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JANUARY 27, 2010 -- Dear Readers: It’s my pleasure to inform you that sandiegoDTOWN.com is moving. This Web site is being merged into the much bigger SanDiego.com site. DTOWN will soon be a page on SanDiego.com, and I have been hired to be Editor in Chief of SanDiego.com. From inception in 2009 until now, I’ve enjoyed writing and editing stories about downtown San Diego for the neighborhood site Heather Back and I started up. We both previously worked at San Diego Magazine (which is not affiliated with SanDiego.com), and resolutely took our print experience to the new media world. Entering the Wild West of journalism was exhilarating. We found a great host company called Neighborlogs that gave us the framework for sandiegoDTOWN.com. Then we learned how to post stories, size photos, create eBlasts and even found paying advertisers for our site. The ride was bumpy and there was no map, but the journey had begun. Very soon, everything you may have liked about DTOWN will start showing up on SanDiego....
JANUARY 8, 2010 -- The New Year got off on the right foot (and every other body part of mine) in Palm Springs. I found innovation and inspiration aimed toward better days on, of all places, a massage table (details later). One thing I got to experience live was a tipsy Mariah Carey slurring through her spacey award acceptance speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Stars were out en masse—including Morgan Freeman, Clink Eastwood, Sean Penn and Jeff Bridges. Cracks director Jason Reitman after getting his award: “This feels good—almost as good as how Mariah Carey feels right now.” Hey, everybody: 2010 is gonna be filled with Mariah giddiness. Our spirits are high. Just check out the highlight reel from my First Week 2010. During a brisk trip during the desert’s cool season, I felt Mariah-esque while I got to:
DECEMBER 18, 2009 -- San Diego yogis sometimes drive to various corners of the county to follow their favorite instructors. And instructors have had to leave the county to study with master teachers. Now, La Jolla Yoga Center offers all that (but no bag of chips) under one roof. The full-service studio offers more than 90 classes per week from more than 40 instructors in approximately 20 different styles. The weekly schedule provides about 20 classes per day, beginning on the half hour. There are offerings for true beginners up to level 3/4 in Anusara, Ashtanga, Hatha/Raja, Iyengar, Svaroopa, Vinyasa and more. Tailored courses include Yoga for Golfers, Anusara-Inspired Playtime, Yoga for Cancer Recovery and Prenatal Vinyasa. The 6,000 square foot, eco-conscious facility, with feng shui design, was the vision of founder and director Jeanie Carlstead. She brings 22 years of yoga experience to the center. “Many of our students and the community in general have been calling us a beacon of light,”...
DECEMBER 17, 2009 -- One party guest at the new El Camino Mexicana in northern Little Italy seemed a bit confused about the venue. He approached a pair of pretty party-goers on the al fresco back patio and asked if the planes would still be flying overhead. Seems he’d been to this site when it was called Airport Lounge and back then, it was directly under the Lindbergh Field flight path. That reveler was advised to have another cocktail and just wait a couple minutes. The décor has changed, but indoor-outdoor El Camino is still under the flight path, and you still have to freeze your conversation while each Southwest 747 roars down from above. When it was Airport Lounge, the interior was made to look like the inside of an airplane. The bar was sleek and white, and bartenders and waitresses dressed like pilots and stewardesses. Now, the décor is muy Mexican. Day of the Dead-inspired paintings cover walls, and Virgin Mary candles are everywhere. The bar has been paneled over with dark wood....
DECEMBER 16, 2009 -- The downtown Morton’s the Steakhouse revamped its bar a few years ago. The bar is called Bar 12/21 because the original Morton’s in Chicago opened 31 years ago on December 21 (12/21—get it?). Well, mark your calendars for that date. On Monday, from 5-6 p.m. Morton’s is giving away mini-cheeseburgers for free. This is the third year the San Diego Morton’s is celebrating its corporate anniversary with a giveaway. Morton’s sales and marketing manager Alicia Pazelt hopes downtown residents and workers will stop in that day for Happy Hour. From 5-6:30 p.m. beers are $4, wine and all “bar bites” are $5 and martinis are $7. The cheeseburgers are served on dollar rolls with lettuce, tomato and purple onion. Other bar bites include: miniature crab cakes, iceberg wedge bites (with tomato, egg bacon and blue cheese dressing), oysters on the half shell and a “colossal” shrimp salad. Morton’s is on the ground floor of the Harbor Club...
