Podcasts about happy half hour

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy dive deep into the latest episode of "Panthers Blueprint" and share their thoughts and perspective on some of the big moments featured in the episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap rookie minicamp, talk wide receiver depth, take a look at the 2025 schedule, share their plans for Memorial weekend and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy discuss the possibility of trading back from 8 overall, react to the mock draft "consensus", breakdown a few prospects and so much more as they get you ready for the 2025 NFL Draft!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy think the Panthers will go heavy on defense in the upcoming NFL Draft, breakdown the Top 30 visits, discuss the recent signing of Colin Granger, recap the owners meeting, and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy travel the globe, recap the exciting start to NFL free agency, react to the newest Panthers, discuss draft rumors, and interview the Panthers International Fans of the year, Kai Beuchling and Moritz Haist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap their trip to the NFL Scouting Combine, preview the upcoming free agency period, discuss the NFL Draft and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Darin and Kassidy from radio row at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis for this week's episode of the Happy Half Hour! They discuss the strategy coming into the draft, the importance of stopping the run, the gossip floating around the combine and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin is joined by JJ Jansen to discuss the 2024 season, the upcoming NFL draft, Jansen's relationships with Luke Kuechly and Greg Olsen, the general manager role, and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy survive a "blizzard", recap the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs, look ahead to the 2025 draft and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy take a deep look at the Hall of Fame voting process, discuss the possible 2025 Hall of Fame class, recap Super Wildcard Weekend and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy highlight Bryce Young's progress over the course of the 2024 season, discuss the future of the Carolina Panthers, praise coach Canales for his consistency and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy react to Jaycee Horn being named a Pro-Bowler, discuss Miles Sanders possible return, preview this week's game against the Atlanta Falcons and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy emphasize the progress the Panthers have made in 2024, recap the Panthers win over the Cardinals, preview the final 2 games of the regular season and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy look back at previous matchups between the Panthers and Cardinals, discuss what they want to see from the team down the stretch, share Christmas songs and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap the Panthers week 13 performance against the Bucs, preview this week's tough matchup with the Eagles, look ahead to the off season and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy detail Bryce Young's steady improvement over the last few weeks, react to the Panthers week 12 loss to the Chiefs, discuss the team's final 6 games and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy discuss the Panthers run game, preview this week's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, recap the Panthers bye week, talk special teams and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap their time in Germany covering the Panthers win over the Giants, preview what is next for the Panthers and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy react to Brad Idzik's comments on Halloween costumes, breakdown the Diontae Johnson trade, recap last week's loss to the Broncos, discuss how the 2024 draft class is playing and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy react to the Andy Dalton car accident, discuss the opportunity Bryce Young has this weekend, highlight a few players potentially returning to game action and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy complain about parking, recap last week's loss to the Falcons, highlight a few hard workers along the defensive side of the ball, preview this week's opponent and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy outline a small way in which you can help your neighbors, highlight Chuba Hubbard's development as a NFL running back, react to the newest batch of injured Panthers, and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap the Panthers week 4 loss to Bengals, preview the next few games on the schedule, praise Andy Dalton, and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy celebrate a huge win over the Raiders, highlight Dave Canales' work ethic, recap Andy Dalton's fantastic week, look ahead to this weekend's game against the Bengals, and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy react to Bryce Young being benched in favor of Andy Dalton, they discuss what the Red Rifle brings to the table, break down a few press conference sound bites and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy react to Derrick Brown's season-ending injury, briefly recap the Panthers week 1 loss to the Saints, look ahead to this week's game against the Chargers and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This offseason, the Panthers and Dave Canales have taken on the challenge of lowering Bryce Young's throwing time. We've followed along the way, in the 2.7 project. Now, on the eve of the regular season, we sit down with Young himself, as well as offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and corner Jaycee Horn, to find out where the process is, how far it's come and where it can go.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap the recent batch of waiver claims, discuss Dave Canales' philosophy on young players, preview this week's matchup against the Saints and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy celebrate the end of the preseason, take a look at the recent roster moves the team made, look ahead to the New Orleans game, and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the "Happy Half Hour" podcast, Darin and Kassidy recap the preseason home opener, look ahead to this weeks preseason game against the Bills, discuss joint practices, talk about roster cuts and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the "Happy Half Hour", Darin and Kassidy briefly react to last weeks preseason opener, discuss the modern era approach to the preseason, highlight the value of joint practices and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's video, "Happy Half Hour: Navigating Politics, Market Resilience, and Committee Chaos with Toby and Nik," we dive deep into the latest trends and statistics in finance and economics.Join us as we discuss the impact of political events on markets, the importance of long-term investment strategies, and the quirks of committee dynamics. We also explore how current headlines and economic data influence market behavior.Don't miss out on these insights that can help you make informed financial decisions. Watch now and join the conversation!

