San Diego Magazine

12/19/2025

Healthcare isn’t just about healthy bodies. Dr. Kelly O. Elmore is dedicated to helping women live fuller lives—spiritually, physically, financially, mentally, and emotionally—by finding the root causes of the barriers they face.

A board-certified OB-GYN, retired U.S. Navy captain, and global wellness strategist, Dr. Elmore empowers organizations, small groups, and individuals to put them on the path toward holistic health.

Dr. Elmore’s KOE Medical Consulting partners with hospitals, corporations, and government agencies to elevate organizational wellness, while her VivaLife SPF ME program helps women around the world live their healthiest, wealthiest lives.

If you joined us at San Diego Magazine's annual Celebrating Women Summit last month, you'll recognize Dr. Elmore—she took the stage as our inspiring keynote speaker.

Learn more about Dr. Elmore and start your wellness journey here:

Dr. Kelly O. Elmore MD’s programs help organizations and individuals research and address the root causes of the barriers to living life more fully.

12/19/2025

The people of Cowboy Star Restaurant & Butcher Shop are (finally) striking again. Sister concept She Rode West will open in Bankers Hill in 2026. Get the story here.

The owners of the beloved steakhouse & butcher shop are working on its new sister concept She Rode West opening in Bankers Hill next year.

12/18/2025

Scenes from earlier this week: pelicans took over the condemned OB Pier.

The pier has always been an excellent spot to fish. This is true whether you have opposable thumbs and a bucket of bait, or a three-gallon mouth and a dream.

And it appears that every pelican in town heard through the avian grapevine that the pier is up for grabs. The railings look like a trolley during Comic-Con. Standing room only. At least one webbed foot per square inch.

Frankly, these pelicans just won the super lotto. They’ve acquired a giant, human-free perch, directly above their food source. Oh, to eat and work and live in a single sunny spot. A true mixed-use development.

(The pier's been closed to people since late 2023 due to structural damage; in 2024, the city announced that it's beyond repair and a replacement is in the works.)

These wild shots were captured by photographer Jim Grant earlier this week. We've heard there are fewer there today. Whether pelicans end up making the pier a permanent home remains to be seen.

San Diegans, please weigh in: have you ever seen pelicans congregate like this?

12/15/2025

It began in 1950 as a downtown soup line—PB&J sandwiches, a compassionate ear, and a mission to serve the poor. That effort grew into the St. Vincent de Paul Center, which expanded rapidly in the 1980s under Father Joe Carroll, the Bronx-born priest who helped shape the organization’s modern vision.

Under his leadership, the center evolved into a first-of-its-kind “village” model, bringing housing, healthcare, and supportive services under one roof. The organization would later be renamed in his honor.

Today, Father Joe’s Villages is the city’s largest provider of homelessness-related services, serving upwards of 3,000 people each night through shelters and housing, along with addiction recovery, medical and dental care, behavioral health services, job training, childcare, and food assistance—nearly a million meals per year.

Now operating on a housing-first model, the nonprofit is expanding affordable housing, street health teams, detox and sober-living facilities, and recuperative care for people discharged from hospitals.

As Deacon Jim Vargas says, “what breaks the cycle of homelessness is a home.”

Read the full story by .sapeda at the link in bio.

12/14/2025

🚨DESSERT ALERT! WE REPEAT: DESSERT ALERT! 🚨
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San Diego, we’re on the hunt for the best desserts in the city. And we want to know what you’d put on your Mount Rushmore of locally made sweets. The brownies that made you believe in love again. The cookies that haunt your dreams. The baked Alaska that made you shed a single tear of joy. The Basque cheesecake that tastes like heaven if heaven were a custardy circle with a lightly caramelized top.

Tell us all about those desserts, including where to find ‘em. (And while we believe with our whole hearts that your great aunt might make the best berry cobbler known to man… we are solely looking for publicly available desserts from local makers.)

Now, we’re keeping our definition of dessert somewhat loose. We’re not the pastry police. Is a muffin a dessert? Sure. A donut? Eh… now we’re getting dicey. But we can definitively say this: no, almond moms, fruit is not a dessert. Perhaps if it’s the world’s finest peach.
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From here, editor and team will eat a heck of a lot of sweet treats, round up the best damn desserts in SD, and publish them all in an upcoming issue.
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We always start these searches with you guys.⁠
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Go ahead and drop your favorite spots in the comments. Your pick could make it in our upcoming issue.⁠

Pictured here: , one of the GOATs of San Diego sweets.

