night on the way home from work. Every night, on the way home from work, Dad asks Mom, “What’s for dinner?” It’s tradition. As an adult, you find yourself carrying on some old family habits. At the same time, and with greater frequency, you swiftly put an end to others. I decided long ago that the dinner debate was not my burden to carry. Aside from occasional home cooking, that peace of mind comes from a well-worn list of reliable favorites whose menus remind me that there’s always something you don’t remember craving, but now can’t live without. Karl Strauss, finger’s pointed straight at you. The line between want and need blurs uselessly at Karl. Ahi poke… need. The Big Beer Burger…duh, need. A pint of Red Trolley…obvious need. In a city where there’s no shortage of gastropubs serving up gourmet comfort food (with a twist!), here’s a bit of real talk to set you straight: Karl took post-Prohibition San Diego from dried up to bottoms up. On track to brew 60,000 barrels in 2013 and with fare that’s both indulgent and contemporary, they’re still on top of the game. For the holidays, Karl Strauss gives the gift that lasts all season and then some. With their 12 Days of Christmas series, they introduce an annual high-gravity beer that’s meant to age well during storage. When the series ends in eight years, those who were disciplined enough to save a bottle from every release, have the ultimate payoff: a vertical tasting of each beer from the series. This year’s holiday ale, THE FOUR SCOWLING OWLS, is their fourth installment in the 12 Days of Christmas and joins series brethren Parrot in a Palm Tree, Two Tortugas and Mouette a Trois. Light-bodied and bubbly, this festive Tripel is brewed with a Belgian yeast strain that produces a spiced, peppery character and carries hints of dried pear and lemon zest. At nine percent alcohol, the Four Scowling Owls is a perfect winter warmer for the colder months and its citrus notes means it pairs well with herb-crusted meats, salty prosciutto and earthy cheeses. Look for its release on draft and in 22 oz. bottles throughout California in December, and keep an eye out for next year’s newbie. Your beverage ordered, navigate the menu for palate pleasers like the Beer-brined Chops, French-cut and brined in Red Trolley to give the meat a lasting suppleness, or Buffalo SoldJah’s rendition of mac and cheese: buffalo chicken, scallions, and gorgonzola that’d satisfy any flavor hound. For dessert, I only have eyes for the Beeramisu, stout-soaked ladyfingers dressed in cocoa powder, chocolate and caramel. Allow yourself a side of Wreck Alley Imperial Stout for a well-balanced treat: Bird Rock’s locally roasted Ethiopian coffee and Peruvian cocoa nibs from TCHO Chocolate Company in San Francisco give this beer strong espresso and dark chocolate notes that are enhanced with vanilla and faint bourbon flavorings. Next time, let Karl Strauss worry about what’s for dinner. You don’t need the stress.
NATIVE KNOWLEDGE:
The Four Scowling Owls
This February, Karl celebrates their 25th Anniversary with a limited-edition special release beer and their annual Changing of the Barrels anniversary event. To celebrate, they aged a strong Doppelbock in bourbon oak barrels for 12 months. The resulting beer is complex with layers of dark fruits, toffee, oak and vanilla. Changing of the Barrels is your first opportunity to sample the Doppelbock and to taste the following year’s anniversary ale before it goes into barrels for aging.
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Sublime Tavern 3790 Via De La Valle, Ste. 301 Del Mar, CA 92014 858.259.9100 www.sublimetavern.com
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’d been to Sublime Tavern before, right around their grand opening this summer. The space, doctored with reclaimed Wyoming fencing, struck me then as the wooded rustic of cozy cabin ski trips. I stand by that first impression: when stubborn coolness persists in the air outside, vacation here. Owner James Limjoco told me back in July he’d “get me on the beer,” and, because hater’s gonna hate, I had my doubts. College and a handful of boys couldn’t do it, but surprise, surprise – all of that was amateur hour. He got me. I like sours. Or, rather, I like the sour. The DUCHESSE DE BOURGOGNE is a Belgian red ale. Its cherry tartness and carbonation meant the closest association my brain could make was “Soda! Yum!” This West Flanders beauty is a Gold Medal World Beer Cup recipient, as if I’d fall in love with less than the best. The boys in our party were treated to Port Brewing’s Santa’s Little Helper, an imperial stout aged in oak barrels. This bottled ale has a buried chocolate sweetness and ground coffee overtones. Spicy, it’s roasted enough for a light snowfall. Pumpkin, vanilla, and molasses do as well in beer as they do in baking. Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Uinta Brewing’s Crooked Line pours golden amber and tastes a hint sweet. Clove, nutmeg, and allspice enhance that pumpkin pie flavoring and make this smooth brew comforting and pleasant for the changing seasons. Its 10.31 percent alcohol, so best served on Halloween? You’ll have to let me know.
Duchesse de Bourgogne
NATIVE KNOWLEDGE: You won’t find it on the menu, but Chef Richardi (formerly of La Jolla’s Roppongi) can whip you up a ground turkey Sloppy Joe slider anytime you ask for it. Who doesn’t love a special order?
Bootlegger 804 Market Street San Diego, CA 92101 619.794.2668 www.bootleggersd.com
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ces on 8th didn’t stick, but the ground roots community who built it up definitely did. There have been almost zero turnovers on staff over their two years in business, and bartenders with the opportunity to work elsewhere can’t seem to leave. “We’re family here,” one tells me. And they treat customers that way, too. “It’s your neighborhood bar. We’re a little bit of everything. Come and be whoever you wanna be.” That open-arms philosophy shows up in discounts: 20 percent off for industry, 15 percent off for East Village residents and 15 percent off for Roll Tide.
Though not strictly a sports bar, Bootlegger adopted half as many teams as they have TVs to watch them play. “We opened right before football season started. One kid that worked here was an Alabama fan, and he and his roommates wanted a place to watch Alabama beat LSU. That was the year they won the national title,” Hampton says. Charger and Niner fans turn up on game day, too. And Russell, who made Thrusters in Pacific Beach a Seahawks bar when he worked there, keeps an allegiance to Seattle. Throwing back to his bartender days at Fluxx, he gets behind the counter to mix up two nononsense classics using William Grant spirits, a WHITE RUSSIAN and an OLD FASHIONED. With an offer of chicken and biscuits, the spread at Bootlegger makes the case for trading in your couch for a barstool any night this football season.
Old Fashioned White Russian
NATIVE KNOWLEDGE: If you’re ever downtown on a Monday night, Bootlegger gives you half off all cocktails, 8pm to close. And if you’re not, their Happy Hour is your reason to be. Any weekday 3pm to 8pm, enjoy $5 small plates (the full menu!), $3 and $4 drafts, $4 calls and $4 house wines.
Quality Social 789 6th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.501.7675 www.qualitysocial.com
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veryone’s a local somewhere. Since you know how seriously you take your own search for a favorite bar in your neighborhood, trust that when residents of the 92101 fight the crowds, it’s because they’ve scouted out one of the best. Counted among Downtown’s busiest destinations, Quality Social has been claimed by a community with high demands and no shortage of places to lay down their cash. With a focus on behind-the-bar distinction, Quality Social doles out gracious pours of superior spirits. Premium vodka has a name in San Diego: 619. Duck inside for one of these recommendations made from a liquor that evokes the essence of home sweet home; you’ll have yourself to thank. The BEAVER BUSTER breaks down any social dams killing your vibe with 619 Vodka, orgeat syrup, muddled strawberries and fresh lime. Top with a spritz of club soda and a mint sprig garnish to heat up without needing to bundle up. Peach Schnapps is added to the subtle candied taste of 619 for an extra layer of defense in the WRECK IT RICKY. Lemonade and grenadine combine for the best defense against winter blues. Summer wasn’t so long ago, and this drink reminds you that it’s always just around the corner. 619 at Quality Social; drink like a local.
Wreck It Ricky
Beaver Buster
Polite Provisions 4696 30th Street San Diego, CA 92116 619.677.3784 www.politeprovisions.com
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olite Provisions on Adams and 30th satisfies nostalgia with delightful adornments and classic treats repackaged. For those who are interested, the recipe for cocktail bar success combines equal parts apothecary and soda shoppe over a touch of hotel lobby grandeur. Yes, shoppe. You’ll see what I mean.
playlist shuffles through custom-selected tunes to set your experience. In every thoughtful way, they “leave absolutely nothing to chance,” owner Erick Castro said. It’s much appreciated. Round two is the NAUGHTY DOG, a drink that won’t surprise you in its likeability. The full-bodied flavor of Virgil’s Root Beer topped with a float of cream has you eight years old, two hands wrapped around the glass as you pull it toward you. This childhood favorite is all grown up: El Dorado 5-Year Rum, Kahlua and a touch of holiday nutmeg means the Naughty Dog is age-appropriate and showing off new tricks. I’m adding a litter of these puppies to my wish list, please and thank you.
Polite’s don’t-cut-corners quality is in the details. Glassfronted cabinetry protects an assortment of marked bottles. Iron stools and paneled woodwork border an inscription that runs the length of the bar. “The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals- Sir William Osler,” it quotes. That would be Sir William Osler, Father of Modern Medicine, by the way. NBD. And since alcohol served its purpose in medicine in days gone by, why not appreciate that history after a long stint on the job? S.W.O. himself is practically asking you to. With a half-ounce of maple syrup, scotch, apple brandy, and heavy cream, the Scottish Breakfast is a hearty comfort no matter the time of day. It comes ornamented with a dust of cinnamon, so drink and be merry. From the typeface on their cocktail napkin (“Manufacturers of Local Tonics, Elixirs, and Cures”) down to the music overhead, Polite Provisions gets it right. Their outsourced
The Tractor Room 3687 5th Avenue San Diego, CA 92103 619.543.1007 www.thetractorroom.com
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here’s a spot in Hillcrest that edges on Snow Lodge so convincingly that you’ve left San Diego territory as soon as your eyes register the cowhide accent pillows. The den-like Tractor Room brings you the essence of an old ranch run by hardworking men your granddad and great-granddad would be proud to know. And because this is your winter retreat, don’t worry about hunting the meat yourself, but do order it. Try the Elk Ravioli for starters. In a close second, smoky Wisconsin cheddar drapes over layers of pasta chips in a gourmet comfort food twist on your standard nachos. Boar bacon hides in the seams until your next bite, but beware the side of chipotle sauce; it’ll get ya. Game mounted on the walls fills out simpler decor and a husky color palette. For this winter haven without crackling heat, rely on a round of strong, honest cocktails to keep your blood pumping. The St. Nick Old Fashioned is your season’s greetings in a cup. Bourbon-based following tradition, this rendition
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Naughty Dog
introduces raspberries and a blood orange to produce a gorgeous, holiday-appropriate red. There’s clarity to its flavor, a smoothness, which is encouraged by muddled sugar cubes and Boker’s small batch bitters. It’s your straightforward classic in a Santa Hat. Number twi has me feeling Sleeping-Beauty-WoodlandCreatures: romantic, naive, earthy. The FIG AND THYME COCKTAIL lets muddled figs, fresh thyme, fresh pressed lemon and a thyme simple syrup made in-house grow wild under Pisco Portón. Served up.
Fig and Thyme Cocktail
Gabardine 1005 Rosecrans Street San Diego, CA 92106 619.398.9810 www.gabardineeats.com
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here are three grown men at this table, and there’s me. Between us, a sweet potato pie with homemade oatmeal crumble crust sits innocently. We’re in a standoff. Whether they know it or not is not my problem, and as the vanilla bean ice cream pools on its whipped surface, time is of the essence. These are my opponents. They are outmatched. I’ve loved sweet potatoes for as long as I’ve loved being truly happy. My spoon bullets the dish. It’s gone. In two minutes, 24 seconds, the entire pie is gone. Victory is my fourth bite to everyone else’s three. “That’s one of the best things I’ve ever had in San Diego,” someone says. It’s tough to be eloquent when you’re mourning an empty plate.
Mommy Milkshake
Speakers pump out the cheerful energy of Little Eva’s Locomotion. Decorated with whimsy, Gabardine is a potpourri of pool accents. But, I won’t be swimming; I will be drinking. For the warmth you crave as Fall turns colder, consider replacing your after-dinner coffee with a Baby Guinness: Borghetti espresso liqueur, Bailey’s Irish cream and a float of Jameson complements a cuppa. Their MOMMY MILKSHAKE is another fun change from your usual brew. Ciroc Amaretto vodka, vanilla bean ice cream, Godiva Dark Chocolate liqueur and a splash of organic coffee means you can pair it with a baked good off the menu or skip dessert altogether. At Gabardine, it’s not so much that I know you’ll like it. You’ll like it, and then some. What I’m saying is I know you’ll really love it if you give it a chance now. So come on, come on…
DRINK EXPERT
Breath T
PER DRINK EX
Take My AWAY
VINCE AND JULIE MARCONI PARTNER WITH BREATHE LEGAL™
WRITTEN BY: ED HALEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY: RICH LANDER OF CHARD PHOTOGRAPHY
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aybe it was suppose to be one quick drink…or two, tops. Where’s the harm in that? Besides, who’s counting? In fact, that’s a great question. Who is counting? Hopefully it’s not a cop with a breathalyzer. If it is, you’re probably asking yourself how many alcoholic beverages you had and how much time it’s been since your last. Many of us have been there before: happy hour turns into happy hours and next thing you know, you ditched the taxi cab fare for a comfortable drive home in your own car. And, your friends certainly don’t mind, because they get a free ride home without the hassle of worrying about a potential DUI. All you can do at this point is pray you don’t get pulled over or run into any checkpoints. Did you remember to fix that broken brake light? Hundreds of people are being pulled over every day, slapped with the miserably dreadful title of a DUI. Never mind the several thousands of dollars or more you’ll spend on court and attorney fees; forget the cost of your insurance hitting maximum potential; and, remember that a DUI can sit with you for a decade and cause you to lose your job. Most importantly, can you imagine causing harm, injury or even death to another person, because you had one too many drinks? Yes it can happen to you. Just ask Vince and Julie Marconi, a couple who started their business to inform and protect us drinkers and our potential victims. Residents of San Diego, Vince and Julie quickly saw the need for their help and got their business off the ground this past year. The husband and wife team partnered with Breathe Legal™, a company that specializes in installing breathalyzer devices in establishments like bars, nightclubs or anywhere that serves alcoholic beverages. So far, they have seen the business skyrocket with several locations opting to add the their devices as they are finding that not only does it serve as an informative tool towards their patrons, but also as a governor in legal repercussions that could come with serving someone too much to drink.
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Q: How did the business idea start for you two? Julie Marconi: We originally came up with the idea while living out here in San Diego, watching all these people leaving the bars and heading to their cars to drive. There are a ton of bars and nightclubs in the city, and combined with all the freeways, there’s a huge opportunity for people to make mistakes. Q: So this business is mostly geared towards bars and nightclubs? JM: Mostly, however our devices are mobile, so they can be taken to special events or weddings for example…any place that is serving alcoholic beverages. Vince Marconi: The goal is to keep the streets safe and inform people that it’s ok to still have a good time but to make good decisions and get a ride or call a cab when needed. Q: It’s a great idea. How is the accuracy of these devices compared to some of the other handheld machines? VM: The handhelds tend to be a lot more inaccurate due to their mechanical functions, versus our devices, which are even more accurate than what the police have. We just want to give as accurate of a reading as possible to our users. Q: There is much debate on whether the devices the police use can be trusted. VM: Our devices are federally regulated based on strict usage and timelines. The machines will actually get turned off if they aren’t calibrated within those regulations. JM: It’s not going to do anybody any good if they’re not accurate.