This week on the "Happy Half Hour", Darin and Kassidy recap their respective trips to Clemson and Canton, further discuss training camp, discuss the QB situation for Thursday's preseason game and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the "Happy Half Hour" podcast, Darin and Kassidy discuss coach Canales' desire and determination to run the football, recap the first week of training camp, look ahead to the Hall of Fame ceremonies and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Training Camp 2024 has finally arrived! This week on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap day one of training camp, highlight some of the new faces in the building, share some of their favorite soundbites from Tuesday's pressers and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's Happy Half Hour features mother-and-son duo Lia and Spencer Hunter of Lia's Lumpia. Their come-up story is a fascinating blend of family tradition, cultural preservation, and innovative culinary fusion that began long before the Hunters' foray into food competition TV. Spencer learned how to roll the thumb-thin Filipino fried and stuffed rolls from his mom, who learned from her mother, Spencer's grandmother, who opened the first Filipino restaurant in National City, called San-Loy's Lumpia and Food To Go. After stints cooking for the Malarkey universe and in the Panamanian jungle, he and his mom decided to strike out on their own with their unique soul food lumpia and other fusion dishes.

When a quarterback makes tweaks to their game, there is a ripple effect that touches every person on the field. Continuing our offseason look into the Panthers challenge to lower Bryce Young's throwing time to 2.7 seconds, Panthers.com and the Happy Half Hour talks with former Carolina Panther safety Eugene Robinson, to find out how a sub-three second throw changes a defensive game plan, and what a quarterback can do to negate a secondary. Stay tuned to Panthers.com and the Happy Half Hour over the next few months for more as we strive to understand what it takes to slow down time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's time for a talk – a Shepherd's Talk, that is.  Every year, the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival has this popular segment available for shepherds, wannabe shepherds, ecologists, historians, and people who are just plain interested in fiber production from the ground up.  Today's talk is with Erin Bradt, of Helder Herdwyck Farm, where she talks about not just these fantastic little primitive sheep, but also about importation limitations, disease issues in livestock, and…well, more than we have time for in the intro. We'll be bringing you more of these fantastic seminars in the upcoming months.  If you'd like to see the visuals on this one (just like you're sitting on a hay bale in Rhinebeck), head over to the Backyard Green Films YouTube channel for this video, and much more.Links:https://helderherdwyck-farm.square.site/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-57015478www.sheepandwool.comhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLz9Oj_oVkg Support the Show.

If your time spent in OB and Point Loma spans decades, not just years, you likely know all about the Coulon family, proprietors of the well-loved but now-shuttered Belgian Lion. And there's a good chance that you also know about their granddaughters, Anne-Marie, Jacqueline, and Dominique, who own Point Loma's The Little Lion, now entering its tenth year of service. Chef and co-owner Anne-Marie joins Happy Half Hour to talk about her family's storied culinary history and deep roots in OB, what it was like growing up in a restaurant kitchen, and the challenges of running a small but beloved restaurant in an increasingly expensive San Diego.