12/13/2025

Tonight: the Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak.

They say nothing good happens after midnight. And they are correct, especially when it comes to dark alleyways and most bars in PB. But tonight is the exception. The Geminids are putting on a SHOW.

The Geminids shower stems from Asteroid 3200 Phaethon — a fairly small (3 miles across) rocky metallic mass. (Quick refresher: asteroids are metallic, comets are mostly ice.)

If you want to watch, here’s how to do it right.

Step one: head to as remote of an area as possible. (Promise we’re not trying to lure you anywhere, though that does sound like the start of a true crime podcast. Just a necessity to avoid light pollution.) You could do Mount Laguna, Julian, Anza-Borrego, Palomar Mountain, or Joshua Tree… as long as you pack it in and out, are respectful of the locals, and don’t you dare shine a flashlight at any wildlife, you heathen.

Step two: dust off your trusty Boy Scout compass. (Or put your phone’s compass feature to work for once. Make it earn its keep.)

Step three: lay flat with your feet facing south.

And after ~30 minutes of your eyes adjusting, you should be able to spot the Geminids. (Today would be a lovely day to be an eyepatch-wearing pirate, but alas.)

The show should last til dawn. The darker it gets, the more you can see. Likely between 100 and 150 meteors per hour.

How considerate of the celestial powers that be for choosing a Saturday. And how kind of the moon to not outshine the shower, either. It’s at around 30 percent visibility. A modest queen.

Are you planning to stargaze? Or does the thought of lying down in a pitch-black, remote area sound, uh, less than enticing? (You can also try to view them from suburbia, to be clear! Just don’t come for us if it’s less than stellar.) Let us know below.

Photos from a previous shower by . Reminder: your eyes and a camera lens do not “see” the same way. So your naked eye probably won’t get this much detail. If it does, we envy your prodigious retinas.

12/12/2025

Look. This is serious, Pulitzer-worthy stuff. A few months back, we made some unbearable who’s-a-good-doggie sounds and set out to find the most soul-fluffing, adorable pets we possibly could. Why? To fill our December issue with six pages of serotonin.

We asked the public to submit photos of their little buddies and opened public voting for the first annual “Cutest Pets” competition. A biblical flood of cat glamour shots ensued.

To oomph up our selfish pursuit with a little positive social impact, we partnered with the San Diego Humane Society (). As part of this campaign, we were able to find four shelter animals a new home.

We organized a meetup between some of the winners and one of the city’s top pet photographers, Allison Shamrell (). And in our December issue, we tell their stories, from Remy (who overcame a broken back and is now all smiles) to La Vie En Rouge (a former dog show grand champion). Link in bio to read.

Note: Much as expected and beloved about cats, only one showed interest in the photo session. So, please enjoy the dogs (and cat). And, for a full list of winners, visit cutestpets.sdmag.com.

12/10/2025

Gilbert Frank and Salvatore Ercolano collect restaurants. Specifically, legendary restaurants across San Diego, like The Butcher Shop, West End Bar & Kitchen, The Godfather Restaurant, and Studio Diner. Their Iconic Eateries Group acquires beloved establishments whose owners are ready to retire, but don’t have a succession plan in place.⁠
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That’s exactly the case with Milton’s Delicatessen in Del Mar, which the group is slated to take over in January.
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Barry Robbins and David Levy opened Milton’s as a traditional Jewish delicatessen and bakery in 1995, serving classics like matzo ball soup, pastrami sandwiches, hot corned beef, bagels with lox, and what Frank calls the best challah bread in town.⁠
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Levy retired a few years back, and Robbins, who’s 70, started thinking about what was next. Something must have been in the air, because he didn’t call Frank. Frank called him, on a hunch.⁠
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Though Robbins is staying on as a silent minority owner, handing off the keys to the kingdom he and Levy built is bittersweet.⁠
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But don’t worry–Frank says he and Ercolano have no intention of doing anything but rejuvenating the menu.⁠
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“We want to take something that’s already working," he says, "but you can always strive to do better.”⁠
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Get the full story here.

https://sandiegomagazine.com/food-drink/miltons-deli-new-owners-in-del-mar/

12/08/2025

A delightfully kitschy San Diego tradition returns next weekend. The 55th annual San Diego Bay Parade of Lights is set for December 14 and 21. Boats of all sizes, from tiny sailboats to flashy yachts to puttering fishing boats, sport their finest holiday decor and make a slow, glittering tour along the curve of the shore.

