MISCELLANY (Continued from page 19)
The impressive vessel, festooned with Jolly Roger flags, featured creative catering from the Bear and Star in Los Olivos, including bloody ribs, dead man’s fingers, and bat’s wings – a novel version of grilled quail. Landlubbers enjoying the boo-tiful bash included Bill and Trish Davis, Kostis Protopapas, Hayley Firestone Jessup, and Gretchen Lieff and Miles Hartfeld.
Grand Granada CAMA – the Community Arts Music Association – kicked off the first concert of its centennial series at the Granada in grand style when the 1,500 music lovers were treated to a bounteous champagne reception an hour before the performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which is also celebrating its centenary. The talented L.A. musicians have
been regular visitors annually to our Eden by the Beach. Chilean Paolo Bortolameolli, a former Dudamel Fellow, conducted the energized performance with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, making his sixth appearance in 20 years, playing magnificently in Camille Saint-Saens’s 1896 Egyptian concerto No. 5 in F major, with the show wrapping with Beethoven’s 1807 Symphony No. 5 in C minor, with its famous four note opening. The L.A. Phil will be back in our tony town in March, when resident conductor Gustavo Dudamel will commemorate 100 years since the orchestra’s first appearance in Santa Barbara on March 6, 1920.
Speer-Headed
No Shame in Her Game
Coral Casino manager Kevin Speer marks 25th anniversary
Mary and Ray Freeman with Patricia Yzurdiaga (photo by Monie Photography)
Nicole Black launches first book
Lynn Kirst, Jan Bowlus, Karen Stephens, and Mary Collier (photo by Monie Photography)
Keith and Raye Melville, Bob and Val Montgomery (photo by Monie Photography)
52 MONTECITO JOURNAL
It seems ironic that Santa Barbara author Nicole Black, who has just published her first book, Fat Shame, is the ex-wife of top pastry chef Renaud Gonthier, who has just opened his latest outpost on Coast Village Road. The pilates teacher, massage therapist, and certified rolfer, describes herself as a survivor of body image and eating disorders, amazingly losing more than 100 pounds while working at the popular French bakery. She is an advocate of holistic transformation, where a person’s wellbeing comes through the integration of mind, spirit, and body, creating change that starts on the inside and flourishes outward. The book, subtitled Ditch the Shame, Get Confident, and Claim the Life You Deserve, is part journal and part handbook, and sets out to give readers the confidence to break free from cycles of food addiction and negative body image toward whole beauty.
You’re always you and that don’t change, and you’re always changing. – Neil Galman
Kevin Speer, the affable manager of Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner’s Coral Casino, is celebrating his 25th anniversary in the role. But his career at the beachside club came about by chance. “Chris Hart, the former general manager of the resort, asked me to come over to the club from the hotel to correct some shortcomings,” explains Kevin. “Since I had a food and beverage background, I was given overnight to make the decision, and like clockwork he called me the next morning, and I said yes.” Hart promised to bring Kevin back to the Biltmore in another capacity if he would give a two-year commitment, and the rest, as they say, is history. “I have given at least 25 years because I love the membership and really wanted to be part of the historical rehabilitation that Ty Warner and his team executed to fruition. “Had I known 25 years ago I would still be here today, I would have started a journal to write the book of a lifetime!” Director’s Chair Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso, whose new 161-room, six-restaurant Rosewood Miramar Beach resort is scheduled to open in the New Year, has appointed veteran hotelier Sean Carney as managing director. Carney, who has more than two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, was formerly managing director of the five-star Lough Eske Castle in Donegal, Ireland, and held a similar position at the Capella Marigot Bay on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. His colorful career has also included working at Caneel Bay, one of my favorite resorts on the U.S. Virgin island of St. John, a Ritz Carlton, and 8 – 15 November 2018