“The handhelds tend to be a lot more inaccurate due to their mechanical functions, versus our devices, which are even what the police have.” - VINCE MARCONI
DRINK
more accurate than
THE EXPERTS
VINCE & JULIE MARCONI Favorite Local Drinks: VINCE’S: Moscow Mule at El Dorado JULIE’S: Salty Dog at Tipsy Crow
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Find more information and location listings at: Facebook.com/ BreatheLegalGaslamp
Q: Could the machines be used in the court of law to defend an establishment or person whom might be implicated in a lawsuit? VM: One of the benefits to the devices is that it does mitigate specific liabilities and reduces the amount of liability an establishment might be in, because it provides the user a disclaimer that they will have to agree to. JM: It’s great for users to really see how much MORE they are intoxicated than they usually think they are. We just think that when someone blows into our machines and sees this, that it will be much harder to ignore, and they are going to think twice before hopping in a car to drive. VM: A lot of people don’t realize that even though the current limit is .08 percent; that it’s really up to the police officers’ discretion on deciding if you are too intoxicated to drive, even though you may not be over that limit. San Diego has such a high DUI rate that they are getting a lot stricter with people. Q: Where can potential users find your machines? VM: The best places are in the heart of the Gaslamp District. Wet Willies, Hooters, Jolt’n Joes and their upstairs nightclub Platinum. San Diego Beer Company gets a lot of usage due to their busy happy hours. The machines come with a 12-inch LED highdefinition screen that lets you scroll through drink specials or special events that the bar might be having. When you blow into the machine and if you happen to be over the .08 limit, a special screen pops up and notifies you, “DO NOT DRIVE,” giving you information on getting a ride or taxi. Q: What is the “Safe is Sexy” campaign? JM: It’s an advertisement that corporate came up with that promotes being safe and responsible as a good, positive thing to do. People like a smart and responsible person. Q: Where are some of the bars you both like to frequent in San Diego? VM: There are a ton of good ones, and they keep coming up with more. It’s hard to beat some of the older ones, though, that are well established. One of my favorite cocktails is a Moscow Mule, and the old El Dorado bar makes them super tasty. It’s an old divvy bar with great atmosphere and bartenders. JM: My favorite drink is the Salty Dog at Tipsy Crow. I love the Tipsy Crow, because it’s three levels and has something for everyone on each floor. We hit J Street a lot, too, because we live right by the ballpark and there’s a ton of fun places like Bubs and The Blind Burrow. Thursday nights at those places can get a little crazy. Q: Any tips that you both might want to give to all the partygoers and bar hoppers? VM: San Diego is obviously a place that a lot of people come to have fun and party. The police have been cracking down big time on people being over-intoxicated, and they are having less and less tolerance. The best advice is to check yourself if you have been drinking and really give yourself some time to make the right decision. Do not put yourself behind the wheel. Plan ahead to avoid having to make last second decisions. The last thing anyone wants is to cause injury to someone else or worse.
“The machines come with a 12-inch LED high-definition screen that lets you scroll through drink specials or special events that the bar might be having.” - VINCE MARCONI 66 |
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SOUTHPAW SOCIAL CLUB 815 J St. San Diego, CA 92101 619.269.2255
BANG BANG 526 Market St. San Diego, CA 92101 619.677.2264
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DISCOVERING OUR FAVORITE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
NKOTB
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CANNONBALL 3105 Ocean Front Walk San Diego, CA 92109 858.228.9283
WONDERLAND OCEAN PUB 5083 Santa Monica Ave San Diego, CA 92107 619.255.3358
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SEA & SMOKE 2690 Via De La Valle #D210 Del Mar, CA 92014 858.925.8212
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FISH PUBLIC 4055 Adams Ave San Diego, CA 92116 619.281.4014
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THE HAKE KITCHEN & BAR 1250 Prospect St La Jolla, CA 92037 858.454.1637
MAGNOLIA TAP & KITCHEN 624 E St. San Diego, CA 92101 619.255.0925
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R E K C U R T style Katie McCarthy’s Chic Mobile Boutique Hits San Diego WRITTEN BY: KRISTAL DOCTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY: FRANK ISHMAN
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atch out Food Trucks, there is a new fleet of truckers in town. It’s a new way to shop the latest trends, and it’s parking at your local market and even in your driveway! If you haven’t noticed, Fashion Trucks have recently begun roving our roads, stocked with apparel, accessories and gifts curated by local designers and buyers who want to take their inventory on the road. Like the food truck takeover, fashion truck owners are introducing coveted fashion to crowds in a mobile format. It’s more economical for the shop owner and more accessible for the shopper. San Diego’s newest boutique on wheels, Stop Shop & Roll, has been trucking the So Cal area every day of the week since August. After transporting her truck from San Francisco, where truck owner Katie McCarthy began her mobile boutique business, Stop Shop & Roll launched in San Diego. This truck is truly the closet inspiration we’ve all dreamed about, girls (and even guys)! You would never know that this truck was once owned by La Plush and covered in pink shag carpet from floor to ceiling. Truck owner McCarthy purchased the used truck, gutted it and tastefully bejeweled the interior with chic details you might find in a sophisticated boutique. Bags and sunnies created by locals line the accessory shelves (I left with one of each of these), while on-trend crop tops, printed pants and army jackets hang from nifty doorknobs and clever mirrored frames. She’s thoughtfully chosen everything in the truck, down to the display details. From vintage handles and wine corks artfully placed for hanging necklaces to an antique egg tray repurposed as a ring organizer, the Stop Shop & Roll Truck is a stylish gallery on wheels. Equipped with a dressing room, flattering lighting and lounge music while you shop, Miss McCarthy’s Stop Shop & Roll truck is our new destination for shopping in San Diego.
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Q: When did you start pursuing fashion as a profession? Katie McCarthy: I loved putting outfits together and adding fun accessories for as long as I can remember! I started working at Nordstrom as soon as I graduated SDSU, and I continued working there for 10+ years. Nordstrom moved me to open their Hawaii store in 2008; and then, to San Francisco in 2010, to help them turnaround their business up there. I left in March of 2013 to open my fashion truck. Q: Can you take us through a typical workday in the life of a mobile boutique owner? KM: Being a fashion truck driver/owner is not always glamorous. It can be hot, sweaty and very dirty. It typically takes me 30-40 minutes to set up the truck. Don’t get me wrong, though; I have a very fun and rewarding job. I love seeing customers’ expressions when they first enter the truck. Q: You launched Stop Shop & Roll in San Francisco, but recently moved back to San Diego to share your stock with us. Where can we shop your mobile boutique here in San Diego? KM: Yes. I moved the truck down to San Diego in August 2013, because I wanted to be closer to my family. Plus, in San Francisco, I can’t work the truck for three months out of the year, because of the weather. The weather is always beautiful here. Every week, you can find Stop Shop & Roll parked at local Farmer’s Markets, like the PB and Hillcrest Farmer’s Markets, as well as other local events and pop-ups. I also do the high-rise condominiums in La Jolla on most Thursdays and Fridays, and I’m doing Sip and Shop Wine Wednesdays at Fifty-Seven Degrees, from 5-7pm. I try to work the truck every single day. STOP SHOP & ROLL 619.339.9314 stopshoprollSD@gmail.com For updates on Stop Shop & Roll’s location, follow the truck on Facebook at /StopShopandRoll and Twitter @STOPSHOPROLL
Q: What if I want your truck to come to me? Can customers book your truck for their own private events? KM: Yes! We ROLL to you! I stop, you shop! We’re booking holiday parties now. Stop Shop & Roll is available for private parties, fundraisers, ladies nights, bridal showers, etc. There is not a booking fee to host, but the hostess of the event is | Holiday 2013 Issue | 79
“I don’t always dress with what’s on trend. I dress in what makes me feel confident.”
- Katie McCarthy
eligible for hostess incentives. The hostess receives 10 percent of the party’s total sales in the form of a merchandise credit, as well as bragging rights for having an amazing party! (laughs) The truck requires a well-lit area to park and set up, and 25 feet in length for parking. Private events typically last two to three hours. There is a dressing room on the truck as well as lighting for nighttime events. Q: Describe your personal sense of style. KM: I get dressed based on my mood, but for the most part, I love boho-chic with an urban twist. I love accessories… hats and scarves are my favorites. I don’t always dress with what’s on trend. I dress in what makes me feel confident. Q: What’s a typical workday outfit for you? KM: A long dress or jeans and a cute top, all topped off with my fave accessory of the moment. Q: From where do you source the merchandise for your truck, and how often do you restock with new items? KM: It’s a good eclectic mix of locally made goods, vintage and pieces I purchase in LA. The great part is, it’s fast fashion and everything is under $100. I restock my truck a couple of times a month, so it’s always fresh. We also have stuff for men, which I’m hoping to grow.
Q: Name one staple winter wardrobe item that everyone must have. KM: Perfect ankle booties! They look good with jeans, dresses and skirts. Q: Do you have any favorite fashion quotes? KM: “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, Fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” ~ Coco Chanel; and, “When you don’t dress like everyone else, you don’t have to think like everyone else.” ~ Iris Apfel Q: If you could stock your truck with only your top three favorite apparel or accessory brands, what/who would they be, and why? KM: I love Marc Jacobs, because he is consistently reinventing himself and his style. We are all changing and growing, and our style should, too! I love Vince for my favorite oversized blanket sweater, boyfriend jeans and basic layering tees. And, anything from Nicole Richie’s House of Harlow 1960 line or the Olsen twins’ The Row and Elizabeth & James lines are items I covet. Q: What one piece of advice would you give to our fledgling fashionistas (or fashionistos)? KM: Don’t always follow the trends! Style is better when you are original and create a look that flatters your unique features. We’re all different sizes, shapes and colors. Be you. Be unique. Q: When you’re not busy driving your truck around San Diego, you are… KM: I got into this career, because I wanted to be outside. I love the sun and the beach lifestyle. Sitting beachside with a cocktail in hand is my happy place…as well as on the dance floor. Travel is a must and keeps me inspired and refreshed. I also love, love, love taking photos and interior decorating.
A Holiday Rendezvous Dazzles with Uptown Fashion and an Unexpected Finale PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JEFF FARSAI STYLED BY: STYLE BY F.E.A HAIR & MAKEUP BY: NOEL SWEENY OF HEY SAYLOR COSMETICS MODELS: TATIANA VITRANO AND JOHN DEWALL OF SHAMON FREITAS TALENT AGENCY LOCATION: THE GRAND DEL MAR
CLOTHING PROVIDED BY: Zara www.zara.com/us BRIDAL RING SET PROVIDED BY: Mark Patterson Designer Jewelry www.markpatterson.com EARRINGS PROVIDED BY: Geoffrey Scott www.geoffreyscott.us HANDBAG PROVIDED BY: My Sister's Closet www.mysisterscloset.com
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5300 Grand Del Mar Ct, San Diego, CA 92130 www.thegranddelmar.com
MENS CLOTHING PROVIDED BY: Friar Tux Shop www.friartux.com
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BRIDAL RING SET PROVIDED BY: Mark Patterson Designer Jewelry www.markpatterson.com
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CLOTHING PROVIDED BY: Adolfo Sanchez www.adolfosanchezdesigns.com JEWELRY PROVIDED BY: Geoffrey Scott www.geoffreyscott.us
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CLOTHING PROVIDED BY: Adolfo Sanchez www.adolfosanchezdesigns.com JEWELRY PROVIDED BY: Geoffrey Scott www.geoffreyscott.us MENS CLOTHING PROVIDED BY: Friar Tux Shop www.friartux.com
LOCATION: ADDISON AT THE GRAND DEL MAR
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5200 Grand Del Mar Way San Diego, CA 92130 www.addisondelmar.com
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LINGERIE PROVIDED BY: La Perla www.laperla.com NECKLACE PROVIDED BY: Geoffrey Scott www.geoffreyscott.us EARRINGS PROVIDED BY: Mark Patterson Designer Jewelry www.markpatterson.com
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DRESS PROVIDED BY: Novencento Boutique www.novecentofashion.com BRIDAL RING SET PROVIDED BY: Mark Patterson Designer Jewelry www.markpatterson.com JEWELRY PROVIDED BY: Geoffrey Scott www.geoffreyscott.us HANDBAG PROVIDED BY: My Sister's Closet www.mysisterscloset.com
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L
ocale ooks
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FROM AN ELEGANT DATE NIGHT TO A GIRL’S NIGHT OUT, THESE HOLIDAY-READY LOOKS ARE PERFECT FOR EVERY CELEBRATION.
elebrate the end of a great year in style. Stand out at your holiday work party or intimate get together with these effortless looks that will make your season happy and bright.
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WRITTEN BY: MEGAN BISHOP PHOTOGRAPHY BY: ANTONIO PULLANO OF LOVINLIFE MULTIMEDIA STYLED BY: STYLE BY F.E.A MAKE UP PROVIDED BY: BRIE LEACH FOR MAKE UP FOR EVER HAIR PROVIDED BY: KATLYN SIEMINSKI OF VIVACE SALON
SHOP
Thank you to Refresh Talent Agency and ZARZAR Modeling Agency for providing all models in Locale Looks.
WHERE? KATSUYA 600 F Street San Diego, CA 92101 www.sbe.com/katsuya/san-diego
WEAR (Get these looks!) APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Dolcetti Boutique 635 5th St San Diego, CA 92103 www.dolcettiboutique.com Twirl 3840 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.0933 Friar Tux Shop 9240 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123 www.friartux.com ACCESSORIES PROVIDED BY: My Sister’s Closet 8610 Genesee Ave. San Diego, CA 92122 www.mysisterscloset.com
T
Keep on Rollin’
he fifth installment of the brainchild between Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi and design genius Philippe Starck has been bringing top-shelf Japanese cuisine to San Diego foodies since 2012. The modern décor is inviting and has a South Beach vibe while the attractive and attentive staff is ready to cater to your every whim. Tempt your taste buds with fresh and creative dishes like the popular yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno or indulge in the savory wagyu ribeye that is served over maitake mushrooms and truffle butter. We hear the sushi is pretty incredible, too. Render him speechless with a fiery jewel-toned maxi dress paired with nude peep-toe pumps or sparkle under the lights in a smoky black gown paired with wedge ankle booties. Complete your ensemble with metal mesh or chain jewelry and a Carrie Bradshaw-approved baguette. Grab her attention with a black-tie ensemble or push your fashion boundaries with a crushed velvet blazer in a deep blood red mixed with delicious chocolate brown leather loafers and matching belt.
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From Champagne To Cabernet W
hat better way to say goodbye to 2013 than sipping on designer wines and spirits at one of San Diego’s best happy hours at the Andaz Wine Room. Choose from 88 wines crafted in California and around the world dispensed in a state-ofthe-art delivery system. Wine newbie? No need to worry, there is a wine director on hand to help you choose the perfect glass or flight that will send your senses into overload. This inviting space doubles as an intimate setting perfect for date night, work party or gathering of close friends. Sip your shiraz in style in a snow white ruffled mini dress paired with classic patent leather pumps and topped off with a tabletsized clutch and “Game of Thrones” inspired dramatic ear cuff. Feeling blue? Try mixing tones with a navy textured sheath dress styled with a thin waist belt and sapphire blue sparkling envelope clutch. For the fellas, keep it classy in a tailored tuxedo or Euro-style suit. Compliment her look with a matching tie, silver cufflinks and shoes so shiny they can reflect light.
WHERE? ANDAZ WINE ROOM 600 F Street San Diego, CA 92101 www.sandiego.andaz.hyatt.com
WEAR (Get these looks!) APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Dolcetti Boutique 635 5th St San Diego, CA 92103 www.dolcettiboutique.com
ACCESSORIES PROVIDED BY: Flashbacks 3849 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.4200
Twirl 3840 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.0933
My Sister’s Closet 8610 Genesee Ave. San Diego, CA 92122 www.mysisterscloset.com
Friar Tux Shop 9240 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123 www.friartux.com
Twirl 3840 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.0933
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Dance The Night Away F
rom deep house to dubstep, Stingaree has been the premiere nightlife hotspot in the Gaslamp since opening their doors in 2005. Well-heeled socialites, celebrities, and industry heavyweights fill the three-level venue to capacity as some of the biggest names in EDM and hip-hop rock the sound system with non-stop bass and beats. Celebrate the holiday season in style and book a private VIP table complete with premium bottle service, impeccable hospitality, and of course, ample views of the best eye candy SoCal has to offer.
