Odds & Ends
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Topanga Messenger
VOL.32 NO.24
12/4/2008-12/17/2008
By Sage Knight
"I'm a wood person," Cherie Indictor says with a friendly smile, when asked to share her favorite thing about Topanga's new eco-friendly furniture store, a veritable wooden-art gallery, where 95 percent of the merchandise is wood. And beautiful.
PHOTO BY SAGE KNIGHT Cherie Indictor, store manager of Topanga's new eco-friendly furniture store, Green Home, provides sustainable wood products to canyon residents. Walking in the door you are surrounded by the natural beauty and artistic forms of furniture and sculpture made from sustainably grown and harvested, as well as reclaimed, wood. One piece, a Thai teak table is simply pre-owned, a very sustainable harvesting practice. Across the room hangs a montage of circles, made from slices of an old tree stump, and at the entrance stands an "old wood lamp," an organic six-foot illuminated structure built from found wood.
Most of the pieces come from Thailand and are tropical hardwoods or sustainably grown. Hanging tags sport exotic wood names: a Jackfruit free edge slab bench, a Thai Copper Pod wood base with a glass-top dining table, a richly grained Tamarind bench, a Makha sofa table and a sculpture whose tag simply reads "Tropical Vine."
There are also woods that can be found locally, like acacia and palm. An elegant free-standing eucalyptus screen by Indictor's desk is made from long thin trunks arranged in a lovely thatched pattern.
The pieces are exquisite to both the eye and the hand, and the benches are surprisingly comfortable for sitting.
The store is owned by
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, managed by Indictor and stocked by a third-party importer who is a founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council whose wife is from Thailand.
In the second room you can peruse Indian art, decor and furniture, including tables, hutches, nesting-turned wooden bowls, Buddhas and a couple of quirky marionettes along with a life-sized wooden chip donkey who stands gazing out the window, catching the attention of passersby.
There is something for budgets ranging from moderate to extravagant, with prices starting at $25 for palm candle holders and peaking at $3,500 for a gorgeous bronze Ganesh, which sold within days of the store's opening.
Green Home opened its doors on October 11 and will celebrate with an Opening Reception on Friday, December 5 from 6 to 8 p.m., where "wood people" and those willing to be converted are welcome. The store is located at 120 N. Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Suite 111, next to Coyote Club in Pine Tree Circle and is open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday, (310) 455-9300. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 29 December 2008 16:00 |
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Topanga Messenger
VOL.32 NO.24
12/4/2008-12/17/2008
By Sage Knight
It's Friday. You've got guests coming for dinner, and you've planned an exquisite Mediterranean feast guaranteed to leave a memorable impression. Everything's in order until you realize you're all out of olive oil. Or maybe, it's Thursday. You've had a long day and you want to make a simple pasta dish that the kids will eat, yet with ingredients that will inspire you to light candles for you and your hubbie. No worries. The solution is as simple as a quick run to Canyon Gourmet, where you will find everything you need for your evening's dining pleasure.
PHOTO BY SAGE KNIGHT
Torie Schuster brings gourmet foods to the delight of canyon foodies.
Canyon Gourmet is a boutique for the epicure. Every item is chosen by owner, Torie Schuster from her seven years of experience as a private chef. Walk into the store and visit the tasting table set with oils, salts, cheese and crackers, inspiring Topangans to "try and buy." You can get happily lost as you sample award winning olive oils, garlic avocado oil, and the pungent walnut oil. Did you know that the finest olive oils smell like freshly mown grass?
You will also find more varieties of salt than you've ever imagined. Gone are the bland old days of table salt in a blue wrapper. We now have the option of Salish, a dark, rich sea salt smoked in red alderwood, Alaea, a red clay sea salt from Hawaii, and many others, each with its own distinct flavor, texture and optimal uses. "People take salt for granted," says Schuster, "but some of these are so amazing, so pure. They make food taste much better."
Cheese selections include both local and imported varieties, including gourmet staple Saint Agur and a raw bleu cheese. A friend of Schuster's from culinary school provides fresh baked breads Friday through Sunday. Come early. They sell out.
Schuster, daughter of 40-year residents, Larry and Shelly Coulson, grew up in Topanga, and presently resides in Santa Monica with her husband. She defines 'gourmet' as "the quality of the ingredients and the passion that goes into making them." Schuster is passionate about every product she carries. You can find her behind the counter full time, where she happily gives free culinary advice, and can whip up a beautiful gift basket for anywhere from $20 - $200.
