Encinitas-based interior designer Cindy Courson has decked out the homes of pro athletes (Tony Hawk) and award-winning cult-hit eateries (Death by Tequila). Now, her new line of furnishings has helped inform Oceanside’s latest arrival, The Brick Hotel. She decidedly skipped over familiar boho design tropes in favor of Tropical Modern’s sumptuous, breezy glamour.
For this historically reimagined property, built in 1888, Courson played with contrasting patterns, larger-than-life florals, and color combinations inspired by her muse Dorothy Draper.
Hand-woven pendants made with dyed straw
Paula Luna
The new queen of pink-and-green dreamt up custom rattan headboards upholstered in Christian Lacroix fabric, soft sculptural curved side tables, and wallpaper inspired by the art deco movement and 1960s prints. Plus: No room is complete without her trademark greenery arrangements.
“It looks like a vacation, and I love evoking that feeling of something chic and exuberant,” says Courson. “Draper believed that bright colors have a vital effect on our happiness.”
Inspiration from LA’s design doyenne Kelly Wearstler
Paula Luna
Built for warm climes and lush island environments, Tropical Modern is an anti-minimalist approach that embraces laid-back glamour, an awareness of balance, and a feeling for light. The movement is rooted in balmy locales such as Sri Lanka, Brazil, Hawai‘i, and Florida. Architects like Geoffrey Manning Bawa, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Vladimir Ossipoff, and Paul Rudolph pioneered the built environment, fusing the relationship between exterior and interior—the home and the natural world.
“Interiors can still be clean, purposeful, and neutral while the tropical elements add so much texture and punch to a space,” says Courson. “Clients come to me for that coastal-cool aesthetic but with a throughline of unexpected playfulness.”
Courson’s new line of furniture and custom wallpaper informed a suite at The Brick Hotel
Courson’s new line, available through her website, features wallpaper, headboards, side tables, and pillows. The wallpaper at The Brick, for example, is emblazoned with Cattleya orchids and pink-and-black Monstera. It absolutely sets the tone for happy hour at the hotel’s Cococabana rooftop.
Meanwhile, for another client, she paired custom fan palm wallpaper with a cane-and-tubular-steel chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
“When done right, overlaying patterns, textures, and greenery can create this harmony,” she says. “It has the modern expressiveness of a jungle.
Greenery is central to all of Courson’s projects
Paula Luna
Clockwise from right: Pendant butterflies by decayedbrocade.com from $68; vintage cantilevered chair by Ludwig Miles Van der Rhoe for Knoll sourced from San Diego vintage dealer @ever.style.
Paula Luna
Custom wallpaper from Courson’s new line
Puala Luna
Courson used Kings Star Nero til on a project for Death by Tequila
A khaki bathing suit made Imperial Beach hometowner Denja Harris an artist, though she didn’t know it yet then.
As a middle schooler growing up in San Diego County, fiber artist Harris “had to wear uniforms,” she recalls. “I cut a pair of old Paul Frank uniform bottoms and made a swimsuit out of them. I think that’s where [I began] repurposing found materials. From there, I started embroidering. I started sewing handmade handbags when I was [around 20].”
You won’t find fashion, however, at Harris’ solo exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), which opened June 28. “In 2018 or 2019, I discovered the tufting machine”—a handheld device used to make rugs—“and, during the pandemic, I was able to buy one, and I had lots of free time,” she says. “I started experimenting in a little corner of my living room. And here we are.”
Many of her large-scale works do, indeed, resemble rugs. Harris, however, refers to her process as “painting with yarn—or doodling.” She unfolds a few big pieces inside her small home studio in Lemon Grove, enveloping the space in a cozy riot of color. Draped near one wall is a cartoonishly oversized, spiked chain made of yellow yarn; a rippling orange lamp base sits in a corner. Harris calls these three-dimensional objets d’art “soft sculptures,” stuffing them with scrap materials. Through the studio’s doorway, a well-loved ottoman upholstered in Harris’ signature patchwork style is visible in the living room, where a nature documentary drones quietly on.
