Normal Heights This Month:
Pop-up event with Berlin Skin, January 13 at Maven
Burlesque Boogie Nights, January 25 at Sycamore Den
Blackmarket Bakery
What started as a farmers’ market gig has blossomed into a full-blown bakery with locations in San Diego, Costa Mesa, and Santa Ana. Locally, you can order from a menu of “eggywiches,” avocado toast, lunch sandwiches, and of course, baked goods. They support their neighbors, like Dark Horse Coffee Roasters and Mariposa, which supplies the ice cream for Blackmarket’s cookie sundaes. blackmarketbakerysd
Hawthorn Coffee
A father-son duo opened this amiable café in late 2015, serving gourmet toasts, pastries, and a menu of coffee, espresso drinks, and matcha blends. Their new weekday happy hour runs from 4 p.m. to close, with $2 pastries and $2 iced and filter coffees. hawthorncoffee
San Diego Neighborhood Guide: Normal Heights
Photo by Lori Sokolowski
Sycamore Den
The design is a retro-cool tribute to a California modern tract home, with ’70s-inspired details. Cocktails incorporate ingredients like mezcal and house-made limoncello, and the menu has helpful and humorous tasting notes for each tipple. (For the Forbidden Root with ginger, turmeric, and aquavit: “bright, invigorating, cheers to your health.”) They also host trivia on Tuesdays. sycamoreden
Et Voilà!
The bistro is French through and through—from Riviera-raised owner Ludo Mifsud to chef Vincent Viale (ex-Tapenade), who was born in Provence, plus French menu standards like steak au poivre and homemade foie gras terrine. Leaf eaters need not shy away; they have a special vegetarian menu as well. etvoilabistro
San Diego Neighborhood Guide: Normal Heights
Photo by Sam Wells
Tajima
Now that it’s seasonally appropriate to dig into ramen, we suggest slurping through Tajima’s namesake bowl, made with pork bone broth and marinated pork belly. Don’t want to pig out? Their vegan ramen with spinach noodles is excellent, too. tajimarestaurants
Maven
Otherwise hard-to-find indie brands line the shelves inside this chic boutique. Think Laura Lombardi jewelry, Charlotte Stone shoes, and clothing by Loup. mavensd
San Diego Neighborhood Guide: Normal Heights
Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga
While some studios are exclusively heated or not, Pilgrimage has a variety of classes. There’s a hot flow, gentle yoga, donation-based meditation, and rope wall yoga, which helps yogis get deeper into poses. pilgrimageyoga
San Diego Neighborhood Guide: Normal Heights