DECEMBER 15, 2009 -- Personal training sessions at Sweat Personal Training Studio begin with a one-hour inquisition—a one-on-one consultation with East Village studio owner Joan Lindley. “I already know they want to lose weight and have tighter abs or glutes,” says Lindley. “So, why bother asking those questions? I want to know specifically what other body parts my clients want to change.” Lindley’s 550-square-foot studio is the only one in San Diego with Corepole—resistance training through bands—which she believes is ideal for female backs. She also uses body weight training and The PowerStraps, as well as traditional items like Pilates rings, BOSU and balance balls. During that initial meeting, she starts with the ankles and goes through the body—literally muscle by muscle—forcing clients to describe satisfaction level and desired changes. All the while, notations are made on injuries, access to fitness equipment and the current routine. After copious note taking and careful consideration to body parts that you...
DECEMBER 12, 2009 -- Pilates practitioners (estimated at over 11 million of us) can take a note from car enthusiasts and their souped-up engines. Pilates “SPX” is a revved-up version of the system developed by Joseph Pilates. The traditional method uses the mind to control core postural muscles, teaches awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aims to strengthen the deep torso muscles. The technique provides results often without breaking a sweat. Pilates Plus La Jolla offers a race-car version of Pilates, aimed at making your pores produce some liquid exhaust. The 40-minute sessions jump start your metabolism while toning the entire body. SPX creator Sebastien Lagree infused core stability with muscle dynamics. With resistance and counter-resistance sequences, muscles hit peak contraction and maximum exertion. “Circuit-training-style Pilates with a cardio base works each muscle to exhaustion, which transforms the shape of the muscle and makes you feel tighter,” says...
DECEMBER 10, 2009 -- Cowboy Star bartender Garth Flood improvised his way to a close win in the first Preiss Imports Cocktail Competition, held Tuesday night at downtown’s El Dorado Cocktail Lounge. Eight local bartenders battled though a NCAA basketball-style bracket to compete for the title. Each had to create cocktails on the fly, using pre-determined base liquors and adding their own choice of ingredients. Flood says he didn’t necessarily begin the night with a firm game plan. “I really had no idea coming in,” he says. “I don’t have names for the drinks I made—it was all spur of the moment. I took the ingredients that were here and modified them.” The bartenders’ concoctions were graded by a panel of five judges. “Garth took some risks and pulled out a win,” says judge Sarah Daoust, managing editor of 944 magazine. “All these bartenders seemed very focused, and took this very seriously.” Daoust says her favorite cocktail was...
DECEMBER 8, 2009 -- Solar panels will be installed on the roof of the west side of the downtown San Diego Convention Center. The environmentally friendly project is slated to begin in early 2010. The photovoltaic panels will cover 90,000 square feet, and will not alter the look of the bayside convention center, according to a spokesperson. “Installing solar power on the top of our building is like having our own clean power plant at the facility,” says San Diego Convention Center Corporation general manager Brad Gessner. The panels are being installed by SPG Solar at no cost, via a 20-year power purchase agreement between the SDCCC and Alternative Energy Capital. The panels are valued at $2.7 million, and will be maintained, owned and operated by AEC/SPG Solar. The power generated by the panels will be sold to the convention center at lower “peak demand” rate per kilowatt hour than the SDCCC is currently paying. Spokesperson Steven Johnson says the savings over the course of the 20-...
DECEMBER 3, 2009 -- Tonight’s the end of the road for San Diegans growing moustaches to raise money for men’s health issues. The “Movember” movement climaxes tonight with a Gala Parte at downtown’s Bondi restaurant and bar. Hundreds are expected to show up in costumes that accentuate the “mo’s” we grew all through November and had to endure for three extra days in December. Mo Bros—as well as Mo Sistas—will be thanked for their efforts in raising money and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer research. The Gala Parte will culminate with a contest contest (emcee-ed by a rather familiar-looking Ron Burgundy). Costume categories include: Miss Movember, Lame Mo; Best Mo Bro/Sista Combination; Best Team; Best Mo In Character; and The Ultimate Mo. Someone from amongst these standouts will be declared the 2009 San Diego Man of Movember. Tickets are $10…but mention Ron Burgundy sent you, and get in free (if capacity allows). Mo Mos: The Ten...