Photo Credit: Nahla Valdez
“It’s so visceral, the way she utilizes texture and yarn,” says Katie Dolgov, OMA’s director of exhibitions and collections. “I think she’s working through a lot of personal ideas in her work, and that ends up being very easy to connect with.” That resonant style has landed her exhibitions all over San Diego County and beyond, including solo shows and installations at local galleries like Sparks, Intervals Room, and Mortis Studio and spots in group exhibits at Ohio’s McDonough Museum of Art, North Park’s Art Produce, and OMA’s extension at The Seabird Resort in Oceanside.
The new OMA exhibition title, The Space Between: Texture Studies, reflects the rug-like works’ inconsistent surfaces. Portions of soft, high-pile yarn give way to smooth organic shapes. On one piece rendered mostly in soft and neutral shades—ivory, butter yellow, rose pink, a muted turquoise—the eye catches a thin scribble of cobalt.
Courtesy of Denja Harris
“My process is really intuitive,” Harris says. “I choose a color palette that speaks to me—one that starts a conversation, where the colors interact with each other. Then I grab the yarn, I build compositions through line work, and I let each decision inform the next.” Sometimes she’ll tear out a portion and start again. “Sculptural, dimensional layering is really important,” she adds. “If it’s looking too flat or not activating my brain, then I don’t feel like it’s successful.”
Those shifts in hue and texture are also driven by pure necessity: Because Harris uses primarily deadstock and vintage yarn, she only has so much of each. The varying materials—synthetic and natural, wool and cotton and mohair—add to the visual interest of the work.
The OMA show arrives amid a larger resurgence of interest in fiber art. It’s possible that it’s a natural evolution of the way crafting exploded during the pandemic, creating talented hobbyists who, through exploration and self-instruction, became artists like Harris. Dolgov sees a more immediate motivation, though.
Courtesy of Denja Harris
“I wonder if it’s inherently due to the nature of fabric,” she muses. “There is a softness there. Maybe we’re all feeling like we need to fall into something that’s comforting—not too hard, not too edgy, but still incredibly emotionally evocative. We still need and want to feel the feelings that we’re feeling in the world right now. We don’t need to run away from them, but we do need to be comforted in those feelings, and I feel like that’s what [Harris’] work is doing. It’s surrounding. It’s enveloping.”
And then there is fiber’s familiarity. Not everyone grew up with paintings or sculptures in their homes, but, from our early days, we’ve been wrapped in baby blankets, felt rugs under our feet once we started to walk. Suspended on gallery walls as arresting testaments to their maker’s wayfaring creative mind, the works are undeniable in their artness. Yet they look like home, too.
That’s part of Harris’ point. “I didn’t grow up in art spaces. I’m self-taught. I started doing this when I was 34 or 35, and this is my first time expressing myself through large-scale art. I just started calling myself an artist this year,” she says. “It’s important to me that people who come from a similar socioeconomic background as me or anyone that doesn’t see themselves as an artist can look at my work and see that it’s yarn and that’s familiar to them, and they feel inspired by it. [In my pieces,] I see softness and comfort and joyfulness, and those are all things that I want people to feel when they interact with my work.”
Amelia Rodriguez is a writer and journalist and winner of the San Diego Press Club's 2023 Rising Star Award and 2024 Best of Show Award, she’s also covered music, food, arts and culture, fashion, and design for Rolling Stone, Palm Springs Life, and other national and regional publications. After work, you can find her hunting down San Diego’s best pastries and maintaining her five-year Duolingo streak.
Nate Wells’ home happens to sit on the wrong side of the freeway for an Oceanside-dwelling former surf grom and lifelong waterman. But it’s not the house we’re interested in. It’s his charming backyard micro-shed, where he crafts and repairs his sleek—gamine even—spearguns. Slats of cubed, wooden dowels are casually slotted in bins, while pliers and vices take up real estate in this 100-square-foot-ish workshop tucked to the side of his calming backyard veranda.
Wells grew up in San Diego and, in his youth, spent a few years at his grandparents’ Lakeside ranch, where both his father and grandfather were woodworkers. Wells remembers endless hours “in the sawdust” with his predecessors, absorbing the craft from afar. Wells’ grandfather even made spearguns, unbeknownst to Wells until he picked up the trade. “It’s unreal to see how it’s come kind of full circle,” he says.
Photo Credit: Tim Kothlow Nate Wells in his backyard Oceanside workshop.
After all, it wasn’t Wells’ family that got him into the sport. Instead, a 2014 fishing trip on a neighbor’s boat piqued his interest. “He took me offshore, and I got hooked just watching him catch yellowtail and tuna and dorado and all these things,” Wells recalls. “I was like, ‘I didn’t even know we had all this kind of stuff right here.’”
