Premiere Issue - Westside People

Prem
ier I
ssue
BRENTWOOD
FEBRUARY + MARCH 2013
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CONTENTS
FEBRUARY + MARCH 2013
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
12
westside people
So you think you
can salsa?
An inside look at the Westside’s salsa
scene and its unique LA style.
14
John cassese :
THE DANCE DOCTOR
How a world-class dancer branded
himself and built a multifaceted career.
16
Cosimo pizzulli:
Naturally Inspired
The art of winemaking comes alive in
the hills of Pacific Palisades.
22
Charlotte D’Elia:
FINE DESIGNING
How a multi-talented real estate
developer is reinventing the company
she co-founded with her late husband.
20
22
16
Gerry Blanck:
HEART OF A CHAMPION
Karate instructor Gerry Blanck
celebrated his 30th anniversary in
Pacific Palisades where he’s taught and
mentored countless adults and children.
On the Cover:
Cosimo and Christine Pizzulli stand in their
backyard vineyard. Photo by David Fairchild
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WESTSIDE PEOPLE
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W E S T S I D E PEOPLE
David Rosenfeld
Publisher, Editor
Gilbert Johnson
Art Director
Dear Reader,
I’m thrilled to introduce the premier issue of Westside
People magazine. For more than a decade I’ve been
a professional journalist telling the stories of people in
newspapers, magazines and web sites. I created Westside
People because every community needs a good storyteller,
especially LA’s Westside. It needs a publication that steps
back and celebrates people doing extraordinary things.
For the past six months, we’ve assembled a talented
team of contributors willing to help get this magazine off
the ground. To them, along with our initial advertisers, I owe
a debt of gratitude…and to you for picking this up right
now off your driveway or from your local coffee shop and
thumbing through these pages.
In this first issue just a week from Valentine’s Day
we bring you stories with a romantic touch on dancing,
winemaking and fine dining to spotlight profiles on a local
chocolate maker, jeweler and florist.
We would love to hear from you and welcome
your comments and feedback. Please visit us on-line at
WestsidePeopleMag.com, Like us on Facebook or just
give us a call. And if you know someone with an interesting
story to tell, we would love to hear about it. We hope you
enjoy the read.
Editorial
Chelsea Sektnan | w r i t e r
Alene Tchekmedyian | w r i t e r
Solange Castro | w r i t e r
Anna Mavromati | w r i t e r
Photography
David Fairchild
Chelsea Sektnan
Advertising
Pamela Perrine | 818-823-5873
Accounting
Linda Rosenfeld
To our readers:
Westside People magazine welcomes your feedback and reaction to our magazine. And we are always looking for new story
ideas. Please send your letters to [email protected]
David Rosenfeld
Publisher
You have a lot of places
to invest your advertising
dollar. Westside People has a
unique perspective of telling
the personal success stories
of people in the community. By
advertising in Westside People
you put your stamp of approval
on good living.
Master the
Art of Getting NoTIced.
Full-service advertising solutions
from design to delivery.
Dav i d R o s e n f e l d
310-528-3101
[email protected]
Westside People (ISSN 2169-7981) is published bimonthly by
DMR Publications, Inc. Westside People is distributed free in
Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades. No part of this periodical
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior
written consent. The entire contents of Westside People magazine are Copyright 2013 by DMR Publications, Inc.
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310-854-3544
2222 Federal Avenue Suite B. Los Angeles, CA 90064
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W E S T S I D E SPOTLIGHT
W E S T S I D E ARTS
A Personal touch
at yale jewelers
Spend an hour at Yale Jewelers at the corner of
Wilshire and Yale and it’s clear why they consider
themselves a community jeweler. Joe Boiadjian and
Marla Trudine remember nearly every one of their
customers. “When we make an engagement ring,
we make a friend that eventually leads to watching
the family grow and we love it,” Marla says. “We
know most of our customers by name. We really
try and focus on having good positive energy and
taking care of people.” The shop can repair or restore
old and new jewelry and watches. And it sells an
eclectic mix of pieces from Marla’s own designs to
unique pieces from all over the world. They also have
a variety of vintage and pre-owned men’s watches
and engagement rings. Joe, a graduate gemologist,
says a ring matches a personality, and he specializes
in feeling out what type of design fits each person.
“We’re intimate,” he says. “Every customer gets special
treatment and most of our business comes from
referrals. Customers come back. That’s what makes it
a neighborhood shop.”
Yale Jewelers 2839 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica 310.829.0605
Pictured: Joe Boiadjian, Marla Trudine
Florist to the Stars
Over the past 25 years David Mark has grown his
flower business, Designs by David, from a one-man
operation in his garage to a warehouse in Santa
Monica that employs seven people. It’s known as
one of the best florists in all of Los Angeles having
gained a reputation with the Hollywood crowd
including celebrities like Mark Burnett and Barbara
Streisand. Almost every morning you’ll find David
at 4:30 or 5 am in downtown Los Angeles where
flowers arrive from all over the world. “It’s a gut
instinct whether I’m buying correctly or not,” he says.
“You have a feeling and you follow your gut.” Though
they don’t do a lot of them, David says he’s honored
to do the arrangements for funerals. “We’re trying
to help people get through an extremely emotional
time and let them know the flowers are going to
be exquisite. So in that sense it’s very rewarding.”
DesignsByDavid.net 310.854.3544
Santa Monica Museum of
Art Group Show Opens
The Santa Monica Museum of Art celebrated the
opening of a group show in January that runs
through April including the work of the late-Miriam
Wosk, who died in 2010 at age 63 to cancer. Wosk
made a name for herself as a visual artist for Ms.
magazine, which was an insert to the New York
Times in the 1970s. She later moved to Santa Monica
where she became a mixed-media artist. Her work
on display at SMMOA is big and three-dimensional
with layers of beads and ornaments and interesting
patterns. Also showing is work by Peter Shire where
he’s adapted teapots into robotic-like creatures,
Samira Yamin who dissected the news from the
Middle East quite literally and Karen Kimell in a
collection involving school children.
SMMOA.org Bergamot Station
not your grandma’s fudge
Truffle fudge can change lives. Just ask John
Kelson and Kelly Green who came across a
recipe about eight years ago that launched a
company. Each had corporate careers – John
in luxury sales, Kelly in marketing – when they
decided to start John Kelly Chocolates. “We
wanted it to be something that was fun and we
could be passionate about,” Kelly says. “We love
food and we love chocolate, and we came across
this incredible recipe for truffle fudge.” It would
be this confection that developed into one of
the few handmade gouvrmet fudge products to
hit the chocolate world. From a tiny kitchen in
West Hollywood, the company puts out about
7,000 pieces of its gourmet truffle fudge and
other chocolate creations daily for distribution all
over the country. Locally, you can find John Kelly
Chocolates at the company’s own stores in West
Hollywood and Santa Monica as well as Nieman
Marcus, Bristol Farms and hotels like JW Marriott
and The Ritz Carlton. It was its dark truffle
fudge with French grey sea salt combination
in 2009 that earned John Kelly Chocolates
one of the highest honors in gourmet food,
a sofi Gold Award for outstanding chocolate.
