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Photos from the Smog City Brewing soft open
These photos are from the Smog City Brewing Company soft open which was held Friday evening in Torrance, CA. A few days ago, Smog City Brewing, a new local microbrewery, posted on their Facebook page that the brewery now had a telephone number and that people should call and leave a message; the hint that \”there\’s something in it for you too\” was enough to make me call. In their message they announced that Smog City Brewing would be having a soft opening prior to their scheduled grand opening on May 18, 2013.
They opened the doors at 5:00 PM; we were the third couple to come in; within minutes they had three girls working the taps and the lines kept growing. We were there a couple hours and people continued to arrive even as we were leaving. For an event that had pretty limited, last minute exposure they had a very nice turnout. It was readily apparent that Torrance was happy to welcome Smog Brewing Company to our local craft beer scene. For those that were not able to make it Friday evening, they will be doing this again Saturday; from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM. They are offering five beers; Smog City XPA, Groundwork Coffee Porter, Sabre-Toothed Squirrel, Quercus Circus and Bourbon Red. I recommend getting a flight and trying them all. Even though there were a couple styles I am not a huge fan of, Smog City\’s version made them quite enjoyable. Continue reading
Business & Beer Meetup at Strand Brewing Company
Last night, Business & Beer returned to Strand Brewing Company in Torrance. Strand Brewing is a microbrewery specializing in premium handcrafted ales. They just celebrated three years in business last February and seem to be growing by leaps and bounds in the past couple of months. In addition to the seven available beers on tap, Strand also released more varieties in bottles bringing to six the number available for purchase.
We had another good group of people, with people returning and others bringing their friends. Unfortunately, I do not think that our experiment with Meetup.com is having much benefit. We did get a couple new attendees from them when we first started to use Meetup, but they do not seem to have any way to grow the group using their database of members, so we will discontinue being the organizers on the Meetup side. If someone wants to take it over, reach out to me and we will discuss it. Continue reading
Photos from the Unity Run Pasadena
The running community is a pretty tight group; if I had any doubt about that before, the events of the past few days, culminating with the Unity Run Pasadena, erased any doubts I may have had. These photos were taken today at the Unity Run Pasadena, a 5K which was held today at the Rose Bowl; the event included members of at least 16 different running clubs in the area as well as individuals that came from at least as far away as Riverside participating to remember the victims of the Boston Marathon 2013 terrorist attack.
As events unfolded in Boston on April 15, John Beatty, vice president of Pasadena Pacers Running Club in California, was at work and already thinking that he had to do something to get local runners and their supporters out running again as soon as possible. He wanted to put on an event to show some unity in the running world. He decided a 5K (about 3 miles) would be a nice run that people would not have to train for, and he knew that a lap around the Rose Bowl would be just right. The problem is that the Rose Bowl can only have a certain number of \”events\” per year, so this would have to have less than 1,500 participants and a few other rules to abide by. By Wednesday evening, they had been given the green light and the Unity Run was formed on Facebook. Continue reading
Business & Beer does a Meetup at Monkish Brewing
These photos are from the Business & Beer Meetup which was held last night at Monkish Brewing Company in Torrance. Monkish Brewing is a microbrewery that specializes in Belgian style ales and has a wide selection of tasty brews available. Business & Beer had not been held at Monkish in about three months, and there were some massive changes not only in the beers on tap, but they have done a lot of remodeling which includes a new window, tap system and places for people to sit and enjoy their beer. As usual when we go to Monkish, we had a decent sized group with a few returnees attending. It is always a pleasure when people that have not been around in a while come back.
Business & Beer is a social and business networking group that meets every Thursday at a different microbrewery, brewpub or gastropub in the South Bay area. If networking is important to your business success and you are a fan of American craft beer, you might want to check out BusinessNBeer.com. You can follow us on Meetup or Facebook; it is a fun group of people that have a good time and want to do business with you. Continue reading
Some of our favorite places to eat
I was going through some photos I have taken over the last nine days and decided that since I had not put them online yet, I would take the opportunity to talk about three locations Tanya and I visit on a pretty regular basis; and always have a good time. These locations are Beachwood BBQ & Brewing in Long Beach; Abigaile Restaurant in Hermosa Beach and Benihana Restaurant in Torrance.