Pulling the trigger himself, he soon found, was “addicting.”
The same neighbor commissioned Wells’ first custom speargun. Wells supplemented his knowledge of woodworking with info from myriad YouTube videos and online forums.
Courtesy of Wells Spearguns
“As you progress as an artist or craftsman, you start to see, ‘Oh, this is pretty rudimentary. This is pretty basic, you know? Let’s expand,’” he says. “With every batch of guns, I just keep improving.”
Ten years later, Wells is still fine-tuning his work under the eponymous moniker Wells Spearguns, but he’s got his basic materials down to a science. “I strictly use Burmese teak because of how well it holds up,” he says. It’s something people [have used] on boats forever, right? So I use it for the longevity of it—and the beauty of it, too.” Florida-based company Neptonics supplies the parts required to build the gun’s inner mechanisms.
Photo Credit: Nathan Minatta
Still, no two guns are quite the same. “I come from a surfing background, and my favorite thing was getting a custom surfboard. That’s like the dream, right?” Wells says. “That’s kind of what I tried to do with the guns.” Buyers can choose custom epoxy colors and engraving, so their device is as beautiful as it is functional.
“I love connecting with people through this, helping them find exactly what they want in this process,” Wells says. “There’s just something about all the little layers of spearfishing, you know, from building your own gear to diving with people and then bringing that catch home to friends and family.”
Danielle is a freelance culture journalist focusing on music, food, wine, hospitality, and arts, and founder-playwright of Yeah No Yeah Theatre company, based in San Diego. Her work has been featured in FLAUNT, Filter Magazine, and San Diego Magazine. Born and raised in Maui, she still loves a good Mai Tai.
Come close. Jordan Howlett is about to open his book of secrets.
In his instantly recognizable minimalist videos, the 27-year-old Oceanside local (known in feeds as @jordan_the_stallion8) beckons his viewers near. He then dons his reading glasses, opens his famous leather-bound recipe book, and becomes a type of Gen Z Robin Hood, sharing the classified methods behind popular fast food items with his more than 29 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Want to know how to make Taco Bell’s Baja Blast or Olive Garden’s alfredo sauce? Howlett is your huckleberry.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
As founder of what he calls the Fast Food Secrets Club, Howlett has become one of the most popular raconteurs on the internet, spouting wisdom and hot takes with self-effacing humor and an infectious love of food (while bringing icons like Kevin Hart and Method Man in for cameos). Yet, despite speaking to more followers on TikTok (12M+) than Jimmy Fallon and more on Instagram (8M+) than Chris Rock, his path to bonafide internet stardom remains mysterious. So how did he get here? What’s his secret?
Meeting Howlett and speaking to those who know him best, a picture emerges of an introverted kid with a unique fire in his belly, carrying the weight of growing up in a family struggling to stay afloat. “We definitely were strapped for money all the time, and I knew it,” Howlett says. “I was aware of it very early.”
Born in LA County, Howlett spent his early childhood in the high desert city of Victorville, CA, where his dad worked jobs at the nearby federal prison and at Best Buy, among other places. When his parents got an offer to help start a new branch of a mailbox installation company in San Diego, the family moved to Oceanside.
Howlett attended a small public school before transferring to Oceanside High sophomore year in order to have access to sports. This, his friends say, is when the early whispers of Howlett’s potential for big things first could be heard. He seemed to know who he was far earlier than most teenagers, carrying himself with the maturity of someone much wiser than the rest of his peers. But that doesn’t mean high school was easy. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Before he was Jordan the Stallion, Howlett was an awkward teenager in love with baseball.
“My first impression with Jordan was I saw this tall, awkward guy with a very big, nappy afro,” says Howlett’s longtime friend Saúl Sandoval Estrada, whom Howlett met soon after transferring. “He had this faded old zip-up hoodie, oversized shorts, really big feet, and mismatched socks that went up to his calves. He was polite and he was humble, but because he looked poor, people made fun of him and would pick on him. A lot.”
“All the girls rejected him,” Estrada adds. “All of them. I mean, in high school you’re not looking for a mature guy with good morals and values and ethics.”
Howlett acknowledges it was tough.