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‘Tis the season to see and be seen. Ladies, bring your “A” game. Embrace your own holiday style and give it a twist with a “Mad Men” inspired look. Whether you decide on a smart peplum dress in winter white or a sexy bronze mini dress that shows just enough skin, all eyes will be on you. For hair that would stop Don Draper in his tracks, try a high ponytail with some clip-in extensions or go full volume with a teased style pulled half back with loose ringlet curls. Decorate your eyes with a glittery smoky eye look or simple yet chic winged eyeliner; add in a pop of color on the lips and nails. Gentlemen can also keep with the theme by adding a patterned skinny tie to your classic suit. And don’t forget the biggest accessory – your confidence!
WHERE? STINGAREE 454 6th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 www.stingsandiego.com
WEAR (Get these looks!) APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Dolcetti Boutique 635 5th St San Diego, CA 92103 www.dolcettiboutique.com My Sister’s Closet 8610 Genesee Ave. San Diego, CA 92122 www.mysisterscloset.com MEN’S APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Friar Tux Shop 9240 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123 www.friartux.com ACCESSORIES PROVIDED BY: My Sister’s Closet 8610 Genesee Ave. San Diego, CA 92122 www.mysisterscloset.com | Holiday 2013 Issue | 97
Feel the Energy T
ake a dash of Brooklyn, mix it with a little bit of Vegas, and add in one of the world’s largest event and promotional companies and you have BASSMNT. Insomniac Events, the name behind mega-festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Beyond Wonderland, have teamed up with BASSMNT to bring in top-tier DJ talent like Dash Berlin and Mat Zo. The result? Lines that stretch around the block, teeming with budding fashionistas and music aficionados ready to get their party on in style. Whether it’s with a large group of friends or just a duo, you always want to look your best – especially during this season of socializing. Choose a charcoal or smoke grey suit and add some flair with a colorful tie or pocket square. For the divas, dance the night away in platform pumps paired with a svelte ivory mini dress and black harness necklace. Don’t forget a thin waistbelt and a cross-body pouchette to hold your evening essentials. Stand out in a sea of black with warm and festive colors like beige, midnight or ruby red.
WHERE? BASSMNT 919 4th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 www.bassmntsd.com
WHERE? APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Twirl 3840 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.0933 MEN’S APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Friar Tux Shop 9240 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123 www.friartux.com
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THAT’S A WRAP! ucky Bastard’s is a local hotspot to end (or begin) your evening. Challenge your crew to a friendly game of pool or beer pong, or (literally) saddle up to the bar order an amazing “Original Bastard Burger” or pizza from one of the chap-donning salon hotties at this popular gastropub. Relax with friends (old and new) in a cozy corner and recant the night’s debauchery. For the day dwellers, did we mention the $15 endless mimosa brunch special? Worth. Every. Penny. Cheers!
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Throw the idea of dressing down out the window and spice up saloon style by slipping into your favorite sheath. Girls, up the ante by rocking a dress with a little sparkle or sheen. And, of course, you can never go wrong with flirty, black satin beaded pumps and tousled curls. Guys, you can keep it simple by winding down the night with a relaxed tie and crisp, untucked button-down.
WHERE? LUCKY BASTARD SALOON 840 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 www.luckybastardsaloon.com
WEAR (Get these looks!) APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Dolcetti Boutique 635 5th St San Diego, CA 92103 www.dolcettiboutique.com
ACCESSORIES PROVIDED BY: Flashbacks 3849 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.4200
Twirl 3840 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92103 619.291.0933
MEN’S APPAREL PROVIDED BY: Friar Tux Shop 9240 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123 www.friartux.com
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How To Throw A
PARTY WRITTEN AND STYLED BY: GRETCHEN AND BRITT HACKMANN OF NUBRY.COM PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JEFF FARSAI HAIR AND MAKEUP PROVIDED BY: AUDRA RENÉ OF AUDRARENE.COM
PHOTOSHOOT LOCATION THE US GRANT SAN DIEGO HOTEL 326 Broadway San Diego, Ca 92101 619.232.3121
ON BRITT (left): Dress, $268, BCBG Maxazria (available at www.bcbg.com), Necklace, $425, Ziur Designs (by appointment, www.ziurdesigns.com), Bracelets, $20, (Blended Industries) ON GRETCHEN (right): Dress, $498, Nanette Lepore (available at www.nanettelepore.com), Necklace, $425, Ziur Designs, (by appointment, www.ziurdesigns.com)
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I
!
no longer have to set the air conditioner to 69 degrees, the scent of firewood lingers in street corners, smiling people are overly abundant downtown, and Starbucks has their Eggnog Latte at their Camino Del Mar location. Christina Aguilera’s “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” just played over the radio waves, the morning anchors are eating way too many gingerbread cookies, and little dogs are wearing red Santa outfits in La Jolla. Okay people, either I’m going completely mad or it’s the start of the holiday season. For my sake, let’s hope for the latter! Having indulged at our parents’ Thanksgiving table in Ohio, Britt and I must nevertheless continue to button our size 26 skinny jeans and welcome the very important upcoming dates with open arms, brave bellies and thirsty throats. Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Eve are undoubtedly marked on our calendar, but that’s not all – at all. We’ve got Ugly Sweater and Bad Santa parties to attend, a Jewmas invitation, Hansel and Gretel’s Candy Land and several other themed parties with lots of mulled wine and eggnog in the descriptions. What’s constantly on our minds, though, is our own holiday party. But not just any old holiday party, a lavish party that will be remembered and go down in history as the holiday party of the decade – kind of like how Gatsby’s parties were known throughout New York. Because that’s what we do best - Host Fun Parties! In the following glossy pages, we’ll show and tell you how to throw a holiday party, because it’s not too late to do so yourself – and you’ll find that everyone within your social circles is glad to attend. It’s time to start thinking Christmas tree sugar cookies, candied fruit, dough, cheese plates and candy canes in the same sentence as Dresdner stollen, truffles, pecan pie, pumpkin loaf, reindeer pies and chocolate mint bûche du noël. And when you conclude your thoughts with hot toddys, spiced cider, glühwein and Maryland Eggnog, you’ll find participants who want to support you and your party planning skills.
THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID An Irreverent Retail Column
Don’t shy away from a holiday debauchery of your own because of the dollar sign attached to a pretty party. We’ve included special DIY decorations that you and your girls can create late one night, from the gold painted apples to the hand-decorated, glitter invitations. Not sure where to begin, what to wear, or much about really anything? Read on for our holiday party shopping list, style recommendations, party tips, holiday soundtrack ideas, men’s etiquette and skinny mannerisms, such as how to navigate the cheese plate. Now that we’ve cleared up all questions about why you would want to host a holiday party, we’d like to move on to what food and drink to serve, invitations, décor, decorations, etiquette for him and her, and of course, beauty and fashion. Well, shall we commence?
See how we’re getting ready for our holiday party on Instagram @nubry
How To Navigate The Cheese Plate THE SKINNY
DON’T CARE
Chomp on a cluster of grapes
Grab for the cheese and crackers
If having cheese, choose soft cheese (brie or goat have less fat than hard)
Choose hard cheese (Cheddar or Gruyere)
Sip on a flute of champagne (75 calories)
Take down a whiskey sour (240 calories)
Nibble on a gingerbread cookie (half the calories of a sugar cookie)
Decorate a batch of sugar cookies; then, indulge (seriously, who’s counting calories?)
Relax with hot cocoa (175 calories)
Spike your eggnog with brandy (400 calories)
Savor a candy cane (55 calories plus fresh breath)
Pop them Hershey’s Kisses (127 calories for 5)
Skip heavy hors d’oeuvres to leave room for libations
Nothing can hold you back, take down those pigs in a blanket with Goldschläger
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Shopping List SAVORY › WINES: serving Riesling, Cabernet, Port › CHEESE PLATE: compiled of Manchego, Crottin de Chavignol, Selles-sur-Cher, Fig Bar, Hazelnuts, Pear, Raspberry Jam › BREADBOARD: offer Baguette Rounds or Crackers
SWEET › TRUFFLES › HAYSTACKS › PEPPERMINT BARK › CARAMEL CORN › CHOCOLATE PECAN FUDGE › CHOCOLATE DIPPED POTATO CHIPS › ENGLISH TOFFEE COVERED APPLES
LIBATIONS › HOMEMADE EGGNOG: spiked with rum, bourbon or brandy › MAULED APPLE CIDER: spiked with rum or whiskey › HOLIDAY BELLINI: Champagne, Prosecco, or Bon Affair, cranberry, pear nectar › SPICED HOT COCOA: spiked with rum; topped with fresh whipped cream › HOT TODDY: boiling water, whiskey, honey, lemon, cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg › FIREBALL CINNAMON WHISKEY: served neat with cinnamon stick or lemon twist › GOLDEN PUMPKIN: Goldschläger and Pumpkin Spice Liqueur
DECORATIONS: DIY › HANDMADE ORNAMENTS: silver, gold and white painted apples, lemons, pine cones › GLASS BOWL OR LARGE MASON JARS: to hold and display ornaments › PUMPKIN SEED CARAMELS: homemade, wrapped, and twist closed with parchment paper
ON GRETCHEN (left): Dress, $398, cardigan, $378, Nanette Lepore (available at www.nanettelepore.com), Bracelet, $150, Skova, (Blended Industries) ON BRITT (right): Dress as a Top, $398, Skirt, $298, Nanette Lepore (available at www.nanettelepore.com), Necklace, $138, Charlene K, (Blended Industries), Ring, $125, Uno de 50 (available at Fashion Valley)
Holiday Party Style The fashion arena is one that really gets my juices going, especially during the holiday season. Hues of purple—plum, eggplant, and acai—add richness and mystery to an outfit’s palette this season and can be mixed with shades like fuchsia and red for a fabulous fall/winter combination. But holiday fashion is depicted by attire noted on your party’s invitation, so think long and hard about how you want your guests to arrive. The fashion not only sets the mood for your party, it also sets a standard.
For more holiday style tips, www.nubry.com
Inside The Powder Room MANI/PEDI » Choose rich colors like red, purple and blue
We Love…
OPI Oktoberfest, Mariah Carey Holiday OPI Collection Kiss Me at Midnight & Sleigh Ride for Two, DS Mystery and Muir Muir On The Wall
PERFUME » Spritz an alluring, yet exotic scent
We Love…
Tom Ford Plum Japonais from the Private Blend Atelier D’Orient Collection
› EVERGREEN SPRIGS
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› CHAMPAGNE SWIZZLE STICKS
LIPS » Choose a deep rouge gloss or purple hued lipstick
› INVITATIONS: decorated with glitter border
We Love…
| Holiday 2013 Issue
YSL Rouge Enamel Gloss Stain and Fuchsia in Rage Lipstick
Where to Shop WE OLIVE 1158 Prospect St La Jolla, CA 92037 858.551.8250 | www.weolive.com Twitter: @WeOliveLaJolla | Instagram: @WeOlive Nestled in La Jolla Village, adjacent to Starbucks on Prospect Ave., is the most unexpected place that will get your taste buds thinking. Standing at the entryway, you are greeted with an over abundance of olive oil, infused oil and chutney samples that you can test out with cubed baguette pieces. As you make your way through the store, you’ll find eclectic copper pans, breadboards, olive trays, wooden bowls, serving trinkets, and more olive oils than you could ever imagine. After finishing your shopping, you can enjoy a glass of wine with cheese pairing, while overlooking the cove. How fab is that?
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHOCOLATE FACTORY 1139 Prospect St La Jolla, CA 92037 858.454.0077 | www.rmcf.com Twitter: @RockyMtnChocInc | Instagram: @RMCFinc Across the street from We Olive is a child’s dream candy land and an adult’s guilty pleasure. A window shopper is initially drawn in by a display of caramel covered, extra large granny smith apples topped with candies, chocolate, toffee and more. Once inside, you’ll be able to choose from fudge, bark, toffee and truffles to chocolate covered oreos, orange peels, marshmallows, gingerbread and so much more.
BEVMO 844 Pearl St La Jolla, CA 92037 858.729.0775 | www.bevmo.com Twitter: @BevMo | Instagram: @BevMo_Co A one-stop shop for your alcoholic beverage needs, this conveniently located La Jolla store has everything you will need to concoct your holiday drink menu. From beer, spirits and wine of many types to sodas, mixers, snacks, cheese, crackers and glassware, this neighborhood store will help you mark many items off your holiday shopping list. Here’s a perk, each Saturday BevMo hosts wine tastings, just to make your shopping experience a little more desirable.
PAPER SOURCE 8843 Villa La Jolla Dr La Jolla, CA 92037 858.550.5986 | www.paper-source.com Twitter: @Paper_Source
ON GRETCHEN (left): Dress, $4200, Herve Leger (available at www.herveleger.com) ON BRITT (right): Dress, $4200, Herve Leger (available at www.herveleger.com), Bracelet, $295, Alexis Bittar, (available at Neiman Marcus Fashion Valley)
Just walk into this store and seriously you’ll lose yourself in wonderland. Come here to be inspired, to get ideas, and to unleash your creative juices. Weather just buying a pack of unique cards or the means to create your own invitations, The Paper Source is a must go-to spot for throwing your own party. The store associates will help you find the right color cardstock for your party, the glitter and glue to decorate your card’s border, and the extra party accessories you didn’t realize you needed! Pick up one of the store calendars to see when they’re throwing a crafting class—believe me, you wont regret taking part in these handy dandy, how-to workshops.
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Holiday Tips For The Man Gentleman Norman, celebrity Pomeranian, offers practical advice for men on grooming, wardrobe, relationship maintenance and manners 1. Repeat after me... "I love shopping, I love shopping, I love shopping…!" 2. Send your love a romantic card through the mail. She will love it! 3. Be man enough to coordinate outfits with your lady. 4. A good man is not too proud to read the directions titled, "Assembly Required." You can download Gentleman Norman’s guide to staying out of the doghouse and surviving every gift-giving occasion at www.GentlemanNorman.com
1. Give diamonds and sparkly things to your friends! Azzurra Capri Sandals-$675 www.azzurracapri.com
2. One thing in life is for sure, a girl can never have too many handbags! BCBG Clutch-$228 Blended Industries, La Jolla
3. Tie a printed scarf as a bow to dress up your Birkin or use as a headband like Brigitte Bardot
4. "I think fragrance may be more important than clothes…I’m actually not a very materialistic person" - Tom Ford
6. Rocker and Red! Most handbags do not have this much pizzazz!
Tom Ford Neroli Portofino-$210.50
www.nanettelepore.com
10. What do we buy for him? Only if he is a gentleman.
7. The yummies for a holiday party or for your party’s host
Art of Shaving gift set-$115
Cos Bar, La Jolla
5. Organization makes the perfect gift! Laura Mercier Holiday 2013 Luxe Colour Wardrobe-$125.50 Laura Mercier Luxe Travel Brush Collection-$125.50 Cos Bar, La Jolla
Terracotta blend scarf-$210 Terracotta silk scarf-$185
9. Half the calories. All the flavor! Bon Affair wine spritzer-$14 www.bonaffair.com
Nanette Lepore bag-$278
Duty Free City
Olive oil, vinegar, tapenade, chutney, and olive wood dishes
Perfectly iday l o H e t ia r p o r pp A Gift Guide
We Olive, La Jolla
8. Lots of little candies or XXL candy? The latter, please! It'Sugar Candy-$20 Duty Free City
Blended Industries, La Jolla
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Party Prep & Pampering
Holiday
Soundtrack Christina Aguilera Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Mariah Carey All I Want For Christmas Faith Hill Silent Night Whitney Houston O Holy Night Lee Ann Womack Winter Wonderland Carrie Underwood First Noel Garth Brooks White Christmas Alan Jackson Honky Tonk Christmas Justin Bieber Silent Night Martina McBride The Christmas Song
BLENDED INDUSTRIES 1025 Prospect St La Jolla, CA 92037 858.255.8205 | www.blendedindustries.com Twitter: @BlendedIndustry Instagram: @BlendedIndustries On the second level of Prospect Street, directly between Sushi On The Rock and Prospect Bar & Grill, is a fabulous boutique that only insiders know about, so here’s your cue. A large, open, warehouse space, this shop has minimal racks with meticulously curated pieces. There isn’t an item you won’t be attracted to, because owner, Summer Albertsen, knows her stuff. Cocktail dresses from BCBGMAXAZRIA, RVN and Parker, fancy clutches, Terracotta NY scarves, coated J Brand skinny jeans and statement costume jewelry fit your every holiday need, and you don’t have to go at it alone. Summer not only styles the celebs, she’ll also style you!
