The biking scene is nothing new to San Diego. More than 100 years ago, San Diegans who were passionate about their two-wheeled wonders formed the San Diego Wheel Club. When they weren’t riding, cyclists could pursue their hobby at the San Diego Cycle and Arms Co. (pictured). Originally located at the southeast corner of Fourth and E, the store was much more than a bike shop. The SD Cycle and Arms Co. sold cutlery, fishing tackle, ammunition, sporting goods for games such as baseball, golf, and tennis, and, as the name implies, guns and bicycles (notice the taxidermy on the left-hand wall). It also offered a range of bicycle and gun repair services. The store’s owners, Stanley Andrews, Archie Aldridge, and Max Toews, stood proudly in their establishment in 1904.
By The Numbers
2,000
Riders participating in the Campagnolo Gran Fondo, taking off in Little Italy on April 6. The longest course is 105 miles.
2013
San Diego held its first CicloSDias event
20
Bike racks that will soon be installed throughout Balboa Park
1,800
Bikes that will be available through San Diego’s bike share program starting this summer
$312 million
Cost of new plan that’ll add 595 miles of bike paths in San Diego by 2030
We're on the hunt for the best summer outdoor photographs shot by our readers
By Laurie Nicoud
Calling all local photographers! We’re on the lookout for summer outdoor shots of San Diego to feature in the magazine’s “Picture Perfect” section. Have an epic shot of the Del Mar Fair? A landscape scene from Crystal Pier? A dramatic view from your Iron Mountain hike? We want to see them all! Email your stunners to [email protected].
And take a look at Picture Perfect favorites for inspiration:
Originally an agricultural fair for local farmers, the San Diego County Fair has grown and evolved since 1880. After shifting locations (including Balboa Park) several times, the Fair was forced into hiatus during the Great Depression.
In 1933, the state’s decision to legalize horseracing and gambling helped bring the event back to life, this time in Del Mar, chosen for its proximity to the 101 and the Santa Fe railroad line.
If the photo above was taken in 1936, the tightrope walker (center) is headlining act Bunny Dryden. Rancho Santa Fe resident, actor, and horse breeder Bing Crosby served as honorary steward of the harness races, and Barbara Watson was crowned Queen of the Fair (aka “Fairest of the Fair,” a competition which continued until 2004). Rain dampened the festivities, which took place October 8–18, prompting a move to June and July a few years later, and the fair has kept its home in those months and on those grounds ever since.
Camera: Sony Alpha 850, shot at 16mm focal length with LEE Filters
What North Park resident Scott Murphy loved about this desert scene was its seclusion. “Font’s Point gives you a 360-degree view of the badlands and Salton Sea, but it’s so hidden that you have to know a local, or someone who goes to the desert riding motorcycles or off-roading,” says Murphy, a medical photographer by day and landscape photographer by night and weekends. Once he spotted the red blooms, he knew he wanted to spotlight them against the grandiose backdrop in the sun’s last hour of light. “[Font’s Point] is best viewed at sunset,” he says. “It’s so peaceful. Locals bring chairs. Some even picnic.”
Implementing a farm-to-table model hardly deserves acknowledgement these days. It’s not a stretch. It’s not innovative. “It’s the bare f**king minimum,” says Herb & Sea‘s executive chef Aidan Owens.
When I arrive at the Encinitas restaurant, I’m ready to talk sustainability, farm-to-table stuff, with Owens. “Did you see the chin on that?” he says of the extra big jiggly chin on the sheephead that just arrived with the day’s fresh catch. I did. It was Jay Leno adjacent.
I learn quickly that he somehow oozes both charm and stone-cold honesty. Maybe he could construct a new dish with chin goo, like he did when he had a bunch of tuna scraps and voila’d it into a smooth and crowd-pleasing ‘nduja. “I want to know what’s in there,” he says.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
The instinct to look closer, to dig into what others might discard, says a lot about the chef’s approach. I guide him back to our topic, but he has something else on his mind. “We’re overcomplicating food—what happened to just cooking good food and having fun with it?”
Owens grew up on a farm in Byron Bay, Australia, where sustainability wasn’t a concept you chat about so much as a way of life. Think dirt roads, backyard chickens, pulling vegetables straight from the ground, and a mother who believed that if you couldn’t pronounce the ingredients on a package, you shouldn’t eat what was inside.
Food wasn’t precious or performative. Making it was what you did because you were hungry and that’s still what inspires Owens today. “I like to cook good food because I like to eat good food,” he says.
