As part of its fifth anniversary celebration late last year, Shelter Island’s The Wine Pub saluted four community-nominated residents for growing and uniting the Peninsula neighborhood.
Honorees included:
James Earnest: A video production teacher and Ocean Beach lifeguard, he’s found a way to blend these passions by connecting his video students with internships at the San Diego Regional Lifeguard Academy at Miramar College and by creating training videos for the San Diego Fire/Rescue Department.
Martha Phillips: She spearheads the Point Loma Summer Concert Series, which has produced concerts for thousands of residents, visitors and families. During the rest of the year, she develops experiential learning programs for teens, families and San Diego immigrants at Junior Achievement of San Diego.
Matt Kalla: He sits on the board of the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association to help business owners learn, grow and unite. He’s been a State Farm team member for 24 years and loves helping people manage the risks of everyday life and realize their dreams.
Kristin Garrett: She has been with the Community Health Improvement Partnership for 16 years and is currently the CEO. She feels everyone has a role in the health of the neighborhood and is passionate about bringing people together in her hometown.
Wine Pub owner Sandy Hanshaw deserves credit for having survived as a small-business startup as well as surviving cancer.
Hanshaw, wife of San Diego Bicycle Coalition executive director Andy Hanshaw, talked about a “defining moment” in her life when she lost her job in hotel business sales during the Great Recession and had to seize the opportunity to pursue her dream career goal.
“I had an interest — and passion — for wine and at some point wanted to do something with that,” Hanshaw said. “There was a niche that wasn’t being met for a wine bar in this area, and we picked up on that.”
The Wine Pub, at 2907 Shelter Island Drive, No. 108, is a full-on restaurant-retail establishment, with dog-friendly outdoor patio dining.
“It’s a good central location in a little strip shopping mall on the corner of Shelter Island Drive and Scott Street,” Hanshaw said, adding her eatery also serves local craft microbrews.
Hanshaw explained her business model.
“The idea was to create a place where you could get a nice glass of wine at a reasonable price,” she said, noting her clientele ranges from “couples and twentysomethings to 80-year-olds.”
Hanshaw’s been working on this year’s calendar, which she said will include special events like wine tastings or other community-oriented events. She said The Wine Pub also features prix fixe menu community “dinners” at which attendees all sit at one large communal table.
“We’re hoping to have another of those in March,” she said.
The Wine Pub also hosts a “Bike for Boobs” event, benefiting cancer research. “It’s a cycling event where people ride around Shelter Island,” Hanshaw said. “[In 2014], we raised $9,000 for breast cancer research.”
Hanshaw said her own bout with the disease has changed her perspective on life.
“Every day,” she said, “I’m so much more grateful than I was in the past. You truly appreciate the beauty that surrounds you and the people that you surround yourself with.”
Asked if she has any plans to change anything she’s doing at The Wine Pub, she responded, “The core part of the business is the same as when we started five years ago, though we’re always tweaking and trying to invent new events and stuff.”
Meanwhile, Wednesdays just became San Diego’s night to dine with dogs – and for a cause. The Wine Pub Point has announced its Woofer Wednesday, a weekly special in which 10 percent of the check of every person who dines in with a dog benefits the chosen organization. Each Wednesday, the venue will release a unique menu featuring three items suitable for both pups and their humans, available to all two- and four-legged guests.
For more information on The Wine Pub and its upcoming community events, visit thewinepubsd.com or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.