“Every time I tried to talk to girls— or talk to anybody—it was awkward,” he says. “I would always want to give them the utmost kindness, but I was not smooth in the slightest.”
Despite his setbacks, when Howlett found baseball, he didn’t take awkward for an answer. Having never played sports before, he worked maniacally hard to catch up to the kids who’d been playing tee ball since preschool. In a matter of months, Howlett was saying he wanted to play Division 1 ball, with hopes of making it to the big leagues.
“People didn’t like that,” Estrada says. “So they would tell him, ‘You’re not going to college. Look how goofy you are. Look how uncoordinated you are.’”
But Howlett’s ego was unphased.
“When you get coaches in high regard telling you this is not achievable, you have to be half delusional, half mature enough to be like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna do this because I need to see it for myself,’” Howlett says.
He worked out before school at 5 a.m., did his homework at lunch, and attended freshman, JV, and varsity practices in the evenings. Then, he’d be in the batting cages with Estrada into the night, trying to connect with his dream.
After stints in community college, Howlett transferred to UC Riverside in hopes of playing baseball as a walk-on. Unable to afford more than a partial first tuition payment, he was sleeping in his ’97 Chevy Suburban near the field while attending classes and going through tryouts, aiming to make the team and get on scholarship.
Photo Credit: Matt Furman Known for stealing secrets, Howlett plays along with sushi chef Andretty Lucatero at Kinme Omakase.
“I’m sleeping in my car, so I’m not getting any sleep. I have no money for food, so I’m not eating much. And I’m stressed about this walk-on,” Howlett explains. “I was so exhausted. I was sleeping in classes, and I failed my first test. I was scared. And the same day I failed that test, the financial aid office told me I owed $3,000 because the second payment was due way quicker than I thought. It was a lot of pressure that I’d never experienced before.”
Renewable energy companies building hundreds of power plants. Biotech startups using artificial intelligence to create personalized medicine for children with rare diseases. Hospitality companies quietly powering thousands of local events. Consumer brands growing from beach-town startups into national businesses. These are the kinds of companies driving San Diego’s economy today, and the businesses recognized at this year’s San Diego Business Impact Awards offer a snapshot of where the region is headed.
Hosted July 23 by San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and JPMorganChase, the second annual awards event honored four local companies for innovation, growth, and economic impact. More than 100 nominations from San Diego’s middle-market businesses were reviewed by a 10-person judging committee, with winners selected across four categories: startup, early-stage innovator, rising star, and established heavyweight.
Two-time honoree Jimbo Someck, founder of Jimbo’s organic grocery stores, also joined the event for a fireside chat on buying local, supporting emerging brands, and giving back to the community.
“San Diego’s strength comes from its makers and builders—the resilient people who endure great risks and overcome obstacles to build and scale a company,” says Aaron Ryan, San Diego Region Manager and Middle Market Banking at JPMorganChase & Co. “These awards aren’t just recognition; they spotlight the talent, grit, and innovation shaping our region’s future. By celebrating those who create and build, we foster connections and fuel the growth that keeps San Diego thriving.”
Matt Furman Photography
Building the Infrastructure Behind Clean Energy
Heavyweight honoree SOLV Energy has grown alongside the country’s rapid investment in renewable power. “It’s an exciting time for SOLV Energy as we are experiencing significant growth,” says CEO George Hershman. “The business has doubled over the last year and has almost double-digit growth since its inception.”
The Rancho Bernardo-based company designs, builds, operates, and maintains utility-scale solar and energy storage facilities. Since its founding in 2008, SOLV Energy has built more than 500 power plants.
Growth has translated directly into hiring. About 200 employees work from the company’s local headquarters, including roughly 20 interns. “Our intern program is a big part of the way that we grow our workforce,” Hershman says. “Last year, 43 percent of our interns became full-time employees. We believe San Diego is a great community to build and grow a high-tech infrastructure and technology company because of the incredible workforce—the ability to attract top talent and draw from world-class universities.”
Developing Medicine One Patient at a Time
Startup honoree La Jolla Labs is tackling one of medicine’s biggest challenges by developing personalized RNA therapeutics for patients with rare diseases—many of them children with neurological disorders like ALS. Using proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, the biotech company develops treatments tailored to each patient’s specific genetic mutation.