Schuster also carries treats for children of all ages, from cinnamon sugar butter for your morning dessert toast to an arsenal of gourmet milk and dark chocolates. Some of the items are recognizable and can be found at Whole Foods or gourmet stores in town, but many cannot. And why go further than Pine Tree Circle when you can stay local and get such expert service? "I'll get out a pencil and write down a recipe and put it in their bag when they go" says Schuster. "That's what I want to do."
The store opened on November 3 and already has a following. A grand opening is being planned once the wine stock increases.
Canyon Gourmet is located in Pine Tree Circle. Hours of operation are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Phone (310) 455-4200.
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Last Updated on Monday, 29 December 2008 16:04 |
As rural community grows, counterculture texture fades. (Spotlight on Topanga Canyon).
by Fine, Howard
Los Angeles Business Journal • July 29, 2002 •
THE Topanga business district is so small that it literally fits the cliche: "Don't blink, or you'll miss it." It's a few stores along the sweeping curves of Topanga Canyon Boulevard that winds from the San Fernando Valley to the ocean.
But the businesses show just how much Topanga has changed from its bohemian counterculture days to a suburban bedroom community where once cheap land values have skyrocketed.
"The canyon is becoming more gentrified," said Susan Nissman, field deputy to L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents most of the area. "A lot of wealthy people are moving in because they are the only ones who can afford the prices now."
At the core of this transformation is Pine Tree Circle center, located on the sharp curve where Old Topanga Road ends at Topanga Canyon Boulevard. It's at the northern end of Topanga's half-mile-long business strip, just across the street from the popular Inn of the Seventh Ray restaurant.
When it opened two years ago, the two-story Pine Tree Circle center with stores and office space became the canyon's first traditional retail center although with a supermarket and bank it is hardly a one-stop shopping center.
"Topanga had been a community without a real center, where people could gather as they go about their daily business," said Leslie Carlson, owner of Topanga Home Grown, a gift boutique and clothing store. Carlson and her developer husband Steve built the center.
A smaller two-story retail center had been across the street for decades, but its location was barely visible from the roadside. As soon as Pine Tree Circle opened, several tenants bolted for the larger center.
The 28-unit Pine Tree Circle center includes a cafe, rug store, gift shop, clothing store and art gallery. On the top floor are various professional tenants, including an accountant and a medical practice.
Although residents must drive eight miles to the Valley or even further to Pacific Palisades for groceries, the center has brought some added convenience.
"We tried to get a bank branch in here and talked with eight or nine banks, but they all said the demographics just wouldn't work," Carlson said. "We hope that will change soon."
For decades, the unincorporated county community was a remote rural outpost, with a mix of farmers, ranchers and those seeking escape from the urban pressures of a growing Los Angeles.
Then, in the 1960s and 1970s, hippies and other counterculture types moved in, lured by relatively cheap rents, the rustic feel and a thriving music scene.
But over the last 15 years, the counterculture population has left and housing prices have ballooned. Tighter environmental regulations and a lack of buildable space have put the clamps on new development and made adding onto existing dwellings more difficult.
In the last five years, prices for even the cheaper Topanga homes have gone from the $275,000 range to as much as $500,000, according to Paul Ferra, sales associate for Coldwell Banker, who covers the Topanga area.
One benefit of Pine Tree Circle is that it has allowed several residents with growing home-based businesses to set up office or retail space.
"Our business just got too big to be in our founder's house any more, so when this opened up, we came right in here," said Nancy Christmas, chief financial officer of fruit juice maker Juice Harvest, located at the center.
Pine Tree Circle was a long time in coming. It took nine years to wend its way through the approval process at both the county and the California Coastal Commission. (Even though the community of Topanga is five miles from the Pacific Ocean, it still falls within the purview of the commission.)
Given the difficulties in building new commercial or residential buildings, there's little prospect of significant new commercial space coming on the market anytime soon.
While the funkiness that defined the counterculture era of the 1960s and '70s is long gone, there's still a slight new-agey feel to the place.
"The cafe serves sandwiches on baguettes, which is something one associates more with Montana Avenue (in Santa Monica) and not Topanga," said Lee Bloom, owner of Topanga Mail and Message and publisher of a quarterly business newsletter.