DECEMBER 2, 2009 -- Local singing sensation and Americal Idol runner-up Adam Lambert will make a special appearance in downtown San Diego on Thursday (December 3). The glam-rocker will personally donate the KISS-inspired costume he wore on last season’s Idol final to the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, which has an extensive display of artifacts from the annals of rock-and-roll. “He is excited to have the opportunity to do this,” says Hard Rock spokesperson Rana Kay. “He’s from San Diego and Hard Rock is a celebration of music, and we believe in his longevity to be doing this.” Lambert’s debut album, For Your Entertainment, sold nearly 225,000 units in its first week, according to Billboard.com. The presentation of his costume is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Lambert is expected to draw a big crowd, but the lobby capacity of the Hard Rock will limit the number of fans who will be able to attend. Kay says she gave out 10 pairs of tickets on Twitter, and the radio station Sophie...
NOVEMBER 24, 2009 -- The site of the latest DTOWN Mixer was the new, dual-venue Taste & Thirst (715-719 Fourth Avenue) in the Gaslamp Quarter. The monthly party celebrates the publishing release of San DIego Downtown News newspaper. Party partners include FIT Athletic Club, The Galamp Quarter Association and sandiegoDTOWN.com. Ivan Harris snaps the photos--check out who was on hand... 
MOVEMBER 23, 2009 -- On the outdoor back set of CW 6 TV News, five Mo Bros got together to discuss itchy and annoying upper lips. We are all participating in Movember--a charity fundraising effort in which we grow moustaches all month and get friends and family to sponsor us for doing it. Money raised goes toward prostate and testicular cance research. The piece we shot for the CW is scheduled to appear on Thanksgiving, between 9 and 10 a.m. on San Diego Living. Take a look at the accompanying pictures. Mo Bros Rob Molt and Don Litzenberg sat in loaned AlphaMale barber chairs and were groomed during the taping. Bro Matt Curran showed off the Movember calendar his company made last year. I was dressed straight off the set of Anchor Man set, trying to conjure up the spirit of red-blazered Ron Burgundy. And heroic Bro Eric Galvez stood with assistance from his walker. Galvez is a survivor of brain cancer, and eager to help fight against any and all male-related cancers. You'll have...
MOVEMBER 20, 2009 -- Matt Curren is San Diego's reigning Man of Movember. His title will be challenged on December 3, however, when hundreds of mustachioed men descend on Bondi for the third annual Movember Gala Parte. That night in the Gaslamp Quarter, the best moustaches in the bunch will be recognized, and Curren will either defend his crown or pass along the coveted Movember sash. In Australia, where the Movember movement began six years ago, “mo” is slang for mustache. During the month of November, guys grow out their ’staches to raise money for prostate and testicular cancer research. Hence, Movember. It’s a project that is changing the face (literally) of men’s health awareness. That’s fine with Curren. The director of development at Nuvasive (a company that helps heal spinal injuries) is part of a 30-plus team growing out their mos. Last year, when Curren took the title—dressed as a 1970s hockey goon inspired by the movie SlapShot—his two-dozen-strong...
NOVEMBER 19, 2009 -- San Diego fitness trainer Renessa Williams is quick to point out that the word “reality” is loosely applied when it comes to Reality TV shows. She experienced the drama first-hand as part of the third-season cast booked on the Bravo Network offering Work Out. The show’s hook: The boss of a Beverly Hills uber-gym is a sexy-but-scary lesbian. The show is not a contest. Nobody gets voted off or eliminated—but one male trainer did get fired. The boss lady interacts with the trainers, and in one episode takes her female minions on an all-lesbian cruise. “I cried myself to sleep one night on that cruise,” says Williams. “Some of them were pretty aggressive.” On another episode, it appeared that Williams “hooked up” with another male trainer. “It was all in the way they shot the scenes, and then how they edited them,” she says. “There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors involved.” Nonetheless, Williams says doing...