His approach to sustainability at Herb & Sea began so naturally that it felt just like instinct. “I was just like, ‘Let’s order food from the people who live and work here,’” he says.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
And why wouldn’t he when lives in San Diego? Cities all over the world vie for our goods. Our tuna is sent overseas. Our spiny lobsters hit dinner plates in China and Japan. Not to mention California’s producing a third of the country’s vegetables and three-quarters of its fruits and nuts.
“Why would we outsource when it’s all here?” Owens asks.
Sustainability, in this context, is about cooking what exists in abundance, nearby, right now. “I love the local fish here. It’s f**king delicious and San Diego citrus, I mean, it is so f**ing good,” he says.
Instead of importing ingredients, Owens also looks for nearby alternatives. “You can find really cool things in the local waters,” he says, pointing out that stingray cheeks taste similar to scallops.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
Whatever he finds in that sheephead chin might just be the next substitute for marrow. But to make this work, it means getting diners amped up about the slightly unfamiliar.
Tasting menus, where diners are completely in his hands, become an opportunity to gently push boundaries. “I’ll serve mackerel, because people think they hate it,” Owens says, noting that the abundant local fish can have some fishiness. “But when it’s fresh, it’s arguably one of the best fish in the ocean.”
He also tweaks the language on the menu so people might feel more compelled to give dishes a try without preconceived notions. He might use “lengua” instead of “tongue.” “Whelk” instead of “snail.” When he puts “stingray throat” on the menu, he disarmingly calls it “skate.”
To reduce waste, scraps aren’t always discarded but rather turned into something new. Sometimes they’re smoked, cured or fermented. Apples going bad turn into apple ponzu. Lemons turn to marmalade, which stretches their usefulness far beyond peak season. “And it’s super tasty on our pizza,” he says.
What makes the food even richer, is the relationships he’s built with farmers. Though it didn’t always feel natural, Owens sought personal connection first. He recalls approaching a fisherman at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market. “I was awkward,” he says. “I went up to him and said, ‘I like your fish.’”
Owen’s is now so close to his suppliers—like fishermen Ryan Sebo and Joe Daly—that he gets texted pictures of fresh catches right as they flop on the boat. The messages always ask if he wants first dibs. “I say yes to a lot of fish,” Owens says, noting that Herb & Sea can go through 2,000 pounds of seafood a week.
Courtesy of Herb & Sea
The next evolution of sustainability, in his view, will be chefs working directly with producers such as his alliance with Sebo, cutting out middlemen and purveyors where possible. “It will put more money in the pockets of the people doing the work,” he says.
It will mean that chefs can’t just know their local farmers and producers, but they’ll choose to work with the ones who have the best practices. Dining and sustainability will become much less about the final plate. “It will be more about the impact that plate has on the Earth,” he says.
Ultimately, he believes sustainability doesn’t need to be loud. It doesn’t need hashtags. It just needs to be honest.
“We aren’t saving lives. We’re feeding people good food,” he says.
And yet, in feeding people well—simply, thoughtfully, responsibly—something meaningful happens. Guests leave satisfied. Ingredients are respected. Local ecosystems are supported and food returns to what it has always been at its core: nourishment, pleasure, and a quiet reflection of the place it comes from.
The East County 'hood is bucking its sleepy, old-fashioned reputation with excellent antique-hunting alongside glossy new shops, happy hours, and dining destinations
By Archana Ram
La Mesa
La Mesa | Photo by Found Creative Studio
NEW
BO-beau Kitchen + Garden
The industrial-chic Mediterranean eatery serves up modern cool with a slick bar, rustic patio, and weeknight happy hour. 8384 La Mesa Boulevard
NEW
CorePower Yoga
Just last August the favorite chain opened a La Mesa location with two big studios for all class levels and styles. 5262 Baltimore Drive
This Month in La Mesa
May 18 Antique Street Faire
Fridays Farmers market 2 p.m.-6 p.m.
Fridays Food Fest Friday 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Swami’s Cafe
Acai bowls and more—the North County staple is a brunch dream come true for East County folks. 8284 La Mesa Boulevard
Favorite Things
This antique and home décor store, housed in La Mesa’s 1930s-era post office, leans shabby-chic. 8395 La Mesa Boulevard
Swami’s Cafe
Swami’s Cafe
L&S Event Design Co.
Find Pinterest-worthy floral arrangements and succulent plants at this mother-daughter-run operation. 8201 La Mesa Boulevard
Cosmos Coffee Café
There’s local Café Moto to caffeinate, plentiful space to work, and open mic Tuesdays to jam. 8278 La Mesa Boulevard
What a Dish!
