GUEST BLOG / By ILoveCoffee.jp via the National Coffee Association.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Friday, December 30, 2016
THE BREWSPAPER / BEST NEW SAN DIEGO CRAFT BREWERIES
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| North Park Beer Co., North Park |
2016
Recap: San Diego’s Best New Breweries
GUEST BLOG
/ By Brandon Hernandez, West Coaster
Magazine Contributing Writer.
It’s the final days of the year, and time to reflect on the year nearly
gone-by. That means assessing San Diego County’s brewery landscape starting
with a look at the plethora of new brewing operations that opened in 2016.
More breweries opened this year than any in history. And it’s important
to note that more good breweries opened in 2016 than in the
past several years. Many tout the double-digit number of rookie fermentation operations
added to San Diego’s brewery-count each year, but I’ll be honest and say that
the past half-decade has seen too many average-to-subpar businesses join the
fold.
Sure, some duds opened in 2016, but the same can be said of any
food-and-beverage business. The bottom-line is, aspiring entrants into the
local suds-scene seem to understand, now more than ever, that they better have
good beer if they’re going to compete, and that’s leading to better breweries,
from conception to birth and beyond.
The following are (in order) 2016’s best new breweries.
 |
| Burning Beard Brewing Company in El Cajon |
North
Park Beer Co., North Park: One of the most
anticipated new brewery project of the past four years, the brainchild of its
namesake community’s proud denizen Kelsey McNair finally came
to life. Its former MMA gym home has been transformed into a beautiful,
two-story, wood-paneled den of communal enjoyment of beers that are largely
sessionable and rely on impressive balance versus belligerent brawn.
 |
| Downtown’s Resident Brewing Company |
Resident
Brewing Co., Downtown: Urban bar and
eatery, The
Local, is a long-time supporter of the craft-beer movement, but when
it added on-site fermentation to its equation, the resulting product was
something special. An award-winning homebrewer-turned-pro is pumping out some
of the bolder, ideally hopped West Coast-style beers of the rookie-class while
bringing flavor with myriad other styles.
 |
| Pure Project Brewing, Miramar |
Pure
Project Brewing, Miramar: If a wide array of
easy-drinking beers—crisp to full-bodied, clear to hazy, fruited to (GABF
medal-garnering) barrel-aged—weren’t enough reason to become enamored with
this, the first brewery to test out the Brewery
Igniter ready-to-brew model, the fact it’s a generous One
Percent for the Planet business is enough to pull the
wishy-washy off the fence.
 |
Bear Roots Brewing in Vista |
Bear
Roots Brewing, Vista: A small homebrew-supply
store opening a three-barrel nano-brewery with a bar that takes up half its
shop…sounds risky if not ill-advised, but a husband-wife duo have not only made
it work, but amassed such a cult-following behind a varied beer line-up that
includes a tasty cookie-inspired dessert beer that they’re looking at growing
their baby to papa-bear status in 2017.
 |
| Bitter Brothers Brewing, Bay Ho. |
Bitter
Brothers Brewing Co., Bay Ho: The first
brewery to open in 2016 has done well for itself, producing a solid line-up of
hoppy beers offset by a number of English-style malt-driven styles and
“candy-bar” beers. Further refinement of its wares in the coming year should
keep this operation on its upward trajectory, as should fun, well-done
quarterly beer dinners in its tasting room.
It’s important to note that, in previous years, a half-dozen picks for
best new brewery would have been excessive. This year, I could have added
another two or three rather easily. The following are those that missed the
cut, but never before has the division between the best and the rest been so
slim. Cheers to that!
2016 Contenders: Culver
Beer Co. (Carlsbad), Guadalupe Brewery (Carlsbad), Kensington Brewing Co.
(Mission Valley), Little Miss Brewing Co. (Miramar), Longship Brewery (Mira
Mesa), Mason Ale Works (Oceanside), Midnight Jack Brewing Co.
(Oceanside), Mikkeller Brewing San Diego (Miramar), Oceanside Brewing Co. (Oceanside),
Maybe Next Year: Burgeon
Beer Co. (Carlsbad), Eppig Brewing Co. (North Park), Knotty Brewing (East
Village), OB Brewery (Ocean Beach), Thunderhawk Alements (Miramar)
Previous Top-Ranked Breweries
2015: Fall Brewing Co. (North
Park), Second Chance Beer Co. (Carmel Mountain), South Park Brewing Co. (South
Park), Bay City Brewing Co. (Point Loma), Abnormal Beer Co. (Rancho Bernardo),
Duck Foot Brewing Co. (Miramar)
2014: Bagby Beer Co. (Oceanside),
Nickel Beer Co. (Julian), Council Brewing Co. (Kearny Mesa), URBN St. Brewing
Co. (El Cajon), Toolbox Brewing Co. (Vista)
2013: Rip Current Brewing Co. (San
Marcos), Benchmark Brewing Co. (Grantville), Amplified Ale Works (Pacific Beach),
Belching Beaver Brewery (Vista), Modern Times Beer (Point Loma)
2012: Societe Brewing Co. (Kearny
Mesa), Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery (East Village), Latitude 33 Brewing Co.
