The Editors

Ted Owen’s Trade Secrets

by The Editors on October 16, 2008

In these tough business times who better to turn to than the president of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce Ted Owen. In his interview with North County Times Business Editor Jeff Rowe, Owen had this to say:

And a bad economy requires business people to talk to each other more than in a good economy. Much of what we are going through now is fear, which to me is an acronym for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” . . . Greed got us into this trouble; fear is keeping us in it. Small businesses have money and jobs, but they are waiting for a signal that things are OK.

And our favorite bit of advice (if only we sold advertising): “Keep advertising and promoting as normal —- if customers don’t see ads, they think the company is out of business.”

Whatever happens, keep advertising. . .

[Link: North County Times]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Original Broken Yolk Cafe Moves North

by The Editors on October 16, 2008

Broken 2Looking for a new breakfast spot this weekend in Carlsbadistan? The Original Broken Yolk is becoming a fast favorite for suburbanites on the Eastern Front.

Normally we don’t go much east of the 5 for breakfast, but when we heard that Pacific Beach’s world famous The Original Broken Yolk Cafe had opened a new restaurant in Carlsbad we had to check it out.

When we arrived there was a line out the door and a 15 minute wait for a table. Having opened on September 2, 2008 it seems word of this new breakfast spot is traveling quickly.

The menu is loaded with breakfast and lunch goodness, and the space is perfect for restaurant. When they say “We’ve got Huevos” they’re not fronting. With more than twenty omelets, it’s a difficult selection process but we opted for The Mom (one of only a handful of vegetarian options): a four-egg omelet featured avocado, mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, and alfalfa sprouts served with a choice of homefries, hash browns, fresh fruit, rice pilaf, or beans and either a biscuit, blueberry muffin, flour tortillas, or toast.

Mom LetteThe biscuits were large and dense but still flakey, while the homefries compared well to standard diner fare. Topped with real sour cream and salsa, the Mom was a tasty traditional-style omelette with the sauteed veggies and cheese folded into the center. It was good, but next time we’ll go with the Cisco Kid (Ortega chile and jack cheese) because in our opinion less is more if you’re folding the eggs around the filling rather than cooking them in the eggs.

We also tried the California Breakfast Burrito (pictured left) with two eggs scrambled with bacon, cheddar cheese, home fries, beans and avocado. Served with rice and beans the burrito was a nice alternative to the grease-laden ones at drive-through joints around the county.

In the weeks since opening day, however, The Broken Yolk still had a few things to work out. After waiting more than 25 minutes for our food to arrive, it showed up pretty cool. The side of beans on our breakfast burrito was cold to the touch. From others we spoke to, ours was not the only cool meal to be delivered that morning.

Broke BurrThe service personnel were friendly and helpful. Our waiter was quick to get General Manager Cathy Morse when we mentioned our food was cold and she offered to send it back to be re-heated. When we told her that unfortunately we did not have the time to wait she took care of us graciously and politely.

With 29 years in the San Diego breakfast business we’re betting that in the weeks since we visited The Broken Yolk Cafe they’ve sorted out some of their food service issues and are running much more smoothly and if not, we wouldn’t mind, because the food is that good.

The Original Broken Yolk Cafe
www.wevegothuevos.com
7670 El Camino Real (click for map),
Carlsbad, CA
92009
760-943-8182

Price: $$ (Entrees $12-$14)
Breakfast & Lunch: Daily 6am – 3pm
Broken Yolk on Urbanspoon

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Invitrogen Stalls Shareholder Meeting

by The Editors on October 15, 2008

The meeting we were planning on attending tomorrow at Invitrogen’s Carlsbadistan headquarters has been postponed until October 28 thanks to some amendments to their Applied Biosystems buyout agreement. The company wants to give shareholders more time to consider the deal.

Phew. There are a few details of the $6.4 billion buyout that we wanted to study up on. (Just kidding.)

[Link: Forbes.com]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Pizza Port Medals Up At Denver Beer Fest

by The Editors on October 15, 2008

Carlsbadistan’s Pizza Port Brewery came home from the Great American Beer Festival last weekend loaded down with medals, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune .

The Port won five total: silver medals for their Night Rider Imperial Stout and Party Pants Pilsener, and bronzes for Cow Stout, Port Truck Stout and State Beach Blonde.

That’s more medals than any other brewery in San Diego. Nice work.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Callaway Hooks Bigger Losses

by The Editors on October 15, 2008

callaway280.jpgWith the entire financial market falling down around us, it’s no wonder that Carlsbadistan’s golf industry is getting hard hit this fall. Now, the Big Bertha, Callaway Golf, has announced that there losses in the third quarter are going to be larger than expected.