COPYRIGHT 2002 CBJ, L.P. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2002, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 December 2008 16:00 |
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Topanga Messenger
VOL.24 NO. 7
April 6 - 19, 2000
Steel Rises at Pine Tree Circle
Text and photos by Tony Morris
Construction activity at the site of Topanga's largest remaining commercial site has increased dramatically with the erection of structural steel at the Pine Tree Circle.
Originally known as the "Barn Project" when first introduced to the community by Steve and Leslie Carlson in 1993, the two-story project with 28 units is expected to be completed in July.
Situated in the heart of Topanga, Pine Tree Circle is named after the former site of American Legion Post 579's Honor Roll to the men and women who served in World War II. With a total of 19,000 square feet, the project's commercial enterprises will include a sandwich/coffee shop, bakery, the Canyon Gallery, another fine arts gallery, a real estate office, a children's toy and bookstore, hair salon, interior decorating shop and the new Topanga Homegrown. The Topanga Historical Society will have an office, and discussions are currently underway to provide ATM services. Approximately 70% of the available units have been leased with one to five-year lease options.
As one of the last remaining commercial sites to be developed in Topanga, Pine Tree Circle's construction signals a new phase in the community's development. When the project was first presented by the Carlsons, a vocal minority sought to oppose the development and preserve the site. Concerns were voiced about the possibility that a Native American burial ground would be destroyed. Archeologists studied the site and found this was not the case. Opponents of the project called for the Carlsons to offer the property for sale, but no credible offers were received.
With over 100 parking spaces, Pine Tree Center will provide more than the required number of spaces for the project's professional offices and retail stores. What concerns community residents is the ongoing problem of traffic and congestion along Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Traffic on the Boulevard continues to increase as rush hour commuters seek alternate routes from the Valley to the Westside. Daily vehicular totals have been recorded as high as 22,000. During morning and evening commuter traffic, Topanga residents find it increasingly difficult to merge with traffic moving through the community.
With no turn lane for vehicles entering or exiting Pine Tree Circle from Topanga Canyon Boulevard at the blind curve by Bouboulina, traffic safety is a major concern. Although a basic study of the project's impact on traffic was completed as a part of the permit process, Caltrans has not provided additional striping for turn pockets on the Boulevard.
Currently Caltrans is producing a major study of traffic throughout the "scenic corridor" which extends from Santa Monica to the Ventura County line. Topanga's existing traffic problems merit the attention of Caltrans traffic engineers and an inspection of the most congested portions of the Boulevard is in discussion.Steve Carlson sees Pine Tree Circle as ultimately improving the business and retail spaces of the community. Pat Burke, owner of Pat's Topanga Grill, remarked that Topanga needs "an increase in positive mutualism" with community support of local business. Longtime Topanga Center owner Joe Gerson, when asked his views on the new project preferred to reserve judgment with "no comment."
Topangans are clearly watching the final stages of construction as the community once again anticipates the consequences of change. Nostalgia for the "old" Topanga remains, as the community looks forward to the future. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 15 December 2008 11:34 |
Annual Snow Day
Circle Saturday, December 20, 2008
When the snow started falling in Topanga during the winter of 1959—1960, Canyon residents were surprised. Make sure that the kids are not disappointed and mark your calendar right now: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 5:00pm—8:00pm in the center of town at Pine Tree Circle. Remember the mittens & winter clothing...the forecast calls for tens-of-tons of snow.
potluck
Pronunciation: \ˈpät-ˈlək, 1b also -ˌlək\
Function: noun
1 a: a gathering of people where each person brings a dish of food to be shared among the group — usually used attributively [ potluck supper]
Synonyms: potluck dinner, Jacob's join, Jacob's supper, faith supper, covered dish supper, pitch-in, carry-in, bring-a-plate.
In keeping with our time honored tradition, this is a Potluck Event. All the snow-play makes people hungry. Help them keep their smiles in place and their energy high by bringing a dish to share. Here are a couple helpful links if you need an idea:
While they are playing in all that snow, we can take a stroll through some of the stores! Many Pine Tree Circle businesses will be open late during the event. Bring your shopping list for old friends like Topanga Home Grown and explore new establishments like Canyon Gourmet and Green Home.
See you there! |
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 February 2009 20:22 |
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