A good quarterback can thrive in chaos. A great quarterback can slow down time to negate the chaos. Dave Canales has spent this offseason thus far helping quarterback Bryce Young get his throwing timing down to 2.7 seconds. To understand the intricacies of the challenge, the Happy Half Hour spoke to one of the best passers in Panthers history, Jake Delhomme, to find out what it takes to lower a throwing time, what the timeline looks like and just how much of a difference it really makes in a win versus a loss. Stay tuned to Panthers.com and the Happy Half Hour over the next few months for more as we strive to understand what it takes to slow down time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've got a Happy Half Hour double-header today: chef Michael Vaughn, who is coming up on his first year at the helm of La Jolla's iconic Marine Room, and also Baja-based superstar Javier Plascencia, whose under-a-200-year-old-oak tree restaurant Animalón just got a Michelin Star. Both chat philosophy, process, and their cooking histories, and as a special bonus, Plascencia drops the details on his super special festival for the 100th anniversary of the Caesar salad.

For podcasts like Happy Half Hour, events like the fair are basically our Christmas. Yeah, we love the rides, the activations, the camaraderie, the merriment. But to be totally honest, we're here for the food. Dip us in corn batter and fry us. Dust some powdered sugar on our heads. Load us up with fatty, drippy, sloppy, sweet and salty goods. This episode, Troy and the crew hit up the San Diego County Fair, and they brought along Z90.3's Rick Morton to yuk it up while they test the Fairtastic Food Competition finalists. We also had on Lori Sutherland, who owns fair favorite Tasti Chips, to weigh in. We came, we tasted, we judged, we crowned. Tune in to find out all the winners, as well as all the deets on this year's fair food.

This week on the Happy Half Hour podcast Darin Gantt and Kassidy Hill share what stood out to them during mini-camp, discuss Bryce Young's continued development, highlight new faces on defense, breakdown Dave Canales' coaching style and so much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's Happy Half Hour takes place from one of the best perches in all of San Diego: Top of the Market. It's a fully windowed and partially outdoor restaurant, separate and with a more fine dining or special occasion bent than its counterpart downstairs, the equally beloved and lauded Fish Market. To our front is sprawling views of Coronado and the bay. Directly to the right, the Midway, and to the left, a bunch of hotels, docks, and the Coronado Bridge. We sat down with Top of the Market's executive chef, Robin James, who is, in my opinion, the most San Diego San Diegan to ever do it. His first cooking job was on the line at the iconic Anthony's Fish Grotto. After that, he got his cooking degree at the Art Institute and became the executive chef at The University Club and Bali Hai. These days, he's slinging creative seafood dishes at Top of the Market. But what makes him deeply San Diego, despite his life resume and of course being born here, is that his parents met while working at Jack-in-the-box. Come on. He's a living local legend, and we get the story of his parents' meet-cute in the episode. In addition to his hometown bonafides, James is a serious cook with an Escoffier tattoo, who is consistently trying to take things to the next level. He said he was always a tinkerer, experimenting with ingredients, often ones that don't seem to make much sense together, to see what happens. He said he did a lot of that during Covid, while temporarily laid off from work, itching to create, and now he's stretching his wings more with his seafood menu. One of his more surprising dishes on Top of the Market's current list are seared sea scallops with Spanish chorizo, dehydrated mushrooms, and big white beans. Scallops, mushrooms, and beans isn't a dish I knew I wanted, but now I can't stop thinking about it. James is also cooking an Alaskan halibut on the menu with many green, spring flavors, and served with a punchy tzatziki heavy on the cucumber; he also has a seared octopus served over hummus with pickled red onions and mandolined radishes. There are crudos, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, there's a chocolate cake a-la Elvis, with bananas, bacon and honey. James assured us there are plenty of classics on the menu, too, like Top of the Market's famed cioppino, a hearty fish stew the restaurant has been serving for decades. There's good drinking at Top of the Market, too, James assures us, and the wine list is evidence of that. James and his team have been running thrice yearly wine dinners with top California producers—the next is in September, with Grgich Hills. In the meantime, they also have one of San Diego's best wine steals: a list of 30 bottles of wine for $30, every Tuesday. We're not talking two buck chuck or plonk; this is from the real wine list, made specially available for those extra fun people who want to clink glasses on a Tuesday. We also talked the news in this episode: Baja came up big in the reveal of Michelin's first guide to Mexico. The French tire company gave one star to Animalon (Javier Plascencia and Oscar Torres), Damiana (Esteban Lluis), and Conchas de Piedra (Drew Deckman and Hugo D'Acosta). Many other Baja California restaurants were recommended or named bib gourmands. Taste of Little Italy will be returning on June 18 and 19, 2024 with over 40 restaurants. And OB's Gianni Buomono Vintners is moving away from its long-held Newport Ave. spot. It'll be opening near Sports Arena soon.

