Local Buzz covers new businesses, restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Local Buzz covers new restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Post other items directly to the Community Announcements section of the site.
Don't have the specifics, but recently Pick Up Stix locations in Newbury Park (Albertson's Plaza on Reino Road) and Simi Valley (1366 Madera Road) closed.
Not to worry...there are still other locations in Simi Valley, Westlake Village (The Promenade), Oxnard and Calabasas (The Commons).
The former location of Pick Up Stix in Newbury Park, adjacent to Subway.
For those of you that drive the 101 Freeway west through Camarillo, looking to the right next to Presto Pasta you will see the long-vacant Sizzler building with a new Brendan's Irish Pub and Restaurant sign on it. Brendan's is opening soon...actually based on its active Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brendansirish apparently it may happen before the New Year's holiday! For more information, visit www.brendans.com and leave your email address. The address of Brendan's is 1755 E. Daily Drive, Camarillo.
Simply Ceramics at the Janss Marketplace, we will miss you. I was just informed by CVG reader Patricia that Simply Ceramics recently closed. This was confirmed by the brief and to the point message on the Simply Ceramics website "Simply Ceramics has closed." And the phone line is no longer in service.
If you are looking for a paint your own pottery type of place, you'll find them in Camarillo, Simi Valley and Calabasas. CLICK HERE to learn more.
Seems like not long ago Costco wanted to put a warehouse store at 915 Estates Drive/12 Academy Drive in Newbury Park. Now, it's another retailer that wants to construct a big store on the Newbury Park land owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The T.O. Planning Commission will have a public hearing tonight, Monday, Dec. 13, to decide whether or not to allow Lowe's to build a 153,000 square foot home improvement store and garden center. They also want to put a 40,000 square foot commercial building with a restaurant and bank.
The public hearing will take place beginning at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in the Scherr Auditorium, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Cronies Sports Grill, 1620 Newbury Road, has also applied to be considered to sell alcoholic beverages. That issue is also on the planning commission agenda for tonight's meeting.
The community is invited to the unveiling of a solar-powered fountain designed and built by California Lutheran University students.
The university’s first water fountain powered solely by solar energy will be dedicated from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15, south of Memorial Parkway between the Ahmanson Science Center and E Building the Thousand Oaks campus.
Students in Robert Rumer’s Introduction to Engineering class designed and constructed the fountain, which features a handcrafted waterwheel that uses hydropower. Camarillo-based SolarWorld USA in Camarillo donated a top-of-the-line 245-watt module for the project.
The landscape fountain is the latest green project undertaken by the CLU community. Faculty, staff and students planted a community garden in November. In October, the university dedicated the Swenson Center for the Social and Behavioral Sciences, which was designed to meet the sustainability criteria in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. In 2009, CLU was named a Climate Action Leader for participating in the country’s most rigorous voluntary greenhouse gas reporting program. Other environmentally friendly projects include student campaigns to encourage classmates to reduce their carbon footprint, student research into sustainable solutions to environmental challenges, and the elimination of food trays and introduction of biodegradable packaging and organically grown food on campus.
For more information, contact Rumer at rrumer@callutheran.edu.
A LATE SPRING UPDATE: THANKS TO ANOTHER READER, I'VE BEEN INFORMED THAT THIS FARMERS' MARKET HAS BEEN CLOSED. :<
Thanks goes out to Diane at Diane, Pilates for providing the lead on a brand new Farmers' Market that opened today, Tuesday, December 7th, from 3 pm to 8 pm at the Whizin's Mall Shopping Center in Agoura.
And once again...for several dozen farmers' markets and other fresh produce providers througout Ventura County and surrounding areas CLICK THIS LINK.
Now what is it about the word Pilates. I read it and in my mind it pronounce it "PIE-LATES" but I know good and well that it is actually pronounced "PI-LAW-TEASE" but when I say it that way I can't help but think POTTIES. Is it just me or what? In any cases, Pilates, named after Germany-born Joseph Pilates, has become quite popular. Here are 19 other places to go for Pilates around Ventura County.
Well this is good news! A new seafood restaurant has opened in Camarillo. Located where Coco's used to reside at 259 W. Ventura Blvd in the Camarillo Town Center across the parking lot from Target, Lure Fish House appeared to have a decent flow of traffic today at 3 p.m. on a Sunday! Look below...all the good parking spots were taken!
