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The New Downtown Revitalizers Anthony Corso | Stratford
Most
efforts towards rebuilding
American cities fail
in one important dimension.
Those involved tend
to focus solely upon
a building or rebuilding
the physical City
and
its collection of
commercial
and residential structures.
The possibility of
exploring another
dimension of revitalization
recently
emerged in Del Mar
with the arrival of
three young couples.
Each of them has embarked
upon a new business
venture - offering
the opportunity of
enriching
the City with their
creativity, vision,
and originality. One
of them has opened
a distinctive café (Café Secret),
another a restaurant
(Zell’s),
the third couple opened
an international art
gallery (Eden Art Gallery)
on 15th Street. THE
EDEN ART GALLERY The gallery is jointly-owned by a young 20-year-old named Ariel Seidman who acknowledges a debt of gratitude to his grandfather who lives in Del Mar. He followed the renovation of Hotel Auberge; saw that it was providing a number of shops on 15th street and encouraged his grandson and wife to come and open a gallery. The Seidmans came; both were captivated and captured by Del Mar’s ambiance and the prospect of opening a unique gallery. Ariel describes his art as truly exceptional and distinctive with an emphasis upon works that are whimsical, vividly colored, modern, and very contemporary. Most important, he strives to offer art that anyone can enjoy. “One needn’t be a long-time student of art to identify with these works.” His art has proven to be readily understood-- especially by children.” Children have an immediate reaction; they understand that what they see is meant to be fun, amusing and humorous.”
ZELLS’S
RESTAURANT A short time ago, with the encouragement and participation of his friend, Jenn Powers, the couple decided to cancel the existing Café Del Mar lease and become restaurateurs. They describe Zell’s, which opened on August 19, as “upscale, yet casual, and family friendly, with reasonable prices - the kind of place where people come in once or twice a week, not just on special occasions.” They describe the menu: “We’re going to do five different flatbreads as a signature item with numerous variations, from roasted eggplant with pesto to spicy house-made sausage. The menu will feature such things as sustainable fish (sea bass), salads such as grilled calamari, a number of exceptional soups, and a hamburger that hopefully will be the best in San Diego.” In terms of their modus operandi they intend to listen to what the community needs and wants and adapt and change as they nurture and expand the business and service. They go on to note, “We are calling it Zell’s to pay homage to a guy who was a pillar of the Del Mar Community and is the reason we have this opportunity.
CAFÉ SECRET “We learned early on not to be too stubborn about fitting everything into our vision, but to acknowledge opportunities when they presented themselves, such as catering special celebrations, holding weekend tapas and wine events, serving breakfast to persons staying in the adjacent Inn or adopting small, but important, things, like offering organic Peruvian coffee when it proved a favorite among guests.” This
is our philosophy: “We
want to serve the Community;
we don’t
want to jump into developing
a larger and larger
restaurant. We want
to keep it small, building
good relationships among
our customers. We want
to know everyone by
name and feel that we
have done something
toward building a community.
We don’t
want to turn this into
a five-star environment.
We want people to feel
that this is home and
be comfortable.” |
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