(Vista)
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Thursday, December 29, 2016
MORRO BAY’S 3-D RESTAURANTS
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| MORRO BAY as seen from Dutchman Restaurant.
PillartoPost.org original photo by Phyllis Shess.
|
Business often takes
us to the central California coast, where there’s always a wide range of places
to stay, visit and dine. This trip (3
days) we booked lodgings at the Blue Sail Inn, a block from Morro Bay’s (Pop.
10,000) popular Embarcadero. The
hillside location of the inn, plus we were on the top floor, gave us a
expansive view of Morro Bay’s dockside attractions and that iconic volcanic
rock that juts out from the natural harbor to a height of 575 feet. The rock is an ancient plug of hardened lava
that capped a now extinct volcano some 23 million years ago—give or take a
million.
The
rock over the years has been chipped away to provide rocks for jetties that
protect the small harbor (sail and small fishing boats only). It is still climbed by native Americans to
celebrate indigenous holy days, but for the rest of us climbing it is banned.
 |
| The Rock from the terrace of the Blue Sail Inn |
The
local gendarmes hint that most arrests in Morro Bay are rock climbers, who
ignore or missed seeing the ever watchful Coast Guard station nearby before
making an illegal trek up the mini-Gibraltar.
Rock
climbing is not on my bucket list, but taking in harborside restaurants with
spectacular sunset views is au rigueur.
Each
evening during our stay we dined in three fine restaurants. Each choice was made after consulting with
“the locals” like Dane, who was our Sea Sub harbor tour captain. He suggested Dockside Restaurant that is
located between the water and the trio of 450-foot tall smoke stacks that fell
victim to California’s strict no-smoking ordinances.
We
tease. The stacks are part of a shutdown
power plant that left town without taking the stacks with them.
Dane
pointed out management of the Dockside has its own fishing boat and the “ocean”
caught fish are among the freshest. He
also pointed out no fishing is allowed in the harbor because of the endangered
sea otter, who number less than 3,000 worldwide. The otter find Morro Bay to
their liking and the locals reserve all seafood inside the calm waters for the
furry cuteness. We digress. Back to the human food.
The
Dockside is right in the middle of a working fishing pier making the view more
rigging than righteous harbor action, but it also has family atmosphere, chatty
staff and a seafood market across the planks from the main dining room. As much as we liked the dinner, we will save
the Dockside for lunch on later visits.
What
we missed at the Dockside was a view of the sun slowly sinking into the Pacific
from our dining table. Yes, Morro Bay
spoiled us when it comes to scenic dining.
The
views from the Dutchman Restaurant on the piers and Dorn’s on the hillside
provided us with fabulous menus and crimson sunsets galore.
Dorn’s
culinary home run was the Petrale Sole, a North Pacific mild white fish that
the chef aced!
Dutchman
Restaurant won us over with the lightest (fried) white fish and chips I’ve ever
tasted, but it came in second to the flavorful Sand Dabs entrée.
Tasty
restaurants in Morro Bay don’t have to begin with the letter D as there are
quite a few in this simple seaside town with that big rock.
 |
| DORN’S—801 Market Street, 805.772.4415. |
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| DOCKSIDE—1245 Embarcadero, 805. 772.8120 |
 |
| DUTCHMAN—701 Embarcadeo, 805.772.2269 |
 |
| FISH & CHIPS at the Dutchman Restaurant
facebook image by Linda Hood
|
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| DOCKSIDE fishing, seafood market, smokehouse and restaurant
Image: Google Maps
|
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
SUPERMODEL PRIMER / MIND THE GAP
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| Supermodel Jessica Hart doesn't mind her gap |
A
photographer friend of this blog has detailed how to be outrageously successful
as a supermodel in today’s media circus.
Simple
really.
Be six feet
tall.
Hang out in
NYC, London, Hollywood, Paris or Milan.
Facial freckles
don’t hurt.
Lean genes.
Develop a
serious pout.
Land a top
model agency.
Buy Pirelli
tires.
And, what
really is working (see images below) is to mind the gap between two top front
teeth.
 |
| Uber Super Model Lara Stone |
 |
| Kat Denning |
 |
| Euro Super Model Vanessa Paradis |
 |
| Hottest of the current supermodels Georgia Jagger youngest daughter of Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger |
 |
| Jessica Hart, encore |
 |
| Abbey Lee Kershaw |
 |
| Gap original Lauren Hutton |
 |
| Millennial Gap Lindsey Wixson |
 |
| Agencies can't get enough of gappers like Ashley Smith |
 |
| Did Ruth Crilly's parents ever consider braces? |
MIND THE GAP HALL OF FAME: ORNELLA MUTI
Film actress, who appeared in dozens of Italian movies during the '70s and '80s.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELL US WHERE TO GO...