“The significant deterioration in global economies over the last several weeks of third quarter have finally impacted what had been a record year for Callaway Golf,” Chief Executive George Fellows said in a statement. . . Callaway now expects revenue for the third quarter of $213 million, down from $236 million last year. The net loss for the quarter is expected to be 12 cents to 14 cents a share.

That doesn’t sound good.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Camp Pendleton Fires Up The Night Sky

by The Editors on October 14, 2008

fix_5681.jpg

Carlsbadistan -based writer/photographer Sean O’Brien has posted some amazing photos of the Juliet Fire on his blog. Check them out to see just how close the Camp Pendleton fire looks at night.

[Link: NightGlowWindow]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Invitrogen’s Got A New Machine

by The Editors on October 14, 2008

Our favorite Carslbad-based life sciences company, Invitrogen, has just introduced a new bench-top instrument called the Countess automated cell counter, according to a story in Pharmaceutical Business Review .

According to the company, the Countess instrument: counts live and dead cells, calculates percent viability, measures average cell size, calculates dilutions for downstream applications and uses just 10 microliters of sample.

As usual, we have no idea what they’re talking about, but if it’s good for their stock price then it’s fine by us.

[Link: Pharmaceutical Business Review]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Perfect Segway Between Home and Work

by The Editors on October 14, 2008

z130d175d2902f4bc882574e100719061.jpgCarlsbadistan’s John Frisbie was sick of the gasoline bills he was paying to get from him home in Carlsbad to his job at Rady Children’s Hospital in Kearny Mesa, riding the Coaster was fine, but all those busses just wasn’t doing it for him according to a story in the North County Times. That’s when he got a Segway scooter.

Frisbie said it took him about 15 minutes to learn how to ride the Segway, which is balanced by gyroscopes to keep the rider upright. Frisbie said he’s fallen only once, and that it was his fault. . . “You have to make sure the tires don’t leave the ground. Make sure to take bumps slowly, or the gyroscopes will get off and you’ll fall off,” he said. . . . His new toy is attracting plenty of attention. Passing drivers honk and wave as he rolls by. He’s had people turn their cars around and ask him where he got the Segway.

Sadly, there is absolutely no way to ride a Segway without looking like a total tool. But don’t tell John we said that.

[Link: North County Times]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

One Less Golf Company In Carlsbadistan

by The Editors on October 13, 2008

ashworth.jpgToday Taylor-Made Adidas Golf announced that they will acquire the struggling Carlsbad-based golf apparel maker Ashworth for $72.8 million.

The two parties announced Oct. 13 reaching a definitive agreement that calls for TMAG to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Ashworth for $1.90 per share in cash, a 9.8 percent premium from its Oct. 10 close of $1.73. . . . “This acquisition underscores our commitment to continued growth in the golf category,” said Herbert Haier, chairman and CEO of Adidas AG, TMAG’s parent company.

The purchase price includes $46.3 million in Ashworth debt. The company lost $9.6 million in the third quarter. Sounds like a winner, huh?

[Link: Golfweek]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Union-Tribune Picks Kulchin And Blackburn

by The Editors on October 13, 2008

To decide who they are going to endorse San Diego’s traditionally conservative Union-Tribune sits all six candidates down with “a member of the editorial board” and lets them make their case for being elected. After that sit down the U-T selected Ann Kulchin and Keith Blackburn.

Here is some of their reasoning for Kulchin:

Kulchin has a long record of service to her community. And while the prospect of new blood is always appealing, the 76-year-old hasn’t done anything to warrant her removal. She should be re-elected for what we’d respectfully suggest should be her final term.

And their Keith Blackburn logic goes like this:

A family man and longtime resident of Carlsbad, Blackburn has a rare and useful blend of service in three fields: public, private and philanthropic. As a police sergeant who has been on the job for more than two decades, he understands the city better than most – and in ways that many other residents wouldn’t be able to appreciate. He has pledged to resign from the Police Department if elected. Blackburn is also a successful businessman, and he is the head of a family charitable foundation that donates funds to local community organizations.

We figure if Ann Kulchin only wants one more go round she might as well start her retirement this year. And as much as we absolutely adore Keith Blackburn as the handsome, polite, well-spoken, thoughtful policeman straight out of central casting, we really don’t like the thought of the managing partner of a “$30 million real estate investment company” deciding the future of Carlsbad, no matter how much he says he loves “open space,” pristine beaches, and our “quaint Village.”

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →