Food

Anyone who was in Berkeley in the 1970s would have been exposed to great coffee and great food served in a casual atmosphere. While John Secretan was studying landscape architecture at UC Berkeley, he frequented the ubiquitous coffee shops on every corner (with nary a Starbucks in sight) and developed a taste ? nay passion ? for really good coffee. He also was able to dine out in some of the cutting-edge, but affordable, restaurants in Berkeley's "gourmet ghetto"; places like Chez Panisse that emphasized using the freshest local produce and artisanal products.

  Sande St.John, Woman’s Club Resource Chair and community activist, has advised our Board of Directors that some families in Laguna Beach need  food. “Additional new requests for aid, primarily for food, have challenged existing community resources,” St.John says. “The present economic crunch has made already bad situations worse for some families.” The Woman’s Club asks the community to respond. Please bring a bag of groceries to the Clubhouse, Friday, July 31, between 9AM and 4 PM. Club members will be there to receive donations and will transport them to distributions sites in our community.

It seems like everyone?s on a diet or about to go on one. There?s a new fad diet popping up every week endorsed by some celebrity or other, and for every new miracle reducing plan, there is an old one being discredited. Think grapefruit, Atkins or cabbage soup. On the other hand, we have recently discovered a diet that has been going strong for more than 2,000 years. Actually, it?s more than a diet but rather a whole system for wellness, comprising diet, daily routines, yoga and meditation, breathing exercises and spirituality.

Thank you for helping picking up the trash like Alex and Bob. You guys are the best at cleaning El Morro. Thank you very much to you both and I wish you have a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you a lot Dr. Culverhouse for making a good school for everyone and you are the best principal I ever had. I wish you would be a principal forever. Thank you Dr. Culverhouse. Socorro Garcia Popoca I'm thankful for my family, teachers, school and principal. I'm also thankful for every living thing and food and water and my bed. I'm thankful for my house and friends.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT For years, I've been hearing about the virtues of organic food -- coming from both middle-aged health food junkies and young urban foodies. Their argument that organic foods are chemical-free and taste better always made sense, but I resisted taking the plunge. Unless they were tending their own gardens, how could they be sure they were eating tomatoes fertilized with compost instead of Miracle Gro? Does everyone even understand what "organic" actually means?

Sign up to get city email alerts E-notifications are available for artists or community members interested in getting information about art news in Laguna. Other available notifications include traffic alerts, council agendas and job opportunities. To get the email alerts, register at http://www.lagunabeachcity.net/portal/default.asp . * Brooks Street to be closed on Halloween In addition to the city's annual closing of Oak Street in the 400 and 500 blocks on Halloween, now the city will block off areas of Brooks Street as well as part of a trial program.

Community, church group and Scout troops make season bright for 65 people without housing.Some 65 homeless persons were treated to a hearty morning meal and practical gifts at the fourth annual holiday breakfast, held Monday at Laguna Presbyterian Church. Ann Richardson of the Laguna Relief and Resource Center, Rick Shoemaker and the church outreach committee organized the event. More than 50 volunteers gathered food, gifts, entertainment and decorations and sat with guests at each table.

College Round-Up helps prepare students The annual Laguna Beach High School College Round-Up was held Oct. 5 in the school's Dugger Gym. Hundreds of students and parents came to talk with representatives from more than 90 colleges and universities, including several from outside the country. Students received brochures, applications, information on financial aid and more. They also had a chance to talk with people from the LBHS Scholarship Foundation and the military.

The clouds parted, the sun came out and the Laguna Beach community banned together for the 21st annual Thankgiving day outreach. What started over two decades ago as a small outreach has grown into a jammed pack event made up our colorful and diverse community.  So many familiar faces made the day an overwhelming success. Traditionally held at Bluebird park but moved to the Neighborhood Congregational church due to the threat of showers, which didn't seem to slow the estimated 500 plus people from coming out.  In fact, "this logistically was probably the smoothest outreach we have had, with the kitchen and seating so close" said Mary LaRusso A.K.A.

Whole Foods Market, at 283 Broadway St., will donate 5% of all sales to SchoolPower during its Community Support Day on April 11. SchoolPower is a nonprofit educational foundation that has raised funds for the Laguna Beach Unified School District's four public schools since 1981. Money raised goes toward academics, arts, athletics, technology and innovation, according to a press release. - Bryce Alderton

Laguna Beach police arrested a woman who allegedly stole more than $200 in groceries from Whole Foods Market on Broadway Street and then tried to change her appearance, Sgt. Louise Callus wrote in an email. Ismail Dhalia, 35, from Laguna Beach, was charged with commercial burglary and posted the $25,000 bail. A Whole Foods employee called police about 2 p.m. Friday about a woman who allegedly left the store without paying. A downtown foot patrol officer was in the area and responded to the call within minutes.

