Every once in a while I write an article that I know ahead of time is going to upset some people; I am relatively confident there will be those that are not going to like this article. I am okay with that and apologize ahead of time if you don\’t approve of my thoughts.
A couple months ago, at a Torrance City Council meeting, there was a topic of discussion regarding a free \”summer\” concert series that runs from January through October on Saturday evenings from 6:00-9:00 PM at the courtyard on Cabrillo by El Prado. Since the event is sponsored by BFD Buffalo Fire Department and The Depot restaurants and the owner, Chef Shafer, is known for his support of local charities it was pretty open and shut as to whether or not the City of Torrance would grant Shafer the permit he requested to hold these concerts.
When it came time for public comments there was one gentleman that lives somewhere in the courtyard complex and he came complaining about the noise. Naturally, Shafer had the deck stacked against the guy as he had customers come in and talk about how much they enjoyed the concerts. What I found odd was the one young lady that said she lived a couple blocks away and could hear the music, but wished it was louder so she could hear it better. Continue reading
Last week my Facebook feed lit up with the news that the Proud Bird Restaurant, an aviation-themed restaurant by Los Angeles International Airport for 48 years, will be closing effective November 21, 2013. Apparently they are closing because the landlords, Los Angeles World Airports, want to increase the rent to such an extent that the restaurant cannot afford to stay open. As the Proud Bird and I go back about 35 years and Tanya and I had been talking about going to a champagne brunch anyway, we decided that we would go for one last brunch at the Proud Bird yesterday since we already have plans for next week.
I could not count the number of brunches I have gone to at the Proud Bird as we used to get a group of friends to ride over there almost every Sunday for a few years. There was a pretty decent crowd yesterday, which I guess was the reason for the slower than usual service; or it could be that the employees know their time there is dwindling so there is not a lot of enthusiasm. After a couple glasses of champagne, the wait did not seem too bad and as least I could say we were there at the end.
The last champagne brunch at the Proud Bird will be Sunday November 17; if you want to be there for the last one, I recommend getting there early (they open at 9:00 AM) and stick around the hostess\’ desk. They may tell you there is a 20 minute wait, but it will likely be shorter and if they call your name and you are not there, they will move on to the next party. The brunch is $38.00 for adults and $17.50 for children. They have a wide variety of foods available and the champagne is poured freely, so have a good time but drink responsibly. The Proud Bird Restaurant is located at 11022 Aviation Blvd in Los Angeles just north of Imperial Highway. Continue reading
As the summer tourist season is approaching, I thought I might spend a little time wandering around the South Bay to photograph popular tourist destinations for those that might be coming to visit the Torrance and Redondo Beach area. Since the Redondo Beach Pier has been in the news lately due to it being the 25th anniversary of when the Redondo Beach Pier had a major fire that destroyed half of the Redondo Pier horseshoe, I decided I would start off with a walk around the Redondo Beach Pier and the International Boardwalk.
The Redondo Beach Pier is a really fun place to bring the family; in fact, even though I have lived here since the mid-1960\’s it was a place that I took my kids when they were still in strollers and continued to bring them as they got older and could appreciate things like the Tilt-A-Whirl at the Redondo Fun Factory. Besides the games and rides at the Fun Factory there are a couple very nice restaurants, with my favorite being Tony\’s on the Pier; also known as Old Tony\’s because there was a Tony\’s Fish Market Restaurant which, as I recall, was one of the restaurants that was destroyed in the fire of 1988. They have very good food at a fair price, but are probably best known for their Mai Tais. They are very tasty, even if you do not drink.
If you are planning a visit to the Redondo Beach area, I highly recommend you make a stop at the Redondo Pier and plan on making a day of it. The arcade games, various food stands as well as the great seafood offerings make it fun for the entire family. Even the locals come to spend time there, so that should tell you something. Continue reading
As my regular readers are aware, I eat a lot of sushi; I am pretty picky about the sushi I eat and there are only two people (Song and Alex) that I go to when I want it. Unfortunately, neither of my friends is currently available so I was prepared to abstain for a while. Tanya, on the other hand was not. Tanya is an interesting case because she only recently started eating sushi and she was only familiar with Song\’s fusion style of preparation. Since we knew Song was selling his business, Tanya had been talking about visiting a new sushi bar and has been looking around and asking friends for recommendations. A couple of weeks ago she picked up a Los Angeles magazine that had an article that discussed the top 15 locations for sushi in Los Angeles; one of them was Sushi Nozomi in Torrance. I took a look around their website and was slightly uncomfortable; it was apparent they are more traditional sushi than the fusion style I had introduced Tanya to so I really was not sure she was going to like it. In fact, I had so little confidence on this being a positive experience that I did not bother bringing my camera. Tanya mentioned that if nothing else we can have some sake and beer, so the worst case scenario was not all that bad.
