An Elegant Lunch at Nordstrom Cafe
Plus: Garden Gathering in LV, LV New Briefs, and Proposing The Bridges of Linda Vista Tourist Concept.
The Linda Vista Update—A Community Newsletter
We have never previously reviewed a restaurant in a department store. When I was a child in Harrisburg, PA, my mother used to take me shopping in the downtown department store and we would often go to the basement lunch counter and have a sandwich or cup of soup. I hadn’t thought of that in a while, until this Mother’s Day when I received a gift card for the Nordstrom Café in Fashion Valley. Having lived here 30 years, I did not even know there was a café in Nordstrom, which may tell you something about how often I shop there. In any case, armed with a gift card we headed down the hill to give the Cafe a try for lunch.
We parked at the roof top parking entrance to Nordstrom, which enters on the second floor. We learned the Café is on the third floor. The restaurant was quite a surprise. It is very large and fancy looking with chandeliers and lots of wood. It seemed to have an air of sophistication not usually found in our usual Linda Vista haunts but rather of circa 1966 Los Angeles, which is a good thing. You pick up a menu when you walk in and you can view the various food items in glass cases, but you place your order at the cash register and then your food is brought out to you by wait staff. Their food items include soups, salads, pastas, pizza, meat and fish entrees and desserts. They also have alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
After perusing the menu, we decided on soup and salad. We chose the clam chowder and the simple salad, as well as a dessert and ice tea. We self-served our ice tea and found a table. The restaurant was very crowded and the crowd seemed very noisy which I assume meant they were all having a good time. In fact, it seemed there were more people in the restaurant than were shopping in the store. But based on the ambience, it is easy to understand why so many people would want to escape the hustle and bustle of the outside world and enjoy a leisurely lunch in this cafe.
The clam chowder was very good. It was thick with clams and very tasty. It was served with a toasted herbed flatbread. The salad consisted of tender greens, tomatoes, parmesan cheese and garlic croutons. It was ample (half order) and very tasty. The service was excellent.
We decided to take the dessert home which was a Magic Bar with chocolate chips, coconut and various other delicious flavors. They also served us Nordstrom maker’s dark chocolate stix which were tasty.
All in all, we enjoyed having lunch in a department store café. The food was top quality and the ambience was a long way from the lunch counter lunches of my childhood. Give it a try. I think you will like it.
Garden Gathering Informs and Engages LV Community
Though still in the planning stages, the concept of a Linda Vista Community Garden is projected to finally come to fruition sometime this fall. This past Monday afternoon, several LV residents received an update on the plans for the Community Garden at an informative and engaging “Garden Gathering” conducted by the LV Grows Community Garden Steering Committee. This “gathering” was held on the grounds of the Advancing Students Forward garden, located at 6509 Tait Street. The gathering was held to keep residents informed of what to expect when the LV Community Garden is finally completed and ready to accept applications from Linda Vista resident for individual garden plots.
The long-sought LV Community Garden (in the planning stages since January 2020) is expected to be built at the Linda Vista Community Park and will provide Linda Vista residents with the opportunity to grow their own fruits and vegetables and for residents to learn more about the growing process. When completed, the Community Garden will be the first one built on the grounds of a San Diego City Park.
At Monday’s Garden Gathering, Steering Committee members (part of Bayside Community Center’s Environmental Learning Center) provided the latest information regarding the projected shovel-in-ground garden construction start date (by September of this year), details regarding the various features planned for the garden, and basic details regarding criteria for applying for a garden plot.
In addition to numerous garden plots for herbs and vegetables, the LV Community Garden is expected to have fruit trees, seating to conduct gardening classes, a greenhouse, tool sheds, and pergolas for growing fruit. Residents with garden plots can expect to receive advice/assistance. “We want to help people develop a plan to be successful with whatever they are growing,” said Amy Zink, a Community Garden Steering Committee member.
Plans for the LV Community Garden are still being “fine-tuned” by the City Parks and Recreation officials. The unique nature of a community garden located in a City park has resulted in a slow slog through the City’s bureaucracy, but there now seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, with a minimal number of permit approvals still pending.
After listening to information about plans for the LV Community Garden, Monday’s garden Gathering attendees participated in planting their own individual geraniums—the geraniums were cuttings descended from Bayside’s original Community Garden, which was dismantled when the organization changed locations.
As explained by Amy Zink, “The Garden Gathering is our way of getting the Linda Vista community engaged and ready to be excited and involved in the Community Garden. We want everyone to be involved.”
In addition to Amy Zink, all current members of the Steering Committee were present for this Garden Gathering, to include Kevin Renac (Bayside), Emalyn Leppard (LV Resident), Kim Hanson (LV Resident), and Christine Weinstein (LV Resident). Also in attendance were Tomasa Ruiz (Bayside and Garden Coordinator for Advancing Students Forward), and Bayside interns Layla Cordova (USD College Corps) and Naseem Barim-Kaizer (Bayside Urban Farm Intern).
If you were unable to make this Garden Gathering, no problem—the next Garden Gathering will be held Tuesday June 20 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Montgomery Middle School Garden (2470 Ulric Street).
If you want to play a role in helping the Linda Vista community know more about the Community Garden, or if you want to play a role in the planning of the Community Garden, you’ll be happy to know the LV Grows Community Garden Steering Committee is actively looking for additional members. If interested, please contact the Bayside Community Center for more information.
LV News Briefs:
—Farmers Market: The Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market will be open today Thursday May 18 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center.
—Car Show: The Kearny Alumni Association hosts its 5th Annual Car Show this Saturday May 20 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at Kearny High.
—LV Planning Group: The Linda Vista Community Planning Group will hold its monthly meeting on Monday May 22 at 6:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the American Legion Post 731 (7245 Linda Vista Road).