JohnKellyChocolates.com 310.899.0900
Pictured: Peter Shire, Elsa Longhauser,
Samira Yamin, Adam Gunther, Jeffrey Uslip
Marion Davies Party Brings
Guest House to Life
She can still throw a great party. Santa Monica
Conservancy Docents celebrated the birthday of
famed Hollywood actress Marion Davies on Sunday
Jan 6 by bringing to life the beach cottage that’s
named in her honor. Docents dressed in period
clothes from the 1920s welcomed visitors to the
Marion Davies Guest House, which had originally
been part of the beach house mansion built for
Davies by William Randolph Hearst. The guest house
now sits adjacent to the The Annenberg Community
Beach House where visitors in January came dressed
as if attending one of Davies’ famed costume parties.
Annenberg Community Beach House
415 Pacific Coast Hwy 310.458.4904
Pictured: Above, Robin Venturelli welcomes guests
with a story about Marion Davies; Below left,
Marlene St. Peter playing Heda Hopper the gossip
columnist; Below right, Justin Cram and Chryss Terry
Pictured: John Kelson, Kelly Green
Pictured: David Mark
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W E S T S I D E EVENTS
W E S T S I D E DINING
Polo in the Palisades
The Palisades Chamber of Commerce hosted the
20th annual community polo tourney at Will Rogers
Historic Park last fall. Six teams competed for the
title. Spectators dressed for the event true to fashion,
enjoying mamosas, good food and live music as horses
galloped down the sidelines.
PalisadesChamer.com 310.459.7963
Pictured:
Bill Davis rests his horse;
Wendell and Rosetta Baker
HEALTHY CHOICES FROM
OCEAN AND VINE’S KEITH ROBERTS
Nearly a quarter of all dinner guests at Ocean and Vine in Santa Monica are choosing from the
restaurant’s newly-created Eat Well Menu, says Executive Chef Keith Roberts. “There’s definitely a
demand there I wasn’t aware of,” says the French-trained Roberts, who’s designed the culinary creations
at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel for the past three years. Roberts created a healthy menu
this season by adapting existing dishes. The Sonoma duck breast, for instance, comes with grilled
heirloom carrots rather than baked acorn squash with a Crème Brule filling. For starters, the lobster and
persimmon salad opens up the taste buds. “We wanted to show that you don’t have to diet to eat well,”
Roberts says. Ocean and Vine 1700 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica 310.576.3180
Los Lobos plays C5LA
Benefit at Tiato’s
Los Lobos rocked the annual C5LA Youth
Foundation benefit in October at Tiato’s in
Santa Monica. A silent auction with sports
memorabilia also helped raise funds.
Proceeds from the event went to support
the foundation’s youth development
programs that help young adults from atrisk backgrounds attend college. Over the
past 10 years, it’s helped more than 600
students earn a higher education.
C5LA.org 213.863.8444
Pictured:
Jana Savage and Adrienne Eagan;
Los Lobos guitarist Cesar Rosas.
Chef Lunetta’s Rustic
Salmon at JiRaffe
Women Empowered Hosts
Annual Fundraiser
The non-profit Women Empowered held its third annual
fundraising event at the Santa Monica Delfina in November.
The organization provides mentoring programs for women
from at-risk backgrounds, networking opportunities and
discussion groups as well as social events like hiking and book
clubs.
Women-Empowered.com
Pictured:
Garine Chaparyan, Ramela Kay
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Chef Raphael Lunetta, owner and head
chef of JiRaffe Restaurant, dreamed up
this rustic salmon dish as part of the
Santa Monica Convention and Visitors
Bureau’s Eat Well Week in January. The
farm-raised salmon from an acclaimed
source in Scotland comes with assorted
baby beets, tomato confit and shaved
baby fennel resting in a warm ragu of baby
turnips and toasted coriander citrus broth.
Lunetta calls it the perfect winter meal,
which lives up to the restaurant’s rustic
French-American style. The restaurant is
approaching its 17th year.
JiRaffe 502 Santa Monica Blvd.
310.917.6671
FINE DINING AT JOSIE’S
Josie Le Balch, head chef and owner of Josie Restaurant in Santa
Monica recently showed off a grilled Scottish salmon over roasted
vegetables with a horseradish cauliflower cream sauce – and
alongside it a Fuji persimmon salad. “We wanted to play around with
a hearty dish that we can put meat or fish on,” Le Balch says. “We’re
using a light amount of cream because the cauliflower is so rich
when it’s pureed.” Le Balch got her start in the kitchen at an early age
as the daughter of Gregoire Le Balch, who created the first culinary
school on the Westside. Guests to Josie’s can choose from an elegant
dining room with old-world charm or the more hip Next Door by
Josie, which is a wine bar and bistro. Both are served from the same
kitchen, different menu. For Valentine’s Day Josie Restaurant has a
prix-fixe meal and Next Door will serve a singles communal dinner.
Josie Restaurant 2424 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica 310.581.9888
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So, you think you can
l
a
S
sa?
An inside look at the Westside’s
salsa scene and its unique LA style
By Solange Castro
When I tell people that I love “salsa” they often
think I’m referring to the red tomato-based stuff that
goes with chips. If I explain that I dance salsa they
might exclaim, “Oh, like Jennifer Aniston in ‘Along
Came Polly’!” at which point it’s assumed that I grind
against Latino men while wearing a Vegas stripper
costume. But that was only the first year.
The word “salsa” actually translates to “sauce,”
as in a mixture, an appropriate description for a
type of music that evolved from a variety of genres
including Latin jazz, Mambo, Cuban Son, Guaracha,
and Merengue, to name just a few. The style of salsa
commonly danced in Los Angeles, aptly named “LA
Style Salsa,” has also evolved from a variety of dances
including Mambo, Tango, and Latin Ballroom.
