Mikuna: The Rise of a Pioneering Protein Powder
By Amélie Dieux   |   March 12, 2024

Chocho is the new name that will soon be on everyone’s lips – and in their morning smoothie. Chocho is the mysterious word behind the company Mikuna, and a product whose properties and benefits will amaze you.   In 2017, Founder and CEO of Mikuna (which means “to nourish your body through food” in Kichwa […]

Take a Bite with The Grazing Place
By Amélie Dieux   |   November 7, 2023

Mother of two children, wife, and business owner with a chemical engineering degree, Monica Vuchkova is the quintessential new modern woman. Based in Santa Barbara, and thanks to her childhood in Bulgaria, food heritage, lifestyle, and her love of people, she started her company The Grazing Place in 2021. She creates exquisite gourmet boards for […]

Learning the Way of a Painless Life Through Spinefulness
By Amélie Dieux   |   October 3, 2023

Judi Silverman, a longtime local of Santa Barbara, is a woman to meet! Her kindness shines through her personality and her approach to life will make you want to learn about what she’s teaching. “I am a body posture teacher,” she expressed. It’s a technique that will change your way of being and your life. […]

The Aspen Institute: Leading Its Way to Santa Barbara
By Amélie Dieux   |   August 22, 2023

On a beautiful morning not long ago, the Aspen Institute held a meeting at the Santa Barbara Club. The institute’s ex-vice president, Charlie Firestone, was on hand to cheerily meet and greet the attendees and introduce the panel, before diving into the meeting’s rhetorical raison d’être; might the storied think tank find in Santa Barbara […]

A Fundamental Example for Earth Day
By Amélie Dieux   |   April 25, 2023

Walking in the grass, feeling the morning dew, hearing the serenity of the place – we might think of a beautiful park surrounded by nature, our senses alive with feeling. But instead here we are back in 1994 – when the Devereux Slough was still a golf course.  What so intrigued a businessman that he […]

Waterhouse Gallery Takes a New Stand in Montecito
By Amélie Dieux   |   April 4, 2023

After having contemporary, abstract, and fine art galleries color the town of Montecito, there’s another one on the horizon ready to captivate your senses. The Waterhouse Gallery, located at the Coast Village Plaza (1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 3, formerly the Scoops store), is where traditional contemporary works engage your art spirit, delight your eyes, […]

A New Conscious Way of Creating Dips and Salsas
By Amélie Dieux   |   March 21, 2023

It all started a year ago with a spontaneous conversation around food here in the heart of Montecito. Suddenly, Jennifer Markham (owner, founder of Oaks Culinary Group and SkinnyDips & Salsas) and Bryan Goligoski (culinary artist), both residents of Montecito, realized that there wasn’t a variety of healthy seed-based dips and salsas available on the […]