—Fire Safety Town Hall: The office of Councilmember Raul Campillo will hold a Fire Safety Town Hall (along with the Fire Dept.) on Wednesday May 24 (6:00 pm) at the Tierrasante Recreation Center. Please go to this site to RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/FSTHD7
Commentary
The Bridges of Linda Vista (and thereabouts)
As a proud resident of Linda Vista, I am always on the lookout for activities or programs that might bring more positive attention to this community and perhaps serve to assist local businesses with attracting more out-of-town customers. Many of you have read a couple of my previous suggestions in this newsletter, to include implementing a weekly or monthly LV Pajama Day to make Linda Vista seem like a fun community to shop at, and coordinating a Five Peaks of Linda Vista Challenge that might attract physical fitness enthusiasts to visit our mesa and in the process spend some of their money at local stores. Unfortunately, my ideas haven’t exactly garnered much attention amongst the community. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped me from continuing to brainstorm additional ideas. After all, I am sure Albert Einstein thought of and discarded several theories before finally arriving at his famous Theory of Relativity. As Einstein himself might of said, it’s just a matter of “time” before the right idea comes around.
And so, this past week, in the midst of conducting my latest personal brainstorming session, I happened to run across a news article about the famous Bridges of Madison County. Madison County—located in Iowa—is quite the tourist location, all because of its iconic covered bridges. Tourists come to see these bridges and take photos. They even have a Bridges of Madison County festival. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Robert James Waller wrote a best-selling novel titled The Bridges of Madison County, and that Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep starred in the 1996 movie. After reading the article, I began thinking “What if someone wrote a book titled The Bridges of Linda Vista?” And what if we could get a couple famous actors to star in a similar named movie? Our little community would soon be inundated with big spending tourists, Linda Vista would thrive, and many of us could become rich.
Despite my initial enthusiasm, I subsequently grew discouraged, primarily because the first person I ran this idea through offered the following words to me….“Are you nuts? We don’t have any bridges in Linda Vista.”
Fortunately, it turns out this person was greatly misinformed. You just have to make a bit of an effort to find The Bridges of Linda Vista, or what I like to call… The Bridges of Linda Vista (and thereabouts)… to appropriately qualify some bridges as being part of our community. I eventually made such an effort this past week.
Let me fill you in on the structures that make up The Bridges of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) so you can decide for yourself if joining my movement to promote this potential tourist attraction is worth your time and effort.
The First Bridge of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) is located at the Linda Vista Skateboard Park at 7034 Levant Street. The 100 foot-long pedestrian bridge, which sits above and cuts right through the middle of the famous skateboard facility (the second biggest in the state) is one of the park’s most aesthetically pleasing components. From the bridge, you can easily see below the skateboarders performing their athletic maneuvers. It is such a great vantage point for watching and taking photos! The bridge also serves to connect the skateboard park with the rest of the Linda Vista Community Park.
The second Bridge of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) is located right outside the boundaries of Linda Vista—on the Riverwalk Golf Course in adjacent Mission Valley. The wooden suspension bridge sits just beyond the Club House and crosses over the San Diego River. This beautiful bridge serves as a popular photo site for wedding parties. Though the Riverwalk Golf Course will eventually be replaced by the Riverwalk San Diego Project construction and all that this development will entail, the wooden suspension bridge will be retained.
The Third Bridge of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) sits above SR-163 and serves to connect Linda Vista and Birdland pedestrians. The Linda Vista entrance to the bridge is located at the end of Fulton Street. If you take the bridge to cross over into Birdland, you will end up on Cardinal Lane. Once you reach the middle of the bridge, you can get a unique view of SR-163 traffic. I’m not sure when the bridge was constructed, or why. Perhaps at one time there was a great deal of foot traffic between Linda Vista and Birdland, or maybe there once was an annual cattle drive from Birdland ranches through the extreme western segment of the Chisolm Trail that used to run through Linda Vista. Who knows? I don’t recall ever seeing anyone on the bridge. It’s sort of mysterious and foreboding, as if it might have at one time been a Cold War-era bridge serving East and West Berlin.
The Fourth Bridge of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) is located at the new Town and Country City Park located between the Town and Country resort and the Fashion Valley Mall and Transit Center. It crosses over the San Diego River. It’s fun to see the ducks and hear the frogs from the bridge.
The Fifth Bridge of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) is a bit outside of the Linda Vista boundaries, but it has been frequently used in recent days by Linda Vista residents, and so it practically feels like it is part of Linda Vista. The new Mission Bay Bridge (heavily remodeled, expanded, and improved) opened earlier this year. It connects both auto and pedestrian traffic between Ocean Beach and the Mission Bay area, and also connects people traveling on Interstate 8. If you hike, bike or cycle from Linda Vista on the paths parallel to the San Diego River, the bridge is a familiar landmark that allows people to cross over to Ocean Beach. Many Linda Vista residents have also been using Interstate 8 and the bridge to get over to Mission Beach since the segment of Friars Road heading west past Napa Street has long been closed due to construction. It is a beautiful bridge that offers great views of San Diego for pedestrians.
So there you have it. I contend that promoting The Bridges of Linda Vista (and thereabouts) is potential tourist attraction gold for our community. Who needs covered bridges? If we can get a famous Hollywood acting duo to star in The Bridges of Linda Vista movie (think Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, or Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, or Ben Affleck and Matt Damon), there will be no stopping Linda Vista as a tourist destination.
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The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities.
Thank you Steve and Betty, one of my favorite restaurants.
Mike Bensch
Always the optimism about good ole Linda Vista becoming a tourist attraction. The history is notable and so are the people.