Laguna Beach Dog Park Offers Text Alerts for Closures
The city of Laguna Beach’s Dog Park is a favorite for dogs and their “pets,” but with the rainy season comes the sog, which often results in closures. “When it rains, we often close the Dog Park due to wet and muddy conditions,” the city...
Wild Taco’s Wild Year Results in Super Chill Opening
Bear Flag’s popular taqueria concept, Wild Taco, opened on Thursday, Jan 16th in the old Johnny Rocket’s space at the corner of Ocean and Coast Highway. Interestingly, the opening was 362 days from the day the City of Laguna Beach granted the company...
Chef Riley Huddleston – Lido House – 5 Questions, 5 Minutes
Q – When did you first figure out you liked cooking? Chef Riley Huddleston: When I was about 13 or 14 I figured out that instead of spending MY hard-earned money for gifts for my Mom on various occasions, I could offer to cook for her and use HER hard-earned money to...
Laguna Beach Restaurateurs Chime in on Biggest Challenges
In the last two weeks, I’ve written about restaurant growth, changes and trends over the last decade in Laguna Beach. (If you missed them each Friday in StuNews, you can find them here: Restaurants in Review, part I Restaurants in Review, part 2 And this is my...
45+ Top Orange County Chefs are Tackling OC Homelessness at OC Chef’s Table Grand Event
The biggest, swankiest chefs’ dinner in the LA Basin, OC Chef’s Table is back at the largest ballroom Disneyland® has to offer in the Disneyland Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on Sunday, March 1st. Here’s your chance to dine at your favorite...
Chef Leo Razo: Villa Roma & Cambalache – 5 Questions, 5 Minutes
You could say you learned how to cook the “trial by fire” way, yes? Chef Leo Razo: Before I came to the U.S., I was in the Mexican Army and I got thrown into the kitchen, cooking for 3,000 people every day. I definitely learned how to handle a rush on the kitchen,...
Restaurants in Laguna Beach: A Decade in Review, Part 2
On Friday last week, I wrote “Part One” about Restaurants in Laguna Beach and how they’ve changed and fared since 2010. This is “Part Two” on when the accelerated growth … and consequent churn … began. A Couple Updates First, a couple...
Chef Jayro Martinez: AHBA – 5 Questions, 5 Minutes
When was the first time you thought you might like to cook? Chef Jayro Martinez: In high school. I remember passing the Home Economics room and smelling all these great smells. I figured any class that smelled like that was one I needed to be in. The teacher was...
2020 Tipping Challenge: A Great Start to a Precarious Year
My favorite mentor and client, Bob Proctor, always tells me that when things are looking particularly grim, the best response is to stop, mentally turn in the exact opposite direction and look for an action you can take to counter-balance the grim. Given the...
Restaurants in Laguna Beach: A Decade in Review, Part I
Part I – Total Number of Restaurants in Laguna Beach Now vs. 2010 and What They’re All About When I started writing TheBestofLagunaBeach.com back in 2006, I was just interested in getting to know our chefs and restaurants in town. I had no idea that so much would...