CEO Tamar Grossman says the recognition reflects how far the company has come despite limited resources. “We’re honored to be recognized for our ability to change and save patients’ lives and turn our lean startup into a clinical company with very minimal resources,” she says.
Grossman credits San Diego’s concentration of research institutions—including UC San Diego, the Salk Institute, and Scripps Research—with creating a pipeline of talent and collaboration. “San Diego is one of the world-leading centers for technology, genomics, and RNA therapeutics,” she says. “We have over 30 RNA therapeutics companies here, and we support each other and help with anything related to drug discovery.”
She says that collaborative spirit extends beyond formal partnerships. “You can walk around Torrey Pines, go into a café, and find colleagues from the industry and have an ad hoc conversation,” Grossman says. “That’s something very unique to San Diego.”
While Snake Oil Venue Company may not be a household name, chances are many San Diegans have attended one of its events. The early-stage innovator honoree has expanded from beverage catering and mixology consulting into venue management, operating Julep Venue in Mission Hills, Bramble Bay Venue in Imperial Beach, Vesper Venue, the Chapel at Liberty Station, and five outdoor venues throughout Liberty Station—more than 500,000 square feet of event space altogether.
“We do a lot of launch parties for corporations and new products,” says CEO Mike Esposito. “I really like working on the entrepreneur side of things, where new businesses are entering the San Diego market and looking to make a splash.”
Snake Oil has executed more than 16,000 events, employed more than 1,000 people, and partnered with more than 900 local vendors, including caterers, florists, photographers, entertainers, and other hospitality businesses. The company also works with many of San Diego’s nonprofits, museums, and cultural institutions. “We get to celebrate people’s most important moments,” Esposito says. “Whether that’s a wedding, celebration of life, or quinceañera, we’re fortunate to be involved in the community in so many different ways.”
Matt Furman Photography
Growing a Beach-Town Brand into a National Business
Rising star honoree ALOHA Collection is proof that a simple idea can grow into a thriving company. Founded by two roommates who wanted a better way to carry wet swimsuits after a day at the beach, the lifestyle brand has grown into a business while maintaining strong year-over-year growth.
Now headquartered in Carlsbad, ALOHA Collection employs more than 100 people and operates its California flagship store in Encinitas, which is slated for a remodel. With roots in Hawaii, the company is known for its lightweight, splash-proof travel bags that have become a familiar sight on beaches in San Diego and beyond.
“‘Aloha’ is part of our name, but it’s also how we move through the world,” says CEO Lynna Barnard. “It’s how we show up for people, the way we travel, the way we give back.” Since day one, the company has maintained a 5 percent giveback to Hawaii conservation efforts, contributing millions of dollars over the years.
“I think what’s so inspiring about ALOHA Collection, and the founders in particular, is when you dream big, those dreams can come true when you work hard and trust in the universe,” Barnard says. “It’s inspiring to be a role model for other people wanting to start businesses from humble beginnings. Start small and watch it grow.”
Together, businesses like these form a cornerstone of San Diego’s economy—not only through the jobs and revenue they generate—but through the local workers they hire, vendors they support, and investments they make in the region. Their growth doesn’t happen in isolation; it ripples outward, strengthening the broader business community and the people who call San Diego home.
Originally published Dec 2020 | Updated February 2023
Just because you’re shopping secondhand doesn’t mean it can’t look high-end or glamorous, says Brittany Joseph, owner of Badlands Vintage. The Oceanside shop is a collection of Joseph’s favorite things—statement furniture pieces and decor from the midcentury modern and ’80s postmodern design eras. “Badlands is kind of desert-meets-city vibes,” she says. “It’s minimalist pieces that have a touch of glam.”
Step inside her brick-and-mortar and you’ll see what she means. Joseph has carefully curated the store to reflect her style and ditched the cluttered look often found in most vintage shops, making it a point to lay out the furniture as one would a home. “I wanted the space to feel warm and inviting,” she says. “I think it’s helpful for people to see how the pieces look in a completed space instead of being positioned on their own.”
Badlands Vintage / Living Space
Her inventory changes often, as she shops for new pieces nearly every day. The key to finding them is simple: She only purchases things she absolutely loves, ensuring that every item in her inventory is something easy for her to sell.
