Daily Business Report-Feb. 5, 2016
Paul Basile of BASILE Studio designed the Born & Raised steakhouse, as shown in this rendering. (Courtesy of BASILE Studio)
‘Born & Raised’ Steakhouse Slated
To Open in Little Italy in Late Summer
The art of the perfectly prepared steak is the motivation behind CH Projects’ construcion of its fourth restaurant in Little Italy — the Born & Raised steakhouse scheduled to open in late summer. It will feature an in-house dry aging program.
The restaurant, which will occupy the former Nelson Photo Supplies at 1909 India St., is the latest production of CH Projects, a collective that boasts of operating 11 of San Diego’s “most progressive, hospitality-driven concepts.” Three of its operations are Fish & Oyster, Craft & Commerce and UnderBelly.
“Born & Raised will pay homage to America’s greatest dining institution, the classic steakhouse,” according to a release from the company. “The name ‘Born & Raised’ is derived from CH Projects’ deep-rooted commitment to San Diego, a city that is fully engrained in their core values as an organization.
Local designer Paul Basile of BASILE Studio will build out the two-story, 8,000-square-foot restaurant with a midcentury architectural influence. The custom layout will feature two oversized bars, and three dedicated dining spaces including the main dining room, a downstairs patio seating and a 1,500-square-foot rooftop terrace with an adjacent 2,000-square-foot open-air urban garden that will be utilized to grow many of the restaurant’s herbs and produce needs.
The company said Born & Raised will operate its own dry-aging program on-site — a process by which butchers age beef carcasses in a low-temperature, high-humidity room for weeks at a time.”While many industry professionals and restaurateurs associate dry-aging on-premises to be time-consuming and financially inefficient, for CH, the development of culinary creativity and ability to control the aging of prized cuts in-house is well worth the investment,” the company said.
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Cal State San Marcos President
Calls for ‘New American Dream’
Times of San Diego
Cal State San Marcos President Karen Haynes on Thursday called for a “New American Dream” in which everyone who wants a college education can obtain it.
“We must reset our compass toward this new reality — the “new American Dream” of a college education for all in our region who seek it,” she said, arguing that only with a college education can young Californians meet the employment challenges of the future.
Haynes spoke to a crowd of more than 600 political and community leaders at the university’s 12th annual Report to the Community. The speech took place in a large tent erected near the Sprinter station on the growing North County campus.
She said the American dream once required just a high school education and a steady job, but now is based on a college education and a willingness to innovate in the global economy.
“The jobs of today, and certainly of tomorrow, require skill sets and experiences beyond high school levels,” she said. “Yet projections show that at today’s enrollment rates, by the year 2030 California will suffer a 1.1 million degree gap.”
During the speech, she summarized a number of the university’s central themes, including innovation in education, support for veterans, experiential learning, a focus on the future, and especially diversity, citing statistics that over half of the institution’s 14,000 students are from an under-representative minority.
“For the past three years, over half of our graduates have been the first in their families to achieve a four-year college degree,” she noted.
Her speech was briefly challenged by the shouts of a dozen students outside the tent protesting changes at the university’s Office of Diversity. Haynes didn’t address the commotion, but said in her speech, “Our story is proactive — one told by our long standing commitment to help all students feel safe,valued and appreciated.”
Turning to how the university is preparing students for the future economy, she cited a new master’s degree in cybersecurity and programs in tourism management, palliative care, and what she called “engibeering” for the growing San Diego craft beer industry.
The 25-year-old institution is in the midst of a $50 millon fundraising campaign, and Haynes announced that the halfway point had been reached.
“No other university in the CSU system, and likely in the nation, has attempted such a campaign at such a youthful age,” she said.
La Jolla Festival of the Arts Moving
To Downtown Waterfront Park
The 30th annual La Jolla Festival of the Arts will move to Downtown San Diego’s Waterfront Park on June 11-12 and become the San Diego Festival of the Arts, organizers announced Thursday.