Lure's website at www.lurefishhouse.com says "Lure Fish House was created with the goal of providing you with a Top Tier Seafood Experience featuring fresh and sustainable seafood from trusted sources. Our restaurant strives to provide locally caught seafood, organically grown local produce, and wines from local vineyards whenever possible. We also feature a full bar with specialty cocktails, and an oyster bar serving a variety of fresh items that can vary daily. Lure specializes in Mesquite broiled seafood while also providing uniquely prepared selections by our chef. We print our menus daily to reflect availability and guarantee freshness. Our primary goal is to provide you, our guest, a fun and exciting seafood experience. So just remember, "if you are looking for a tasty and healthy dish…eat more fish!"
Sounds good to me! Call them at 805.388.5556. They open for lunch at 11:30 a.m. Their menu looks pretty darn good.
The City of Agoura Hills announced it has selected and approved five members to serve on the new Cultural Arts Council (CAC). The selected members, all Agoura Hills residents, were recommended for the council at the November 30, 2010 Agoura Hills City Council meeting. They are: Edward Ball, a professional in the arts and the Creative Director for a local marketing consultant company, Red; Steven Bavin, a writer, director and talent manager for Agoura-based Shalee Productions; Cim Castellon, a 17-year Los Angeles County Museum of Art staff member coordinating commercial activities in support of exhibitions; Priscilla Kromnick, a fiber artist with a background in art gallery administration and an active member in the local schools’ art programs; and Craig Morton, a digital artist and photographer who owns MNM Art Studio in Agoura Hills and former officer for the Westlake Village Art Guild.
Agoura Hills Community Service Director Amy Brink who made the recommendations stated that the selected individuals demonstrated the leadership that the community needs to fulfill a vision for the arts. “We received many extremely qualified applicants who verbalized a real desire to be involved with this cultural arts movement,” said Brink. “We selected the top candidates who can help us create a cultural identity for the community and showcase the abundance of talent within our borders.”
The CAC recommendation and approval took place at the City of Agoura Hills Reorganization meeting. Mayor Koehler presided over the approval of the arts council before stepping down as mayor. In December 2009 the mayor identified the Cultural Arts Initiative as one of his goals, which was approved at the September 22, 2010 council meeting. At the November 30 meeting he stated, “When I brought this up at the reorganization meeting a year ago I thought it would take a couple of years to envision. Needless to say I am thrilled to approve the appointment of the new council.”
The CAC will be a working committee that advises the Agoura Hills City Council on issues relating to arts and culture. The formation of a council is one of the first steps outlined on the Cultural Arts Initiative to develop a comprehensive cultural arts program within the community. The Agoura Hills Department of Community Services has worked with creative consultant Creative Hub to formulate the blueprint for the Initiative, which also outlines the formation of a Cultural Artists Society to help raise funds for the new arts program and serve as a vehicle for obtaining future grants.
For more information on the Cultural Arts Initiative, contact Agoura Hills Community Service Director Amy Brink at (818) 597-7353 or by email ajbrink@ci.agoura-hills.ca.us.
Don't get me wrong. I don't HATE IHOP. I just kind of dread the fact that my kids LOVE going there for the funny face pancakes and that good ole IHOP atmosphere. IHOP is OK but we go there way more often than I'd like and my kids fight me over trying new places.
So last Sunday I bribed them and told them we're gonna try someplace new that they're really gonna like. I got them at "toy" and thus was able to take them to what's now their NEW favorite breakfast place, Side Street Cafe at 996 Lawrence Drive, Newbury Park.
Side Street Cafe is tucked away inside an industrial/business section of Newbury Park, about a mile away from the Home Depot/Target shopping center. There is absolutely nothing retaily looking about Side Street's location! They are open 7 days a week until 2 p.m. and you really have to look for the sign (see the pic) to find them as they really ARE on a side street.
This is a cozy cafe with a warm, buzzing feeling to it. It had been 10 years since the last time I ate there, but it felt exactly the same. A feeling that this place is known well by certain "in the know" locals.
One of my boys ordered the Mickey Mouse shaped pancake, decorated with whipped cream and chocolate chips. He devoured it along with his sausages and said it was much better than IHOP's pancakes! Coming from him that really means something!
My other son is an egg eater and he did just that with his scrambled eggs and toast. I consumed the home fries (roasted potatoes) that came with his meal and they were delicious. My oatmeal was excellent too, which frankly I wasn't anticipating.
In the numerous times I used to stop by Side Street, I was never disappointed. Nicely prepared breakfast and lunch fare. Egg dishes, sandwiches, burgers, etc. All delicious.
Service is extremely friendly and we were able to get in and out quickly...always a good thing when you have two rambunctious boys. We were soon off to our next stop, the Kids Adventure Garden in Thousand Oaks, which is open only on Sundays.
Visit Side Street Cafe's website at www.sidestreetcafenp.com or call them at 805.499.9323. They are open for breakfast and lunch only.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