This week we got out-broadcasted on Happy Half Hour, and we couldn't be more honored to pass the torch, to, as Troy dubbed it, “the best monosyllabic baseball broadcast duo in the major leagues.” The crew went to Petco Park ahead of the start of the Padres/Rockies series to chat with the voices of the franchise, Don Orsillo and Mark Grant (the Friars lost last night, but there's another game beginning as I type. Go Padres!). Orsillo and Grant are better known to the masses as Don and Mud, the announcers of our beloved Major League Baseball franchise. The voices of the Friar Faithful, or, as we like to call it, two brotherly types yukking it up as if they were hanging out on a fishing pier, or, as so many fans like to imagine, in our own living rooms. Mud's been with the team as PadresTV's color analyst for 29 years, since 2024. He actually pitched for the Padres from 1987 to 90, and was originally selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 10th pick in the first round of the 1981 Draft out of Joliet (IL) Catholic High School. He played parts of eight Major League seasons with San Francisco, San Diego, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston and Colorado before retiring from the sport 1995 and beginning his broadcasting career as a sports anchor at KMFB Radio, eventually moving to the Padres airwaves over time. Outside of baseball, he's a passionate advocate for the Down Syndrome Association of San Diego, as well as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of San Diego and St. Madeleine Sophie's Center in El Cajon. Orsillo, beloved throughout the country and the MLB for his 15-year-long tenure at the Red Sox before joining the Padres in 2016, also calls nationally broadcasted MLB games for FOX, FS1 and TBS during the regular season. His numerous accolades include five Emmy Awards for outstanding play-by-play (2003 and 2004 with Boston, 2018, 2019 and 2022 with the Padres) and two New England Sports Best Play-by-Play awards (2014 and 2015). The current Coronado resident and lifelong broadcaster was named Massachusetts Broadcaster of the year twice in 2005 and 2015, and, through his role with the Red Sox, has also appeared in a few movies, including 2013's The Heat, 2010's The Town and 2005's Fever Pitch. Orsillo is also, we learn in this episode, a cult-famous home cook, regularly cooking for friends and enjoying his wares so much that–we also learn!!—he has never tried Petco Park stadium food. No Cardiff Seaside Market tri-tip, no An's Dry Cleaning Gelato. Nary a Board-n-Brew Turknado in sight. He tells us that it's hard to get up, considering his job requires him to be tied to a mic. But the real reason he doesn't dabble in Petco's many incredible food options is that he's such a good cook, he just doesn't really need to eat anyone else's food (which we respect on this here food podcast). Unable to resist the obvious temptation at hand, and being the friendly trolls that we are, Mud, along with the hosts, ushers Orsillo into his first-ever stadium bite on this show. I won't spoil the goods here, but it's worth tuning in to find out because it includes a fried fusion mash-up dish that's likely to become a Petco Park food icon after this season ends. There's a lot more brotherly banter to go around, and the truth is it's best heard wherever you listen to your podcasts, and probably not in this written post, owing to the fact we are talking to some of the most celebrated broadcasters in the game. But we also talk the news: CH is bringing pan-Middle Eastern cuisine to North Park, Rancho Valencia is launching a summer dinner series with newly minted Michelin-starred Baja chef Javier Plascencia, as well as Fauna's David Castro Hussong, and Izola is staying in East Village by opening its new, enormous Fault Line Park storefront soon.