While individual dance styles can range from the
overtly sexy, as in the famous Jennifer Aniston scene,
to the technical, the West LA salsa scene has become Author Solange Castro with Charlie Antillon at The Warehouse in Marina Del Rey. Photo By Kevin Hahn
a thriving place for anyone who enjoys Latin music. In
out dancing night after night? I just lost weight and toned my arms
addition to salsa music, most venues also play Bachata, Merengue, and legs without forcing myself to get on a hamster wheel torture
Cha Cha, Reggaeton, and Cumbia. (For the record, Jennifer Aniston device surrounded by people listening to their iPods. I grew more
only dances one salsa with her instructor. The other two songs are comfortable in my body, stopped thinking that my life was lacking
Cha Cha and Regaetton).
in stuff — a house, a giant HDTV — and felt increasingly grateful for
If Americans don’t all dance, they evidently
my body. When I had a job, I came home from
love dancers. In an era when a tiny device
work for a “salsa nap” before waking up at
commands more attention than the person
9:00 pm for an hour of “hit and run” dancing.
sitting across the table, the popularity of shows I just lost weight, and
I was addicted.
like “Dancing With The Stars” and “So You
I’m far from alone. Many West LA
toned my arms and legs
Think You Can Dance” speak to a yearning for
residents have found their lives and schedules
self-expression. Dancing cuts through social without forcing myself
rearranged by the introduction of salsa into
conditioning, communicates raw emotion and to get on a hamster
their lives. Lori Seamon, a sales rep and
connects.
wheel torture device
former jazz dancer in Santa Monica began
I took my first salsa class on a hot August
dancing after a friend from the gym invited
surrounded by people
night in 2007 at the now closed Casa Escobar
her out, and immediately she got hooked.
in Marina Del Rey and soon fell in love. I listening to their iPods.
“Salsa allowed me to tap into another
dedicated each Sunday night to salsa before
dimension of my physical being,” she says. “It
realizing that one night a week of dancing
opened up my heart and my soul.”
was not nearly enough. Two nights turned to
Seamon always knew that she loved dancing, but in salsa she
three, then four, and, for a year – a period of time that coincided found a way to connect with another person.
with the recession – I danced five nights a week.
“It’s almost like a bull and a bullfighter,” she explains. “You
It was a big experiment at first. What would happen if I went
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start dancing with someone and you’re both apprehensive in the
beginning, and then he takes a risky move and you have a few turns,
you both crack a smile and there’s this connection. And you don’t
even speak.”
Despite years of classic dance training, Seamon found the
dance difficult to learn at first because she said she was “trying
to intellectualize it.” After taking private and club dance lessons,
however, things fell into place.
“I remember the first time I felt salsa connect to my body,”
Seamon says. ”It was after a year of dancing. I got to this place
where I felt it integrate and it was a high.”
For a time, Seamon’s salsa schedule became the organizing
principle of her week. She frequented Monsoon Café on the
3rd Street Promenade each Wednesday and Saturday, as well as
Casa Escobar Sunday nights and sometimes Dakota Lounge on
Thursday nights.
“It ran my life for a while,” Seamon says. “I was dancing four
nights a week.”
Such a lifestyle is hardly sustainable in the long run, but not
usual for the newly initiated. While Seamon no longer dances four
nights a week, she covets the time dedicated to her salsa.
“It’s one of the things that makes me really, really happy,” she
says. “It’s a meditative thing…It gets you out of your head.”
Many “followers,” usually women, can learn to dance from
“social dancing,” going to clubs or other social venues. However,
“leads,” usually men, find it helpful to take a series of classes.
Solomon Russell, a math teacher from Culver City took classes for a
year before venturing into the clubs.
“I was so scared,” says Russell. “I remember taking a class and I
was terrible…girls looked at me like I was broke…. finally the class
ended and I walked to the front desk, threw my credit card down
and paid for ten private lessons. I’ve gotten that money back and
so much more.”
Today Russell teaches Beginning and Intermediate salsa at
Wokcano in Santa Monica on Tuesday nights. For Russell, like
others, salsa has given him a level of confidence he never got from
working or going to school.
“I’ve always been this short nerdy kid,” says Russell. “My
friend and I had this joke that I was going to be this encyclopedia
salesman…One day I told her, ‘Oh, yeah, by the way, I teach salsa
now. I’m actually good.’ And her jaw just dropped.”
Besides the experience of listening and dancing to music, salsa
offers people an opportunity to connect with an eclectic community
of dancers from all over the world. In addition to a significant Latino
population, salsa attracts international dancers, including a large
Japanese, Eastern European, and Israeli population. Unlike most
social environments in Los Angeles, salsa dancing circumvents
unspoken barriers around income, class and race.
“I think salsa brings people together in a way that’s positive. It
levels people out,” says Seamon. “You don’t know what anybody
does, where they live, what they do for a living. But you have this
esoteric physical connection.”
Russell believes that many people discover a freedom in removing
themselves from their daily lives.
“All those identifiers of, ‘I’m old or I’m young or I’m good
looking or bad looking. Or I’m this important between 8 and 5. Or
I’m not that between 8 and 5.’ When you come to this place, all
those fade away and you can be someone that you’ve always been,
that you never got a chance to express.”
Fernando Beteta, a chiropractor in Culver City, began dancing
salsa after his divorce. He wanted a way to meet women that didn’t
involve buying them drinks at a Hollywood club and soon fell in
love with the music. He now promotes Monday Night Salsa at
Zanzibar in Santa Monica, along with local DJ Charlie Antillon. For
a $5 admission price, anyone can take a class with world champion
salsa instructor Cristian Oviedo and stay for a night of either live
music or a DJ.
“I think salsa empowers a lot of people,” says Beteta.
While my dedication for salsa has waned over the years, my
gratitude for the place dancing has in my life only increased. In
a wavering economy, and a culture of Costco, smart phones, and
scary news sound bites, salsa has been a salvation, both mentally
and physically.
“Salsa is one of the best things I’ve done in my whole life,” says
Seamon.
I have to agree.WP Solange Castro is a writer, standup comic and salsa dancer living
in Los Angeles. She is currently working on a memoir about salsa
dancing. She writes a blog at www.searchforsanity.com. You can
listen to her talk more about salsa on Jackie Kashain’s Dork Forest
podcast. You can also follow her on Twitter @solangecb.
Monsoon: The salsa scene at Wokcano in Santa Monica. Photo by Westside People
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John Cassese:
The Dance Doctor
How a world-class dancer branded himself
The Dance Doctor and built a multifaceted career
By David Rosenfeld
“He’s not there
to sell lessons,
he’s there to help
people”
Photos by Howard Wise
John Cassese, The Dance Doctor, with long-time partner Janelle Wax.
W
hen John Cassese was growing up in New
York City, he earned the nickname in local
clubs as “king of the hop” for his moves on
the dance floor. “All my friends hated me,” he
says, laughing about it now.
