Dining, Arts & Entertainment

Online shopping has become universal.  Anything you can buy at a store can now be purchased through the Internet, which is why many small businesses have launched online retail locations.  Have you thought about it?

What makes Santa Clarita the place to be the first weekend in October?  Why, the third annual Loose Goose Wine Festival, of course.  Gather the flock for this year’s edition October 4 to 7.

First, let me tell you that the owners are so eager to serve and please each and every one of their customers. Family-owned and operated, Heesun Jung and her two sons, Matt Kim and Joe Kim run this delicious Korean food restaurant called Kimchi. The chef is not blood-related, but he may as well be family.

Picture this, you are out on a date with a girl or guy.  You’ve been playing out this very scene in your head.  Only this time, it is the real thing.  He or she is really in front of you.  You gently reach in for the glass to take a sip of wine and oops, you nudged it over and sprayed the content on his / her lap.  Now he / she is wet and the rest of the night is a disaster.  That you’re sure of.

Traveling through a small town in South Carolina, I saw an interesting tagline for a restaurant.  It read: Fish is brain food, bring a dumb friend and eat often.  At first, I thought the sign was just plain funny.  What a way to get people to eat fish.  Then, when I told friends about the restaurant, I started to think that there was more to it than humor.  I have read articles touting that eating fish does increase brain activity.  

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” – James Beard
The next time you are troubled about what you want for lunch, think international.  Need a change of pace in your dinner plans?  Travel no farther than your own backyard to experience the worldly delights of foods served in foreign lands.  That’s because the Santa Clarita Valley offers a plethora of cuisine to choose from.  For authentic Korean dishes, look no farther than Pho 2005.

The newly private TPC at Valencia unveiled a beautifully expanded Clubhouse offering members and guests more than 3,800 square feet of dining at the Oaks Grille with a glass enclosed atrium, a brand new Veranda as well as a 5,000 square foot locker room for the male members this past weekend.

Does anyone remember when Cinema Drive actually had a cinema?  Mann Theatre used to be the premier date-night destination for our entertainment-starved valley in the early days before cityhood.  Times sure have changed.

Cinema Drive is located in the heart of Santa Clarita, between two main thoroughfares, Valencia Boulevard and Bouquet Canyon Road and it boasts a unique blend of well-known and small businesses.

Dr. Laura Schlesinger raves about them and you will too if you take in the sounds of one of Santa Clarita’s favorite classic rock bands, Back Pages.  For the event kick-off, the band will perform in the Concerts in the Park series on July 7th. 

The National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be more than 200,000 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States this year and more than 27,000 deaths from the disease.

When Barbara Walsh bought tickets for her great nieces to see and hear the legendary Poncho Sanchez in an intimate late afternoon demonstration held exclusively for a handful of ticket holders, she figured it would be a real treat.  The Castaic woman didn’t have a clue, though, that she would end up winning a raffle prize, a conga drum by Remo, the company that makes Sanchezs’ conga drums.

The world seems just a bit smaller when you dine at Karma Restaurant, Bar and Lounge in Valencia.  That’s because the friendly service makes you feel at home while dining on international cuisine.  

“Singing is so good for your soul,” says Dave Norman, a member of the Santa Clarita Valley Barbershop Chorus for the past 30 years, “It’s better than aspirin,” he adds with a laugh.

Norman, who recently performed locally with his fellow choir members in their 34th annual concert, is the Barbershop Chorus program vice president and show chairperson. 

Kimchi represents Korea's best-known food.  Koreans serve kimchi at almost every meal, and few Koreans can last more than a few days before cravings get the better of them.  During the 1988 Summer Olympic Game–s, thousands of foreigners were introduced to it for the first time.  Despite a reputation for being spicy, most people usually develop a taste for it and many foreigners also find themselves missing it after returning to their home country.

The answer is simple.  A cruise offers something for the whole family at a very reasonable price.  Parents can enjoy rest, relaxation and lots of activities while kids get to hang with other kids.  

Freedom of the Seas is bound to provide a feeling of freedom.  It is the largest cruise ship in the world and the newest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet of luxury liners.  Last month marked it’s maiden voyage. 

The 14th annual Cowboy Festival was alive with nationally-renowned western entertainment, including the music of Bill Barwick, the Sons of the San Joaquin, cowboy poet Baxter Black and numerous other performers, who regardless of the unseasonably warm temperatures, kept thousands entertained during the two-day event at Melody Ranch motion picture studio.