NOVEMBER 13, 2009 -- Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. The holiday can conjure up a Norman Rockwell picture of families surrounding a dining room table piled high with turkey and fixings (not to mention decades of angst). But a healthy percentage of San Diegans choose to eat out on T-day. If that’s how you roll, time’s a ticking. Reserve early. A majority of restaurants close down for the holiday, to give staff time to be with their families. But there are options, and here are some of downtown’s eateries open for business on November 26: The U.S. Grant. The historic hotel will host a gourmet buffet in its Palm Court. Live entertainment provided by the Kevin Cooper Jazz Trio. Tickets are $62/person; $22 for kids. Special for Thanksgiving: A drink called The Smashing Pumpkin. It’s got star-anise-and-pumpkin-infused vodka, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice, saffron-infused simple syrup, pumpkin seeds and nutmeg. Manchester Grand Hyatt. Complementary champagne comes with a...
MOVEMBER 12, 2009 – This is the first of impeding and irregular updates on the “Movember” Movement. All month, hundreds of thousands of sane men around the world will be growing out their moustaches. Is 2009 the new 1970s? No, but there's a good cause at stake: Movember has allowed $47 million to be donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The Australia-based Movember Foundation is just six years old, and came to America three years ago. Movember is like the Susan G. Komen walkathon for breast cancer, but implements upper-lip hair follicles instead of pink ribbons. The up-side to growing an itchy food filter over your mouth is in creating a persona to match your mo (Aussie slang for moustache). As you can see in the accompanying photograph of 12 days of slow mo growth, I’ve shaved breaks between the ‘stache and the chin goatee region. This conforms to Movember regulations. To date, I haven’t figured out what character the ol’ mo and I will become (that’s why...
NOVEMBER 10, 2009 -- Question: What do Kid Rock and Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) from My Name Is Earl, have in common? Answer: They’re both characters I’ve imitated at the annual Movember party, held the past two years at downtown’s Bondi Australian Bar & Kitchen. Question: What in the world is Movember? Answer: It’s a word—a movement, actually—that combines Moustache and November. During the month, men grow moustaches (or mos, for short) and collect donations that go toward prostate cancer research. It’s like a walkathon for breast cancer, but instead of pink ribbons, Movember’s symbolic icon is an ugly patch of facial hair. Question: Is this whole story going to be in Q&A format? Answer: No. Movember was dreamed up in 2003 by an Australian innovator named Adam Garone. It was Sunday afternoon in a Melbourne bar. Garone and mates were downing Victoria Bitters and chatting boozily. After four or five beers, the boys got to wondering: What styles from the...
NOVEMBER 6, 2009 -- Friday and Saturday are the nights that bars and nightclubs traditionally make the most money. The work week is generally over for patrons, and those hard-working folks want to loosen up with friends, down adult beverages and take over dance floors. But some argue that Wednesday and Sunday have become the new Friday and Saturday. How’s that possible? It all starts with the hospitality industry crowd. “This is a hospitality industry town,” says Mike Georgeopoulis, a partner at downtown’s recently re-opened Side Bar. “All the people who work at bars, restaurants and at hotels can’t go out on Friday and Saturday nights. They’re working. And they’re all close-knit friends—and they’re fun, good-looking people. They have money to spend and they want to go out, too.” And for hospitality industry workers, week nights don’t precede “school days.” In the Gaslamp Quarter, traditional “off nights” are...
NOVEMBER 2, 2009 -- Taste of Little Italy happens twice a year and sells out each time (ticket sales are capped at 750). The next one is Wednesday (November 4) from 5-9 p.m., and it’s your last chance to pay one price for access to 27 different restaurants in one night. New this year: Fabrison’s, Pizzeria Luigi and the organic beefy deliciousness of Burger Lounge. Yogurtland will be dishing out 16 different flavors of dessert, and Enoteca Style will serve Prosesso (Italian champagne) to ticketholders 21-and-up. You’ll never get to all 27 eateries in one night (nor should you try). But the restaurants are close enough together so that you can plan a meal strategy, and not just do a bloated stagger down India Street. Consider: The views from The Glass Door; the “crazy” risotto from Po Pazzo; and/or the saffron arancini bites at Anthology, where jazz violinist Jean Luc Ponty plays two shows (at 7:30 and 10 p.m.). No, jazz flautist Ron Burgundy is not billed that night. Tickets are...