Later as a young man he was influenced by John Travolta, another East Coast Italian. Today Cassese, known as The
Dance Doctor, still teaches the famous Travolta dance steps
from Saturday Night Fever at his studio on Fourth Avenue
and Santa Monica Boulevard.
“People never get tired of that,” he says.
On a dark winter’s night, the bright lights of the dance
studio with its shining neon lights call out to people walking
by to learn to dance. There’s Cassese where he is most nights
of the week, teaching. This hour is swing as he stands near a
couple spinning and turning around the floor.
Though he jokingly describes himself as a “basic song
and dance man,” Cassese is a multi-talented entertainer and
choreographer. What began 28 years ago with private dance
lessons in people’s homes has grown into one of the foremost dance studios in Los Angeles.
At the same time he’s developed a world-renowned brand
as The Dance Doctor. Cassese has taught some of Hollywood’s biggest stars like Adam Sandler and Elizabeth Hurley; he’s choreographed routines for television and film; he’s
appeared frequently on talk shows; and he’s also a singer, a
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musician and a standup comic.
“I am a legend in my own mind,” Cassese says with a
smile.
A Bronx, New York native, friends credit Cassese for having a pleasant way with people that both sets them at ease
and gets straight to the point. Growing up, Cassese says he
was first exposed to dance in elementary school in upstate
New York where his family moved at age 10. By age 18, he’d
turned pro, already earning an income teaching dance and
performing in small productions off Broadway.
“I just gravitated toward it,” he says. “I knew this was
what I wanted.”
After high school he earned a scholarship to the Turtle
Bay Music School in Manhattan and formed a rock band
that played around the city including a regular spot at Tavern On the Green and Trudy Hellers in Greenwich Village.
“I had a great vocal coach who wanted me to sing opera
but I just wanted to sing rock n’ roll,” Cassese says. “I grew
up in a household where my parents played Mario Lanza all
the time. I introduced rock n’ roll to a classical school and
they gave us the auditorium to practice with my band.”
In 1984, Cassese says he came to Los Angeles for the
weather and to visit his brother and his cousin Maria. He
rented a studio apartment, and like so many others, he
stayed. One day he called Maria, not sure how to make ends
meet.
“I called her up one day and said, ‘Maria what should I do when
I grow up?’ And she said, ‘Why don’t you do what you do best and
go around to people’s homes and teach them how to dance?’ I said,
‘You mean like door-to-door dance.’ And she said, ‘yea,’ so that’s
what I did.”
He put an ad in the back of Los Angeles Magazine 28 years ago
that said “door-to-door dance.” His first call came from a family in
the Palisades that Cassese says he’ll never forget. The whole family wanted to learn to dance including the nanny. After a while he
called Maria back.
“I told Maria things were going pretty well. I had a few clients
but I thought it didn’t sound so good that I didn’t have my own
studio. She said, ‘Call yourself the Dance Doctor who makes house
calls. I gotta go,’” he says.
Since those first few clients, Cassese says it’s been an interesting
journey. One day several years ago he received a call for private
dance lessons for Jackie Sandler and her husband Adam to prepare for their wedding. Cassese met with the couple at their home
and completed their first lesson. It wasn’t until driving home that
he saw a billboard with Adam Sandler in Anger Management that
he realized who he was just teaching.
“I’m in my own world sometimes,” Cassese says.
An interesting world it is. Cassese recently finished choreographing a dance sequence for the television show Mad Men and
he frequently performs with his long-time partner Janelle Wax at
private parties and banquets like the one recently held for Virgin
Galactic at the Santa Monica Airport in December.
A long-time friend, Barbara Stone, says not only is Cassese
multi-talented but he’s an extremely caring and charitable person.
The studio routinely gives dance instruction to underprivileged
children through local non-profits.
“He’s not there to sell lessons, he’s there to help people,” Stone
says.
One time Stone witnessed Cassese come across a homeless
teenager, who he put up in a hotel room for several days, gave
him money for food and contacted his family. That incredible act
of generosity made an impression on Stone she said she’ll never
forget.
Stone and her husband came to Cassese 17 years ago to prepare for their son’s wedding, and their relationship evolved into
a friendship.
“I told him, you stop singing and I stop dancing,” she says. “He
happens to have a wonderful voice as well as being a terrific dancer.”
When it comes to pursuing dance, everyone has a different reason. For Jennifer Olson, who was going through a transition in her
life, she wanted to be able to have fun and feel comfortable on the
dance floor.
“A friend of mine was taking lessons there,” Olson says. “I’m not
much of a dancer but I wanted to give it a try. John is great. He
knows instantly how to set you at ease, maybe because he’s been
doing it for so long. I just think he’s probably very intuitive when
it comes to people.”
Cassese’s own career has had its share of ups and downs. A legal settlement prevents him from talking about it, but court documents reveal he was the creator of a popular reality television program that settled a lawsuit with Cassese after they made the show
without him. For Cassese it was a devastating blow.
“How do you get over something like that? It’s a hole in your
heart that never heals,” he says. “The saying time heals all wounds,
it’s not true. It does not. It’s a loss that’s there.”
Stone, who supported Cassese throughout the case and even at-
tended some of the court hearings, said it really affected him.
“It wasn’t a matter of money, it was a matter of credits, his work
and his knowledge,” Stone says. “He’s coming out of it, but I think
it’s something that remains with you. It doesn’t go away that quickly. It was a major loss.”
Cassese continues to develop television and film ideas, while
spreading the gift of dance to hundreds of students every year.
“I’m just a basic song and dance man,” he says. WP
Somewhere in Tuscany
Naturally Inspired
Cosimo Pizzulli treats winemaking like any of the
other art forms he’s practiced throughout his life,
with attention to detail and a closeness to nature.
C
Cosimo Pizzulli displays the class of
wines made at Pizzulli Family Winery in
Camarillo. He uses grapes shown above
from his backyard vineyard in Pacific
Palisades as a test run for the larger
commercial operation.
16
We sts id e Peo p le
osimo Pizzulli began his artistic career
as a painter and a sculptor. He’s now a
leading interior designer in Santa Monica working for clients that include highend luxury retailers on Rodeo Drive.
This year Pizzulli also joined a prestigious group of
winemakers when the Pizzulli Family Winery, based in
Camarillo, won a Gold Medal /Best of Class Sangiovese
in the Los Angeles International Wine Competition.
“It’s an amazing award. I was completely blown
away,” Pizzulli says. “I was shocked because we are a
very small producer and we’re young.”
