Cover Story
From Farm to table–to glass: New Times searches for the perfect handcrafted cocktail in downtown San Luis Obispo
Seven stunning cocktail recipes from SLO’s innovative professionals. GRENADA HOTEL AND BISTRO, 1126 Morro St. Matt: We’ve all seen the craft beer scene take off across the country. But here in our small and humble hamlet of San Luis Obispo, with our unique—dare I say the best in the county—nightlife, a group of innovative bartenders…
Diablo Canyon relicensing hits the four-year mark
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct an error and clarify a point. NRC-required seismic evaluations are not related to relicensing efforts. Also, though the CPUC denied PG&E’s request to use customer funds for relicensing, the utility may reapply for the funding if and when all seismic studies are completed. Four years…
Caren Ray throws her hat into the District 4 race
In a long-expected move, San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Caren Ray officially declared her intent to run for her 4th District seat on Nov. 22. Ray—who was appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 8—previously served for three years on the Arroyo Grande City Council and five years on that…
What Thanksgiving side dish are you most looking forward to, and why?
Caitlin Perry Student “Green bean casserole. My grandma makes really good green bean casserole and it’s a classic.” Ryan Gokey Student “Mashed potatoes because they’re my favorite.” Kiana Daniels Traveler “My mom makes the best mac & cheese. She adds sour cream, and bakes it so it’s nice and crispy.” Steve Aiena Website Programmer “Candied…
Pink Martini will class up your life with a Dec. 4 concert at the PAC!
Fun, classy, but thoroughly accessible—Pink Martini delivers the sort of show you might have seen in Vegas or Paris or London in the ’60s, the sort of show that would have seemed anachronistic even then as rock’n’roll was consuming all the pop culture oxygen. Hailing from the same sensibilities of, say, Esquivel’s space-age bachelor pad…
‘Met: Live In HD’ features ‘Tosca’ at the PAC on Dec. 1
The Met: Live in HD series continues Dec. 1 at Cal Poly’s Performing Art Center with Tosca, Giacomo Puccini’s timeless tragic melodrama. While Tosca is considered a perennial Puccini favorite at the Met, in 2009 Swiss director Luc Bondy caused a minor revolution by reinventing it completely, doing away with Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish sets that…
SLO Bacon Fest draws a huge crowd!
Even though my doctor told me to lay off the bacon, sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team, so here I am walking into the SLO Bacon Fest on Saturday, Nov. 23. It’s straight up noon, and there’s already a line winding through the Alex Madonna Expo Center parking lot. I can smell…
Science After Dark blends science, culture, art, food … and beer!
On a recent Wednesday night in San Luis Obispo, a crowd of around 60 people gathered at Steynberg Gallery for an educational talk called “Saving the Nine Muses.” Two famed art conservationists and one Cal Poly professor discussed the 10-year process of restoring an exquisite marble sarcophagus dating back to 230 A.D, named the Nine…
Tom Wudl’s Cuesta exhibit represents 40 years of art-making
At Tom Wudl’s current exhibit at the Cuesta College* Fine Art Gallery, one painting in particular dominates the space. An oil on canvas work titled The Birth of Jan Van Eyck and the Extent of His Influence on the Art of Painting, for a Period of 600 Years, the painting is not only enormous, but…
Clubs 11/28/13
Goin’ South … THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. CUVEE BISTRO AND CHAMPAGNE BAR: 550 1st St., Avila Beach, 595-2245. Live music Thurs. and Sat. 6-9pm. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Road in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the…
All’s well that Enz well
Though they no longer share a wall with Bubblegum Alley, Enzo’s East Coast Eatery, San Luis Obispo’s favorite New York style Italian restaurant, is here to stay, and in many aspects, better than ever. Since Nov. 1, the new-and-improved Enzo’s has been located on 1127 Garden St., next to SLO Brew in the location that…
Tablas Creek 2011 Esprit de Tablas Paso Robles and La Ferme Julien 2012 Ventoux
Tablas Creek 2011 Esprit de Tablas Paso Robles For those of you enjoying prime rib during your holiday dinners, this is the wine for you. A high scoring wine rated by many wine critics, it won’t last long in the marketplace but it’s well worth seeking out. Their flagship red, this Rhone blend is built…
Don’t toss the turkey: These recipes are easily made using Thanksgiving leftovers
For most American families, it’s traditional to watch Dad carve the turkey at the Thanksgiving table. But the kudos really go to our Moms for taking on the detailed tasks required to create that very special, nurturing meal. That thought motivated me to turn to professional women to request recipes that use up the leftovers…
App it out: ‘Zeppelin’ may change the way you plan your vacation
A new travel app known as Zeppelin, created by Paso Robles resident Chad McNeill, is currently in the stages of development and may just change the way you plan your next vacation. Zeppelin is what McNeill calls a “discovery to booking travel app” that allows users to build itineraries by dragging images of locations they’re…
Cougars & Mustangs: Say what?