Did you know one of the country's most celebrated sommeliers lives and works in San Diego? It's true! This week, we welcomed Coco Randolph of Black Radish and San Francisco's Californios to the Happy Half Hour podcast. Randolph is new-ish to town, having moved here about a year and a half ago from San Francisco, where she helped her family run two Michelin-starred Californios. Her sister is married to its decorated chef, Val Cantu, and the whole Randolph clan (plus Cantu) started the restaurant in 2013. Since then, Californios has been granted many awards and accolades from various organizations (like Michelin), including for its wine program, which is under Randolph's direction. When her Texas-born-and-raised family first embarked upon opening a restaurant, the clan tasked Randolph with being its sommelier as well as the general manager. No idle hands in this crew. The only problem was that Randolph knew little about wine, though she knew she loved Mexican food after having lived there for years following homeschooling and graduating from Texas Tech. No problem. She's an autodidact, sharp as a whip, and incredibly ambitious. She picked up a copy of The Wine Bible, studying obsessively every second she wasn't working Californios' front-of-house. In 2015, just two years after opening, Michelin awarded Californios its first star. By 2017, the restaurant had the distinction of being the world's only two-star Michelin spot focused on Mexican cuisine. And Randolph's wine program, which started as a list with a dozen producers and had expanded to a cellar boasting hundreds of the world's finest vintages and rarest allocations in less than a decade, was awarded the Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator and the Best Wine Restaurants nod from Wine Enthusiast. In 2021, Randolph was awarded Michelin's first-ever Sommelier of the Year designation; she was just one of two somms to receive the nod. While she's still involved with Californios and the family from afar, her heart and body are very much in San Diego. She's growing Black Radish's wine program exponentially by regularly bringing top producers to town for special wine dinners and other events. And there's more good news. “I moved here for my lover boy!” Coco excitedly exclaims any time anyone gives her the chance. She didn't come here for food or wine, but for love, which to me signals she's planting deep roots. “It's true, we are fully staying here, building a life,” Randolph confirms. Expect to hear a lot more from Coco wherever anyone's pouring grape juice in town. In addition to trying some of Coco's wine selections, of which you can hear more about in the episode, we also talk about the news. Crack Shack is opening its fifth location in Pacific Beach; even more Korean Fried Chicken called Season Ave is arriving to Clairemont Mesa; Eleven Madison Park and Herb & Wood alum Sebastian Becerra is opening Peruvian spot Pepino in La Jolla to much fanfare; Gator by the Bay is in town once again beginning May 9, and Oddish Wine turns 1 on May 11.