COS BAR 7912 Girard Ave La Jolla, CA 92037 858.456.6249 | www.cosbar.com | @CosBar Our favorite makeup boutique traveled all the way from Aspen to see us in La Jolla. Cos Bar has the best brands under one roof from the latest, most exclusive Tom Ford fragrances and Oribe hair products to YSL lip stains, Natura Bisse skincare, Cle de Peau concealer and Laura Mercier must-have gift sets. The Cos Bar team is an expert at knowing skin types and know-how to have you looking your best. No fast selling here! They will spend time showing you the prettiest lip color, most hydrating moisturizer, best facial SPF and the silkiest hair thermal protectant – all products from a large variety of the most sought-out brands. Heading out for dinner in La Jolla Village, say to Herringbone or Eddie V’s? Leave a little earlier and get a makeover at Cos Bar. Heading to the Rocky’s for the holidays? This team of ladies knows how to give you that Snow bunny glow!
equipment in a high-pressure steam autoclave. Once seated, a menu is offered that allows you to pick out the level of pampering you require on your tootsies. Fresh, green tea? Obvi! Make sure to call ahead and reserve your appointment as this is the hot spot for nails. But don’t be intimidated by the group of power women, we’ve met some of our best friends here!
BLINK LASH BOUTIQUE 337 S. Cedros Ave Solana Beach, CA 92075 858.436.4456 | www.blink-boutique.com Twitter: @BlinkLash Instagram: @BlinkLashBoutiqueSD
7514 Girard Ave La Jolla, CA 92037 858.456.7171 | www.thenailloungeoflajolla.com
Don't we all want to be bombshells? Blink Lash Boutique does all sorts of magic! Eyelash extensions save you time on your makeup routine and look super amaze. From short lashes to extra long lashes in the blink of an eye, you now have one more reason to wink your eye at that gentleman across the room. You may even find yourself batting those eyes at him, because pretty eyelashes really do give great confidence. Janelle Koch, founder of
Always packed with stylish women from all parts of San Diego, this super cute nail lounge has massage chairs that really work, an adorable manicure bar and nail colors for days – surely the best assortment of nail polish colors in San Diego! Shellac, Gelish, Axxium, acrylic, glitter polish, glitter…check! Rest assured, this place offers the highest level of hygiene by sterilizing its
this adorable lash studio in Solana Beach, is also offering confidence to women with Multiple Sclerosis who shake so much that putting on mascara can be so very difficult to impossible at times. When you can nominate a woman with MS, she may be able to receive free eyelash extensions from Koch. Send your nomination here: lasheswithlove@blinklashboutique.com.
NAIL LOUNGE OF LA JOLLA
l r i G y t r a P Etiquette
1
Wait until January to be the skinny girl, it’s just plain rude to navigate the cheese plate anyways.
2
Respect your host by dressing up. Flats have no place at a holiday party unless they sparkle.
3
Sport an over-the-shoulder purse instead of a clutch so that both of your hands are free for libations and party fun.
4
Bring a gift for your host, especially if it’s alcoholic.
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What We're Making Pumpkin Seed Caramels
› VEGETABLE OIL › 3 CUPS SUGAR › 1/2 CUP LIGHT CORN SYRUP › 1/2 CUP WATER › 2 CUPS HEAVY CREAM › 6 TBSP. UNSALTED BUTTER › 1/4 CUP OF YOUR FAVORITE SEASONAL NUT (PUMPKIN, PISTACHIO, ETC.) › 1 TSP. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT Line two, 8-inch square baking pans with parchment paper, then brush or spray lightly with oil. In a heavy-bottomed, large pot, combine water, sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil until sugar mix is golden brown. Don’t stir, instead, gently swirl the ingredients (if you do stir, the sugar crystals can escape and leave you with a subpar caramel). In another pot, bring the cream and butter to a simmer over medium heat. When the sugar reaches that golden brown color, pour in cream mixture. Stir mixture until it reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and fill two pans very slowly and gently. Resist scraping the pot to get all of the caramel out – the caramel that is stuck to the pot will be hard. Let cool for several hours. Cut to desired size with a buttered knife (otherwise knife will stick to the caramel). Wrap pieces in parchment paper, tie closes, and store in refrigerator. For more party planning tips head to www.CucinaCoronado.com. Need help planning a holiday party? Contact Caroline Chambers of Cucina Coronado for help with food, florals, décor, and everything else.
MAKING PERFECT CARAMELS Chambers has mastered her recipe over a period of many years, here’s how she turns out perfect caramels every time. 1. DON’T STIR THE HOT SUGAR MIX Stirring can cause the sugar crystals to escape, leaving you with a subpar caramel. ON BRITT (left): Dress, $298, BCBG Maxazria, (available at www.bcbg.com) ON GRETCHEN (right): Dress, $1890, Herve Leger (available at www.herveleger.com)
2. USE A BUTTERED KNIFE When cutting caramel to the desired sizes, be sure to butter your knife or caramel will stick.
Mauled Apple Cider
› SPIKED W/RUM OR WHISKEY › MAKES 12 SERVINGS › 20 WHOLE CLOVES › 5 LADY APPLES › 1 GALLON APPLE CIDER › 2 CINNAMON STICKS › ZEST OF 1 ORANGE, REMOVED IN LARGE STRIPS WITH
A VEGETABLE PEELER › WHISKEY OR RUM
1. Press 4 cloves into each lady apple 2. Place cider, cinnamon, orange zest, and studded lady apples in a large pot, and warm over medium-low heat. 3. Let steep for 1.5 hours until aromatic and flavorful 4. Add desired quantity of whiskey or rum for a nice bite 108 |
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WRITTEN BY: ERIK HALE
A
DO
TO
They had an atomic device. The world was in danger. Save us, Snake. BLAh, blah, blah.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JEFF FARSAI
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G
ood morning, Snake. I can’t keep my eyes closed. My back is talking to me. The nagging, throbbing heat emanating from my spine is just too much. Maybe it’s this cheap mattress. More likely, it’s that nasty piece of gnarled shrapnel lodged in my shoulder blade from that second (unwanted and unwarranted) tour in Iraq. Whatever the reason, it’s time to rollover; those four hours of sleep will have to do.
I peel the paper-thin wool blanket back and swing my feet (left my boots on again) off the bed, knocking over the bottle of Sailor Jerry. No spillage to clean up, because these days, I rarely leave any leftover liquid before passing out. I take a look around the apartment and shake my head at the threadbare crimson colored carpets, popcorn ceilings and avocado colored kitchenette. Hard to imagine you could find something this run down in La Jolla. Hard to believe my week is up. Where would I go from here? I’m a 42-year-old Special Forces veteran in bad need of a haircut and shave, hungover and finishing up a one-week stay at the smelliest hotel in the 1012. I lace up my black boots for about the millionth time since they were given to me in basic training two decades ago, pull on my leather coat and splash water on my face. I pat my pockets and grin. Thank, God. For the first time in quite some time, I have made it home with my keys, wallet and phone. I set the bottle upright, flip off the lamp and run my hands through the unruly mop of hair on my head before making my way into the parking lot, squinting through the morning light. Good morning, La Jolla.
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Trying to loosen up my back, I stretch my arms over my head, eliciting a groan from deep within my stomach. The groan is matched with a growl. When was the last time I ate? That thought quickly exits my head as I stand searching, turning my head slowly left to right, arms still over my head, fingers interlocked–where the hell is my car? The keys are right here. I tap my pockets again to make sure. Did I cab it home? Unlikely. Did someone give me a ride? Doubt it. Perplexed, I reach into my right jacket pocket and pull out my keys, but they’re not mine. My mouth hangs open like I’m doing a math problem in my head. A full set of keys, the largest one, black and silver, has some sort of trident logo. Without thinking about it, I push the button on the large key and, “meep, meep.” I follow the sound across the street. The machine responding to my button pushing is the most amazing car I have ever seen. I walk slowly towards the sexy black car, trying to put last night together. I take a full lap around the coupe. No plates, just a dealer plate for Ferrari Maserati of La Jolla. Black on black on black sitting on black matte
customized rims and badged in carbon fibre in all the right places. It looks like it’s going 100mph standing still. I peek inside. More black, more carbon fibre. The dash reads Gran Turismo. I open the door and slide into the cockpit. I might as well take a spin. I turn the engine over and the hairs on my neck stand on end. This thing is a beast. I slam it into manual mode, step on the gas and pull away from the curb, lighting up the tires. This is going to be a good day. I pull onto Prospect and the navigation engages. I haven’t touched anything. It’s directing me towards Manhattan Beach. Wait. Nobody goes to Los Angeles anymore. It’s too dangerous. Ever since “the earthquake” in 2000, that city practically became an island. I wouldn’t be following these directions. I turned the wheel to the right. Check that, I tried to turn it. The wheel turned left and the car followed. I wasn’t driving anymore. I checked my door, locked, tried to unlock it, no chance. I wasn’t a passenger; I was a captive.
91.1
(91X my The radio came on. It was tuned to favorite station), but instead of Halloran or Christy
BLIND BARBER www.blindbarber.com
Taylor I was listening to the cold, callous and gravelly voice of my old company commander. I tried to turn the power off. No dice. “Good morning, Snake.” I heard for the second time today. I liked it better when my screaming back said it. The conversation was one sided and sounded the same as any other briefing. “We need you” turned into “you have to.” Promises became threats. I hate this. I just want to ditch this car, grab a bottle and head back to bed. I had a mission and no chance but to accept it. They had fitted me with a ring that would inject me with a deadly chemical if I deviated from my assignment. They gave me names and needed me to find them and stop them. The car was taking me to their last known location. They had an atomic device. The world was in danger. Save us, Snake. Blah, blah, blah. The song remains the same. At least I could take a nap. This badass ride was doing 110 mad purring like a kitten. I needed rest and I wasn’t driving anyway. The car stopped. I woke up and rubbed my eyes. So this is Manhattan Beach? Why didn’t people come here more often? The car had parked itself in front of a restaurant called Fishing With Dynamite. I didn’t think this mission would be quite as easy as the restaurant suggested, but I was starving, and this place looked great. I pulled out my wallet and inspected it to make sure I had enough one’s wadded up to buy a cup of soup. I had enough, because I now had a Black Card. Perfect. I asked the waitress to bring me everything on the menu, a pad of paper and a pencil. It took her longer to get back with the pad and pen than the platter of iced seafood. I guess people don’t really use pencils anymore.
She brought me a platter called The Queen Mary, a plate filled with Mattaki oysters, littleneck clams, jumbo shrimp, lobster and crab. The spread was amazing. I decided the fate of the free world could wait ‘til I had some chow in my belly. The platter was supposed to be enough to feed a family of four, and it probably would. I devoured every last sea creature. I could sit here all day. The waitress didn’t seem to agree. She brought me my check. Three words were circled: queen, dynamite and guaranteed. This guy wanted me to find him. I knew every Queen song by heart. How did he know that? I knew exactly what he was referring to. He was going to kill the Queen. But why LA? I asked the waitress where the nearest place was to have a beer and listen to some good music. I needed to collect my thoughts. She told me to check out The House of Brews in El Segundo. I left her a fat tip (the food was amazing, and I had a Black Card) and walked out onto the sidewalk rubbing my belly. This was much better than Iraq. “SHE’S A KILLER QUEEN GUNPOWDER, GUILLOTINE DYNAMITE WITH A LASER BEAM GUARANTEED TO BLOW YOUR MIND”
The tap handle was easy to spot. It was shaped like an old phone receiver with the numbers printed in large yellow print. I liked this place. Couldn’t I just pretend to be chasing the bad guy? The Cars’ “Just What I Needed” was playing, and the weather was beautiful. You could easily come here with a party of one or a hundred and be accommodated. Maybe I would just run up a tab on the old AMEX while I was here “investigating”. This was just what I needed. Just then, a phone rang. Not the sound you are used to hearing now days. It was the sound of the wall phone that hung in my kitchen during my youth. It rang again. It was the beer tap. The bartender, perplexed as I, answered the beer tap; said, “Yes, yes, ok,” and handed me the phone. How drunk was I?
“312”
The voice on the other end of the line only said, “let’s go” (another Cars song) and hung up. I pulled the received away from my ear. The bartender and I stared at each other. My head snapped back as the sound of screeching tires and a revving engine flew past the bar. “Let’s go” someone shouted from the moving vehicle. I couldn’t discern the model at those speeds. I could only tell it was red.
House of Brews was less than a 15-minute drive, which gave me some time to clear my head. I was definitely more of an action guy. I wasn’t a detective. I parked the Maserati, grabbed my pad and pencil and double-checked to make sure I had the receipt with the clues. I left the car unlocked. This was the perfect place to gather myself. I spread out my belongings on the bar and ordered a beer from the waiter (he told me they had 55 local and craft beers on tap). I told him to bring me a cold one, his choice. He brought me a Goose Island 312. It was cold.
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glass (that he had taken “neat”), and the napkin under it with “meet you in the worst kitchen” written on it. I sat down, grabbed a bottle of The and
Balvenie
poured myself two fingers neat while contemplating this latest clue. The whiskey helped. It helped me relax. It made me forget about my back, and it gave me inspiration. “Worst” could be “wurst.” From what little I remember from my time stationed in Germany, “Kitchen” was “Küchen.” Did he want me to follow him to WurstKüche? Why the game? What was the point of chasing him to all these spots around LA? I was getting hungry again. Hopefully, I was right about the clue. I could use some more food.
I jumped off my bar stool, knocked over my beer (what a waste), grabbed my pad and sprinted for the parking lot. I was going to catch this guy, right now.
I followed him into a Best Buy parking lot in Culver City. I parked next to his car and went looking for him. Why would he be here? I checked the inside of the box store and a few other businesses, but he was nowhere to be found. Wait…a barbershop…in a strip mall.
guys mine? A quick look around showed that none were breathing heavy or short of breath. Had he come in here? The barbers all stopped. Why were they staring at me? I was breathing heavily, what felt mostly like exhaling, followed by giant gasps. I was out of shape. I noticed a door cracked open at the back of the shop. He must have left out the back. I ignored the barbers’ shouts and pushed through the door. It wasn’t what I expected. The door led to a speakeasy called The Blind Barber; a rustic, dark and sophisticated hideout. This was a place that would be packed tonight with many others using the door I had just pushed through. They would enter a room full of people, energy, life and craft cocktails. I entered a dimly lit empty room. I entered slowly.
I walked into the nondescript barbershop. Three guys cutting the hair of three guys. Was one of these
I was right behind this guy, but he kept giving me the slip. All that was left of him was an empty whiskey
I chased him along the coast on Vista Del Mar and thought I lost him as we screeched onto Culver. There were two cars between us on this two-lane road. I just needed to get around these two egg-timers. I pulled out to pass, and even with 454 horsepower under the hood, I couldn’t find a place, so I stayed close.
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By the time I made it to the WurstKüche in Venice, I was hungry. I really didn’t care about saving the free world. I wanted to eat. I still played the part, because I knew “they” were watching. I parked the Maserati on the street and sprinted for the door. Once inside, where I was sure they couldn’t see me, I stopped chasing and just became a hungry customer. They have an amazing variety of sausage on display in the glass case near the entry. They offer duck, pheasant, rattlesnake and rabbit. I decided on the rattlesnake and rabbit combination with a side of fries. After I ordered, I made my way down the hallway to a very cool back bar. It was designed with wood and iron, offered a cool and shaded patio and open seating. I chose the bar. They had an impressive collection of German and Belgian beers. I ordered a “cold one” and waited for my food. The sausage and fries were delivered and looked amazing. As I picked
Superba Snack Bar was superb. We sat close and shared small plates. We devoured the smoked bucatini carbonara, poached egg, pancetta, black pepper and Parmesan; then, ordered and demolished fried chicken thighs, red wine vinegar glaze, pickled chilies and more Parm. The food was amazing and so were the drinks. We ordered a few rounds of their cocktail, called the The Elder (elderflower syrup, cochi Americano, fresh orange squeeze and a splash of Prosecco), which we loved. What a perfect day.
up my sausage, I noticed my name written on the wax paper beneath the bun.