So let me get this straight: about two weeks ago, a Cal Poly fraternity and sorority party was held with the theme “Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos,” in which the men dressed up in colonial-era costumes and women dressed (if the word is even applicable) in skimpy Native-American attire? When certain students were interviewed by The…
Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian attracts flack from anti-tax advocates for a Norquist pledge renege
It sounds innocuous. In July, Central Coast State Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian voted in support of a bill that will help the state meet a number of its clean air goals. AB 8, sponsored by Assembly member Henry Perea (D-Fresno), extends California’s clean transportation incentive programs for alternative fuels and vehicle technologies, promising to help the…
The confidence game: SLO County has little faith in the federal government’s plan to handle nuclear waste
When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission comes to town, four things can be certain. First, the federal agency—or at least its press corps—is going to get an earful, but still they’ll nod politely. Second, hours of public comment will be “accepted” for whatever report the NRC is pitching at the moment and end up in a…
Atascadero Lake gives up its muck
Atascadero’s nutrient-rich nuisance has been dug up and trucked off, giving city officials a break from the bizarre biological events that popped up in recent summer months. The city recently removed a buildup of silt and soils from the Atascadero Lake. The dredging is one thing crossed off the list of a slew of lake…
People’s Kitchen is without a home
Even though the group was driven from its temporary site, People’s Kitchen will continue to do what it does best: get warm food to those without. For 21 years, seven days a week, the Grover Beach-based volunteer group has coordinated the delivery of noontime meals to the food-challenged members of the South San Luis Obispo…
Let the lawsuits begin! Paso Robles Groundwater Basin urgency ordinance challenged
Two groups of landowners over the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin have filed legal challenges, marking a new step in the unfolding saga surrounding the basin. Wells and water levels have been in decline in many parts of the groundwater basin, stirring up much talk and action in 2013. In August, the San Luis Obispo County…
SLO appellate court issues a rare reversal in a DUI case
In an unusual public disagreement among the San Luis Obispo Superior Court’s judiciary ranks, Presiding Judge Barry LaBarbera bluntly reversed a trial court decision by Judge John Trice in a Nov. 19 appellate court ruling. Judge Trice’s initial ruling on April 15 unexpectedly granted defense attorney Darryl Genis’ motion to suppress breath test evidence in…
New trails are just one part of newly approved Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve Conservation Plan
It’s just shy of 800 acres, and it’s a popular recreational open space with steep trails for hikers and panoramic views of the city of San Luis Obispo. Thanks to years of work by the city’s natural resources staff and the Land Conservancy of SLO County, a conservation plan for the Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve…
Hosed
I’m throwing together a holiday party to distract myself from my loneliness and the fact that I spent the last of my money on salsa lessons from a homeless man who swore he was an extra in Strictly Ballroom. I was thinking of calling it Chanukah Riches and Kwanzaa Bitches—is that OK? It’s meant to…
Explore other options, Nipomo
Build, build, build and spend, spend, spend. This seems to be the motto in Nipomo, according to “Thirsty for more” (Nov. 14). Why is the NCSD building a pipeline when state water is down to a trickle? Never have there been any mandatory conservation measures in place since I’ve lived in Nipomo. Even my mother,…
Great article, Kathy!
The terrible gap between median household income and median home prices in SLO is a dirty little secret rarely discussed in the local media (“How foreclosures have changed us,” Nov. 14). — Richard M. Smith – Ephrata, Wash.
The current Morro Bay council isn’t to blame
A mailer that arrived in Morro Bay mailboxes complains about the Coastal Commission’s denial of a permit to put the new sewer plant in the same location, as though Mayor Irons was responsible for that. Nothing could be further from the truth. Previous council majorities ignored the Coastal Commission’s clear directives for years, continuing to…
What’s the recall effort’s ultimate plan?
For years the Coastal Commission staff had been saying don’t rebuild the sewage plant at the same location. Morro Bay’s old guard kept their blinders on and wasted several years and millions of dollars insisting they would win a fight with the Coastal Commission. Morro Bay residents, fed up with the old guard, soundly voted…
Be thankful, not critical
This is in response to “Don’t bless us in public” which was in the letters section on Nov. 21. Bill Denneen states, “Our country was founded on freedom from religion.” Actually, our country was founded on freedom of religion. The founders carried with them the Holy Bible. The first year was very difficult, and many…
Even kids know better
In grade school, our children are taught to read, study and discuss the subject matter before taking the test. Those who don’t usually fail. Congresswoman Pelosi and the Democrats follow the policy of passing bills before they read, study, and discuss the subject matter. This leads to the question: Are the Democrats and Pelosi smarter…
Fascism fears aren’t so far-fetched
The so-called “Tea Party” is more than just a run-of-the-mill ultra-right-wing movement. The kinds of wealthy right-wing interests that created it, mobilized it, and fanned its flames of hatred, paranoia, bizarre conspiracy theories, big lie smear tactics, and demagoguery are eerily similar to those who did the same in Europe back in the 1920s, ’30s,…
What if we took the turkey out of Thanksgiving?
It is that time of year again: the holiday season. Thanksgiving is the time when we should take stock of our lives and give gratitude for all that we have. What a novel concept—as opposed to other holidays where we take stock of what we might perceive we don’t have and demand more and more.…
And God created perverts
As the founder of Friends of Pirate’s Cove, I very much want this movement to be about preserving the last 1,998 feet of pristine coastal wilderness in an otherwise unbroken 9-mile-long wall of continuous development stretching from Oceano to Avila. But I read Shredder’s recent column (“Duned,” Nov. 14), and while I very much appreciate…