Jordan Howlett just needs a minute. Give him that, and he's liable to have you hooked. Thanks to his highly recognizable, signature mirror-selfie videos, Howlett (San Diego Magazine's cover star for our 2024 Best Restaurants issue) has amassed upwards of 30 million followers across his social channels by sharing fast food hacks and wisdom with deadpan delivery and a genuine love of food. Some 70 million people see his videos every month on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. He's a one-minute, one-man daily Netflix special. But it hasn't been easy. Growing up financially strapped meant that Howlett's opportunities were often limited. Stress has been a theme. He's been belittled and bullied. He slept in his car while chasing a dream. It took a maniacal work ethic and healthy amount of delusion to propel him to the social media stratosphere. “I didn't realize how creative my parents were until I realized just how much we were really struggling,” Howlett tells us in this episode of Happy Half Hour. Born in LA County, Howlett moved to Oceanside in the fourth grade after spending his early life in the desert town of Victorville. Howlett began attending Oceanside High as a sophomore, where he joined the baseball team. “Originally, I was thinking maybe football,” Howlett says. “I'm on my way to the football field and the baseball coach sees me, and he points me right at the baseball field and says, ‘Why don't you go over there?'” That interception changed the course of Howlett's life. At 16, with no sports experience, Howlett became hooked on baseball. Before long, he started dreaming of playing Division 1 ball. He wanted to go pro. But his teammates had been playing since preschool. Howlett had some catching up to do and 100 people—teammates, coaches, everyone—telling him he had no chance. But Howlett didn't care. He just got to work, training every spare minute, working three times harder than everyone else. It paid off. Howlett found himself on fields he was never supposed to see… at least until Covid killed his baseball career. Then it was back to low-wage fast food jobs—until that work ethic came in handy for growing a social media audience. In this episode of HHH, Howlett joins us in the studio to recount his childhood in Oceanside, his path from awkward high school baseball wannabe to Division 1 athlete, and his road to internet superstardom. Along the way he recalls how his Fast Food Secrets Club came to be, recoils from pickle pizza, and tells us about one of his absolute favorite local spots to eat. Want to see his videos? Follow him at @jordan_the_stallion8.

This week's Happy Half Hour extra special guest is a longtime friend of San Diego Magazine, Feeding San Diego. If you tune into our channels, this fantastic organization probably doesn't need much of an introduction. And if you're lucky, you would have caught Troy emceeing their gala last month (in a sequin jacket, of course). But for the uninitiated, Feeding San Diego is easily one of the most impressive non-profits in town. We've covered ‌food insecurity before in the magazine's pages. Through our other partnerships with the organization on social media and online, and in this episode, we continue to shed light on one of our region's most dire problems. In partnership with a network of nearly 350 local community organizations, including local charities, schools, faith communities, healthcare providers, and meal sites, Feeding San Diego collects food and financial donations, moves and distributes food to communities who need it, and advocates to end hunger. Feeding America says nearly 300,000 people in San Diego County, including almost 80,000 children, are hungry. Feeding San Diego is Feeding America's only local partner food bank, established in 2007, and beyond just banking and distributing food, it rescues 1.2 million pounds of high-quality, edible surplus food monthly from local grocery stores alone. It also manages around 875 pickups of food donations a week from local retailers and provides food assistance to kids, families, seniors, college students, military families, veterans, and the unhoused via about 300 food distribution sites around San Diego County. “There are many faces of hunger,” says Katie Garret, Feeding San Diego's Director of Supply Chain, who represented the organization on this episode. “It can be your neighbor, a coworker, a kid your child goes to school with, seniors on fixed incomes living in rural towns, military families, and veterans. Hunger can affect anyone.” Garret, who in a past life was once a zookeeper at a zoo in Greece and is an accomplished horseback rider, has been with the organization for over six years and was a shortlisted nominee of the Food Chain Global Youth Champion Award in 2022. She's responsible for figuring out the logistics of all the aforementioned, which is no small task considering the numbers involved. One of the biggest misconceptions about food rescue and re-distribution, Garret says, is that people assume the food collected is expired or somehow lesser quality. “Our goal is to make food as accessible as possible,” she says. “And not just any food, but edible and nutritious food. Want to make sure that what we're providing is really high-quality and good for people to eat.” She adds that the food they collect is merely surplus, meaning it is still perfectly edible and within sell and use-by dates. A good example she gives is supermarket bread: it's baked fresh every day, but not every loaf will sell, and they are required to throw it out at the end of the day. It's still in perfect, fresh condition, of course. But now it's become surplus. That's where Feeding San Diego comes in, to give just one example of what they do and the types of logistics Garret manages. In addition to solving local hunger issues (one can dream), we also talked about local food news. Donut Bar opened its augmented reality donut experience on Columbia Street near the waterfront (and SDM HQ), Anime's Tara Monsod is a finalist for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef, California award (the first from San Diego to get this far, ever!), and Shorebird Restaurant, which has outposts in Newport Beach, Palm Desert, and Sedona under the WildThyme Restaurant Group umbrella, will open in Seaport Village some time in 2024.