“Snake, just missed me,” it read.
I took a bite, a drink and another bite. This food was too good. I wasn’t interested in chasing anyone until I finished this meal. The rabbit and rattlesnake worked perfectly together and the truffle oil fries were perfectly curing my hangover. My belly was full, and now, I was tired. My superior officer would have to send someone else if they wanted to catch anyone tonight. Maybe they should have hired someone in their twenties. I was clocking out. I was driving down Pacific Ave. in Venice when I noticed the Hotel Erwin. I parked my supercar in front of a graffiti-covered wall in front of the hotel and entered the lobby. I asked for a room, and since I didn’t have any bags to drop off, I made my way to their rooftop deck, slithered into a couch, ordered a mojito and really relaxed for the first time all day. From the rooftop of the Hotel Erwin, you can see for miles, the skyline of LA, the hills of Palos Verdes and the cliffs near Malibu. You can also see all the awesomeness that the Venice boardwalk offers just by looking down. It has one of the best views along the West Coast. That’s where my attention was drawn. I sipped my mojito through a straw and started to nod off. Why was I so sleepy? The skyline was topsyturvy. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. What was in my drink? I am an experienced drinker. That sip of rum should not have that effect on me. Someone had spiked my drink. I woke up very slowly. I was having a hard time figuring out where I was. The room was gorgeous inside; the bed was comfortable. This was definitely not my weekly La Jolla rental. I raised my head off the pillow. My room card was in my hand. There was a black suit laid out on the bed. There was another note.
walked me to a table where someone was already sitting. It was a she, and from behind, she was both blonde and beautiful. I sat down, looked up and realized something all at the same time. I had been had. The world wasn’t ending, the writing on all the notes had been the same, and I hadn’t had a text from my girlfriend all day. I had been following my girlfriend.
“Surprise,” she said. I certainly was. This entire day had been a ruse. She had set up a test drive at the Ferrari Maserati dealer in La Jolla for me; she had treated me to lunch and drinks all day and was now treating me to dinner.
I jumped in my car and followed my girlfriend back to Manhattan Beach. She parked in front of the Shade Hotel and was upstairs before I could put my car in park. The Shade was a modern building that was a perfect combination of concrete and glass on the exterior and wood and glass on the interior. I checked at the desk and quickly made my way to our Napa suite. The suite was gorgeous. Mahogany wood, a hurricane fireplace, and the chromeotherapeutic lights were changing colors through the spectrum and emanating from the walls, ceiling, bathtub and steam shower. The tub was filled, the jets were on, and the water was glowing red. There were flowers on the table in the living room and champagne next to the bed. What a perfect day. Now I just had to find her. Where could she be hiding?
I looked at her across the table and smiled. She made me feel the way only a real woman could: warm, romantic...and confused.
I LEARNED A LOT TODAY.
She spent the dinner detailing all the ways she had eluded me and about the time she had spent discovering the absolute coolest places to send me. She asked if I enjoyed my day. She was very proud of herself. I was proud of her, too.
I LOVE LA.
I LOVE MASERATIS. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, I LEARNED THAT WOMEN LOVE TO BE CHASED.
Put this suit on. Meet me at Superba at 9. This is your last chance. The red car was parked in front. I had to park down the street and walk. The sign over the restaurant spelled out Superba in giant Scrabble letters. Was it missing a “d” or in possession of an extra “a.” That would be answered soon enough. I hated wearing suits. At least it was black, and it worked with my boots. I checked in with the hostess about a reservation at nine. The place was intimate; there was no place to hide. She | Holiday 2013 Issue | 115
DO EXPERT
Color Vision DO EXPERT
TETRACHROMATIC CONCETTA ANTICO PAINTS WITH A RARE SPECTRUM OF COLORS WRITTEN BY: CAROLYN SAMUELSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY: SIERRA PRESCOTT
THE EXPERT
CONCETTA ANTICO Artist Originally From:
Australia
M
ost of us San Diegans glimpse a gloomy, grey sky until the brilliance of blue finally manifests in midafternoon. Artist Concetta Antico always sees a bit more. She possesses a rare gene mutation that allows her to see exponentially more colors than the typical human. It is difficult for us to comprehend that in her typical San Diego sky there are also splashes of pastel pinks. It is through her art that she is able to recreate and share the beauty she sees from her perspective. Concetta Antico is a tetrachromatic. Most humans are trichromats, bearing three types of cone cells. She has four cone cell types in her eyes. These cones respond to light and produce signals that trigger nerve impulses. Each of these is triggered by different wavelengths of light, allowing them to identify one hundred or so shades of color. The brain combines these variations exponentially, yielding one million distinguishable colors for the average human. Take one cone away, and you have just 10,000 colors, which is the number that a colorblind human registers. 116 |
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Antico can distinguish 100,000,000 colors, 99 million more than most humans! Studies on this condition are just beginning, but could potentially lead to solutions for color blindness. It is known that certain birds, fish and insects have more than three cone cell types, too. A butterfly, for example, has five. Women are sometimes born with differences in their X chromosomes, which results in more than one type of red or green cone. Very rarely, the X chromosomes are so different that a woman will see color wavelengths that are significantly different than a normal trichomat. In the unlikely event that a woman is born with the gene that allows for exponential expansion of her color repertoire, she does not necessarily experience this phenomenon. She must develop a keen awareness of color, which allows her to tap this potential. Antico’s situation is even more unusual than the genetic odds would suggest. Blessed with the chromosomal aberration and born to be an artist, she has been attuned to color her entire life. Through her work, she has given life to her rare good fortune. Scientists also consider themselves fortunate to have discovered such a paragon of tetrachromacy for studies of human color processing.
“With my art, I emphasize the part of the earth that’s here. As we progress, we sometimes forget to look at what is around us and what makes us most happy,” says Antico as she describes her portrayal of nature. “It’s not all about money and objects.”
DO
Antico applies her rare ability as a fine artist, educator, owner of The Salon of Art, mother and Australian native. Fascinating is the speed with which Antico creates her artwork. Starting with a blank canvas, she produces a masterpiece in just a few hours’ time. In twenty years of teaching oil painting, she has influenced thousands of aspiring artists in their quests for mastery of color. Shortly after her phenomenal talent and unique abilities were discovered, she was featured in a Japanese documentary on color vision. She has also been nominated for a “Women Who Move the City” award.
Antico, originally from Australia, has resided in San Diego for nearly three decades. Her 100-year-old home, unmistakably owned by someone in tune with comfort, colors and nature, sits on a happy corner in the Mission Hills neighborhood. Its exterior is a soft yellow with green and white trim that complements the beautiful garden. The inside is filled with collectibles, fascinating artwork and a clan of British Shorthair cats. We are welcomed with aromatic tea and taken on a tour of her studio down the block; we stroll around, observing her paintings and workspace. Sunlight pours in and illuminates canvasses of flowers, gardens, a moon and a bird. By looking at Antico’s exquisite pastoral pieces, we find ourselves experiencing the vibrantly colorful world in which she lives, a world surreal to those of us with ordinary eyes. We begin to envision the pinks and yellows that jump from a peacock’s feathers, colors that to most would appear as blue and green. Swirls of colors splash across cliffs above an ocean that seems to belong in a dream. As she explains, she only sees a full array of colors in natural settings; synthetic objects appear the same to her as a trichromat. She points to one of her favorite pieces, titled “Tetrachromatic Moon.” I stare into it, trying to imagine seeing a night sky in the same way as we settle in to discuss the life and craft of this incredible woman.
For more information about Antico's art and classes visit: THE SALON OF ART STUDIO 1920 Fort Stockton Dr, Ste A San Diego, CA 92103 858.344.6897 www.thesalonofart.com www.anticofineart.com
“It is so special to know that I can show others how to SEE the world in all its colorful beauty and teach them to create in a way that they did not believe was possible.”
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Q: How long have you lived in the United States and what made you move here from Australia? Concetta Antico: I have been here 28 years, which is much longer than I ever anticipated; I intended to just pass through. I left home at age 16. My mother died when I was 12, and I wanted to retrace the places we had visited together on our very last trip to be closer to her memory. I was then supposed to work in Canada for a year as a teacher and live with a Canadian friend I had met back in Sydney, then return home. I never made it past Los Angeles. The rest is history!
I read that a tetrachromat’s female offspring may be colorblind and things really clicked. My daughter had been struggling to discern certain colors at school and was subsequently diagnosed. I emailed a few color vision research scientists cited in the articles, including Dr. Jay Neitz, who contacted me immediately. Next, I was invited to Seattle, tested and featured in a Japanese documentary. It was then confirmed that I indeed had a fourth color receptor cell type. I am now undergoing further scientific research studies at another university.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of your career? CA: I get to change lives and relieve the weight and stress of people’s days. I make lifelong friends. It is so special to know that I can show others how to SEE the world in all its colorful beauty and teach them to create in a way that they did not believe was possible. My art has also helped support many charities, including children at Rady Children’s hospital to whom I always donate a portion of my proceeds. Soon I will be making a large original work for the hospital to bring joy to the children who see it. The gifts my career has brought me are too numerous to mention.
Q: Do you ever feel overwhelmed by colors? CA: Sometimes it is hard not to be. There are so many colors everywhere, and it is hard to focus on just a few. Usually, I am delighted by what I see. I feel tremendous joy to be amongst the variety of gorgeous color displayed by so many things. I honestly do stay away from the artificially colored things. I do not watch television or read newspapers; I stay away from malls, and I limit my supermarket time. Computers are tough to look at. I always shop for the exact same food and items so I do not have to look around. I can tell when someone is not doing well, because I can see colors of illness in their skin, face and eyes. This can be disturbing. My exactness for color is pedantic. I am very picky and every color is different to me, all 100 million of them!
Q: Community certainly seems to play a huge role in your daily life and interactions. Is it wonderful having your studio a mere jaunt from your home? CA: Absolutely. A long time ago, I read that if you live a stone’s throw from your place of work, your life will be simplified. That really resonated with me. I did it, and it is true. Mission Hills is an historic jewel of a neighborhood, and the community here is very close. I am blessed to live, work and raise my children all within a one-mile radius. It also makes me so much more productive as no time is spent driving. It’s bliss all around! Q: When did you discover your extraordinary ability? CA: Comments regarding my artistic ability have followed me my entire life. My mother told me when I was a small child that I would be an art teacher and artist one day. My family and students have always said I see colors that they cannot, or perhaps don’t notice until I point them out. A few years back, a dear student and friend, Steve McCannon, who recently passed, sent me an article on tetrachromacy, just as the research in this field was beginning. He suggested that I might have this condition and that I should investigate it further. At first, I dismissed the idea as humor on his part. It wasn’t until last November when another client, neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Martin, commented that there was an alchemy in my work that she could not explain. She then bought three of my paintings and said, “I am buying these now as I am certain that I will not be able to afford them soon.” I told her jokingly, “Maybe it’s my fourth receptor.” She began emailing me articles.
Q: I’ve noticed many butterflies around your home. Do you feel a super-vision connection with these insects? CA: For decades, long before I discovered my super-vision gift, I have had a strong affinity to birds, butterflies and insects. I am also very drawn to flowers, trees and many other animals. I recently painted an arctic reindeer, only to find out later that they are tetrachromatic! That blew me away. My tetrachromatic artist logo is a butterfly. My next show is called “Divine Intervention” as I feel this has played such a poignant role in my life. There are forces I often cannot explain in my life, but they are there. Perhaps it is because I can see the colors of the world as they were intended or created. Perhaps I am meant to show them to others through my art. Perhaps it is my mum or Steve or simply my destiny.
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MODELS PROVIDED BY: SAN DIEGO MODEL MANAGEMENT, SDMODEL.COM
O pen access to treat-yourself amenities sets San Diego apart from the rest. It’s a city where indulgent weekends practically schedule themselves and relaxation often comes free. God Bless, You, Public beaches. No-cost remedies aside, there comes a time when we could all use some next-level pampering. With our latest VS feature focused on spas, LOCALE takes the pain out of planning. We’re just leaving the phone call up to you.
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From the usual massages and facials to aqua-based services like Vichy showers and hydrotherapy treatments, the Catamaran has an answer for every relief or delight you seek. A browse through the spa menu finds influence from South Pacific and Asian healing traditions. Also available are hair, nail and skin care treatments, hair styling and makeup.
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ocated in the heart of Pacific Beach, this luxury day spa boasts a lush lobby oasis in keeping with its unique beachfront property. With a setting meant to enhance mindful relaxation, THE CATAMARAN offers services to soothe you into untroubled forgetfulness, a methodic lullaby like the ebb and flow of the tide just steps from your treatment room.
The Catamaran takes indulgence a step further with signature Rituals, 140-minute, full-body cleanses that leave you feeling like a god(ess). Choose between the Ancient Ocean, Egyptian Golden and Tropical Catamaran Ritual. With a waterfront patio, you might consider building your day around a wellness regimen with a work out using the cardio and strength training equipment, or by taking a seasonal yoga class on the lawn. And if you find the only effort you’re looking to give is to show up on time, then simply don your robe and enter the low-lit relaxation room, where scents of sandalwood and citrus conjure sensations of a night in the tropics. Begin to leave the city behind as you give in to total-body tranquility. Today, the Ginger Detox Wrap is on schedule. It begins with a soothing massage using herbal poultice, a tea bag of dilo and rosemary leaves, noni, ylang ylang, and ginger root. The senses are awakened with a subtle, all-over tingle. The skin is cleansed and prepped using a dilo nut exfoliant and ginger root masque. As the mind begins to sail off, a Fijian scalp treatment bids it adieu.
The Catamaran
PACIFIC BEACH 3999 Mission Boulevard San Diego, CA 92109 858.539.8820 www.catamaranresort.com
If a facial better suits your mood, consider the Anti-Gravity Facial using NuFace. This gentle treatment stimulates cell turnover as it firms, tightens and tones. The results are instantly gratifying: a youthful plumpness fills out fine lines and your complexion sheds its dullness for a healthy, dewy shine. Days later, the soft texture and newness lingers on. Your skin will thank you. And, don’t leave without a post-treatment soak in the Jacuzzi as you gaze out at Mission Bay. Watch people navigate smooth waters on their paddle boards. Postpone the day’s errands and embrace your newly restored vitality. | Holiday 2013 Issue | 121
trendy urban retreat, THE SPORTING CLUB OF LA JOLLA rewards physical effort with streamlined design and luxury comforts to promote wellbeing. With a full-service gym, industry-leading personal trainers, a rooftop swimming pool and high-end locker rooms, The Sporting Club justifies every visit and every return. After all, if you’re going to take care of your body, let your gym take care of you.
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The Spa at the Sporting Club is staffed with excellence and values custom treatments. Estheticians take personal interest in determining exactly how to address your skin’s needs. On tap today, the Clarisonic© Skin Cleansing System uses sonic vibrations to loosen and remove dirt and makeup, while its Opal Infusion System works serum deep into the eye area where hydration is critical. Within weeks, fine lines, puffiness and dark circles improve while skin becomes firmer with more elasticity. Next, a serum applied to your face gives an instant firming sensation. Pores are cleansed by the HydraFacial™ system. Your skin breathes with a lightness that feels fresh, airy, and soothed. Beyond the treatment, at-home care advice is provided to ensure you maintain long-term benefits. If your stress manifests physically, take pampering up a notch and book your next massage at the Sporting Club with veteran Brandon Young. Skilled in therapeutic, sports and deep tissue massage, Brandon works by feel to locate and relieve the trigger points causing you discomfort. Methodical by nature, he surveys your body for signs of stress and coaxes even the most stubborn muscles into recovery. This practicing mixed martial artist and life-long athlete has the necessary strength and understanding to promote resultsoriented healing in competitors of every level.
