Uptown restaurants and bars get set for Restaurant Week

Restaurants from Banker’s Hill to Kensington, Normal Heights, North Park, Hillcrest and beyond are ramping up to take part in San Diego’s Restaurant Week Jan. 16-21.

Now its seventh year, San Diego Restaurant Week offers community foodies the opportunity to check out some of the 180 participating restaurants, which will offer patrons fixed price, three-course meals for $20, $30 or $40. There are no tickets or passes required. Food lovers may simply dine out at as many participating restaurants as they like exploring new dining opportunities or enjoying old favorites.

Advance reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by calling restaurants directly. For more information, contact Jenna Thompson at [email protected] or call at 233-5008.

Harney Sushi undergoing retro facelift
The Harney Sushi location in Old Town at 3964 Harney St. is set to undergo a complete remodel to ring in 2011. To celebrate their 10th anniversary, the restaurant is going to receive new décor that is being classified as “organic and natural, with a retro modern and funky esthetic.”

Sushi lovers can expect to experience bamboo tables, silk lighting, etched glass and grass cloth wall coverings, with hints of the old Harney Sushi still present. The actual remodeling will take place from Dec. 24 until Dec. 30, with the hope that it will be reopened in 2011.

‘Here & Now’ at the Lafayette Hotel
The Lafayette Hotel’s Mississippi Ballroom will play host to “Here & Now,” a New Year’s resolution convention on Jan. 16.

The event will take place at 2223 El Cajon Blvd. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All ages are welcome and tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. The first 100 attendees will receive a complimentary goodie bag.

The convention is designed to help motivate guests to achieve their 2011 goals, splitting up the Mississippi Ballroom into sections for career, romance, health and wellness, fitness, personal, hobbies and spirituality. Interactive exhibitors, such as the Alternative Healing Network, California Smokers Hotline and Landmark Education, will host each section.

Produced by Jon Block of Sight & Sound productions, “Here & Now” will also include guest speakers, a fitness and yoga demonstration, giveaways and discounts for the services that the exhibitors provide.

For more information or to purchase tickets visit jonblockcreations.com.

The Wellington Steak and Martini Lounge set to celebrate first anniversary
The Wellington Steak and Martini Lounge, located at 729 W. Washington St. in Mission Hills, is a supper club located in the space formerly occupied by the Blue Lotus Lounge, adjacent to The Red Door Restaurant and Wine Bar. Executive chef Brian Johnston and his culinary team will be celebrating its first anniversary on Wednesday, Jan. 12 by offering diners its signature menu item—individual beef Wellington and one of the house specialty martinis for $30.

Johnston studied in France at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine and was formerly executive chef at the Star of the Sea Room and chef de cuisine at El Bizcocho. Johnston’s resume also includes culinary experience
at Top O’ the Cove and Mille Fleurs. For more information, visit thewellingtonsd.com.

SANDAG elects new chair
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) elected a new chair on Friday, Dec. 17. Encinitas Deputy Mayor Jerome Stocks was promoted from First Vice Chair of the Board, replacing former Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who was SANDAG’s chair for the last two years.

This year, SANDAG is preparing to complete their 2050 Regional Transportation Plan, giving them an idea of what the transportation system will look like in 40 years, as well as initiatives that are being funded by the local TransNet sales tax and state, and federal sources. As chair, Stocks will be heading freeway improvement projects, Bus Rapid Transit Systems and the extension of the trolley system to include University of California at San Diego.

“I’m excited, but also honored and humbled by this opportunity,” Stocks said in a recent statement. “Now let’s get to work.”

Scripps hosts natural supplement conference
The Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine will be holding its 8th annual conference entitled “Natural Supplements: An Evidence-Based Update,” from Jan. 13-16 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel at 1 Park Blvd.

The conference will instruct attendees how to use natural supplements safely and effectively because the general public is already spending $20 million on natural supplements without any physician guidance according to Robert Bonakdar, M.D., director of pain management for Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine and one of the conference directors.

“Clinicians need timely, evidence-based information for discussing the risks, benefits and regulatory issues related to the use of natural supplements in order to provide the all-inclusive care patients are actively seeking,” said Bonakdar.

Current research, workshops and a Q&A sessions on these supplements and their role in the management of existing medical conditions will be presented by board-certified physicians, biochemists, government officials and renowned researchers in botanical medicine.

Scripps Health has clinics, hospitals, emergency centers and research facilities all over the county, including the Scripps Coastal Medical Center in Hillcrest at 4077 Fifth Ave. To register, call (858) 652-5400, or visit scrippsintegrativemedicine.org.

Keeping libraries alive
The American Library Association (ALA) will be holding its midwinter meeting at the San Diego Convention Center from Jan. 7-11 to discuss new technologies, library privatization, budget cuts and keeping libraries alive in the future.

The meeting will also showcase how libraries play a part in increasing literacy with the ALA Youth Media
Awards, which honors the best children and young adult literature and media. These awards will be announced on Jan. 10 at 7:45 p.m.