Our Happy Half Hour guest today is the local chapter CEO of probably one of the most beloved and recognizable charities in the world: The Make-A-Wish Foundation, San Diego chapter. We invited Suzanne Husby, who garnered her title in 2021, to talk all things Make-a-Wish at Matsu in Oceanside. Husby has been with the foundation for 17 years, moving up the ranks from intern to wish coordinator, a few more big titles, and finally ending up as chapter CEO most recently. Her specialty was overseeing wish-granting operations, volunteer management, and medical outreach, and she was key in granting a whopping more than 3,200 wishes for local children. Recently, the Foundation decided to partner with executive chef/owner William Eick of Matsu to host their upcoming gala and collaborate on special appearances to benefit Make-A-Wish. When gala chair Dai Logan first approached chef Eick, it was instant kismet. Logan had been a superfan of the chef while chef Eick has always had big heart for the organization. The pair formed a new friendship and partnership shortly after. In the episode, Husby chats wish fulfillment and details several wish-making missions that have taken place in San Diego during her decades-long tenure at the organization. As we chat, Logan opens up about her Happy Half Hour fandom as well as her recent trip to Japan, during which she existed solely on chef Eick's recommendations, and shares a special bottle of sake with us that she brought back to the states. Finally, we get the scoop on the foundation's Make-a-Wish gala which takes place on October 12 at the Park Hyatt Aviara with chef Eick. Closing out the show, Troy discovers radishes at Marisi; Jackie finally finds NY-style pizza that she likes; 24 Suns pop-up is teaming up with IRS Cocktails to open Swan & Fox in Oceanside; the Puesto group is opening a CDMX-style restaurant at The Headquarters; and The Del is opening beer spot The Laundry Pub as part of its new sprawling reno.

“Close my eyes, she's somehow closer now / Softly smile, I know she must be kind / When I look in her eyes / She goes with me to a blossom world” The lyrics to the iconic Beach Boys song “Good Vibrations,” penned in part by Mike Love, are likely about a woman from long ago. But they could just as easily be about the flavors and sensations from his brand new rum, Club Kokomo Spirits. We had Love in-house along with his children who work for the spirits company to chat all things San Diego, award-winning rum, and good vibes on this week's Happy Half Hour. Also joining us was Geoff Longenecker of Seven Caves, the brand's distiller, who was shaking up mojitos for us in real-time. In case you aren't already aware, he's one of the preeminent spirits distillers in San Diego. “It's pretty damn good, isn't it?” Love whispered loudly to me, leaning in as he sipped. Indeed. Both Love and The Beach Boys have a storied history in San Diego. They shot the Pet Sounds album cover at the San Diego Zoo. They played countless concerts at the Rady's Shell, Del Mar Fairgrounds, and what was formerly Jack Murphy Stadium; Mike Love used to live in Rancho Santa Fe (where his daughter went to Cathedral Catholic); and, of course, the fact that it's distilled right here. Love's aspirations started years ago when he was enjoying a “perfect” mojito in New York with his wife, Jacquelyne, while humming the chorus of his co-authored hit song, “Kokomo.” His penchant for wordplay took over as he uttered the word “Kokomojito,” and ever since, Mike's dream has been to share the spirit of Kokomo with the world, he says. Currently, Club Kokomo Spirits makes award-winning rum and gin-based canned cocktails and a line of bottled rums. The company prides itself on using high-quality ingredients, including natural sugars and flavors, like a unique blend of demerara cane sugar rum and traditional Jamaican pot still rum. “Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya / Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama / Key Largo, Montego / Baby, why don't we go? / Jamaica…” Again, the song is about something else, right? Or…? Love says, “Kokomo is a state of mind.” He smiles and takes a sip, and grins once again.