The first batch of photos are from Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, a brewpub in Long Beach that specializes in barbecue style foods. As you might imagine, because it is the furthest away, I don\’t go there as frequently as I would like. Every time I go in there and read the boards listing the beers brewed on location and the boards listing the numerous high quality guest beers, I wish I could just go spend the day and not have to worry about getting home. They have an amazing tap list. Last week they were having a bottle release party for their Thrillseeker IPA Bottle Release & Spontaneous Hop Frolic and since I am a definite hop head, we decided to head down there for some lunch and lots of hops. I like their fried pickles a lot; if you go there, give them a try.
The next set of photos are from one of our favorite locations in the South Bay, Abigaile Restaurant and The Brewery at Abigaile. You have probably seen many of my posts that mention The Brewery at Abigaile because I am such a fan of the beers they brew; but the restaurant deserves similar accolades as there are always tasty and interesting items on their menu. They have an R&D Hour, which is their happy hour, which starts at 5:00 PM. They have a \”Testing Area\” menu that is made up of items the chefs came up with \”on a whim.\” The Gogi Chicken Tacos were great. Continue reading
Carl Palmer Plays Saint Rocke
A couple weeks ago the good people at Saint Rocke, a concert venue in Hermosa Beach, CA gave me a couple passes for an upcoming show. When I heard Carl Palmer would be performing there, I knew what concert I wanted to see. I have been to many concerts since the late 1960\’s, and the best show I have ever seen was Emerson, Lake & Palmer at the Hollywood Bowl in 1971; they were that good. So last night we decided to go to Hudson House in Redondo Beach for dinner, and then headed down the street to Saint Rocke for some rock and roll.
The concert started with a set by Fertitta and McClintock, a duet of acoustic balladeers. They were entertaining, but we were there for Carl Palmer and when he got on stage we were immediately sent back to the 1970\’s with electric guitars and great drum solos. That is something we don\’t really see much of anymore, a good drum solo, but Carl Palmer reminded us of the good ol\’ days. It was a great time. I have to admit, when I saw the two guys accompanying Palmer I had to wonder if they had any idea who he was prior to joining his band; they were pretty young. Continue reading
18th Street Arts Center to hold artisanal wine, art & food tasting event
The 18th Street Arts Center is holding their first annual CRUSH, an artisanal wine, art and food tasting event on Sunday, May 19, 2013 at the 18th Street Arts Center located at 1639 18th Street, in Santa Monica, CA. The fundraising event will run from 2:00-5:00 PM for general admission; with VIP ticket holders getting in an hour earlier, 1:00 PM. ![\"CRUSH](\"http://www.gotbaddog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/crushlogo-246x300.jpg\" "\\"crushlogo\\"")
In addition to the over 50 unique wines, specialty cocktails, and food tastings from the best restaurants and chefs in Los Angeles, there will be live music, tours of various artists\’ studios and a preview of the collaborative exhibition Forêt Intérieure/Interior Forest by Alexandra Grant. All proceeds go to benefit the 18th Street Arts Center, a Santa Monica 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Continue reading
Business & Beer joins Meetup at Sophie\’s Place
These photos are from our Business & Beer/Meetup event that we had last night at Sophie\’s Place, one of our favorite gastropubs, located in the Riviera Village in Redondo Beach, CA. We had a nice turnout of eight with a couple of them coming as a direct result of our using Meetup.com as a networking tool. Since the group was a little smaller than normal, it gave us an opportunity to interact more with our new guests. Our hosts, Sophie\’s Place, even gave Tanya a slice of carrot cake (which she sliced up to share) and we had a rousing rendition of \”Happy Birthday\” sung to her by several patrons. It is probably a good thing that no one recorded that.
Business & Beer is now nine months old and we have been enjoying putting on these networking events. As summer approaches I am sure our gatherings will begin setting some new attendance records; I have met many people that have said they want to check it out. If you live or work in the South Bay, and networking is part of how you make your living, you should check out the Business & Beer networking group; especially if you enjoy craft beer. It is a good group of people and we have a good time, all while finding ways we can work together. Continue reading