Joseph has had a knack for thrifting for most of her life. She started with vintage clothing, slowly building a closet of secondhand items, then expanded into finding vintage home goods as she started designing her own spaces and helping her friends with theirs. It felt like a natural move to turn it into a business and, when she moved to Oceanside eight years ago, decided to do just that.
She’s been running her online shop ever since, operating out of her home, warehouse, and a small pop-up in Sea Hive Marketplace. But in 2020, despite the pandemic, Joseph says her business was growing exponentially. “So many people were at home suddenly and I think they realized they wanted to make their home a really comfortable and inviting place to be,” she says.
Badlands Vintage / Candles
That spike in sales led her to scout for a more permanent home. She found her ideal location on South Coast Highway, flipped it in an impressive three weeks, and opened just in time for Small Business Saturday. And if that sounds like a crazy feat, it’s because it is. “I’m very goal driven,” she says, “so in the moment I just get to work and do what needs to be done, but I’m starting to realize just how crazy it was to do it all so fast.”
It’s a testament to her impeccable work ethic. Now, she’s been able to pursue a lifelong passion even amid a global health crisis. But that’s just one aspect of it. For Joseph, the real reward comes from opening a Black- and female-owned business. “I love living in Oceanside and I love this community,” she says. “There are only a few Black-owned businesses here, so I’m proud to help represent people of color, especially women.”
Most dishes at The Plot have some element (kimchi, sauce) made of perfectly good food (rinds, stems) that most restaurants discard.
Photo Credit: James Tran
The Plot is a restaurant, sure. But sitting here staring at the on-site garden, reading menu items like “lentil caviar” and “kale stem marrow,” and listening to servers describe dishes with the words “pulp” and “spent” and “regenerative”—it feels more like a working model for the future of food.
Chef Davin Waite and his wife/partner Jessica Waite launched The Plot in January 2020 (yikes, timing). Their goal: to go beyond sustainability and become a regenerative business, not just minimizing impact, but actively rebuilding the loam and air and sky and environment. There’s still much work to do (convincing vendors to reduce packaging, a more robust municipal composting system, etc.). So for now, they’re sourcing ingredients from mostly regenerative local farms (regenerative farms forego fertilizers and pesticides in lieu of tactics like biodiversity and compositing, doing everything they can to build super-soil through natural processes, and sequestering carbon into the soil rather than in our atmosphere), and subsidizing with plants from their on-site garden.
Jessica and Davin Waite at their small vegetable garden behind the restaurant.
Photo Credit: James Tran
The list of The Plot’s Earth-first practices is astounding and requires a biblical scroll, but Jessica Waite says they divert 100 percent of waste from landfills. Nothing ends up in the trash, and much less than one percent of food product they bring in-house is discarded (industry standard is four to 10 percent). Other measures include: making all meat substitutes in house (avoiding monocrops); leftover rice is sent to local refinery, Kismet, which turns it into rice syrup for salad dressings; tofu whey becomes caramel; pulp from stock is dried into powder for their mac & chorizö; mushroom scraps are dried and smoked to create the desirable “funk” of their house-made cheese; beet scraps become ketchup; to-go boxes are compostable.
Plant-based food is gaining steam for a few pretty simple reasons, including: health (overeating steak is more harmful than overeating squash), because Billie Eilish did it, and because the ecological future of our planet has never been so dicey and eating plants is the most sustainable way to eat (plants require less resources than animals). Plant-based eating has always been a noble idea. Its problem was that it was largely a flavorless jumble of almost-food that treated your mouth the same way 1980s college freshman treated a can of Coors Light, shotgunning the joy out of your pleasure center. Those days are over. Now plant-based food is good to excellent.
The Plot is part of the scene in South Oceanside, a thriving, largely local part of town.
Photo Credit: James Tran
And there is some excellence at The Plot. Their ceviche replaces raw fish with chayote squash that has been pickled in citrus, with a touch of seaweed added for the sushi mimicking. It’s tart, crunchy, almost an aguachile. A very simple kale salad is excellent due to the dressing, an almost effervescently delicious mix of the rice syrup and orange peels. Cäviar and potato cake is beluga lentil caviar flavored with konbu, but the star is that cashew creme fraiche with pickled onions and preserved lemon. They do sushi rolls, and the one to order is the Chronic—spicy tüna made of chickpeas, cräb of lion’s mane, avocado, and a tofu-based aioli affectionately called “yum yum sauce.” It’s saucy, like starter sushi, but good.