The winery began in 2006 and produces just 500
cases per year from fruit grown in Santa Barbara. It’s
known for its California versions of Italian varieties made completely without additives. The award in
many ways rounds out the career of this prolific artist,
which his friends call a Renaissance Man.
“Winemaking is really just an extension of who I am
as an artist,” Pizzulli says.
The two art forms of wine and design mixed especially well recently when Pizzulli recreated the interior
| Febr uar y + Mar ch 2013 | westsidepeoplemag.co m
By David Rosenfeld
Photos by David Fairchild
of Mason Giraud, a French restaurant in Pacific Palisades where they now serve Pizzulli Family Wines.
Winemaking has always been a hobby for Pizzulli
that he first witnessed as a child seeing his father and
grandfather make wine in their Brooklyn basement.
Much of his hands-on winemaking ability, though,
came over the past six years from experimenting in
his own small-scale winery right in the backyard of his
Pacific Palisades home. Pizzulli calls it a test plot, but
really it’s a simple reflection of what families have been
doing in Europe for hundreds of years, he says.
“Food and wine go back centuries,” he says. “It’s
nothing new. What I’m practicing is something my
grandfather and his grandfather practiced and goes
back 1,000 years which is to be able to produce something completely natural.”
A winery in Pacific Palisades, however, is somewhat unusual. He may have the only vineyard in the
neighborhood, but there are several others scattered
throughout the Malibu foothills that have formed a sort
of winemaking community.
Driving through the gated entrance to the home of Cosimo and
Christine Pizzulli feels like entering another time and place, maybe
mid 20th century Italy. Car wheels rumble over warped boards. An old
truck rests among the trees as the drive descends to an elegant ranch
style home set in a small canyon.
There’s an outdoor dining area on the back porch and a charming
swimming pool. Yet by far the crowning intrigue to the place is its
unique backyard winery. Short rows of vines, planted about 13 years
ago, sit on a steep hillside on the edge of the property that’s warmed by
the morning sun.
Around November the grapes are harvested and later crushed over
an outdoor patio that’s sloped just right to filter away excess runoff. Afterward the wine is stored in barrels for aging in an aboveground wine
cellar made from an old refrigerated shipping container. Every step in
the process Pizzulli takes with the finest attention to detail.
It takes a unique grape to thrive at such low elevation, about 200 feet
above sea level. For just the right variety Pizzulli looked toward an area
of Italy close to the sea where vineyards have grown well. He chose a
Sangiovese that grows in Tuscany clear down to the beach. He says it
typically requires a little more heat, but it works well for Pizzulli even
on a terrace with only partial sun.
The commercial vineyard in Santa Barbara also produces Sangiovese
along with several other Italian varieties such as Nebbiolo and Barbera
that grow well relatively close to the ocean. Mostly high-end Italian
restaurants carry Pizzulli wines. Bottles are also distributed through a
single wine shop in Santa Monica.
Pizzulli grew up in New York in an Italian family with close ties to
their homeland. As a general rule, children could have a sip of wine if
they were old enough to hold a glass, he says. Pizzulli’s little backyard
operation on less than a quarter of an acre makes about 50 gallons of
wine on a good year.
While he can’t sell any of the wine he makes at home based on a city
ordinance, Pizzulli has no problem sharing wine with friends and family in what have become famed gatherings over delicious meals. Friend
Chad Gutstein, says Christine’s cooking is phenomenal. She’s also the
Director of Nursing and Operations / Operating Room Services for
UCLA Health Systems.
“It’s unbelievable,” says Gutstein, founder and COO of Ovation, a
cable television network based in Santa Monica. “It’s one of my favorite
places in all of Los Angeles to go for dinner. It’s got this sense of being
in Tuscany. Yet you’re in the Palisades. It really is a transformational
sort of place.
Passages
Coming full circle
Pizzulli brings to winemaking the same mentality he has with design, which is to use completely natural and sustainable products as
much as possible. If he’s going to use plastic for a design feature, he
prefers a good plastic, not plastic disguised as wood, he says. Pizzulli’s
renovation of a 50,000 square-foot former AT&T telephone equipment
building recently won a LEED Gold designation from the US Green
Building Council.
“For interior design and architecture, wood is a very basic product,”
Pizzulli says. “The cord of a vine is basically wood. If you work with natural products in your design, you’re working with sustainable natural
products. The same is true in winemaking.”
Everything about Pizzulli’s winemaking process is handcrafted and
west si depeo pl emag.c o m | Febru ary + Marc h 2 01 3 |
Wes ts i de Peop le
17
Palisade canyons offer
winemaking possibilities
A growing number of backyard hobbyists are catching up
with their Malibu neighbors and growing vineyards in the
Palisades
David Martin owned two vineyards
in Northern California when he
bought the home off Amalfi Drive
in Pacific Palisades about six years
ago. It hadn’t even occurred to him at
the time that the steep canyon walls
funneling to the sea could offer an
ideal place to grow wine grapes.
“We just loved the house and
the view,” he says. “Nobody had
vineyards up here when we
moved in.”
Then one day about three
years ago, Martin looked out
his bathroom window and
saw his neighbor, Stephen
Spielberg, planting a vineyard
on the terraced hillside.
Spielberg’s property, similar
to Martin’s, has a backyard
that extends down the canyon.
“I thought, ‘If he’s doing it then we
could do it, and I know something
about wine,’” says Martin, who made
Cosimo and Christine Pizzulli enjoy a glass of their award
winning Sangiovese in a custom-built wine cellar made from
a recycled refrigerated shipping container. Top left: Pizzulli
tests the ripeness of grapes using a refractometer. Top right:
The Pizzulli living room.
completely organic. There are no pesticides used on the vines. No cultured yeast is added
to the wine during the fermentation, which is a typical step in many wineries. Even the
recycled refrigerator trailer used as an above-ground wine cellar and the reused wood
that holds the bottles have been hand-crafted with an attention to detail and conservation.
“He’s invited me to help him many times in the winemaking activities,” Gutstein says.
“These are really manual, labor of love, working with your hands activities that are a form
of painting and design. They are art. You are using your hands to create an expression of
yourself. And in this case that expression is wine. It’s a long process relative to other arts
but it’s very much an artistic process the way he does it.”
Another friend, Neal Berkowitz, a retail broker, has also helped Pizzulli to harvest
grapes or change barrels. He says he gained an appreciation for how tough it is to produce wine when he bought a house in Michigan years ago with its own vineyard.
“Not only did I ruin the wine but the next year the grapes were infested with bugs,”
Berkowitz says.
Many art forms take time, but perhaps none as long as the winemaking process where
the fruits of the labor won’t be fully realized for years to come. Every vintage is an expression of the year it was produced, whether it was a hot year or an especially cloudy
summer.
