The Dose

Sustain Us with Wines!

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By Greer Wylder
August 23, 2011

With organic foods on our minds now more than ever, where does that leave us with wine? Easy enough to find some local restaurants incorporating sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines on their lists such as True Food Kitchen at Fashion Island and Seasons 52 at South Coast Plaza, now we’ve found that Laguna Beach is home to the Organic Wine Cellar, an importer, distributor and online retailer. Founder Brian Cuddy has built this family-run organic wine company that started with domestic organic wines and now works with producers throughout Italy, including major wine-producing regions of Veneto, Piedmont, Tuscany, Apulia, Abruzzi,…

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All Shoes on Deck!

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By Greer Wylder
August 22, 2011

Fashion Island just opened the largest Sperry Top-Sider store on the West Coast. Sperry Top-Sider, the 75-year-old nautical lifestyle brand claims, the title as the inventor of the world’s first modern boat shoe, and its new store in Fashion Island offers a collection of Sperry men’s, women’s and children’s lifestyle and performance footwear, as well as unique curated apparel and accessories like tote bags and board shorts made from recycled sailcloth. The store features authentic nautical design and a self-select stockroom, called “the boathouse,” meant to mimic the feel of a working boathouse. Sperry Top-Sider is between Nordstrom Court and…

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Costa Mesa Restaurant Week!

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By Greer Wylder
August 19, 2011

In full disclosure, we’re partial to Costa Mesa. It’s home. And so we’re extra excited to announce Costa Mesa’s Restaurant Week. It’s time to try the city’s stellar new and established restaurants and take advantage of three or more course prix fixe menus at value prices. Twenty-eight premium restaurants have joined the inaugural Costa Mesa Restaurant Week continuing through Friday, Aug. 26. It’s difficult to choose where we want to eat first. South Coast Plaza’s fave restaurants are on the list including AnQi, Charlie Palmer, Hamamori, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Nello Cucina, and Quattro Café; plus there are other…

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OC Weekend: On a Mission for Art!

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By Greer Wylder
August 18, 2011

The Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach and world-renowned ocean photographer Aaron Chang (who has a pop-up gallery in the Shorebreak lobby) have teamed up to create an experience for surf and art lovers. Booking "On a Mission for Art" package includes accommodations, a private town car ride along the coast to Solano Beach for a tour of Aaron Chang’s Art Gallery, and a large Aaron Chang original (rates from $2,085). There’s also a Hidden Gem package, where overnight guests receive one small piece from Aaron Chang’s Gallery (rates from $399). Both packages include a daily newspaper, Even Wine Hour and…

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Coffee Meets Beer!

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By Greer Wylder
August 17, 2011

Beer and coffee now go together like peanut butter and jelly thanks to award-winning brewmaster Victor Novak at TAPS’ Fish House & Brewery’s and Jeff Duggan, founder of Costa Mesa based-Portola Coffee Lab. The two beverage experts just collaborated on a new coffee beer, TAPS’ Neo-Colonial Stout: an English-style Oatmeal Stout made with Portola Coffee Labs’ Tanzania Peaberry coffee. It’s medium bodied, with hints of cocoa and citrus, and has a smooth finish. Fourteen kegs of the jet-black brew will be available through Sept. 1 at both TAPS in Brea and Corona. TAPS suggests pairing the Neo-Colonial Stout with its Chocolate Decadence flourless chocolate…

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