Sift through colorful dishware, Stonewall Kitchen products, and other charming knickknacks at this new kitchen shop. 8209 La Mesa Boulevard
Gypsy Treasure
From elaborate costumes to wigs and false eyelashes, this year-round costume store is a savior for theme parties and summer soirées. 8119 La Mesa Boulevard
The November Project began in Boston as an experiment to get people moving during the winter months. Since its inception in November 2011 (hence the name), the grassroots workout has expanded to 15 cities. The San Diego branch, or “tribe,” launched last October with just five attendees. Now, about 40 to 50 mostly twenty-somethings show up every Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. at Kate Sessions Park in Pacific Beach. Creating the free workouts—which typically include running, planks, squats, etc.—are Lauren Padula, Jessica Craik, and Ashleigh Voychick, former college roommates. Their goal is to get people out of their treadmill funks and back to interacting with others (Warning: There will be hugs from strangers).
Torch Heroes: Why San Diego’s Most Trusted Businesses Win by Doing the Right Thing
In a world overflowing with shortcuts, marketing fluff, and “good enough,” there are still companies that choose a different answer. And in San Diego, there are plenty of them.
2025-Torch-SD-09131839 (2)
In a world overflowing with shortcuts, marketing fluff, and “good enough,” there are still companies that choose a different answer.
Integrity guides how they show up every day. They make hard decisions, hold themselves accountable, and build trust the old-fashioned way, one action at a time. At the Better Business Bureau, we call these businesses Torch Heroes: leaders who demonstrate that ethical leadership strengthens businesses and drives long-term success.
And in San Diego, there are plenty of them.
Take House Collective Marketing Solutions, a Carlsbad-based digital agency that won the 2025 Torch Award for Ethics for its people-first approach to marketing. Instead of pushing flashy campaigns, the team often takes a step back to make sure clients’ foundations are strong before going big. Their philosophy? Truth over transaction builds partnerships that last.
Or look at Young Black & N’ Business, where integrity shows up through community action. When a local school lost art funding, founder Roosevelt Williams III and his team stepped in with workshops, mentorship, and hands-on support to help restore creative opportunity. That kind of engagement reflects ethical leadership rooted in real impact.
And in Vista, Lotus Sustainables carried its commitment to ethics all the way to the product line. After discovering defects in a shipment of eco-friendly products, the company issued full refunds and redesigned its offerings at its own expense, a choice that shaped its identity and reinforced to customers that ethics guide every decision.
In North County, Greenway Landscape Design & Build brings integrity into everyday service. When a client’s glass was damaged, likely not by their crew, owner Scott Lawn chose responsibility over blame and covered the repair personally. For Greenway, doing the right thing serves as a north star, guiding every interaction through transparent pricing, accountable partnerships, proactive communication, and follow-through long after the job is done.
Other honorees include At Your Home Familycare, whose leadership turned down a lucrative state contract during the pandemic to protect vulnerable clients and staff, and Bill Howe Family of Companies, where hiring practices, training, and service centers around shared values, every day, on every call.
What connects these diverse businesses, from marketing to nonprofit support to home services, isn’t size, industry, or revenue. It’s something deeper: a commitment to trust as a business strategy.
In San Diego’s competitive marketplace, that trust gives companies an edge. Clients invest in relationships. They refer friends. They stay loyal when others fade.
As one Torch Award winner puts it, integrity isn’t a section in the employee handbook. It’s the operating system of the company, the invisible code that determines every choice, every day.
And that’s exactly the point of the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics: to spotlight companies that dispel the myth that ethics and success are at odds. These businesses show that when leaders choose honesty, fairness, and accountability, especially when it’s hard, they build brands that matter.
At BBB, we see nominations come in from clients, employees, and business partners who have witnessed ethical leadership up close. These submissions aren’t polished promotions. They’re stories of moments when a company chose people over profit, clarity over confusion, and trust over convenience.
The nomination window for the 2026 Torch Awards for Ethics is open through March 31, 2026, and there are more Torch Heroes waiting to be recognized.
Who comes to mind in San Diego’s business community?
A vendor who always delivers — and always explains why.
A competitor who chooses the high road even when shortcuts tempt.
A team within your own company whose day-in, day-out choices reflect deep character.
And yes, businesses can nominate themselves. We encourage it. If you’ve built your business on principles rather than buzzwords, we want to hear your story.
Because in a world full of noise, integrity still deserves the spotlight, and San Diego is full of stories worth telling. Nominate your hero now.