In the running for the best thing I eat is the cräb cake, made with lion’s mane mushrooms from local company, Mindful Mushrooms—the stringy texture mimicking crabmeat, seasoned with Old Bay, kumbu, and seawater with a Catalina dressing made from brine left over from their beet pastrami. But tops is the roasted cauliflower, made with a faux fish sauce (konbu, mushroom powder, salt, chiles, garlic, ginger, lime, and sweetness). Phenomenal.
The “GardenParty” brunch bloody with chickën nugget garnish.
Photo Credit: James Tran
The Plot goes awry in some dishes that lather the sauce (plant-based cooking often does, to make up for the lack of fat in plants as compared to, say, a ribeye), lean too sweet, or haven’t counter-balanced the mushy texture that is a challenge in plant-based cooking (anyone who ate early veggie burgers know the anti-texture I speak of). A shepherd’s pie filling is made with lentils and wild rice, but the “stew” portion is too deep, too rich, and the demiglace just adds to it, bullying any flavor nuance from the individual ingredients. The interior of the takoyaki hush puppies are a bit too creamy, almost the same texture as the accompanying yum yum sauce. And the Okinawan sweet potato gnocchi with the sweetness of a carrot puree is too sweet.
Chefs and restaurants used to be stewards of local environments, so close to the food they serve (oftentimes grown out back) that they were ambassadors for ecology. Through technology and science and freezer advancements, we got away from that. The Plot is one of many restaurants bringing us back. And there are enough hits here that, even if you ignore the halo they’ve earned, you can just have a very good meal.
Cäviar and potato cakes with beluga lentils and cashew creme fraiche.
Photo Credit: James Tran
Staff enjoys a brief moment of solace before opening for dinner rush
Photo Credit: James Tran
A cräb cake made with lion’s mane mushrooms in a Catalina dressing made of leftover brine from their beet pastrami.
Photo Credit: James Tran
Editor’s Note: This review was featured in our December 2022 issue. Since publication, the chef at The Plot has moved on.
Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.
If you’re anything like us, it can be easy to get so caught up in taking care of everyone else, that your own needs get lost in the ether. But while this may be a cliché, that doesn’t make it any less true: You can’t give your best self to other people unless you’re taking care of yourself.
Sometimes, that looks like stopping in for your regular acupuncture or chiropractic appointment. Other days, it means giving your body the fresh, organic fuel it needs to truly feel and function at its best. And some other times still, it involves leaving your responsibilities behind for a weekend to pamper yourself at an incredible resort and spa.
Only you can decide what your truly need. We’re just here to help you find the best ways to get it.
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa
Island living meets desert luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. When you step onto the 11-acre property, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Mountains with olive trees and fragrant citrus groves decorating the grounds. In other words, everything about this relaxed but refined resort is primed to help you let go of the stress from home and enjoy easy sun-soaked days and gorgeous starry nights.
The rooms blend calming, woven textures with Tommy Bahama’s signature tropical prints and feature private lanais, making it easy unwind the moment you walk in the door. If you book one of the four Villa Suites, you’ll be treated to exclusive Tommy Bahama furniture and unique personal touches to further that feeling of instant ease.
At the award-winning Spa Rosa, the expert team will help reset and recharge your body and mind using methods and rituals inspired by the desert. The 12,000-square-foot retreat includes outdoor soaking pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, and outdoor cabanas, as well as massages, facials, and body masks—all aimed at creating a day dedicated to you. We’re particularly partial to the Day Long Escape, an indulgent all-day affair of CDBs soaks, renewing scrubs, life changing massages, and transformative facials.
Following your treatment, continue the experience with a meal on the patio at Grapefruit Basil. We love the Hamachi Crudo, a light, citrus-forward dish featuring premium yellowtail, house-made ponzu, creamy avocado, and fresh seasonal garnishes.
Whether you’re strolling the gardens, relaxing beside its saltwater pools, or indulging in a restorative treatment, you’ll be able to escape in style and relax in luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa.