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And for those in the market for a relaxing Swedish massage, that’s child’s play. There’s a restraint of power behind every delicate touch that feels comforting and protective as he calms soreness and releases tension. Just don’t be too surprised if/when B E S The lulls you to sleep; “It’s happened before,” he laughed.
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DEL MAR 1540 Camino Del Mar Del Mar, CA 92014 858.793.6493 www.laubergedelmar.com 122 |
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The Sporting Club
LA JOLLA 8930 University Center Lane San Diego, CA 92122 858.713.1866 www.thesportingclub.com
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lassic, tailored accents and crisp white finishes bring to mind’s eye the charming beach cottages of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. L’AUBERGE delivers East Coast refinery to the casual elegance of coastal Del Mar without an airplane ride between. A private walkway guides you past the bustle of arriving hotel guests to your separate retreat at Spa L’Auberge. Steps through the boutique where Moroccan Oil and Thalisens decorate the shelves, the women’s locker room is thoughtfully stocked with day-use robes, sandals and products to freshen up post-treatment. It’s a comfortable place to linger were it not for the bliss that awaits. Polynesian rhythms lull you into a conscious dream state as your massage therapist prepares a custom blend of seaweed clay. The Spa’s detoxifying seaweed body wrap relies on a private line of high-grade, nutrient-packed seaweed from France to encourage cleansing, newness and youthful toning. Exfoliation prepares your skin for its application and generates a pleasant heat. Brushed with a mixture containing 70 percent pure seaweed, your body is wrapped in layers of protective plastic and warming thermal and wool blankets. Like a swaddled baby, you allow your muscles to relax and your thoughts to settle. As your skin absorbs the nutrient benefits, a tender scalp massage tingles from head to toe. The bodywrap treatment ends with an invigorating shower and a massage that gently reawakens you for the day ahead.
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You might be dreaming. From the waiting area, where beams of light dance through exposed windows to its European beauty and regal outdoor terrace, the SPA AT THE GRAND DEL MAR fits the romance of the Renaissance into a San Diego afternoon. The adult-only relaxation pool and oversized whirlpools in every lounge cater to eyes-closed requiescence. Custom-designed services offered a la carte or as a packaged experience, prolong restfulness in any of eleven treatment rooms. At the Spa at the Grand, it’s okay to be selfish. Judging by the menu, it’s encouraged. A targeted stone massage warms tender areas into relief. The Spa’s special Decompression treatment coaxes tired muscles out of tension through a rosemary body scrub and goat butter body wrap, hydrating your skin as you pause to absorb its benefits on a free-floating bed. For the finale, a customized body massage removes your body’s last protest. When you consider the options, it’s nearly too good to choose; clear your schedule to accommodate a full day of pampering complete with therapeutic massage, portrait facial, and poolside lunch. Premier services at the Grand extend beyond your scheduled appointment. From the moment you arrive, guests are treated to complimentary fitness center use and fitness class enrollment, two hours of Explorer Club for your mini-me, valet parking, wet and dry saunas and signature hot teas, muffins and gourmet chocolates. Relax, everything’s taken care of.
The Grand Del Mar
DEL MAR 5300 Grand Del Mar Court San Diego, CA 92130 858.314.2020 www.thegranddelmar.com 124 |
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The Spa at the Hotel del Coronado
CORONADO 1500 Orange Avenue Coronado, CA 92118 619.522.8100 www.hoteldel.com
ts adobe red turrets a renowned symbol of luxury, the Hotel del Coronado is an obvious choice for serenity and well-deserved spoiling. On quaint Coronado Island, the Spa at the Del courts you away from pristine beaches for the comfort you crave. And if their private, vanishing edge pool isn’t close enough to the Pacific for you, you can always return to the shoreline later.
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With 21 treatment rooms and in-and-out privileges, THE SPA AT THE DEL has no shortage of options to calm, quiet and satisfy what ails you. Relaxation areas offer a moment to de-stress before the only real problem you face is the end of your massage. Every Monday, visitors are invited to enjoy 20 percent off spa treatments 50-minutes or longer. A complimentary mimosa and muffin reward you for your hard work. Or, if you’re feeling festive this season, help the Hotel Del celebrate its 125th anniversary. Coronado and San Diego locals receive 50-minute spa service for $125 (up to a $40 savings). Show your ID or a current utility bill to redeem. (Offer expires December 31, 2013.) The Spa’s regular treatment menu agrees with every appetite. Romance packages for two, a la carte services that span sunburn relief to hydrotherapy soaks, and innovative massage techniques relieve soreness and restore vitality. Feel whole again.
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The Spa Torrey Pines at the Lodge at Torrey Pines
LA JOLLA 11480 North Torrey Pines Road La Jolla, CA 92037 858.453.4420 www.lodgetorreypines.com
his 9,500-square-foot establishment houses 14 treatment rooms, three lounges, dry saunas, herbal-infused steam rooms and aromatherapy inhalation rooms. Guests are invited to a cardio/strength room with state-of-the-art equipment, fitness classes and an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi.
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Fusing nature’s beauty with a specifically coastal spirit, treatments are performed with botanical and marine-based products from three European skin care lines: Phytomer, True and Comfort Zone. The Spa’s signature Coastal Sage Scrub incorporates the evergreen subshrub of its neighbor, Torrey Pines State Reserve, to create a purifying and detoxifying experience. Other menu offerings span massage to nail care and target every concern you want addressed. To start, illuminate your skin tone as you reverse signs of stress, exposure and aging with an 80-minute Organic French Cabernet Grape Seed Body Wrap. A popular antioxidant, grape seed extract reduces inflammation and swelling as it encourages healthy circulation that evens and brightens your complexion. Make sure to leave the Spa at Torrey Pines with your best face forward; treat yourself to an anti-aging aqua facial. Restoring vital hydration to parched skin, this facial lifts and tones the years away. Following exfoliation, a marine spring water mask suggests we may have found the Fountain of Youth.
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The Spa at the Rancho Bernardo Inn RANCHO BERNARDO 17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive San Diego, CA 92128 858.675.8471
www.ranchobernardoinn.com
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ver 25 water features trim the manicured grounds of RANCHO BERNARDO INN, a North County Inland escape worlds away from hurried Pomerado Road. Up ahead, strategic restfulness feels less guilty pleasure than necessary maintenance. Count the ways you’ve earned it.
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Winding footpaths carry you past al fresco dining and balconied suites to the Spa. Plush robes hang in your locker. Once changed, hydrate with a glass of infused water or sample from an array of light snacks as you wait for your massage therapist to retrieve you. In addition to a full-service menu, seasonal luxuries, and natural “Made Fresh Daily” culinary curealls, the Inn offers a balanced Spa and Lunch Package with your choice of a 50-minute massage or facial. Available
indoors as well, today’s massage calls for a short walk to your outdoor treatment casita. Four private buildings open toward a cascading stone fountain. Water pools amid lush greenery. Serenity plays here. Aromatherapy oils heighten your signature massage experience. A choice of ginger vanilla, lemongrass and ylang ylang, white fir and fennel, or lemongrass and ginger mists your surroundings and bestows unique benefits to suit your every mood. Goosebumps pucker across your skin from a soothing head massage. Following your appointment, a three-course lunch by the saline spa pool restores energy. A reserved poolside cabana helps to ease your transition between spa day and everyday. Cabanas are available for half day or full day use at an additional fee. | Holiday 2013 Issue | 127
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nter a 75-acre, Mediterraneaninspired Eden through private gates. Inside, olive groves protect the quietude. At RANCHO VALENCIA, perfection is their inspiration. The expansive facilities here provide guests with unparalleled fitness amenities that include a picturesque yoga studio with its own reflection pond, two restaurants and a comprehensive list of spa treatments. The resort focuses on personal wellness through an organic and professional approach where relaxation and personal performance are the metrics of success. Spa treatments complement fitness training. Reward yourself after giving your best in yoga, spin, TRX, or barre with their Signature Ritual, The Sixth Sense. A calming bath soak begins the 90 or 120-minute session, followed by a Harmonizing Scalp Massage with myrtle, juniper, organic jojoba, avocado and olive oils. Finally, a hand and foot paraffin treatment leaves your skin soft and youthful. Rancho Valencia is proud to be the only spa in San Diego that carries Amala, a premier luxury skin care line with organic and sustainable ingredients sourced from global fair trade farmers.
Rancho Valencia
RANCHO SANTA FE 5921 Valencia Circle Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 858.759.6490 www.ranchovalencia.com
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TIMERS GUIDE
Bottle a Custom Fragran
TIJON PARFUMERIE & BOUTIQUE 7853 Herschel Ave La Jolla, CA 92037 619.821.8219 Visit www.tijon.com and schedule your class today!
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ce at Loc al Parfumerie, Tijon Boutique
WRITTEN BY: KRISTAL DOCTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY: NANCY VILLERE OF CRUSH PHOTO STUDIOS
We’d been planning our trip to Tijon for weeks. After happening upon this hidden gem during a drive through La Jolla, us girls of LOCALE were longing to take one of the private perfume-making classes offered by this year-old, one-of-a-kind parfumerie. With matching obsessions for essential oils and all things attar, what better way to explore our fascination with fragrance than to visit a shop where you can not only purchase beautifully formulated scents and accessories, but you can also produce your very own, personalized perfume. So upon our long-awaited arrival, Ashley and I smelled our way around the boutique, comparing the shop’s handcrafted fragrances, colognes, candles and body essentials while eagerly awaiting our instructor. We were in aroma heaven as Lyssa Schmitt, one of Tijon’s master perfumers, handed us our Perfume Creation Experience cards—the first step in taking one of Tijon’s informative and interactive fragrance workshops. We fulfilled the postcard’s questions, including choosing our favorite Tijon exclusive fragrance and our free gift! After a brief deliberation, we both chose the chic branded handbag over the t-shirt or champagne glass. We were equipped to begin our schooling on some of the world’s most alluring scents. Tijon Parfumerie and Boutique was launched in St. Martin seven years ago by John and Cindy Berglund, parents of Tijon, La Jolla’s Owner and Managing Director, Rachelle Crumrine. John developed an interest in fragrance chemistry more than 15 years ago. Rachelle fondly recalls that her father would invite his
In order to knowledgably describe our first experience with fragrance creation, Here are a few vocabulary words Tijon
friends over to her childhood home to smell a plethora of different scents he’d begun curating. She and her brother thought it a little strange at the time, but a decade and a half later, John Berglund has built a successful business on his interest in perfume making. He also published a book in September 2013, called A Beach Less Traveled: From Corporate Chaos to Flip Flop Perfumer (available on Amazon for $18). La Jolla’s first boutique parfumerie offers four levels of Perfume Creation Experiences. The first level is the Mix & Match class (the class of which Ashley and I successfully graduated), which typically lasts a little over an hour with a fee of $69 on weekdays and $79 on Friday-Sunday. Other classes offered include the Perfume Class 101, a 2-3 hour intensive education on the history and composition of perfume (prices: $119 and $129); Fragrance in Flash, which allows customers the opportunity to blend a custom fragrance while skipping the class portion in case you’re in a hurry (price: $59); as well as Private Perfume Classes created for bridal parties, birthday parties, team building, corporate events, dates for couples, even kids and really any group occasion with eight or more people. The prices for the Mix & Match and Perfume 101 Classes include a bottle of the personalized perfume you create as well as a VIP gift bag, valued at $40-$90 and filled with items like a mini bottle of your favorite Tijon fragrance, moisturizing massage oil and Caribe Baie lip balm. Students will also receive “Le Certificat d’Achevement” for completing any of Tijon’s perfume making classes. Our adventure began as we were welcomed into the laboratory, located in the back of the boutique, and first asked to choose a lab coat. Our instructor for the day was Tijon originator Cindy Berglund and once we were donned in our bright, white shifts, she began by describing the pre-mixed oils, offered for beginner perfumers and slowly moved on to the magnificent and slightly overwhelming Perfume Organ. She explained that each fully composed custom fragrance recipe requires one Pre-Mixed Oil, a Top, a Middle and a Base oil. With 12 premixed oils to choose from and more than 300 oils exhibited on the Perfume Organ, the perfume making possibilities are endless.
“A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.” - Christian Dior
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his edition of LOCALE’s First Timer’s Guide will not be taking you to the top of a mountain or speeding around a racetrack, nor will it have you JetPacking over the Pacific. This edition of First Timer’s Guide will, however, continue to feed your need for trying new things while seriously stimulating your senses. It will also provide you with the perfect idea for that irreplaceable present which will have him or her remembering the gift for years. Get ready for one of our most unique sensory adventures yet as we head to Tijon, a boutique parfumerie in La Jolla, where patrons can make handcrafted, custom fragrances for personal wear, home and bath.
taught us before beginning our scent blending.
Fresh: The lightest,
brightest fragrances in the family.
Crisp: The lighter, sharper interpretations of a fragrance.
Classic: The more beautiful and traditional fragrances in the scent family.
Rich: The deeper, richer fragrance notes.
Subtle: Blends demurely with the body’s own chemistry.
Full: Distinctive and assertive.
Pungent: Fills your environment with its essence. **Invent Your Scent: Mix & Match Class Handbook, Tijon
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After a tantalizing tour of the perfume and essential oil options, we were shown to our laboratory tables to review the provided materials and inspect the tools. Test tubes, glass beakers and stir sticks and siphons lay before us next to an instruction guide and worksheet for recording our blends. In the Mix & Match class, students of perfume are allowed the option of creating three different scents before deciding on their favorite. We were ready to let the scent science experience begin!
Tips on Using Your Scents • Apply fragrance where your skin is warmest. The heat will keep the fragrance on longer.
• Scents last longer when applied after bathing when your pores are open.
• Scent your hair, which holds scent longer than skin.
• Wear stronger scents in cold weather and higher altitudes.
• Place petroleum jelly onto areas where you spray perfume, which will give scents something to adhere to and will last longer.
• Spray fragrance on light bulbs. The heat from the bulb will scent the room. **Invent Your Scent: Mix & Match Class Handbook, Tijon
But, before we played with the perfume oils, our instructor offered some advice; which was that there is really no right or wrong way to blend a fragrance, because the sense of smell is personal for everyone. She did, however, take us through what types of scents blend best together. For example, if you want something Fresh to help cut through the sweetness of a coconut or tropical oil without overpowering the existing blend, cucumber oil or the pink grapefruit essential oil can be nice, Subtle enhancements. She then explained that oils are categorized on a spectrum of 0 to 100 to make it easier for use to choose oils from the perfume organ. The number signifies whether it’s a Top, Middle or Base. Each custom fragrance is composed of a Top, Middle
The History of Perfume 4000 BC Fragrant substances were burned in China, Arabia and Egypt for sacred purposes, their smoke thought to carry messages to the gods.
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and Base and the Pre-Mixed Oils can be used in place of or in addition to any of the traditional four oils used to make a perfume. Tops are traditionally comprised of citrus scents, while Middles and Bases can sometimes be used interchangeably and include everything from florals to frankincense and myrrh. Based on this advice, I topped off my first blend with cucumber oil, and it was the perfect addition, giving what turned out to be my favorite fragrance, a Full essence with which to anoint my skin. I began by blending the pre-mixed oil #2027, which contains the scent of soft jasmine with a sandalwood base. The other two oils I chose were Neroli and Ylang-Ylang. The result is what I called “Serendipity” — my first custom perfume. It turned out to be the perfect balance of floral notes with an overall Fresh and earthy aroma. I followed the final steps on my worksheet, adding more of each oil to my perfume bottle before topping it all off with distilled water and alcohol; and then, I filed my perfume recipe on the iPAD provided so that I can effortlessly place future orders of my personalized fragrance! Each of us also formulated a second fragrance. I coined mine “Fade Into You,” due to the unusual juxtaposition of Egyptian Musk, Rose and Tobacco
38 BC Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, used fragrance to the extreme.
33 BC Three magi bring Jesus the most precious gifts: gold, Myrrh, and frankincense, the latter two of which are perfume oils.
