Leucadia's charm is in no small part because someone planted eucalyptus trees for railroad ties, but that wood turned out to be useless. So they just let those peely giants grow and grow, which is why the Leucadia stretch of PCH is now a majestic leafy canopy into what Troy calls "the mood"—not a city, but a state of mind. Spiritually Spanish, no sidewalks, dirt under your toenails, more than its share of people who may or may not use crystals as financial advisors.

Leucadia's pretty grand. Plus, the neighborhood used to be called "Merle," which we can all agree is fairly fantastic.

This "mood" made it the perfect setting for a Bebemos Golden Hour at Mario Guerra's Spanish tapas spot on North Coast Highway.

Happy Half Hour co-hosts Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant, along with Bebemos co-founder Preston Caffrey, indulge in a Bebemos Golden Hour and Spanish tapas at Valentina. Valentina GM Todd Henderson and Executive Chef Enrique Ñol walk the HHH crew through the menu: Potato pave done Thomas Keller-style in twelve to eighteen layers and fried into what they cheekily calls patatas bravas; jamón ibérico croquettes that give last night's dinner a second (and better) life… and, tequila; a matrimonio of salt- and vinegar-cured anchovies that pairs well with vermouth… and, tequila; pan con tomate that arrives as a Catalonia versus the rest of Spain political argument (plus tequila); salmorejo with blue crab; mushroom migas with an egg yolk the color of 1980s Tang. The crew also clinked champagne courtesy of Preston's wife, Shiloh, of We Drink Bubbles.

Tune in to find out which dish won the Leucadia fantasy draft, why Valentina's vibe and food are unique, and which of its dishes pairs best with Bebemos, the tequila of San Diego.

Discover more at San Diego Magazine. Follow Bebemos HERE. Follow Valentina HERE.

On this episode of Happy Half Hour, Relic Bakery owners Samantha Bird and Derek Hadden pulled up with a selection of their best fare including Crunchwrap Supreme croissants, paté en croûte, an XO sausage wrapped in laminated dough, and a tahini strawberry cookie.

Derek and Samantha share their Midwestern pandemic love story and discuss their culinary training in Copenhagen which includes a bike crash outside of Noma (Chef Rene Redzepi's restaurant) that remains the most expensive night in bakery history. We also learn how the pair ended up in a 600-square-foot San Diego apartment with butter baked into the walls and an $800 electricity bill.

Offering a wholesale delivery service out of their butter-baked apartment (they bribed their neighbors with croissants), they soon graduated to a ghost kitchen. Last fall, they opened a proper café on 15th Street in East Village with a beer and wine license.

Listen to or watch the full episode now learn more about how Relic Bakery became one of San Diego's best.

Discover more at San Diego Magazine. Follow Relic Bakery HERE.

The Blink-182 muse who grew up feeding Kelly Slater and Rob Machado at his mom's North Shore Hawaii house debuts Breakers Cafe, Bar & Grill

Benji Weatherley walked into San Diego Magazine and immediately made everyone in the room feel like they'd known him their whole lives—which, if you grew up surfing in San Diego, you basically did.

The Momentum Generation kid; the guy whose mom essentially ran a free hotel for Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and Shane Dorian while they were terrorizing Pipeline; the dude Tom DeLonge wrote "Mutt" about while they were roommates in a PB apartment—that guy is now a restaurateur in Encinitas.

Breakers Cafe, Bar & Grill is part Hawaiian comfort food joint, part surf museum, and part live music venue with three stages and a speakeasy called the Hideout that you get into by saying "snob" backwards. But the road to get here was genuinely brutal. Weatherley sold his house in Leucadia to save the original Breakers in Hawaii, but it ended up closing anyway.

When he eventually moved to Encinitas, he began work on his new restaurant, deciding to remodel the space by hand and opening it in July 2025. An eviction notice arrived two weeks after, right when daily sales hit $7,000 and was followed by a battle over his liquor license. After agreeing to teach hula dancing, his liquor license was approved and Breakers Cafe, Bar & Grill became a reality.

During the episode he also shares why cooking saved him more than surfing ever did. Tune in to hear the whole tale.