Healcove Chiropractic
There’s no shortage of ways to stay active in San Diego—but if you really want to enjoy everything the city has to offer, you’ve got to make sure you’re giving your body its tune-ups. Enter: Healcove Chiropractic. The board-certified chiropractors and wellness professionals at Healcove are experts at addressing that stage where you’re not injured, exactly, but you’re not at 100%, either. Maybe you’re feeling a bit tense or stressed out. Or it could be that you’re not quite moving the way you want to. Sometimes, it’s just that the accumulation of days, weeks, or even years of daily strain is starting to take a toll. No matter what stage you find yourself at, the Healcove Chiropractic team can provide integrated, preventative care centered on long-term, science-backed approaches that ensure you can always stay active and live the life you want to live pain-free.
This starts by providing truly individualized care. Every patient can expect a thorough 60-minute consultation session that includes a posture and movement screening. This allows the team to develop a completely personalized plan. That plan might include chiropractic care, acupuncture, or massage therapy, as well as functional fitness training, vibration and sound therapy, and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, a clinical rehabilitation method that retrains the body’s stabilization systems. Whatever the team recommends, you can be sure that it’s tailored to meeting your body’s needs today and the future.
There’s a reason that San Diego Magazine named Healcove the “Best Chiropractor in San Diego”—don’t wait until you’re struggling with an injury to find out why. Book an appointment today for holistic, integrated care that helps ground and heal your body before it reaches a crisis point.
Juice Holler
West Coast wellness culture meets the community feel of Southern Appalachia at Juice Holler. Juice Holler’s menu consists of made-to-order smoothies and smoothie bowls, as well as grab-and-go cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, salads, and more. It operates from the blissfully simple premise that fueling up with food and drink that’s guilt-free and good your body should be simple, accessible, and, above all else, delicious. And if you haven’t yet made it out to the Encinitas café, which opened just this year, let us be the first to tell you: Juice Holler delivers on each and every of these fronts.
We love the Supercharger smoothie, a mood-lifting and body-fueling option made with banana, almond butter, blue spirulina, maca, grass-fed whey protein, raw cacao nibs, medjool dates, and coconut milk. We’re also partial to the Thrive Alive smoothie bowl, where avocado, mango, sea moss, spirulina, mint, coconut milk, and agave are mixed and topped with coconut, chia seeds, strawberry, mango, and chocolate drizzle. The wellness shots include the Detoxifier, a cleansing blend of kale, cucumber, lemon and spirulina, plus a shot specially designed to fight inflammation (named, fittingly, Anti-Inflammation). Probiotic overnight oats, lemon turmeric bars, and strawberry shortcake chia pudding are other standouts on the grab-and-go menu.
Much of the vibe feels beachy North County chic—think green tile with orange and pink accents, grounded with greenery and natural wood—but Juice Holler founder Kelly Sergott, a longtime Encinitas local, has also enfused the space with her Kentucky roots. In Appalachia, a holler is small valley between hills and mountains, where nature reigns, community is king, and nourishment comes right from the land. At Juice Holler, Sergott has created a holler for the busy modern times, using local ingredients to create a spot for people to come together and enjoy fresh, fast, feel-good fuel for their day.
Everwell Acupuncture
We’ve all had that experience with a medical professional where we’ve felt rushed, ignored, or misunderstood—and ultimately, like we didn’t get the answers that we needed. But at Everwell, the holistic acupuncture practice located in Solana Beach, the care team wants to transform your understanding of what healthcare can look like.
Patients at Everwell experience care rooted in intentional listening and radical empathy—and trust us, those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. This place actually puts those ideas into practice. You will always be given the time you need to tell your story— initial in-take appointments are two hours long—and you can rest assured that your story will be believed. Every single question and concern will be addressed by a dedicated practitioner who wants to find the specific solutions that work best for you, and you’ll receive care that’s aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.
Everwell’s highly trained, doctorate-level practitioners blend evidence-based acupuncture with the practice of classical Chinese medicine. (If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or aren’t sure if the team will be a fit, we’d highly recommended Everwell’s complimentary 20-minute consultations.) Research shows that by stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture activates a natural healing response in the body, helping to restore balance, regulate the nervous system, and improve overall wellbeing. This allows the practice to address an incredibly wide range of conditions from chronic pain and autoimmune disorders to digestive issues, from stress and burnout to headaches migraines, fertility and postpartum struggles, hormonal imbalances, sleep concerns and more.
At Everwell, you can expect to feel heard, trusted, respected, and cared for. This is a space that doesn’t want to be just another healthcare provider you visit; it wants to provide patients with dedicated partner who will be there for their entire health journey.