“Winemaking has a fundamental connection to nature,” Pizzulli says. WP
most of his money as a real estate
developer before buying the wineries.
The following year, Martin planted
1,000 vines of a Roussanne variety
from France that’s directly related
to one of the most prominent wines
from the region.
Martin and Speilberg are among
a growing number of homeowners
in Pacific Palisades catching up with
some of their Malibu
neighbors in the art of
backyard winemaking.
Andy Diaz, a wellknown
wine
and
lifestyle
personality
who lives in the area,
says there are about
50 wineries in Malibu
that get together for
community tastings.
He says the wine can be pretty good.
“There’s no question about it,” he
says. “There’s the proper amount
David Martin at his backyard vineyard. Photo by Westside People
of sun and the exposure to the right
weather. It’s at a different level
though because these people have a
lot of money and the ability to do this.
Otherwise for somebody just a dirt
farmer making wine in his backyard
this isn’t going to happen here.”
For Diaz, who has a nationally
syndicated radio show and publishes
a magazine called The Tasting Panel,
the Westside hills are rich with people
connected to the wine industry.
The well-known Pali label, with its
varietal names from Pacific Palisades
neighborhoods, commemorates this
in a way, he says.
Tom Jeffries, president of the
Beverly Hills Food and Wine Society,
says the locally produced wines
haven’t been much to write home
about.
“Trust me, they usually taste
like burro piss,” he says. “It’s not
easy at all. There are so many good
winemakers up in the Santa Rita hills
and Santa Barbara and up into Napa.
Wine cont. on page 24
Rising Moon Organics
Frozen Raviolis
8 oz. package, Choice of Variety
Spinach & Cheese
Butternut Squash
Garlic & Herb
2 for $7
(Reg. $4.79)
Serving the Community for 64 years
(310) 472-5215
www.vicentefoods.com
12027 San Vicente Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90049
18
West si d e Peo p l e
| February + March 201 3 | wes ts idepeoplemag .co m
Heart of a Champion
Gerry Blanck celebrates 30-years of teaching
martial arts in Pacific Palisades
By David Rosenfeld
G
Robert Berman has
had an art gallery
in Santa Monica
GERRY BLANCK:
for more than 30
years. He talks
Gerry Blanck poses at his Blanck Martial Arts
Center in Pacific Palisades where he’s taught for
30 years. Photo by David Rosenfeld
about his greatest
achievements.
By David Rosenfeld
20
We sts id e Peo p le
| Febr uar y + Mar ch 2013 | westsidepeoplemag.co m
erry Blanck had been a professional kick-boxer for
about four years when in 1982 he traded one ideal beach
community for another. That’s when Blanck moved from
Pensacola, Florida and opened his own martial arts studio in Pacific
Palisades.
He won a world kickboxing title a year later, landed a few film parts
in Hollywood and countless photos in magazines.
This year he celebrates his most lasting achievement with the 30th
anniversary of Gerry Blanck’s Martial Arts Center, still in Pacific
Palisades where he’s taught thousands of kids and issued hundreds
of black belts.
“It’s really rewarding to see so many students come back and hear
what they’re doing,” Blanck says. “It’s like being a part of their lives.”
In order to earn a black belt from Blanck’s studio, students must
dedicate three to four years of training in the Yoshukai style of karate
without any breaks. Other disciplines might require less time.
“To get a black belt through us is a big honor,” Blanck says. “We
make you work for it. It makes it more prestigious that way.”
As a testament to hard work, Blanck keeps his world feather-weight
title belt from 1983 behind glass in the studio’s retail store where he
sells everything from candy bars to punching bags. Among the piles
of memorabilia, Blanck took out an item he’s especially proud of
and held up a type of baseball card featuring karate champions with
Blanck’s picture and statistics on the back.
Carl Fredlin, who’s in his 60s, is one of Blanck’s oldest black belt
recipients. Fredlin says he hadn’t exercised very much in the past
and knew he had to do something. Karate helped him build muscle
tone and increase flexibility, he says. Now he also has samurai sword
training under his belt.
“I have been wanting to do this since I was a kid,” Fredlin says. “But
growing up, the money wasn’t there or I didn’t have the time. It was
just a dream to learn karate.”
For the younger children, Blanck says martial arts help to build
confidence and improve discipline. Parents who might be having
trouble with their kids often enroll them in Blanck’s classes where
the teacher becomes a mentor and figure of discipline.
“A lot of times parents want me to talk to their kids because they are
supposed to set an example outside of the dojo as well,” Blanck says.
“A lot of them come in here and get the discipline, but it’s a great form
of exercise as well. You really work you’re whole body.”
Big-hearted fighters
Baxter Humby, known as the one-armed bandit, because he was
born without a right hand, who’s taught alongside Blanck at his
studio for 16 years says Blanck has a gift of working with children.
“I’ve known him for 16 years and I’ve only heard him tell the same
story maybe twice. Everybody feels special because he remembers
record of 68-11-1 to prove it. His last fight
everybody and every situation,” Humby says.
Humby moved to Los Angeles from Canada is expected in April in Amsterdam. In the
to pursue a professionally kick-boxing career studio and among the kids, Humby is a huge
in much the same way Blanck did more than inspiration, Blanck says.
a decade earlier. When Humby came to the
Palisades, Blanck let him spar in the studio for Going pro
free. The two quickly became friends. Blanck
Blanck first started taking martial arts for
was immediately impressed with the young many of the same reasons students come to
man who fought with a physical
him now. As a young man he was
disability.
always one of the smaller kids
“It’s called the art of eight
and wanted to be able to defend
“It’s really rewarding himself.
limbs. I have seven of them,” says
Humby, who’s still a professional
“I got into it because I was
to see so many
kick-boxer at age 39.
small and wanted to build my
Inspired to fight by watching students come back confidence, not because I wanted
Sugar Ray Leonard, Humby now
to beat anybody up but just to
trains the world boxing champion and hear what they’re learn how to defend yourself,” he
and considers him a close friend.
says. “And you learn respect.”
He says his disability drives him doing,” Blanck says.
While still in Florida, Blanck
to overcome what other people
met a Japanese master in his 30s
“It’s like being a part at the time who visited his dojo.
call a handicap.
“The first time I fought in Las
He says the man had a presence
of their lives.”
Vegas they said I couldn’t fight.
about him that was inspiring.
Went up a month later and
“Since then I was hooked,” he
knocked him out in 56 seconds.
says.
They said Ah, you can fight. I said I know I can.
