DOUBLE TROUBLE: Twins bring twice the talent to Mission Bay High School girls’ soccer team. Page 10
QUESTION & ANSWER: Incoming Pacific Beach Town Council president outlines top issues and goals. Page 3
Thursday, February 18, 2010
www.beachandbaypress.com
Rose Creek Cottage is now used for weddings, receptions, baptisms, birthdays and PAUL HANSEN | BEACH & BAY PRESS memorial services.
Fundraiser set for historic cottage BY SHANNON MULHALL | BEACH & BAY PRESS
Kevin Freeby on bass and Jamie Shadowlight on violin play jazz Feb. 13 at Turquoise Cafe Bar Europa, 873 Turquoise St. Freeby is part of the DFA Band (Dawson, Freeby and Arrango), while Shadowlight is sitting in for the night. The musicians are among many acts featured most nights PAUL HANSEN | BEACH & BAY PRESS at the North Pacific Beach establishment.
A taste of Europe
The picturesque cottage at 2525 Garnet Ave. was once the dining room of Braemar, the home of Frederick and Emma Scripps and the cultural hub of Pacific Beach in the early 20th century. Known today as the Rose Creek Cottage, the charming Tudor structure remains a gathering place for weddings, receptions, baptisms, reunions, birthdays and memorial services. To help ensure that the cottage is around for future generations to mark their milestones, the Pacific Beach Town Council (PBTC) is sponsoring a fundraiser on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. at Lotsa Pasta, 1762 Garnet Ave. “It’s the big annual fundraiser for the cottage,” PBTC director Nanci Dalzell said. Town Council officers and directors will be serving up five-cheese lasagna, Caesar salad and chocolate mousse to attendees. Tickets are $25, available by calling the PBTC offices, (858) 483-6666. “It’s a great atmosphere, great menu and a chance to socialize with other locals for a good local cause,” said PBTC Vice President Ruby Houck, who SEE ROSE CREEK, Page 4
The focus is on the atmosphere BY ANTHONY GENTILE | BEACH & BAY PRESS Sitting in an intimate setting while listening to live flamenco music and enjoying wine and tapas — it’s easy to get lost thinking of Europe while inside The Turquoise Cafe Bar Europa. Only it’s not in Spain, France or Italy — it’s in north Pacific Beach. “My idea was to re-create the feeling of the European café that I saw when I was in Europe, which is basically a whole different kind of feeling than a typical restaurant,” said owner Basilio Ceravolo. The Turquoise Cafe Bar Europa offers an oasis to those in need of a slower pace. The focus is as much on the atmosphere as it is on the tapas. “It’s a place where you go to hang out, enjoy company, listen to music, maybe have a glass of wine or a coffee, talk to friends and have a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” Ceravolo said. Tapas are commonplace in Spanish culture and can best be compared to appetizers in terms of portion size. But that is where the comparison stops. “They’re appetizers, but not exactly because appetizers usually are designed to be salty and something that makes you drink more,” Ceravolo said. “Tapas are delicious on their own, somewhere between an hors d’oeuvre and an appetizer. They are so flavorful that you don’t want to eat the whole piece — you want to take a bite and share it.” The menu at Turquoise Cafe Bar Europa has hot and cold tapas, soups and salads from a number of different western European countries. It also features entrees and meat and cheese platters for traditionalists. “Our tapas don’t just come from one country, but they come from a whole region,” Ceravolo said. “The region of the western Mediterranean has inherited the style and the history of ancient times. The thing you see in common is that they all have the same kind of food.”
The Pacific Beach/Taylor Library, 4275 Cass St., remains open until a new date for PAUL HANSEN | BEACH & BAY PRESS carpet installation is determined.
TURQUOISE CAFE BAR EUROPA WHERE: 873 Turquoise St. HOURS: Open at 5 p.m. every day. INFORMATION: www.theturquoise.com
Jozsef Nagy and Emilee Young steal a kiss during a romantic break at Turquoise Cafe Bar Europa. The couple was sipping one cosmopolitan and one raspberry martini while enjoying each other’s company. PAUL HANSEN | BEACH & BAY PRESS
For those looking for a deal, the sunset tapas menu is served every day from 5 to 7 p.m. The menu includes $3 tapas and $3 wine, beer and sangria. As for the atmosphere, Turquoise Cafe Bar Europa has live music every evening, ranging from flamenco to jazz to blues. The live music provides a bit of a throwback. “The theme of our restaurant is going back into another time and place where there wasn’t any recorded music, where everything was live,” Ceravolo said. “If you got music, you saw it live.” SEE EUROPA, Page 9
Temporary closure of library postponed The Pacific Beach/Taylor Library’s scheduled temporary closure for recarpeting has been postponed. The library remains open with regular hours, and a new date for the carpet to be installed has yet to be determined. The library was originally scheduled to close Feb. 14 and reopen April 5. The carpet was expected earlier, but once the order was placed, the supplier said the particular carpet ordered was unavailable and more had to be manufactured and shipped, said Christina Wainwright, Pacific Beach branch library manager. The new carpet is not expected to arrive until early March, so there was no point in moving the books out in mid-February, Wainwright said. A new date for the temporary closure will be set once it is determined when the carpet will arrive for certain. Since the date will have to be moved back, some other maintenance might be scheduled as well, Wainwright said. Notices will be posted on the building and on the library’s Web site, as well as in the newspaper, once a new date has been set. For more information, call the Pacific Beach/Taylor Library, (858) 5819934, or visit www.pblibraryfriends.org or www.sandiegolibrary.org. — John Gregory