It will be the first arts festival to be held at the park, which features interactive fountains, gardens, harbor views, easy access to public transit and to nearby restaurants.
The festival is presented by the Torrey Pines Kiwanis.
“Moving the festival to Downtown gives us a uniquely accessible, centralized venue convenient to public transportation and set against the backdrop of the stunning Waterfront Park,” said Peter Ballantyne, Torrey Pines Kiwanis Foundation president.
The festival will showcase paintings, sculpture, photography, glass, jewelry, ceramics, wood, fiber and mixed media from world renowned artists. In addition to art displays, guests at the 2016 event will enjoy live music and entertainment, a craft beer garden and bites from San Diego’s top restaurants.
Festival tickets start at $12 with proceeds benefitting adaptive sports programs for San Diegans with disabilities. To date, the festival has raised nearly $2 million in support of more than 30 programs, through which more than 40,000 people with disabilities have participated. More than $90,000 was dispersed to 24 organizations from 2015 proceeds alone, benefiting over 12,000 individual San Diegans.
The festival hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The Waterfront Park is at 1600 Pacific Highway adjacent to the County Administration Center. Tickets are available at: sdartsfest.org/tickets.
Atkins Appoints Environmental
Leader to State Air Resources Board
Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins announced the appointment of longtime environmental justice leader Diane Takvorian to the state Air Resources Board.
Takvorian currently serves as the executive director and co-founder of the Environmental Health Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental and social justice for disadvantaged communities. She previously served as the associated director of the Community Congress of San Diego. Takvorian holds a master’s degree in social work and bachelor of science degree in psychology from San Diego State University.
AB 1288, authored by Atkins last year, requires two additional members representing disadvantaged communities to be appointed to the state Air Resources Board, ensuring that communities disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution are represented, and expanding the board to 14 members.
“I am pleased to have found such an outstanding candidate to serve on the Air Resources Board,” said Atkins (D-San Diego). “With 35 years of experience working in the environmental justice community, Diane has developed a proven track record of protecting public health in disadvantaged communities. I trust that Diane will provide strong leadership in ensuring that environmental justice communities are represented on the Air Resources Board.”
Chamber’s Jerry Sanders
Extends Contract to 2020
Jerry Sanders has extended his contract as president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce through 2020. Sanders’ current contract was set to expire at the end of 2017.
Some of the chamber’s goals for the year include initiating a comprehensive Regional Jobs Strategy, the preclearance/joint inspection facility at Otay Mesa, affordable housing for veterans, and supporting business-friendly policies and candidates.
During Sanders’ tenure, the chamber has supported initiatives against AB 504 and minimum wage increase.
Defense Secretary Reports on
Fiscal 2017 Defense Budget
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter spoke to sailors about the impact of the proposed fiscal year 2017 defense budget, during a visit to Naval Base San Diego on Thursday.
After touring Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance and guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton, and meeting with Navy senior leadership, Carter addressed a crowd of more than 150 sailors and local and national media about how the Department of Defense is investing in long-term naval power.
Carter said the budget will increase aircraft, ship, munitions, and technological capabilities over the next five years. This plan includes nine new Virginia-class submarines, 10 new Aegis destroyers, 40 new littoral combat ships, 13 more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and 16 more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets than originally planned, as well as additional funding for advances in cyber, space, and electronic warfare.
He also announced a new weapons capability.
“We’re modifying the SM-6 (standard missile) so that in addition to missile defense, it can also target enemy ships at sea,” Carter said. “It makes the SM-6 basically a twofer. You can shoot down airborne threats, and now you can attack and destroy a ship at long range with the very same missile.”
Carter spoke about current terror threats around the globe, as well as strategic naval challenges and how the Navy and Marine Corps will receive the needed power to continue their efforts.
“Our fleet will be larger,” said Carter. “It will be much more effective, potent, and lethal than it is today, because it will be equipped with weapons and the advanced capabilities that we’ll need to deter any aggressor and to make any aggressor who isn’t deterred very much regret the decision to take us on.”