1650 Louis XIV of France became known as the Perfume King.
1709 Eau de Cologne was first introduced by Giovani Marie Farina in Cologne, Germany.
Q&A with the Expert:
oils. The yielded scent was slightly woodsy and Rich with just enough feminine floral notes. I attempted the third required trial recipe with little success, but loved the hint of Teakwood oil I added. On my next visit, I’ll definitely challenge myself to blend a scent using the Teakwood oil, too.
TIJON LA JOLLA
With our personalized fragrances bottled and labeled with our inspired titles, we slipped them into sophisticated velvet pouches trimmed with the gold Tijon logo and listened while the instructors provided directions for storing our perfumes. Did you know that you shouldn’t keep your perfume in the bathroom? The humidity and typical restroom temperature can cause bottled perfume to separate, triggering the scent to change or ferment. They also suggested we place our freshly made fragrances in the refrigerator for approximately five days.
OWNER/MANAGING DIRECTOR
RACHELLE CRUMRINE
Finally, we ended our class experience with a customary champagne toast while Ashley and I admired our Perfume Certificates of Achievement as well as each other’s scents. Cindy and her assistant perfumer congratulated us on completing our first custom fragrance experience and reminded us that, “no two people in the world will ever make the same fragrance recipe.”
Q: The first time you created your own perfume, what did it contain? Rachelle Crumrine: It was probably five years ago when my dad first developed the concept. My boyfriend at the time, came out to St. Martin, and it was before he proposed to me. We made a perfume and cologne each.
How true it is! Fragrance truly is an essential accessory, and Ashley and I discovered during our perfume passage at Tijon, that tailored versions of our favorite scents are even more alluring than those that stock store shelves. They say that the sense of smell triggers the deepest emotional reaction of all of our senses, so why not infuse your personality into your perfume, too.
Q: What did you name your engagement scents? RC: I named mine The Rock, and he called his The Engagement. We both put in things that are part of the Perfume 101 class where you learn that there are certain scents that turn on a woman and certain scents that turn on a man. These types of oils were perfectly appropriate for that moment when we got engaged. Q: What is your favorite fragrance oil? What is your favorite essential oil? RC: I would say my favorite is probably the green tea fragrance oil, because I prefer a lot of the sweeter oils like coconut and tropical oils, but I don’t want my perfume to be too sweet, so the green tea freshen things up. For an essential oil, I would say pink grapefruit. Sometimes essential oils can be really strong, so I feel like it is one that works really well to help cut through sweetness, too, without overpowering the overall scent.
1710 Bathing regains popularity as the first ever scented soaps become available.
1795 During the French Revolution there was a fragrance sold called “Parfum a la Guillotine.”
1730 Grasse, France became the capitol of perfumes when scenting the gloves became all the rage.
1820 Regency-era women wore fountain rings that were designed to mist their lovers with perfume.
1805 Emperor Napoleon uses up to four bottles of Eau de Cologne a day for wear, massages and soaking handkerchiefs.
1921 Chanel No. 5 parfum was introduced by Coco Chanel. The perfume was the first to be sold worldwide.
1840 Glass perfume atomizers were invented.
**Invent Your Scent: Mix & Match Class Handbook, Tijon
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GUIDE
HOLIDAY Gift Guide
#shoplocal PHOTOGRAPHY BY: ADAM GENTRY | STYLED BY: SHANNON O’NEIL PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANCE BY: CHRISTINE GEASEY | Holiday 2013 Issue | 135
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FOR THE HOSTESS 1. Devonia bowl-$150 2. Sicily entella tetradrachon-$5,850, Lyme bay shipwreck coin-$395, LONDON COIN GALLERIES (www.londoncoin.com). 3. Mighty spice cookbook-$24.95, Mortar + pestle-$19.04, SAVORY SPICE SHOP (www.savoryspiceshop.com). 4. Waits/corbjin book-$200, 6. SD Museum of Art Membership(See website for details), SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART (www.sdmart.org). 5. Organic Print-$65(each), 7. Mason Shaker-$32, W + P Jigger-$9, PIGMENT (www. shoppigment.com). 8. Glassimo blown glass platter-$70, Glassimo blown glass dish-$35(each), 12. Branch runner-$65, MIXTURE (www.mixturehome.com). 9. 12”x12” wood photo-$57.95, WOODSNAP (www.woodsnap.com). 10. Gift card, YOGA 80 (www.yoga80.com). 11. Jonathon Adler salt and pepper shakers-$50, CAPRICORN BOUTIQUE (www.capricornboutique.com).
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13. Revolver notebook-$24, Freeze ice tray-$11.95, 21. SD urban timber platter-$95, MIXTURE (www.mixturehome.com). 14. Chemex-$40, Chemex filters-$9, COFFEE & TEA COLLECTIVE (www.coffeeandteacollective.com). 15. Buddhas -$1,500 19. Indonesian drum-$695, 20. Liberia guerre dan mask-$495, LONDON COIN GALLERIES (www.londoncoin.com). 16. Amy Paul print-Morning Birds-$219, PIGMENT (www.shoppigment.com). 17. Bierfilzl coasters-$25.99(each), 18. Mac n Cheese-$16.95, Sprouted Kitchen-$25, Plenty-$35, 50 Best Plants-$29.95, 22. Pleece throw-$178, GROUNDED MODERN LIVING (www.facebook.com/grounded.modern). 23. Blackbird scented pyres-$28, ALOHA SUNDAY (www.alohasunday.com). 24. Missoni towel set: bath sheet-$145, bath towel-$65, guest towel-$25, EVERETT STUNZ (www.everettstunz.com).
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25. Glenfiddich single malt whiskey-$45 30. Reyka vodka-$23 31. The Balvenie: Single malt scotch whiskey-$46, WILLIAM GRANT & SONS (www.grantusa.com). 26. Magnifico Champagne: Lavender honey, ginger peche, grapefruit blanc-$29.99(each), MAGNIFICO (www.bemagnifico.com). 27. Mother Earth sicilian olives-$8.95, Dipping bowl-$4.50, WE OLIVE (www.weolive.com). 28. Holiday feast spice set-$39, SAVORY SPICE SHOP (www.savoryspiceshop.com). 29. Well-traveled tumblers-$34, MIXTURE (www.mixturehome.com). 32. Red velvet holly jolly-$39.50, NOTHING BUNDT CAKES (www.nothingbundtcakes.com). 33. Allagash Curieux-$21.25, BOTTLECRAFT (www.store.bottlecraftbeer.com). 34. Ballacq tea set-$27, ALOHA SUNDAY (www.alohasunday.com).
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35. Suja one-day juice cleanse-$54, SUJA (www.sujajuice.com). 36. 619 Vodka-$36.99, shot glasses-$5.99(each), 619 SPIRITS (www.619vodka.com). 37. Sushi school$40(for 2), ROPPONGI (www.roppongiusa.com). 38. Solerno blood orange liquer-$34, 39. Milagro select barrel silver-$40, 41. Monkey Shoulder blended malt scotch whiskey-$30, WILLIAM GRANT & SONS (www.grantusa.com). 40. Whiskey lover gift set-$54.99 43. Salad dressing shaker-$42, Salad dressing cookbook-$14.95, GROUNDED MODERN LIVING (www.shopgrounded.com). 42. The Bruery: Autumn maple-$10.95, box-$10, BOTTLECRAFT (www.store.bottlecraftbeer.com). 44. Olive oil$14.66, vinegar-$14.66 46. Spicy green olive tepanade, black olive tepanade, & artichoke caper tepanade-$9.95(each) 47. Gift basket: crate-$11.50, tempranillo-$35, salmon rub-$10.95, black truffle seasoning-$17.95, parmesan asiago dip-$11.95, anniversary blend-$14.66, champagne mimosa vinegar-$15.95, WE OLIVE (www.weolive.com). 45. Cold brew growler-$18, Coffee beans-$12-17, COFFEE & TEA COLLECTIVE (www.coffeeandteacollective.com).
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FOR THE SO CAL GAL 1. Nest Diffuser-$45, Nest Candle-$40, EVERETT STUNZ (www.everettstunz.com). 2. Yosi Samra pointy toe flats-$120, CAPRICORN BOUTIQUE (www. capricornboutique.com). 3. Brown short sleeve sweatshirt-$18, SEAWEED & GRAVEL (www.seaweedandgravel.com). 4. Chavez for charity bracelets-$19.99 (each), MIXTURE (www.mixturehome.com). 5. Rip Rock Sunglasses-$120, ELECTRIC (www.electricvisual.com). 6. Louis Vuitton monogram bucket-$495 7. Labradorite C2 pendant-$99.95, MY SISTERS CLOSET (www.mysisterscloset.com). 8. Yojhi Hike-$410, Y-3 (www.y-3.com). 9. Brass necklace-$48, Brass labradorite ring-$65, SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART (www.sdmart.org).
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10. Aztec-$65(regular); $52 with promocode "LOCALE" for 20% off, JAMMYPACK (www.jammypack.com). 11. Hello Sisters necklace-$50, SEAWEED & GRAVEL (www.seaweedandgravel.com). 12. OUTER EDGE Bumper Case-$29.95, TAVIK (www.shop.tavik.com). 13 AV1 XL Sunglasses-$160, ELECTRIC (www.electricvisual.com). 14. Boudoir photography gift certificate, CRUSH PHOTO STUDIOS (www.crushphotostudios.com). 15. Meredith Hahn Lana bracelet-$50, 17. Maison scotch red quilted leather clutch-$170, CAPRICORN BOUTIQUE (www.capricornboutique.com). 16. Catamaran spa gift card, EVAN'S HOTELS (www.evenshotels.com). 18. Barr Co. handsoap-$30, Barr Co. hand + body cream-$24, Barr Co. soap-$9, PIGMENT (www.shoppigment.com).
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FOR THE MISTER 1. Galaxy-$65(regular); $52 with promocode "LOCALE" for 20% off, JAMMYPACK (www.jammypack.com). 2. Johhny Bravo-$60, Boa-$70, Zodiac-$60, MISSING LINK TIES (www.missinglinkties.com). 3. Starwalker-$49 4. Castaway-$20, TAVIK (www.shop.tavik.com). 5. Riptide-$2000, TONE LOUNGE (www.tonelounge.com). 6. Gloves-$18, Rag-$12 8. Tee Shirt-$18, SEAWEED & GRAVEL (www.seaweedandgravel.com). 7. Feather snap-on case-$24.99(each), INCIPIO (www.incipio.com). 9. Gentleman's guide-$17.95, Stu'd bloody mary-$10, Magique mary blend-$14, PIGMENT (www.shoppigment.com).
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10. Tee Shirt-$10, BOTTLECRAFT (www.store.bottlecraftbeer.com). 11. Braun analog watch-$175, SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART (www.sdmart.org). 12. Tee Shirt-$33 18. Key chain-$35, ALOHA SUNDAY (www.alohasunday.com). 13. Jones II-$550, Y-3 (www.y-3.com). 14. Starwalker woven shirt-$49, TAVIK (www.shop.tavik.com). 15. Rolex 41mm stainless steel Datejust-$9,100, ROYAL MAUI JEWELERS (www.royalmauijewelers.com). 16. Sunglasses "The Fold"-$179.95 SPY OPTIC (www.spyoptic.com). 17. Tropical$65(regular); $52 with promocode "LOCALE" for 20% off, JAMMYPACK (www.jammypack.com). 19. Boots-$69, SEAWEED & GRAVEL (www.seaweedandgravel.com).
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A g n i Tak
d n a st
B
arney Miller’s story is a hero’s story, but it is also the greatest true love story I have ever heard.
Barney isn’t the kind of hero who flies in between skyscrapers with a cape tied to his neck. But, maybe we should get Barney a cape; because true heroes, like Barney, prove impossible things are possible. Barney doesn’t remember crashing into the tree at 89 miles per hour, or being med-evacuated to Sydney where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He doesn’t remember being cut out of the van, but he does remember the drive. It was a rainy day in April of 1998 on the two-lane road just outside Sawtell, Australia. Barney worked as a white water rafting guide, and his co-worker drove them to the river that day. The driver made a 90-degree turn at almost 90 miles per hour, losing control of the van. The pair rolled and rolled until the van crashed into a tree. The force of the tree crushed Barney into the car and broke the C5 and C6 vertebrae in his neck, instantly paralyzing him. Barney awoke from a medically induced coma to hear about all the things he would never do again. He would never walk again, breathe without a machine, or use his right arm. Barney says a fire lit inside him then to prove everyone wrong. It brings goose bumps to my skin and courage to my heart to hear what he did. Through determination, love and a groundbreaking organization called Project Walk, Barney did the “clinically impossible.” Today, he takes assisted steps with a walker, and last September, he knelt with a diamond ring in his hand. With the love of his fiancée Kate “Kada” Southwell to support him, he works hard every day on his goals. He’s promised Kate he will dance with her at their wedding and is excited to surf standing up. He constantly smiles and laughs; gives without a thought to himself; and, touches the lives of everyone he meets. Barney is a real Superman, and I think he’d want you to know: you can do anything you set your mind to. A year after the accident, Barney’s friend, Joel “Tubby” Bath started the Barney Miller Surf Classic in Sawtell to raise money for Barney’s rehabilitation and it’s attendant medical bills. The annual BM Surf Classic continued, and now, each year, all of the proceeds go to another individual with a spinal cord injury, always a person of Barney’s choosing. A few years after the accident, Barney met Kate at the Sawtell Chili Cook-off, a community event in their small hometown. Six years later, they’re engaged to be married. In 2008, Barney found his light at the end of the tunnel in Project Walk. A friend told Barney about the program, and ten years post-injury, Barney decided to give it a shot. 144 |
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The Story of Barney Miller and Project Walk WRITTEN BY: NATALIE HOLTZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY: NANCY VILLERE OF CRUSH PHOTO STUDIOS
Whereas most rehabilitation programs focus on how to help clients cope with life from their wheelchairs, Project Walk asks clients to throw their chairs aside.
Seeing incredible progress in Barney, Barney and Kate began to split their time between Carlsbad with Project Walk and their native Sawtell, Australia. They chase the summer, spending the warmest six months out of the year here where Barney works out intensively at Project Walk, and return to Australia in early fall. Barney works out four days
Barney awoke from a medically induced coma to hear about all the things he would never do again. He would never walk again, breathe without a machine, or use his right arm.
FEATURE
Founded in 1999, Project Walk’s mission is to provide an improved quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries through intense activity-based recovery programs. There are a few other programs like Project Walk, but Project Walk is truly the pioneer of activity-based recovery. Employing The Dardzinski Method, 70 percent of Project Walk clients experience increased function below the level of injury. From wiggling their toes to running, Project Walk helps clients recover function they never thought they would. The Carlsbad location, the headquarters of Project Walk, sees 70-85 clients a month, formulating each individual’s programs based on their specific needs and schedules. Project Walk continues to grow in their attempts to help those with spinal cord injuries. They have locations throughout the United States, and there are Project Walks in Brazil and Japan.