Blanck earned his black belt in 1977 and
I just had to prove it.”
soon after started competing in kick-boxing
Nothing has slowed him down with a career professionally. Pretty soon he won nine straight
matches and began travelling the world. During
a fight in Hong Kong, a photographer took a
shot of Blanck that ended up in a magazine.
Someone saw it and suggested he move to
California.
Blanck, who’d been a surfer all his life, loved
the Pensecola beaches and the laid-back Florida
lifestyle. But moving to Pacific Palisades, he
thought, wouldn’t be too different. So he lived
on the beach and started teaching martial arts
at a local health club. Soon he opened his own
studio.
During the height of his career, Blanck met a
lot of interesting people.
“A lot of cool things happened,” Blanck says
laughing.
Blanck’s professional career culminated with
a world title in 1983 in the super featherweight
130 pound kick-boxing division. From then on,
he’s dedicated his career to teaching others.
“Everybody goes, ‘Thirty years what are you
going to do?’ Man I was just trying to make it
this long.” WP
Gavrielle Wind and Kaegan Baron join instructor Gerry
Blanck in practicing kicks. Photo by David Rosenfeld
Charlotte
D’Elia
Redeveloping with the finest touch
T h e i n t e r i o r o f t h e n e w Ban ya r d r e s ta u r an t i n V e n i c e r e f l e c t s a m o d e r n f e e l . P h o t o c o u r t e sy barnyard
R e al e s tat e d e v e lo p e r
C ha r lo t t e D ’ Eli a h a s c r e at e d
se ve r al e xc i t i ng n e w p r o j e c t s i n
V e n i c e lat e ly i ncl u d i ng
B a r n ya r d r e s ta u r an t an d
D og t o wn S tat i o n lo f t s .
p hoto by D i a n a g ome z
How a multi-talented real estate developer is reinventing the company
she co-founded with her late husband
By Anna Mavromati
T
he farmhouses along the French Riviera reminded
Charlotte D’Elia of Italy’s Venice. They were
classic European-style homes she thought
represented a “long, slow” lifestyle, but they had
fallen past their prime. The floors of many of the homes were
uneven, some of the houses had no electricity and a few had
corners of the walls caving in.
Sweden-born D’Elia was an undergraduate at the University
of Monte Carlo at the time, taking the train from out of town
to study with classmates who lived in homes she likened
to “palaces.” She decided to renovate some of the area’s
farmhouses with the help of her classmate and boyfriend at the
time.
“His family had money and I was good with design,” she
said. “We’d go in and re-structure it and put in electricity and
put it on the market. And it looked exactly as it should look:
22
West si d e Peo p l e
| February + March 201 3 | wes ts idepeoplema g .co m
Preserved it in a way.”
From then on D’Elia said she was hooked on what would
become a career in real estate development. After 15 years of
working on the Westside and overcoming personal obstacles in
recent years, D’Elia is now recapturing the spirit of why she got
into the business.
These days she has her sights set on Venice Beach where the
development firm, RAD Ventures, she co-founded with her
late husband is headquartered and currently working on a new
restaurant, Barnyard, which opened in January.
The RAD Venture offices are located in one of D’Elia’s
crowning achievements: the luxury loft and work space on
Main Street called Dogtown Station. The building represents
much of what Venice has become lately with its sleek
design and live/work environment that caters to a modern
entrepreneur. It’s from here D’Elia’s business partner Andy
McMullen said it’s easy for the team to think realistically about development plans in the city.
Although much of her work has been – and continues to be – projects that involve building new
structures (often contemporary multi-unit housing), she now often finds herself immersed in work
that brings her back to her days in France. Projects where she can restore local gems in particular
appeal to her on the Westside, an area she’s considered home since she came to USC for graduate
school.
“There are a lot of properties here we want to bring up to their full potential,” D’Elia said.
D’Elia said sunny Los Angeles is “like heaven” to her after she grew up in the considerably colder
weather of Sweden. The more spread out urban areas mixed with trees and greenery are appealing to
the developer’s eye compared to other U.S. cities like New York.
She enjoys the best of both worlds living in Santa Monica Canyon where she cares for avocado and
orange trees in her yard. At the ultra-modern Dogtown Station, D’Elia’s office looks more like an
apartment, with a small kitchen, couches and an upstairs office. McMullen said the team will often
“sort out challenges” while playing fetch with D’Elia’s Rottweiler, Boo.
“Venice is truly a community network and it helps we’ve been entrenched in the culture for some
time,” McMullen said.
D’Elia, who’s been in the development industry locally for the past 15 years, said it can still be hard
at times when locals are wary of the changes that developers can bring to the city.
“It’s not so much a fight as much as it’s a dialogue,” D’Elia said. “Ultimately they hold the last card.”
And D’Elia is no stranger to challenges.
D’Elia’s husband, partner and co-founder of RAD Ventures, Robert “Bob” D’Elia, died of brain
cancer this past March. Robert, a business-savvy former Wall Street trader and investment adviser,
was equally in love with the Westside, and the two made great partners.
D’Elia said she and her husband were “workaholics, side by side like racehorses.” But their work
life came to a screeching halt when Robert was diagnosed with cancer. For the last year and a half of
his life the couple focused on spending time together.
“It’s the most important thing,” D’Elia said.
D’Elia has now taken over their development business, but her husband is still largely influential in
her endeavors. Her new restaurant, Barnyard, is a project he wanted work on. The restaurant will be
designed to have a farmhouse-look, but with what D’Elia describes as an “elevated rustic” style to it.
“I love what I do,” D’Elia said. “And this was something that he wanted to do too, so that was also
part of it. I got involved in that after he passed away and it was definitely him saying, ‘Hey we should
do that together. That would be fun.’ So it’s a tribute to him in a way.”
She said that her team has been a great support and help to her as well.
“The people who work with me are amazing,” she said. “They took on a lot.”
Sharon Robinson, chief operations officer, has worked with the D’Elia for nine years. Originally
hired as an office manager and bookkeeper, Robinson said she learned a lot from both Charlotte and
Robert.
CHARLOTTE D’ELIA cont. on page 24
a Barnyard appet iz er. Ph o t o by ca ra t o mpk ins
Jes s e Barber, h ead ch ef o f Barnyard
west si depeo pl emag.c o m | Febru ary + Marc h 2 01 3 |
Wes ts i de Peop le
23
W E S T S I D E CALENDAR
Looking for something new
in your life?
Dance lessons might just be the answer.
World-renowned dance instructor,
choreographer and performer, John
Cassesse The Dance Doctor prescribes
fancy footwork for celebrities, wedding
couples, professional dancers and anyone
who has ever dreamed of dancing.
