{"id":246707,"date":"2013-11-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-08T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-masked-affair-for-the-neighborhood\/"},"modified":"2013-11-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-08T08:00:00","slug":"a-masked-affair-for-the-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-masked-affair-for-the-neighborhood\/","title":{"rendered":"A masked affair for the neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snooze celebrates two years, their staff and good causes<\/p>\n

Por Morgan M. Hurley | Asistente de edici\u00f3n SDUN<\/p>\n

Hillcrest\u2019s Snooze, an A.M. Eatery opened to great fanfare in November of 2011, and with its colorful motifs, playful d\u00e9cor, delicious food and \u00fcber-friendly atmosphere, the Colorado-based breakfast restaurant fit perfectly into the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Two years later, all the hype has yet to die down and crowds continue to assemble.<\/p>\n

\"Snooze<\/a>
Snooze celebrates two years in Hillcrest with a masquerade party on Nov. 22. (Courtesy Snooze)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Nov. 22, the staff\u2014led by recently promoted General Manager Nick Papantonakis\u2014is inviting the entire community to join in the celebration of their two year anniversary with a Masquerade Party, from 6 \u2013 10 p.m. at their place of business, located at 3940 Fifth Ave.<\/p>\n

Since Snooze closes at 2:30 p.m. every day, the entire restaurant will be taken over for the event, which will feature an upscale menu, including hors d\u2019 oeuvres and tray-passed finger foods, event-themed cocktails, a carving station and even caviar. A small selection of beer and wine will also be available.<\/p>\n

Tickets to the family-friendly event are $15 and all proceeds will go to this year\u2019s benefactor, Feeding America San Diego, a local food bank that serves all of San Diego County. Attendees are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to further help the nonprofit.<\/p>\n

Papantonakis\u2014who signs his emails \u201caka Clark Kent\u201d with good reason\u2014said last year\u2019s \u201cSnooze\u2019s Fun House\u201d anniversary party raised $1,500, which was split between the Surfrider Foundation and ARTS (A Reason To Survive). This year the goal is to raise a total of $1,000 for Feeding America.<\/p>\n

To help facilitate meeting that mark, Snooze will be selling drink and \u201centertainment\u201d tickets for $1 each at the party, as well as donating 10 percent of all sales on the Hillcrest location\u2019s actual anniversary date, Nov. 18.<\/p>\n

Aside from live music and dancing at the anniversary party, Papantonakis said the restaurant will \u201cdefinitely be going all out\u201d with regards to d\u00e9cor and staff costumes. There will also be face painting, tarot readings, a fortune teller, a photo booth, and other fun activities, and those who bring non-perishables will receive an entertainment ticket in exchange.<\/p>\n

\u201cMasks are \u2026 I\u2019m not going to say required, but highly, highly encouraged,\u201d Papantonakis said, adding that those who arrive without one can choose a basic mask at the door and decorate it before entering.<\/p>\n

The young superhero lookalike said the anniversary celebration also doubles as a staff appreciation party, meaning the entire Hillcrest crew will be in party mode, with staff from Snooze\u2019s new Del Mar location taking over kitchen and serving roles for the evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very excited that we\u2019ve made it this far and we want to celebrate that and take care of our staff and show them how much we appreciate them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Hillcrest staff will also be appreciated at the anniversary party. Shown above is the crew who opened the Hillcrest Snooze location in Nov. 2011. (Courtesy Snooze)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staff appreciation is one of the many things that initially drew Papantonakis to the Snooze family not long after getting his degree in hospitality management at Colorado State University. He said his first interview with owner Jon Schlegel was so impactful, he left feeling, \u201cI have to do whatever I can to let them know how interested I am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His persistence paid off and after a year in Fort Collins\u2014the third of five Snooze locations currently in Colorado\u2014he made the move to San Diego to open the Hillcrest location as assistant to then general manager, Robert Butterfield. Butterfield recently bumped up to regional manager to oversee the Hillcrest, Del Mar and soon-to-be location in Scottsdale, Ariz., making room for Papantonakis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a nice symbiotic relationship,\u201d Papantonakis said. \u201cHe had 30-plus years of restaurant experience \u2026 and has been one of the greatest teachers I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Papantonakis was also attracted to Snooze\u2019s eco-friendly practices, which include composting, recycling, small business partnerships and energy efficiency.\u00a0 He said the Hillcrest location is able to divert 60 percent of their food scrap from landfills through their compost program.<\/p>\n

In his third year as the Snooze representative on the board of the Hillcrest Business Association, Papantonakis launched his own sustainability committee with the HBA last spring. The group is currently focused on attaining \u201ceco-district certification\u201d for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

As for what else revelers can expect from the upcoming night of masquerade, Papantonakis preferred to offer few details.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will be dressed to the nines,\u201d he said. \u201cPlan for an evening of mystical, dark deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those wishing to attend the masquerade party can purchase tickets anytime up to the date of the event at the Hillcrest Snooze location, 3940 Fifth Ave. For more information about Feeding America San Diego, visit feedamericasd.org<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snooze celebrates two years, their staff and good causes By Morgan M. Hurley | SDUN Assistant Editor Hillcrest\u2019s Snooze, an A.M. Eatery opened to great fanfare in November of 2011, and with its colorful motifs, playful d\u00e9cor, delicious food and \u00fcber-friendly atmosphere, the Colorado-based breakfast restaurant fit perfectly into the neighborhood.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A masked affair for the neighborhood","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}