FOR THIS SEASON’S TEN BEST WINTER GETAWAYS: |
| Jemaa el Finaa, a UNESCO site main square located in the heart of Marrakech's medina. |
National Geographic picks ten great winter
getaways and your favorite online magazine Pillar
to Post picks a great foodie, wine, beer or coffee locations in the same
destinations.
Aarhus, Denmark
Coffee House: La Cabra Coffee (above) is
currently the Nordic spot to find retails Costa Rican coffee in a low key yet
sophisticated coffee house setting. CR
coffees include Honey Nery (hints of apple, brown sugar and hazelnut; La Roca
(mandarin, vanilla and toffee); and Altos (blueberry, cream and chocolate).
Bansko, Bulgaria
Restaurant: House Dedo Pene (www.dedopene.com) has
been operating since 1820 in this ski region in the south of Bulgaria.
It’s
a B&B as well as a traditional restaurant serving local regional
specialties like Kapama (pot cooked combo of meats, spices, rice and
sauerkraut): Chomlek (spiced beef shank stewed in wine with new potatoes);
Kavarma (meat stew in white wine with leeks, onions, peppers and mushrooms).
Bocas del Toro,
Panama
Private Island Hotel: Five sea cabins to
choose from on Urraca Private Islands: www. http://bocasdeltoro.travel/urraca-private-island/
in the Bocas del Toro archipelago.
Intimate private isle among a collection of small islands each boasting
wonderful out of the way accommodations.
This destination is worth exploring.
Galle, Sri Lanka
Yoga Spa: A short distance
from Galle is Sri Yoga Shala, a Yoga
studio along Unawatuna Beach, Sri Lanka.
The spa (above) is first rate and priced right and nearby are a surprising
number of tourist activities, including a must visit to the Saturday Good
Market for organic produce and local made goods; pedal biking is popular as is
a walk on the ramparts of the Galle Fort at sunset.
www.sriyogashala.com
Marrakech, Morocco
Shopping: Before we send you
to the souk in the media, an organized yet very chaotic network of
stalls that sell God’s plenty from cooked snails to exquisite rugs in one
bazaar, visit Café France. From the
terrace of this wonderful restaurant you’ll view Jemaa el Finaa, a UNESCO site
main square located in the heart of the medina.
It will put you in the mood for the souk and the most amazing shopping
experience this side of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.
Quebec City, Canada
Winter Carnival: The annual Quebec Winter Carnival in Old Quebec
City is one of the most attended events of its kind in the world. Events
include parades, snow slides, snow sculptures, ice canoe races, sleigh rides,
skating, snow sculptures combined with the charm of this remarkable Canadian
heritage city. Set for January 27 thru
Feb 12, 2017, the theme of the hugely popular snow sculpture contest is
Canada’s 150th anniversary.
https://carnaval.qc.ca/carnaval/sites
Ho Chi Minh City
(aka Saigon), Vietnam
Bar:
One of the best views in this ancient Asian capital is the Chill SkyBar, 25 stories tall in the AB Tower, downtown. Drinks are
a bit expensive but no charge to come see the view. http://www.chillsaigon.com/drink-decor-space
St. Petersburg, Russia
Museum: Hermitage State
Museum (above) is
a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and
oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and
has been open to the public since 1852.
Tonga, South Pacific
Botanical Garden: Eneio Botanical
Garden and Beach Café is in the Kingdom of Tonga on the island of Vava’u along
Ene’io Beach. This 22 acre garden paradise is home to 550 different plant
varieties. The restaurant boasts the
best fish and chips (above) in the South Pacific and is open every day. The Botanical Garden offers three tour
packages and is also a center for snorkeling and swimming. The gardens are
located on Vava’u island, which is 260 kilometers north of the main island of
Tongatapu, which is the site of Fu’amotu International Airport. Get air and sea connections in advance to and
from all the Tongan islands.
http://www.kingdomtraveltonga.to/eneio-botanical-gardens/
Tucson, Arizona
Craft Beer: Go to 220 East
Broadway Boulevard in Tucson, Arizona and discover Thunder Canyon Brewery &
Distillery (above), one of the newest craft beer food and beer making emporium’s in
this dry and dusty college town. Located downtown it’s as good a place as any
to start thinking about signing up for the annual craft beer crawl, February
18, 2017.
http://thundercanyonbrewery.com/
http://www.tucsoncraftbeercrawl.com/
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