Featured Business Review

High-spirited Escondido couple’s craft vodka finds its niche among giants

Spirit is where it’s at for Southeast Escondido couple Kerstyn and Michael Zepeda. Spirit as in enthusiasm for an unique product that has turned their business into the headwinds of an up-and-coming lifestyle. Featured recently at the 13th Annual Coeur de Cuisine benefit at California Center for the Arts, Escondido, the Zepeda’s recently launched Bella Mar Spirits vodka went down smoothly with the gala set….


Hey Deer Springs Equestrian, Feed & Supply

Deer Springs Equestrian, along with Deer Springs Feed & Supply, at 2333 N. Twin Oaks Rd., San Marcos (760-744-9600), is a horse boarding and training facility unlike any other in Southern California. Situated on 21 acres in the historic Discovery Valley, San Marcos, Deer Springs gives the horse and rider the freedom to pursue their riding goals in a relaxed and spacious environment. With a…


Stone Glassblowing back from the ashes

WHO: Stone & Glass WHAT: GRAND RE-OPENING WHERE: 629 W. Grand Ave., Escondido 92029 WHEN:  1 P.M. TO 7 P.M. SATURDAY, NOV. 11 WHY: Long story, see below… Welcome to the world of unintended consequences, and just plain bad luck. Or maybe making lemonade out of messed-up lemons department. Internationally recognized hot glass and mixed media artist, James Stone, had a great studio in a…


Want to escape? Take a stab at Clue Ave.

Part game, part theater, part team-building exercise, escape rooms are taking off around the world, and that includes Escondido and San Marcos. Growth has been explosive. The number of permanent rooms world-wide has gone from zero at the outset of 2010 to at least 2,800 worldwide today, according to MarketWatch calculations based on rooms registered to escape-room directories. The concept was birthed in Japan, spread…


Modest proposal: Support The Grapevine

The Escondido Grapevine website has proven successful, reaching 500 to 6,000 visitors daily, and gaining national recognition for quality and direction. Now, it’s time to do more, but that takes community sponsorship. Sponsorship ads can be successful on many levels. Sponsors receive maximum and positive community exposure, reaching local residents in the most popular and credible online format available today. Aside from getting out the…


The Hair Lounge is where style meets grace

There’s a new Hair Lounge in town. High-end, yet accessible, and approachable, “It’s all about the talent here,” said Russ Fromm, who recently purchased the cutting edge salon along with his wife Roberta Angelica. Talented hair stylists are hard to find, but it’s not hard to find The Hair Lounge, Escondido Promenade’s ode to happy hair treated with loving care. “We are very fortunate here,…


Drought-tolerant plants bloom at Waterwise Botanicals mega-nursery

There’s a drought on don’t you know, and Tom Jesch, founder and general manager of Waterwise Botanicals on Old Highway 395 knows it all too well. Waterwise, as the name implies, specializes in drought-tolerant plants and succulents. And when you say specialize, it means one of the most amazing displays of such landscaping materials here, there or anywhere. “Being water wise doesn’t mean it has…


Introducing Dr. Mark Starr and 21st Century Pain and Sports Medicine

No pain, no gain may be one of the oldest saying in sports, meaning athletes for the longest time have been challenged by coping with that pain. Pain management is essential for everybody from athletes seeking to keep going to regular folk trying to deal with day-to-day living. Mark Starr, MD (H), has studied and pioneered some of the most efficacious pain management techniques. This…