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The Mains
Vigilante Coffee Makes Plans to Open Vista Location
Chris Vigilante was raised on the East Coast, got his coffee education in Hawaii and now lives in San Diego County while operating coffee shops on both coasts. Chris, founder and CEO of Vigilante Coffee Company, started his coffee shop empire in Maryland and opened his West Coast headquarters and roastery in Oceanside at the end of 2021. Now, he’s looking to expand in North County with a location in Vista opening by the fall of this year.
The new space will be next-door neighbors with Tradecraft Farms Cannabis Dispensary off E.Vista Way. Chris says the 3,500 square-foot Vista space will have a similar energy to their Oceanside location (think: an open space, high ceilings, lots of plants) mixed with a few “stoner items” to appeal to people visiting the cannabis shop next door. Vigilante Coffee Company is sourcing and roasting what Chris says are some of the world’s best coffees while making coffee approachable—and a part of the neighborhood.
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First-Generation Vietnamese-American Sharing Family-Inspired Dishes at Farmers Markets
If you like to visit the farmers markets in North Park, Hillcrest or PB, you’ll soon get a taste of Tracy Ta’s family cooking when she opens up her pop up, The Bánh Mì Co, this summer. “[Bánh mì] became a comfort food for me. As I’m getting older and my mom’s getting older, I want to give her odes and a thank you of gratitude for raising me right and do something in her honor,” Ta says.
Taught in her family’s kitchen by parents who were refugees in Vietnam, Tracy’s dishes will take traditional Vietnamese flavors and serve them in crispy baguettes as a bánh mì. Her star dish is the “Here, Piggy Piggy,” a bánh mì with braised caramelized pork, pickled carrots, daikon radish, Persian cucumbers, cilantro, garlic mayo, and soy sauce. Before she starts serving at farmers markets, she’s taking orders through Uber Eats and DoorDash from her ghost kitchen, My Foodie Kitchen, in El Cajon.
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