I have frequently said that the best restaurants are in strip malls, so I wasn\’t taken aback by its location. It you want a seat with a view, sit at the bar and you can see how fresh the fish is. Their hours were the typical lunch (11:30-2:00PM) then closed until dinner (5:30-10:00PM). We got there shortly after they opened for dinner and there were already people seated. They have a very long sushi bar with three chefs at the ready; they all welcomed us with \”Irasshaimase\” as we entered. It was our first time there so I was prepared to sit at the first seats but there was a \”Reserved\” sign for the first 10 spots so we just walked down to the end where we met Toshi, our chef for the evening. Continue reading
These photos are from our Business & Beer gathering last week at Tortilla Cantina. As the photos show, we had a less than stellar turnout, with no participation at all from our Meetup group. Unfortunately, after corresponding with the people that run Meetup.com we have come to the conclusion that there is no point in continuing to use them. If anyone were to ask me if we found any value in incorporating Meetup to our group, I would have to say that after the initial payment, you are just throwing your money away. Of course, we have a lot more resources at our disposal than the typical Meetup user, so your experience may vary.
Business & Beer will continue, with some minor changes, but Meetup will not be part of it. If you find networking valuable to your business and you enjoy craft beer, you should really consider visiting BusinessNBeer.com and look over the upcoming schedule. We visit all the quality microbreweries, brewpubs and gastropubs in the South Bay area and we have a good time doing it. Business referrals are happening all the time, so come take advantage of this networking group. There are no rules and no dues, so you have nothing to lose; you might even discover a new brew you were unaware of. Continue reading
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
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
These photos are from our Business & Beer gathering at Alpine Inn, located at the Alpine Village in Torrance. Over the weekend we decided that we would try out the Meetup business networking platform to see if we could generate some additional interest from people that do not use Facebook. What we did not realize is that they have an approval process, so it took a few days before we were actually added to the system. In two days we got 10 new members, but as far as attendance is concerned, we had two people that joined us as a result of Meetup, even though they did not join the Meetup group. We will stick it out for a month and see how it progresses. I\’d like to see us grow to about 50 regular attendees by the end of the experiment.
If you are into craft beer, enjoy networking with others and live or work in the South Bay area, you should probably check out Business & Beer. We meet every Thursday at a different microbrewery, brewpub or gastropub at 6:00 PM. There are no restrictions, dues, mandatory meetings; just show up when you can. You can find the schedule on the front page of BusinessNBeer.com. You can also sign up to the mailing list, or you can Like Us on Facebook to stay current. And for the time being, we will be putting our schedule on Meetup.com as well. Continue reading
These photos are from the Abigaile 1st Anniversary & Southbay Magazine Issue Release party which was held last night at Abigaile in Hermosa Beach. I have to admit, it seems like I have been going to Abigaile longer than that, but the fact of the matter is that we did not even discover Abigaile and the Brewery at Abigaile until last May during American Craft Beer Week. We became instant fans of not only the fine brews turned out by Brewmaster Brian Brewer, but we found the food creations of Chef Tin to be equally worth returning for. Of course, I would be remiss in not acknowledging the positive attitude and genuine thankfulness for the support of their customers displayed by owner Jed Sanford that is echoed by all their employees.
This thankfulness was shown once again at the One Year Anniversary party which included free food and beer tastings for everyone that could get in. We have attended a few of these events and they are always packed, for good reason. The food tastings are usually items that are not found on the regular food menu and the featured beers are always amazing. Last night was the official release of Brian\’s first anniversary double IPA, the 001 (Double-Oh One); I know I am not alone in saying it is one of his best double IPAs to date. I can\’t wait to try the 002, next year.
Congratulations to Jed, Brian, Chef Tin and everyone involved with Abigaile and the Brewery at Abigaile. You have done well in your first year and you have created a nice following. Continue reading
Last night, Business & Beer returned to Tortilla Cantina in downtown Torrance and we had a very nice turnout. Since we do not have mandatory meetings, people show up when they can and if they are too busy with other things on a particular night, they are welcomed back with open arms. Last night we had several people we have not seen in a while along with one new attendee. It made for a pretty good sized group and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Remember, if networking with others is part of your business model and you live in the South Bay area, you might want to consider joining us at a future Business & Beer gathering. Meet with other small business owners and enjoy some of the best American craft beers in the area. You can have fun and do business at the same time as we show, week after week. You can find our schedule of upcoming events on the front page of BusinessNBeer.com. We would love to have you join us. Continue reading