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a week for three hours a day to regain the function he lost in the accident. When Barney kneeled at a Padres Game with a diamond ring in his hand, it was during September, which is Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month. Project Walk had booked the entire rooftop of the Western Metal Building at Petco Park and helped orchestrate the engagement from rolling out the red carpet to distracting Kate while Barney got ready. Just after Kate sang the national anthem in front of twenty thousand people (Kate is a singer who is releasing her first album), the Project Walk family watched as Barney asked Kate to be his wife. Barney and Kate planned for a long engagement so Barney can work towards dancing their first dance on April 18, 2015. Barney surfs as much as possible, sometimes being pushed into waves by surfing greats like Mick Fanning and Taylor Knox. A documentary about Barney’s life titled “No Means Go” is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2015 after the film crew captures the couple’s nuptials. Kate, whose stage name is “Kada” which means “unknown,” signed a record deal with MNO records and is currently working on her album “The Unknown,” which will be released in January in Australia and in June in the US. She is looking for unconventional wedding dresses and focusing on her singing career. Barney and Kate strongly believe in the power of positive thinking and encourage each other to think beyond limits. They continue to inspire me, and I consider them to be the truest kind of heroes…even if they aren’t wearing capes. Q: How did you learn about Project Walk? Barney Miller: I learned about Project Walk back in 2008 through a guy that just got in contact with me; I had no idea who he was. We were at a workout place getting equipment because I just started doing the CHEK Program in Australia. This guy said “We have another guy in a wheelchair who has been raving about this place in America, and would you mind if I
gave you his number, or if I gave him your number?” I was organizing my charity surf event, so I didn’t get a chance to actually call him, but he actually rang me, and just said, “Listen, you don’t know me, but I was given your number. And, you’ve got to get over to Project Walk. It’s amazing.” He said he was getting amazing results. It went from there, by the time we looked into it at the end of 2008, in 2009, we decided let’s do it, let’s go there for three months and see what all the fuss is about, and I haven’t looked back. Q: Why is Project Walk so special to you, and how has it changed your life?
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Q: What is a typical day like for you? BM: I work out at Project Walk Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so if it’s a weekday, I usually wake up pretty sore from the workout a day or two before. I have breakfast, smoothies are usually in the cards, and do the bathroom program, go and have a shower and stuff. Then we come here to Project Walk for a solid three-hour workout,
BM: Project Walk is amazing in how everyone is there and after that, I go home and crash out on the to do the same thing and that’s to achieve his or her lounge. It wipes you out; every day it wipes you out. dreams. Everyone feeds off each other’s motivation. So, I go home and rest the body for the next workout. There are people who are just learning to walk, there I have dinner in there too, somewhere. are people who are walking really Q: Can you tell us about the accident? well, and there are people who MY GOAL IS TO BM: Back in ‘98, I was 20, and I was have no movement whatsoever. a white water rafting river guide, DANCE WITH And, there are people at each stage which was a really fun job. I really in between, and everyone looks to KATE AT OUR enjoyed it. I’d dunk the clients in if each other and thinks, “Look at they gave me any cheek or anything WEDDING. I'M what they’re doing. If they’re doing like that. So we were just on our way that, there’s nothing to stop me GOING TO DO IT. out to work, I was driving out with from achieving that.” I CAN'T WAIT. a guy I used to work with. It was It’s changed my life because there’s now a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s all I need to know.
APRIL 18, 2015. I PROMISED KATE. SO, IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.
Q: What has been your biggest achievement so far at Project Walk? BM: My biggest achievement would probably be taking assisted steps in a walker. I’m actually putting all the weight through my legs when one foot is in front of the other, and I’m actually able to half drag my back foot forward, where the trainer has to pick it up and move it. One of the other biggest things is, one I’m really happy about, is being able to stand with Kate whenever we want. Q: Where did you start your recovery? BM: I started from hardly anything. I had my arms, I guess, but they weren’t very strong, and I had no strength in my legs whatsoever. I was weak, a bit overweight, and not in a very good place. I started at Project Walk ten years post-accident, which is actually the longest period of time after injury that anyone has ever started. So, Project Walk sort of didn’t know what to do, because I was ten years post. Project Walk asked me what my goals were, and I told them, “The big goal is to walk
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again.” And they said, “Let’s see what happens.” And I haven’t looked back. It’s now 14 years post, and I’m able to hold weight through my legs and do things I never even dreamed of doing.
pouring down rain, he was being stupid, just one of those guys who had to try and impress people. The road we used to take to the river was one lane on each side, so cars coming one way and the other way. So on this narrow road, he overtook three cars and kept his speed up, and tried to take a 90-degreeangle turn at like 89 miles per hour and just lost control. Apparently, once he lost control, the car just rolled and rolled and rolled, until it slammed up into a tree. I caught the force of the tree, and he got ejected from the car. The split second the car lost control is as far as my memory takes me. But I was conscious the whole time they were cutting me out of the car and the whole time at the nearest hospital before I got flown to Sydney, I was conscious. I don’t remember it all, but that’s probably a good thing. Q: What do you remember from the first days after the accident? BM: It was about a week before I sort of came to, but in that week, there was morphine-induced dreams mixed with reality, which is mind-blowing. Some of the things that were happening in my head were bizarre, I could write a book about all the hallucinations I was having. Just coming to after two weeks, I asked someone, “What’s going on?” and they told me. And then they told me, “You’ll never walk again. You’ll never breathe by yourself again. You’ll never use your right arm ever again.” It was like getting hit by a truck. I think that was the moment a fire lit inside me to be able to prove these guys wrong. And that’s what I’m doing now.
I’m doing things they said I never would. I had to teach myself how to breathe all over again. I told them to take out the breathing machine, and they said, “No, you can’t take it out, you need this to breathe.” But I was persistent, I kept telling them to take it out. They were like “Alright, we can try.” I probably lasted like 5 seconds, not even that, and I lost my breath and freaked out. I just had to work on it, and work on it, and I went from five minutes, to twenty minutes, to forty minutes. Then it went to two hours, and from two hours it went to five days. And then they said, “If you can breathe for seven days, we’ll take it out.” I had two more days to do, and I did it, so they took it out. Top surfer guys gave me tips about holding my breath, and I’d been training myself, diaphragmatic breathing, just training my body to breathe. I can hold my breath for over a minute and twenty seconds now. It just gets stronger and stronger.
“Project Walk has changed my life because there’s now a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s all I need to know.” - Barney Miller
Q: If it were possible to time travel, what moment in your life would you like to return to? BM: The first time I ever stood with Kate and was able to look down into her eyes, but now I’m able to do that all the time. Other than that, childhood. Q: What are some simple activities that consistently make you happier? BM: Surfing, number one. That’s my number one love; well, it’s equal with Kate, obviously. One of my trainers here, Nika, told me surfing saved me. Being in the ocean and being with friends and just the feeling of surfing, it’s amazing. It’s so therapeutic and I can’t tell people enough to get out there and try it, and you’ll see for yourself. You could have the worst day possible and you go get a couple of good waves, and it’s all over. It clears my mind. Q: Both you and Kate have pursued the big dreams, ones people might label unrealistic or impossible. Do you have any advice for people pursuing big dreams? BM: The number one thing is don’t ever let someone tell you that you can’t do anything. It’s really so cliché, but if you put your mind to anything, there’s nothing stopping you from achieving it. When I was younger I never thought I’d be in the position I’m in now. I’ve achieved things people told me I would never do. I’ve read so many interesting things about mind over matter, and the law of attraction, and it’s just helped me find my head space and helped me to achieve what I want to do. You can work as hard as you want, but you have to have your head in the right place to do what you want to do. Q: What are your goals for the future? BM: To dance with Kate at our wedding. I’m going to do it. I can’t wait. April 18, 2015. I’ve set my mind to it, and I’ve set the goal. I promised Kate. So, it’s going to happen. I’m also going to get back on my feet, surf again standing up, and help people; show people what’s possible when everything looks so dark and grim. PROJECT WALK 5850 El Camino Real Carlsbad, CA 92008 760.431.9789 www.projectwalk.org
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HOME EXPERT THE EXPERT
PAUL SILVERA Owner, SCOUT at Quarters D Inspired by:
Travel
SCOUT’S HOME EXPERT
ERT
HOME EXP
HONOR It’s All About Design at SCOUT AT QUARTERS D WRITTEN BY: MEGHAN MEREDITH PHOTOGRAPHY BY: MARTIN MANN
SCOUT @ Quarters D NTC at Liberty Station, Point Loma 2675 Rosecrans Street at Dewey Rd San Diego, CA 92106 619.225.9925 www.scout-home.com
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T
urn swords into ploughshares...an idiom used to describe military weaponry converted for peaceful civilian use, the weaponry often transforming into creative tools that benefit mankind. Such is the case with SCOUT at Quarters D located at Liberty Station, the former Naval Training Center (NTC) in San Diego. Built in the Spanish Colonial style,
NTC has a rich history of military preparation and service dating back to 1917 when America was in the throws of World War I. Since then, NTC has moved military operations to Great Lakes, Illinois and the vacated buildings are now a center of commerce for San Diegans. Set up in the former private residence of a Naval Commanding Officer is SCOUT, a cutting edge design company that has transformed a military home into a retail store that is at once peaceful and inviting. Paul Silvera is the owner of SCOUT. He is a seasoned retailer and designer with a well-trained eye and a friendly disposition. Open a little over a year now; SCOUT is quickly making a name for itself. There are six employees, including Silvera, and all greet the customer with respect and attention. There are no pushy salespeople here as each employee is not only passionate about design; they are also involved in the selection process of the stores artifacts. Silvera and his employees scout the globe, turning the soil, to bring their customer the most original pieces they can find with the sole purpose of cultivating the home into its own unique style.
Q: Where did the name “SCOUT” originate? PS: I thought I would create a store based around things that I loved. Every time I travel somewhere, I bring things back with me. I like going
out and searching for new things. I opened a 750-square-foot storefront in Oakland in a great neighborhood and had that for about 19 months. I staged a property I owned and sold it. I then created a new synergy with my retail and expanded that over the next eight years. I was looking around in 2007-2008 for even more space, so I came back to San Diego looking for the right opportunity, and I settled on this space (NTC), because it personified everything I love about San Diego. It’s indoor/ outdoor. Outdoor entertaining is an integral part to living in San Diego. It has a view. We are set on a one-acre lot. We can do events here. We are also coastal. It’s a Spanish-style house, and it’s historic. We are on the edge of what San Diegans call the “forbidden city.” Everyone knows that this was a Naval base, but no one knows what’s inside it. So, I was able to be the front door of a much larger project, which is the arts and culture district of Liberty Station.
HOME
Q: What is SCOUT all about? Paul Silvera: We are a 4,000-square-foot showroom. We carry the Farrow and Ball paint line that is made exclusively in England. We have a full line of accessories, embellishments for the home, cards, gifts, furniture and lighting. We have the ability to actually go out into the field and put these things into play. Customers can come in and work with our professionals at the design bar. We do interior design service. We do staging. So all of those things give us a retail presence. We also do florals by subscription every Thursday. You can come to SCOUT and pick out your floral arrangement for the weekend. We also do events. It takes a village, but we get it done.
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“Whether it’s A brand new, modern construction in Leucadia or a Mission Hills bungalow, both homeowners can buy something from SCOUT.”
- Paul Silvera
Q: From where do you source your pieces? PS: I have three people who work for me who do what is known in the public as “picking.” They get orders from me on what I’m looking for. And I’m always looking! I have a guy bringing back a truckload of pieces that he’s accumulated from barns in the Midwest. We’ll have a huge inventory of stuff that we have literally pulled out of barns. When I travel, whenever I go anywhere, I come back through customs with stuff. I buy a lot of our fabric overseas. Q: Do you have a selection process for finding your unique pieces? PS: I really love everything in the store. I need my store to be fresh. Being a destination retailer means that people come back and check you out frequently, and they have to see something different. Season often comes into play. There’s seasonality to what we do. I’m always changing. Anytime I find something new, I think of what’s in the showroom now and what’s going to be in the showroom two months from now, and then, if it’s still there two months later, I will liquidate it. We typically integrate those pieces into staging. Q: Whom do you stage for? PS: We stage for realtors, developers and ground-up construction. We do major renovations to houses with an eye towards keeping it historic and making sure whatever goes into the house is not recognizably Home Depot. Q: Describe your clientele. What is your typical customer like? PS: My clientele is classic San Diego, crisp, clean, smart and yet still casual. So, we go out and look for things that translate really well into our customers’ homes. Whether it’s brand new, modern construction in Leucadia or a Mission Hills bungalow, both homeowners can buy something from SCOUT. The consistent thing is that there is always a mix in what we put together, it’s never about matching. The mix can be high/low. In my own house, I have stuff from IKEA, and I have stuff from flea markets in Europe. This is just how people who love to decorate live. You find the right thing, and it goes in your house. It becomes your own style. Q: What do you see in the future for SCOUT? PS: See those four buildings? I want all of them. Right now we are doing a lot of business in Los Angeles and in Santa Barbara. San Diego is a great launching pad for us. It is a hugely underserved market, we discovered. We are a word-ofmouth business, and there has been a shift. People want to know where things are made. They want to know why it is special and why they should buy it. We are able to deliver unique things that the larger stores can’t. Q: What is SCOUT’s secret on employing such passionate people? PS: Pay them well, give them benefits, and let your people do what they do well without stomping them or micromanaging them. The people who come here and work here are free to be creative. You are always best at what you are most passionate about. And everyone who I have working for me are passionate about what they do, and they are good at it. When you shop here you get that sense.
INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY: CASEY BLATT 150 |
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SU CASA Our sneak peak inside gorgeous local homes
DREW NELSON BRE LIC # 01376023 858.215.DREW (3739) DREWNELSONREALTOR.COM
LISTED WITH WILLIS ALLEN REAL ESTATE WWW.1350VIRGINIAWAY.COM
WRITTEN BY: EMILY VILLANUEVA PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY: CAMERON ACKER 152 |
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Elegance
DISCOVERING A HIDDEN GEM IN LA JOLLA
HOME
ost who stroll by 1350 Virginia Way probably underestimate the seemingly quaint house on the picturesque street just across Torrey Pines Road from the Village of La Jolla.
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THE COURTYARD is really one of the most magical parts about this whole home.
ith curb appeal that makes the property seem much more modest than its actual 5050 square feet, this Santa Barbara style home in La Jolla is perfect for the modern homeowner: a self-made person who wants to invest their money in something of quality, but has an aversion to the thought of flaunting it. “The new buyer of today isn’t looking for something showy and ostentatious,” says Drew Nelson, the Willis Allen Real Estate listing agent. “They’re looking for understated, classic style. They want a place that can elevate their level of happiness, but that also won’t throw it in other people’s faces.” And this is exactly the type of home that illustrates that aesthetic and ideal, an ideal synonymous with the laidback lifestyle of Southern California. The East Coast may have its skyscrapers and brownstones and sidewalk stoops, but no design is more quintessentially Californian than the stucco exterior and tiled roofs of Spanish Colonial architecture. This particular style of architecture is all about embracing the elements rather than hiding from them. Without the threat of snowstorms or clogged gutters, buildings here can breathe. The house at 1350 Virginia Way, for all of its unassuming street presence, exhales out like a breath of fresh air. The Dutch door entryway leads to the formal living area, which then flows into a gorgeous, open courtyard. The courtyard is really the one of the most magical parts about this whole home, with room for plenty of lounges and tables to hang out under the or and stars, a central hub that is inviting and calming in its attempt to unify the structure and the inhabitants who occupy it. The first floor includes three bedrooms, the dining room, kitchen, and family room—complete with cute nook and fireplace. In contrast, the entire second floor is dedicated to the ocean view master suite, a spacious den or an office that leads to a stone balcony, a large and 154 |
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warmly lit master bath, and a walk-in closet. So, for those who value their privacy, this solo retreat is its own home-within-a-home. In addition, there is a lower level bonus space, akin to an aboveground basement, that can be whatever one wants it to be: a kids playroom or craft corner, you name it. There is also a theatre-like entertainment room and an optional den or 5th bedroom, clever and functional maximization of the space that makes it all the more interesting. High wood-beamed ceilings give the place an infinitely roomy feel, while arched glass doors and windows let the natural light shine in. Spanish-style finishes like wrought-iron chandeliers couple with Mediterranean color accents and rustic dark woods for a warm, timeless charm. Travertine flooring and granite countertops is a thoughtful choice of materials. But the most enticing feature about this property, other than its high-quality, tasteful construction and Old World style? Location, location, location.
“The thing is, in places like La Jolla, you have more usable living space than the square footage might indicate,� says Drew Nelson. Translation? Miles of beaches, rocky cove and reefs for tide poling, not to mention the Village and its countless amenities, give homeowners the luxury of space. And nothing is more of a luxury than the ability to live where you dine, work and play. With the privacy immediately adjacent to the village of La Jolla, cultural proximity of an urban cityscape, and distinctly San Diegan ocean views, this home has everything covered.
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