NOVEMBER 1, 2009 -- The Monster Bash drew thousands of people downtown last night. Most dressed up in costume. Check out these pictures of Prince, Beaker, The Flintstones, Jack in the Box, Santa Claus, Gilligan, Marilyn Monroe, Cruella DaVille, the Axe body spray guy, the Geico googly-eyed money character and many others... 
OCTOBER 30, 2009 -- David Moye may be the most antithetical media relations manager working in San Diego. The dry-witted, 44-year-old former phone psychic is employed by downtown PR firm Alternative Strategies. It’s a fitting company name for Moye, a ukulele playing singer-songwriter who calls his musical genre “insensitive,” and once had a Top 10 hit in Slovenia called “Happy Sappy Crap.” (I could find no record of the Slovenian pop charts. I called Moye back and he swears on his professional reputation that this is true.) On November 1, Moye will perform his bag of oddball tunes at Java Joes’s at Café Libertalia in Hillcrest. He says he will perform his 1991 college radio hit “Tweakin’,” an anti-drug song written from the standpoint of a meth addict who won’t give it up. He also plans to play “37th Woman,” a love song about a woman you can’t remember. Moye’s “Buckets of Satan,” begins: “It bugs me...
OCTOBER 29, 2009 – In movies—Four Weddings and a Funeral comes to mind—wacky things happen after a bride marches down the aisle. In Four Weddings, Hugh Grant changes his mind at the altar, and the bride-not-to-be punches him in the face. I’ve never been to a real wedding where something like that has happened. Have you? I’ll just say it—I think that would be awesome. You’d get to go to an open-bar dinner reception…and keep the present. For anyone with a demented sense of humor or a hunger for nuptial-related drama, consider Joey and Maria’s Comedy Italian Wedding. It’s an interactive play in which audience members are guests at the big event. It runs on selected Fridays at downtown’s Culy Warehouse. The couple (notice they are not described as a happy couple) are Guiseppe Antonio Gnocchi and Maria Angelina Cavatelli. Each has a bridal party with an assortment of hang-ups, social deviations and names like Al Dente and Connie Calzone. There are...
OCTOBER 22, 2009 -- Popular local culinary figure Brian Malarkey, a former Top Chef: Season 3 reality TV contestant, has left downtown’s Oceanaire Seafood Room. It will soon be announced that Malarkey is partnering with Stingaree night club owner James Brennan on a new Gaslamp Quarter restaurant. The new eatery will be on the site of the Fifth Avenue Z Gallerie furniture store, according to a knowledgeable source. A formal announcement on the partnership and plans for the restaurant are set to be released tonight. Z Gallerie is currently open for business, and an employee who answered the phone had not heard that the store would be closing. Malarkey had spent the past six weeks on California’s paid paternity leave. On July 31, sandiegoDTOWN.com reported that Malarkey would not be returning to the kitchen at Oceanaire. (Click HERE to view that story.) The Top Chef finalist later said he would return. He stated via email: “I will still be employed by the Oceanaire after my daddy...
OCTOBER 21, 2009 -- Wolffy’s Place is a new eatery at the downtown corner of Ninth and Market. Co-owner and Chicago native Bob Wolff serves: “ribs, hot dogs—the Italian beef kind—the stuff that is soul food for people from Chicago.” Wolff opened The Place before he got his liquor license. After months of dry waiting, the place is finally booze legit. Wolffy’s has a full bar—beer, wine and spirits. Wolffy’s hopes to be downtown’s hangout for Chicago sports fans. All TVs will be tuned to Bears games each week (this Sunday, the Bears play a 1:15 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Bengals). FYI: For San Diegans with mixed pigskin allegiances, the Chargers play the Kansas City Chiefs at 10 a.m. Pigskin Part II: The Gaslamp Strip Club also wants football fans to come through the doors. (Prude Alert: This place is a grill-your-own-steaks restaurant, not a nudie bar.) The Strip Club has a 100-inch projection screen and four flat-screen TVs. For Sunday and Monday...
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