Blog
Music For A Cure!
07.01.11
Check out Greer's article about Music for a Cure's founders Julie and Murphy Karges in this month's issue of Riviera Orange County Modern Luxury magazine!
We absolutely love this photo of the Karges taken by amazing photographer John Russo!
Julie and Murphy started the foundation after a young Sugar Ray fan - Murphy is the band's bassist - lost his battle to cancer nine years ago. The Costa Mesa couple has worked tireless to bring music therapy to area hospitals and hopes to expand Music for a Cure's reach later this year.
In two weeks, young OC musicians have the chance to battle it out Sunday, July 17 in South Coast Plaza's Garden Terrace from 2 to 4 p.m. The winning band will receive a music video and a professionally recorded song - and even more children will receive the healing power of music.
Dining
Katsuya by Starck Opens Soon in Laguna!
06.30.11
By Joanne Tucker
Get your chopsticks ready for a Japanese-inspired feast as Katsuya by Starck opened its doors last night for its premiere party. Located along PCH in the former hush space, Katsuya is named after Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi. This sleek, sophisticated, yet warm and comfortable restaurant was created by a world-renowned designer Philippe Starck. The restaurant opens to the public on July 8.
Starck’s all-wood bento-box inspired design was simplistic, but the backlit images of Geishas gave a striking backdrop to his Japanese décor. The dramatic use of black curtains around the robata bar highlighted what Starck considers to be a “temple” to the art of Japanese cuisine.
At the grand opening, we sampled Chef Uechi’s famous crispy rice with spicy tuna, a yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno and an albacore sashimi with crispy onion. A full sushi bar included delightful sushi and sashimi options. We loved the rock shrimp tempura roll with a dynamite sauce. The sunset roll of eel, cucumber and avocado with a sweet sauce was a winner too. The traditional robata dishes, which were prepared on a Japanese grill, come in either chicken and beef in yakitori sauce, along with rice and a finely-chopped vegetable salad.
To complement our sushi and robata dishes, we were served Katsuya’s refreshing specialty cocktails such as the Vitamin A, which was made with tequila and fresh agave juice.
Katsuya by Stark, 858 S. Pacific Coast, Hwy., Laguna Beach.
Joanne Tucker is a dining and travel writer based in Costa Mesa, California.
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