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This week’s Best of Laguna Beach radio show covered the gamut! So much to cover! The full audio replay is above ☝️ with a more detailed descriptive of these quick notes I’ve posted below.

Tickets are moving fassst!
Newport Beach Wooden Boat Festival - June 13-14


I mentioned this one first because tickets are moving really, really fast. It’s a very cool immersive for everyone in your family.Balboa Yacht Club annually hosts this event and it is always open to the public. This year, it’s a Hollywood theme – Stories of the Sea: Wooden Boats in Film & Fiction – with classic wooden yachts and boats arriving from all points of the country that have been owned by Hollywood celebrities or have starred in movies, books and more. This “fest” is mammoth!
Close to selling out 👇
Friday Night, June 13th’s - VIP Premier party with limited tickets available, $95/person. Red carpet walk and VIP previews of the visiting boats with champagne pouring, high-end food stations, 3 wineries pouring their best, live music, dancing, live auctions and more.Saturday, June 14th All Day Pass, $15/person. Kids under 12 are free.
Multiple sea and land events for kids and adults, alike. Check out plein air painters from Laguna Beach. Cruise on John Wayne’s boat. Hang out on Judy Garland’s famous boat. Check out the marine biology research lab on the famous Western Flyer from John Steinbeck’s famous novel (and movie). Plus . . . 30+ other Hollywood storied yachts and classic crafts, live bands, a big ol BBQ, movies and more. Free parking. Discounted lodging at Hyatt Regency. It’s all here:Grab Fri & Sat Tix Before They're Gone
Fri, May 2nd - Laguna Beach’s history in the movies

Rivian South Coast Theater May 2nd, Doors open at 6:30 pm
The Heritage Committee is celebrating Laguna’s cinematic history with an original 1925 film from the city’s founding, along with archival clips and photographs showcasing Laguna Beach’s early – and ongoing – role in film history. 
Fri, May 2nd - The great Francois Dean & Celebrity Musician Band

Ivan’z House at Mozambique. Solid advice: Buy tickets in advance at Mozambique website. This will be a sold-out show.

Sat, May 3rd - Laguna Beach Annual Gate & Garden Tour

Meet at downtown Water District building for VIP busses, 10 am - 4 pm.Buy Gate & Garden TixLaguna Beach Garden Club’s longtime major fundraiser for educational school gardens, local scholarships and community projects, this is an annual peek into magnificent private gardens and backyards that you can’t even believe exist in this town. 
Sun, May 4th - Tomato Plant Fest

At the South Laguna Community Garden, pick up fantastic, homegrown tomato starter plants between 10 a.m and noon. (If I were you, I’d arrive early.) $5 per plant or 5 for $20.
Big Restaurant Catch Up …

• The Drake’s Tasting Menu at the Chef’s Bar (this is a coming soon separate article)
• The Lumberyard’s always'-evolving menu of fresh tastes + tinned fish! I can’t stop ordering the Green Goddess Shrimp Bowl with grilled shrimp and farro or the yummy grilled mushroom yakitori.
• Wild Strawberry’s super-fresh sandwich and salad combo
• Recent fabulous tries from Evan’s Gourmet spring menus (OMG, Steak Frites to die for)
• GG’s Bistro’s as-always incomparable Sangria
• Coyote Grill’s new battered shrimp street tacos (served on happy hour, too!)
• And, again as always, 2 stellar experiences at Sapphire with lunch + evening pop-in drinks-and-apps

Updates on the Coming Soons in this town of ours :


Piatti (222 Ocean ave. next to Marine Room) - They’ve had to push back their opening to mid June. Bummer.

Board and Brew - (former Wild Taco on Ocean and Coast Highway) - Still working on opening day hopes with Mike DeSantis, the new owner.

Truly Pizza – They’ve submitted plans for review for the old “3” space (former former Madison Square) … so that’s definitely in the works. And their commissary kitchen/bakery in South Laguna’s former Ti Amo location is also trundling right along. Plans are still for mid- to late June for Solag.

Q Terrace - (former Red Dragon) – They’ve also submitted plans and tell me they’re opening in May . . . uhmmm, it may not be May, folks. They’re still in the plan review cycle with the City.
Evidence of new sushi place going into former Laguna Sushi - I’ll get scoop on that for you shortly.

And last but certainly not least . . . our infamous Seahorse Tavern

I popped in to talk with father and son of Seahorse - Garry Ledesma and Garry Jr. Garry, Sr. brought in two other investors to help with bringing the dream alive again - they call themselves “The Seahorse Crew.” 
In my radio show replay, above, I go into a great amount of detail about the delays they’ve been experiencing and what their hopes are for a faster opening process moving forward. As of now, they’ve just opened the Pearl Street General Store section with hopes to revive the Coffee Shop and THEN the Tavern. They’re also looking to turn what has previously served as a kitchen into a billiards room. And, eventually, they want to add a “speakeasy” type lounge as a sleek replacement to the back office.