Private and Group Lessons
7-days a week
310-459-2264
DANCEDOCTOR.COM
CHARLOTTE D’ELIA cont. from page 23
“It is definitely a team,” Robinson said of the five-person
firm. “We really respect the different skills that each person
has and each person really makes a difference. There are so
many different ways to do something that it’s really good to sit
down and say, ‘Well, what if we did this? What if we did that?’
and get different people’s input.”
D’Elia said her company’s understanding of the local culture
and their long-term commitment to the city has kept them in
business, even in the face of the real estate market crash.
“I think a lot of people got into the real estate business when
it boomed to make a quick buck and when it crashed they got
hurt really badly,” D’Elia said. “From a real estate standpoint
you have to look into the long term and commitment and you
really have to make relationships.”
McMullen said that D’Elia has been a great partner to
work with, largely due to her enthusiastic commitment to the
business.
“Because of her reputation and that people love dealing with
her, she can get many of our challenges solved within minutes
over a quick call or meeting,” McMullen said. “Her brain is
always churning some new strategy, new idea, new angle.
Her late husband Bob was like that too. They’d be bantering,
bartering and buzzing before their first cup of coffee.”
D’Elia also owns a jewelry line – a side project that she said
was encouraged by her husband. But these days D’Elia said her
main focus has shifted heavily back into real estate. She said
she is now often one of the few women – if not the only woman
– at the table at many business meetings.
“I had the advantage to have my husband on my side in
the beginning, but sure, you have to overcome assumptions
initially,” D’Elia said. “But if you’re competent, intelligent
people quickly get over any concerns. I’ve been lucky. I’ve
worked with really competent, highly professional people so
they look to you for your skills and your knowledge.”
She said in some ways she sees her gender as an advantage
in the industry.
“I’ve always played with boys,” she said. “I have an older
brother and I admire men. They work extremely hard. And
working side by side with my husband was what I needed to
understand how they do business and how they do business
different from us. It’s a life commitment in a way. And they
need to learn from women I think that you have to set time
aside for family and for downtime and to take a bath. We take
a lot more baths than men do.”
She laughed, but then added, “There should be more.
Women are phenomenal in multi-tasking roles. It’s what we
do.” WP
WINE cont. from page 19
They’ve learned so much about making wine. To try and beat
these professionals in your own backyard might be fun and
kind of unique, but I don’t think you’re going to blow anyone
away.”
Martin may or may not be able to taste the fruits of his labor
at his home in the Palisades, which he recently put on the
market. But no matter, he only moved next door so chances
are his new neighbor will likely share a bottle or two.
“What’s great about winemaking is there’s a lot of science
involved, but when the fruit comes there’s also a very artistic
side,” he says. “It’s really how you blend the two of those
together that you get the kind of wine that you’re looking for.”
WP
24
West si d e Peo p l e
| February + March 201 3 | wes ts idepeoplema g .co m
sATURDAY
9
February
sATURDAY
9
February
FRIDAY
15
February
SATURDAY
16
February
SATURDAY
Feb 9 Great Food For a Great Cause
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica will host an outdoor
evening soiree 6-9 pm Feb 9 featuring a 3-course dinner with
wine for a great cause. The event takes place at 1238 Lincoln
Blvd in Santa Monica. All proceeds fund local teen learning
projects and exploration abroad. Alex Change, a renowned
chef from LA and Japan now working at Animal Restaurant on
Fairfax, will guest chef the night’s event with a 3-course prix-fixe
menu. For more visit SMBGC.org
Feb 9 Sex and the City Zoo
Presented by the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, this is an
extraordinary Valentine’s Day event celebrating romance in the
animal kingdom. The adults-only affair features a lighthearted
and enlightening talk by actress Joleen Lutz, who is also known
for her work as an interpretive naturalist of zoology. For more
visit LAZoo.org/valentinesday Feb 15 4th Annual Experience
Strength and Hope Award Writers In Treatment with support
from New Directions for Women will honor Duran Duran’s
founding member and bass player John Taylor with its
Experience, Strength and Hope Award on Friday, February 15,
2013 at the Skirball Cultural Center. WritersinTreatment.org
Feb 16 Santa Monica READS
Santa Monica READS, a community reading program that invites
everyone in the community to read and discuss the same
novel in free book discussions and events held throughout the
city, takes place February 16 through March 23, 2013. Contact
Robert Graves at 310.458.8635
23
Feb 23 Annual Spirit Awards
Andy Samberg hosts the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards
on Santa Monica Beach As the premier awards ceremony for
the independent film community, the Spirit Awards is also the
annual fundraiser for Film Independent. For information on
purchasing a table or tickets call 310.432.1253 SpiritAwards.com
SUNDAY
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Feb 24 Children Uniting Nations
Children Uniting Nations is holding its Awards Viewing and
Presentation Dinner Feb 24 at a historic private Beverly Hills
Estate. Pioneered in Los Angeles, CUN’s central mentoring
program for at-risk youth has become a model program for the
rest of the country. For tickets call 323.944.0500
SUNDAY
March 17 LA Marathon
The LA Marathon, recently named Best Big City Race by Runner’s
World Magazine, takes place Sunday March 17. Already one of
the five largest marathons in the U.S., the 2013 race will be the
fourth running of the wildly popular Stadium to the Sea course,
from Dodger Stadium to the Pacific Ocean the race concludes
along San Vicente and Ocean Avenue, making it Santa Monica’s
biggest annual event drawing in more than 25,000 runners,
family members and spectators to watch. For more visit
LAMarathon.com
February
February
17
MARCH
A Top 100 Team Nationwide in 2010 and 2011
Serving the Westside with more than seven decades combined experience.
PAUL PEKAR
[email protected]
310-230-2422
310-779-3108
CAROL ELLIS
[email protected]
310-230-2465
310-422-7134
MELISSA ELLIS
[email protected]
310-230-2466
310-963-9826
west si depeo pl emag.c o m | Febru ary + Marc h 2 01 3 |
Wes ts i de Peop le
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John Kelly Chocolates, 2013
Truffle Fudge
Chocolate & Caramel with
Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt
a l l h a n d m a d e • a l l n at u r a l
1111 1/2 MoNtaNa aveNue
SaNta MoNiCa, Ca 90403
1508 N Sierra BoNita aveNue
LoS aNgeLeS, Ca 90046
26
West si d e Peo p l e
ava i L a B L e at f i N e r e ta i L e r S N at i o N w i d e
| February + March 201 3 | wes ts idepeoplemag.co m
johNkeLLyChoCoLateS.CoM
© 2013 John Kelly Foods, Inc.