Chef Ryan Adams might have to put together the world's most eclectic fruit salad to make his three-course meal stand out this weekend. After all, he's sharing the table with a wide palette of hues. For the Sawdust Art Festival's Sustain Local Art and Cuisine fund-raiser Sunday afternoon, more than 20 local craftspeople volunteered to create dinnerware and table-setting pieces for Adams' three-course meal. It might have been easier and cheaper to buy the dishes at Ikea, but the event's organizers had something more ambitious in mind: a genuine, Laguna-made culinary experience, from the food and the music down to the bowls and glasses.

The Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau uncorked another tasty treat this week. For the third year, the bureau is hosting Laguna Beach a la Carte, a festival of food and wine that promotes Laguna's reputation as a foodie destination with world-class cuisine. Local restaurants offered prix-fixe menus, food and wine pairings, and special events that began Thursday and conclude Sunday. All events are listed at http://www.LagunaBeachAlaCarte.com . "It's exciting to showcase our culinary offerings with a four-day celebration, by bringing people together to enjoy inventive cuisine paired with superb wine offerings," said bureau President Karyn Philippsen , event committee co-chair, in a news release.

By day, Joanne Culverhouse and Jenny Salberg are principals. On Monday night, they also were servers in a restaurant. Culverhouse, principal at Laguna Beach High School, and Salberg, principal at Thurston Middle School, got a workout walking plates to hungry customers inside a packed Lumberyard Restaurant, where diners decided whose cuisine would reign supreme. Culverhouse and Salberg teamed up against Ron LaMotte and Chris Duddy, principals of Top of the World and El Morro elementary schools, in the fourth annual Chef Challenge, a fundraiser organized by SchoolPower for the four public Laguna Beach schools.

When Maya Ciemons, 13, visited a Laguna preschool with some of her peers to put on a holiday party for the tots, she found herself partnered with a small boy who wouldn't talk much and didn't seem to be having much fun. But, she eventually found the way to bring a smile to his lips: a game of tag. "A great moment for me was when he got out of his shell and was having fun," Maya said. "He loved tag. " Thurston Middle School's Peer Assistance Leadership club, or PAL, kicked off the holidays Dec. 5 with a day of giving back that included a holiday celebration at the La Playa Center, dropping off the last donations from a Hunger and Homeless Awareness Food Drive at the Laguna Food Pantry and a visit to Alternative Sleeping Location.

Santa's coming to town for Hospitality Night Dec. 7 — and this year he won't be competing with a football game. The city and the Chamber of Commerce sponsor Hospitality Night, a highlight of the year in Laguna. Downtown Merchants will stay open late to dispense cheer to browsers and buyers. Music and comestibles will be provided by community groups. "Everybody in town will be coming down for the party and the city will be a sparkling sea of lights," chamber President Michael Kinsman said.

Here is some sweet news. The Planning Commission last month approved a new bakery and take-out restaurant in the Food Village on Broadway Street. Gateau et Cuisine will specialize in European-style cakes, tarts, custom wedding cakes, cookies, drinks, breakfast items, salads, soups and artisan breads. "I am super excited," said owner and local Judy Haron, who has targeted Feb. 1 as the grand opening of what she calls a "bistro bakery. " Haron, who has an associate of arts degree in fashion design and a bachelor's of fine arts in textile design, most recently attended the Art Institute of California - Orange County in Santa Ana, where she received a diploma in baking and pastry arts.

A new pizza joint opened in town, and the chef says it's serving up something locals don't get enough of. NEApolitan Pizzeria and Birreria opened Nov. 3 at the former Cafe Vienna spot, 31542 S. Coast Hwy. Chef Frank DeLoach, previously sous chef of The Playground in downtown Santa Ana, said the eatery is offering true artisanal pizza - which he said doesn't abound in Laguna - cooked in a state-of-the-art Stefano Ferrara oven. DeLoach, who traveled Italy, says the restaurant offers rustic Southern Italian fare.

A young food critic has been stirring the pot with his online reviews. When Noah Rosen, 14, started YourTasteBuddy.com in December 2011, he didn't think it would arouse much interest. His first posts evaluated local eateries, such as Sushi Laguna, Ruby's Diner and 370 Common, his favorite. On April 12, he reviewed his school cafeteria. His criticism was unsparing. "The dreaded Thurston Middle School cafeteria is a lottery of food failures, flavorless mediocrities and ill-conceived 'balanced' nutrition," he wrote.