Nearly 80 boats are in for this year’s processional, each decked out to fit the 2025 theme: An Out of This World Christmas. (It’s a slightly ambiguous theme, which makes for creative interpretations. Santas galore, of course. Buddy the elf. Rudolph. The usual suspects. But there could also be extraterrestrials with a tinselly twist. Maybe even an ode to Katy Perry in space. Your guess is as good as ours.)

This year, the parade will again proceed to the pier at Cesar Chavez Park before making the turn to Coronado, giving spectators another viewing area.

The Parade of Lights is one of the most-loved holiday events in town. Which means—to be frank—it’s a mob scene. So wherever you’re planning to watch, arrive early with blankets or chairs to find a space to sit. And plan to park and walk—driving down Shelter Island at 5:15 would be an exercise in patience for Mother Teresa herself.

The approximate arrival time of the parade at each location:
*Shelter Island (start of parade): 5:30 p.m.
*Harbor Island: 5:45 –  6:15 p.m.
*Seaport Village: 6:20 – 6:45 p.m.
*The Embarcadero: 6:50 – 7:15 p.m.
*The Pier at Cesar Chavez Park: 7:20 – 7:30 p.m.
*Ferry Landing on Coronado: 7:40 p.m.

More details at sdparadeoflights.org. Link in our bio.

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12/07/2025

A chance to shop local, in a cool location, with a hefty dose of holiday cheer? That’s the December trifecta in our books. Throw in a prime view of San Diego’s annual holiday boat parade—no weaseling through crowds required—and we’re in holiday heaven.

The Makers Arcade Holiday Fair returns to Broadway Pier next weekend, December 13 and 14. Expect 140+ local makers, live music, food trucks, seasonal cocktails and mocktails, photo booths, DIY craft stations, and interactive holiday fun for the kids. And dogs are welcome, too. A true family affair.

Event hours:
• Saturday, December 13: 10am–5pm
• Sunday, December 14: 11am–8pm (special Parade of Lights viewing!)

This year’s fair is also part of the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights; on Sunday, shoppers will get a front-row view from the pier’s waterfront seating—complete with hot cocoa.

Guests can choose from three ticket types:
• $5 General Admission (kids under 10 free)
• $10 Shopping Bag Ticket – includes a limited-edition Makers Arcade tote
• $30 Wreath Kit Ticket – includes the tote plus a take-home DIY winter wreath kit

The first 100 guests each day will snag free swag bags, and presale ticket holders are automatically entered to win a prize pack with two swag bags and drink tickets.

Link in bio for all the info, or head to makersarcade.com.

12/06/2025

If tells a story of fire and Italian bravado, Carlo is its soft, sensual counterpart. The cream to the cookie. Sophia Loren to Sylvester Stallone. And ’s story begins this weekend.

It’s not really a speakeasy. More a hidden cocktail bar within the restaurant—a newly constructed, intimate space that fits 32 guests. It’s reservation-only and designed to be a bit more chic than Cardellino’s brick and bulbs; walk through the curtain and it’s all reds, mauves, and purples.

The idea is that guests can pop in to Carlo for a drink before dinner at Cardellino, or after they dine at Communion or Fort Oak. It’s designed to be a local’s spot, plus an arena for beverage director Jess Stewart and team to flex their cocktail muscles.

The cocktail menu has two themes: The Fates (whimsical house creations) and The Legends (elevated takes on classics). Stewart says patrons *can* request a dealer’s choice, but she’s confident in the drinks she and lead bartender Marina Ferreira have concocted.

Executive chef Brad Wise says the time was ripe for adding a new layer to the Cardellino experience.

“If you’re not figuring out how to create a different experience for people to come back multiple times over and over,” he says, “the food and service these days is only going to do that so much.”

Get the full story by food reporter with the link in our bio, or just head to sdmag.com.