Each summer, one of our colleagues here at the office brings in these huge, opulent avocados from a tree at her mom’s house in Vista. They are the stuff of legend. Rich, velvety grenades. On the day they ripen, I know I can never leave California, no matter what comes. I, like so many, am a hostage to the produce.
But it’s not just the guacamole that keeps us here. There’s something in the air. Or maybe the water. Or maybe it’s in the redwoods and bristlecone pines, still holding secrets from a time before California was California. Whatever it is, it’s magnetic, pulling people in and refusing to let them go. On September 9th, California turns 175 (a dodransbicentennial, I’m told). How many people has the state lured during those years? Today, one in eight Americans calls this place home, drawn by gold-plated potential that has captivated dreamers for generations: the Gold Rush, Hollywood, Silicon Valley. California is a grand casino, a promise built on luck, myth, and mirage. A fata morgana of West Coast Americana, full of paradox, power, and heartbreak. There is no other place like this on Earth.
Ingenuity runs hot here. This is the birthplace of blue jeans, skateboards, electric guitars, Barbie dolls, and iPhones—not to mention the whole damn internet and probably your favorite movies, music, and trashy TV. Standing back, it feels like there’s nothing California can’t do.
Our second annual California issue celebrates this spirit. We start with our food. Unparalleled. Straight from the water, the soil, the hands of seventh-generation farmers and culinary chemists. In honor of this bounty, we asked big-name chefs from around the state to tell us the restaurants and dishes they seek out when they’re on the road in CA. Consider it your bucket-list guide to California cuisine. As a complement, we also take you on a tour of the best wine destinations around the state. Together, these stories make the ultimate culinary road trip.
But you’ve gotta listen to something during those long hours on the highway and have the soundtrack for you. We tapped the top music minds from the top music venues, record stores, and radio stations throughout the state to give us their picks for the next big thing in California’s music scene. The state’s bands have a track record for defining generations, so we wanted to hear what’s next. The result is an up-and-coming Golden State mixtape that you can tune into while you explore.
Of course, even in a state where all things edible and audible shine and every autumn sunset is an album cover, we are not without our troubles. The California dream of yesterday faces hard limits today. Drought tightens its grip, housing teeters between aspiration and crisis, and the threat of fire remains top of mind. Wildfires, we know, no longer arrive as an exception—they come year-round.
PARTNER CONTENT
So, in this issue, we explore how SoCal innovators are building smarter, safer housing for a future in which fire season doesn’t end. The story shows how California is again facing crises with reinvention, as we have throughout the last century and three quarters and will for the next.
We hope this issue helps you feel connected to a larger sense of home—avocado handcuffs and all.
