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July 11, 2014
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small talk jean gillette
It’s a bug’s life out there I wish it were just a summer problem. However, in my gentle husband’s “lower 40” (front, back and side yards) bugs, both flying and crawling, happily make their home. He will neither squish them nor poison them, insisting if left to their own natural rhythms, they do good things and keep each other in check. Clearly, his idea of “in check” differs a tad from mine. Since no pesticides ever sully our growing green space, no day goes by without my having to pull a spider web off my face or an ant out of my hair. I really do support keeping pesticides out of our environment. But these days, when I see any beautiful backyard layout I might covet, maybe in a magazine or at the fair, I can immediately dissolve all desire for it by picturing it overrun with sticky spider webs or a line of ants marching resolutely through it. It’s the best buzzkill ever. There is no such thing as a last-minute party in my backyard (except maybe for the bugs). Yes, I know the spiders are eating the bad bugs, but I have massive spider condos adorning every piece of patio furniture, hanging plant, hot tub, TURN TO SMALL TALK ON B15
“You don’t always have to strive for innovation, but you always want to better yourself,” says Bertrand Hug, who oversees two award-winning restaurants in Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe and Mister A’s in San Diego. Photo by Bill Reilly
Mille Fleurs nearing 30 years in the Ranch By Christina Macone-Greene
RANCHO SANTA FE — When an award-winning restaurant maintains its prestige year after year, it offers a true testament regarding the person who is dedicated in overseeing its operation. At the Mille Fleurs helm, is the highly regarded restaurateur, Bertrand Hug. For those who know him, Hug’s name is synonymous with dining excellence. Born in Southwest France, Hug was an ambitious son of humble farmers. He pursued his higher education in economics at the University of Toulouse. While immersed in postgraduate studies, Hug eventually arrived in the U.S., and to support himself while in school, he worked in the restaurant industry. “I started working as a busboy, then a bartender, and then a waiter,” Hug said. And that’s where it all started. Eventually, his focus in banking shifted to fine dining. When his friend and client, Norman Eisenberg, mentioned the probability of opening a restaurant in La Jolla, Hug made a beeline for the West Coast.
In 1973, Hug became the managing partner of Le Cote d’Azur. Since then, he’s owned several restaurants. Still, it wasn’t until 1985 when he
I have a passion for wine. Frankly, I knew nothing about wine when I came to America.” Bertrand Hug Restaurateur
purchased the Mille Fleurs property in Rancho Santa Fe — a location he was eyeing for years. Mille Fleurs has received high praise from numerous media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal naming it as the “Top 100 Restaurants in America,” and voted as the “Top 25 Restaurants in America” in both Food and TURN TO MILLE FLEURS ON B15
Participants from last year’s Sukkah build on the Ranch in Encinitas. This year the Leichtag Foundation is hosting a Sukkah design competition to new ideas on the tradition’s-old structures. Courtesy photo
Foundation is looking for new ideas on old tradition Design theme is based around ‘Release, Renew and Re-imagine By Tony Cagala
ENCINITAS — The guidelines for building Sukkahs, a traditional Jewish structure, have existed for thousands and thousands of years. Last year, the Leichtag Foundation built three of the structures on its grounds on Saxony Road, which captured the attentions and interests of the community. The build served more as an expo than a competition, but this time around, the
Leichtag Foundation will be looking for new and creative designers to submit plans in a competition to find the best designs for this fall’s upcoming build of the tradition’s-old structures. A Sukkah is a temporary structure, explained Naomi Rapkin, director of strategic initiatives with the Leichtag Foundation. The two-and-a-half sided huts are traditionally used during the harvest times when people were out in the fields for weeks at a time, gathering the fruits of the season, she TURN TO SUKKAH ON B15