In order to encourage continual learning, the meeting will include several lectures and programs led by authors, activists and educators including award-winning actor, author and activist Ted Danson and authors David Leviathan, Susan Vreeland and Kathy Reichs.

Richard Rhodes, an award-winning journalist, author and historian will be delivering the 12th annual Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture at 4 p.m. on Jan. 8. Rhodes has edited and written 22 books in addition to “The Making of the Atomic Bomb,” which won a Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction, a National Book Award and a National Book Critics Circle Award.

For more information visit ala.org/midwinter.

SANDAG issuing $1.15 million in grants
In an effort to increase physical activity and provide healthier foods for schools, the San Diego Association
of Governments (SANDAG) is soliciting applications for $1.15 million
in grants.

“These grants will help local communities ensure that people can walk or bike to public transit, schools, parks, and vendors of healthy food safely and conveniently,” said Gary Gallegos, executive director for SANDAG in a statement.

SANDAG received the source funding for the grants from the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency and the grants will be issued through four different programs to local government agencies, tribal governments,
community programs and school districts. The grant programs are being funded through two SANDAG initiatives: the Healthy Communities Campaign and Safe Routes to School planning. At least 19 individual grants are scheduled to be awarded this coming March.

Applications for grants are due by Feb. 15 and all projects must be completed by Feb. 1, 2012. For more information or for application materials visit sandag.org/cppw.

Jet Rhys closed for renovations
Jet Rhys hair salon located at 3846 5th Ave. in Hillcrest will be undergoing renovations at the beginning of the new year.

From Dec. 29 through Feb. 12 all appointments will be taken at the Solana Beach location at 437 S. Hwy 101, but all e-mail notifications will continue to list the Hillcrest location even while it’s under construction. Visit jetrhys.com for further details.

Todd Gloria to deliver ‘State of District 3’ address
Third District City Councilmember Todd Gloria will offer his assessment on the state of affairs in the city’s Third Council Jan. 25, 6:30 p.m. at the Birch North Park Theatre, Birch North Park Theatre, 2891 University Ave.

In a release, Gloria said he predicts that “2011 will be a productive year.”

“Balancing the City’s deficit-stricken budget, continuing our investment in infrastructure and remaining focused on strengthening public safety will be my priorities moving forward,” he said. “Your input will be increasingly valuable as funding priorities and decisions are made. I encourage each of you to renew your involvement in your community and your city this year.

Gloria will hold a more informal “Coffee With Your Councilmember” meeting Jan. 22 10-11 a.m. at the Balboa Park Senior Lounge in room 105 of Casa del Prado.

The public is invited to both events.

Meeting planned to discuss hate crimes, public safety
A public meeting titled “Keeping San Diego Communities Safe: A Discussion
on Hate Crimes and Public Policy in the New Year” will be held Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m. at the LGBT Community
Center, 3909 Centre St.

The meeting will include information about how agencies collaborate to investigate and prosecute hate crimes and who to contact if someone you know is the victim of a hate crime. The event will be presented in collaboration
with Third District City Councilmember Todd Gloria, the San Diego Police Department, the office of San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the LGBT Community Center and the theSan Diego Regional Hate Crimes Coalition.

For more information, contact Carlos Marquez at (619) 692-2077, x103, or e-mail [email protected].

Event to celebrate life of late publisher
A celebration of life for late Gay & Lesbian Times publisher, Michael Portantino, will be held Jan. 15, 1 p.m. at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest.

Portantino, who published the Gay & Lesbian Times for more than two decades, died late last year of an apparent
suicide.

For more information, contact City Commissioner Nicole MurrayRamierz at (619) 692-1967.

Community Volunteer Fair set for Jan. 26
The San Diego LGBT Center will hold its annual Community Volunteer Fair at The Center on Jan. 26, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

The event will offer attendees a chance to meet with representatives from nonprofit organizations who are looking to recruit volunteers for variety of year-round positions.

The Community Volunteer Fair was established in 2005 by the San Diego LGBT Community Leadership Council and is designed to provide local non-profits an opportunity to showcase their organizations and recruit volunteers. It is also designed to make gathering information about organizations seamless for community members who make New Year’s “resolutions” to volunteer.

The Center is at 3909 Centre St. In Hillcrest. The event is free and open to the public. Organizations wishing to participate should contact Jessica Culpepper at jculpepper@ thecentersd.org for an application. For more information, visit thecentersd.org

Hearing scheduled on SR-15 bus project
A hearing on the proposed bus rapid transit project along state Route 15 will take place on Jan. 26 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Central Elementary School, 4063 Polk Ave.

Proposed transit stations for the project would be constructed along SR-15 between Interstates 805 and 8 in the Mid-City area of San Diego.

The public is invited to attend and offer comments on the project. Comments also may be sent to Associate Planner Jamie Le Dent at [email protected]. The deadline to receive comments is Feb. 14.