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Modernist Mecca

Calling all mid-century movers, Lautner lovers, architecture aficionados and décor designers, we got the place for you. Located about 20 minutes from downtown Palm Springs in Desert Hot Springs is where you will find The Lautner Compound, a collection of 3 boutique properties masterfully restored and designed: The Lautner, The Park and the Ranch House. […]

Water Bill Dinners

If you haven’t heard, San Diego is busting onto the scene as a top foodie destination. With excellent restaurants, microbreweries, and a truly local farmers market, it’s no wonder why the food here is so good. But on a recent trip to San Diego there is one experience that stood out among the rest – […]

Mad & Vin

I bet you’ve heard of Santa Barbara, but odds are you haven’t heard of Solvang, an adorable town located a 45 minute drive away, through the stunning Santa Ynez Mountains. Located in Southern California’s Santa Ynez valley, the village of Solvang was settled some 150 odd years ago by the Danish, and the result is […]

Sommelier On Wheels

Anyone can pull up to Mondavi or Chateau St. Jean in California and taste some wine. Anyone can book an appointment at Jordan or Far Niente and join a small group for a tour and tasting hosted by an experienced professional. California wine country, however, has numbers of amazing little gems that are not open […]

King of Curiosities

The curation of randomness is about the only thing I like more than random discovery. So you can imagine how excited I was to serendipitously stumble on Busacca Gallery, a mecca for miscellanea. Just a few blocks from the top of Lombard Street (allegedly the world’s crookedest street) high on San Francisco’s Russian Hill, Busacca is pretty much […]

On My Plate: Sausalito

Why is it that there never seems to be enough guacamole on the table? With the possible exception of a ‘shared’ basket of french fries, no other dish seems to disappear so quickly. Where: Salsalito Taco Shop, Sausalito, California What: There were other plates of other very delicious things on this table. But my memory […]

Seen Francisco

When I go out for a wander in Hogtown (the nickname for Toronto, where I live) I rarely take a proper camera. Which is a shame, because carrying a camera often changes the way I see things. Going out with photography in mind somehow opens my eyes to the quotidian cool and quirky. I was […]

Moody Reds

Working for a travel company means you are occasionally in danger of becoming rather blasé about hotels. Sometimes they all seem to blur into each other; one empty mini-bar at the end of a stay looks much like another. However, on a recent trip to California I had the good fortune to stay in a […]