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WORK • Thursday Routine
Lifestyle business
ALLEN SANFORD • founding partner • BeachLife Festival & California Surf Club
Neighborhood you live in: The South Bay
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
The sun is shining on the Pacific Ocean, the California Surf Club is getting ready for the weekend, the BeachLife Grotto is preparing fresh fish, and the BeachLife crew is working to build our festival.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Taking care of people, both customers and our staff. After a cup of coffee with my wife, kissing my baby, and getting our seven-year-old daughter off to school, I’ll plug in and start my work for the day. I’m translating the lifestyle I live (Beachlife) into the businesses we have, whether it be developing our rum, helping create a menu, booking bands, or designing t-shirts. As long as the subject matter contemplates the ocean, I’m into it.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Hitting the Surf Club for sure (love me some oceanside dining) then perhaps sushi at Black Bamboo Sushi on the hill, which is owned and operated by an amazing small business owner who I love to support. I love their rolls so much that we created one down at the Surf Club as a compliment to them. It’s important for me to support small businesses — I don’t believe in the big box stores, and we have more power than we think with where we spend our money.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Between building a festival and a club, I take my daughter surfing and to ballet. My two girls are my passion and my hobby. Surfing is not my hobby, it’s my escape. Feeling nature, being with friends or alone out there, the salt, the wind, the water, the cold… it makes me feel more alive than anything else, and is the only place I can truly be present.
Any weekend getaways?
Santa Ynez, Mammoth, Alisal Ranch, or a drive up the coast. I grew up going to Alisal before it was a buttoned-up fancy retreat. It shaped my love for California ranch culture, and was the inspiration behind BeachLife Ranch. When we’re up there, we’ll drive over to Jalama for the day and surf, then retreat back to the countryside for some BBQ and horse watching.
What was your last great vacation?
As surfers, we grew up going on surf trips, but when you have families, you can’t necessarily disappear to Fiji for seven days. So we got 10 families together, and decided to go to the Palm Springs Surf Club, where the surfers got to have waves, and the kids got to play around and enjoy some open grass fields, slides, and hangs. Morning surfs, followed by golf, yoga, and family time, is a recipe for success under the cool October desert sun.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
A new surfboard! I don’t necessarily spend money on material things, but my secret love is surfboards, and I’m always looking for a new shape that will help this old guy surf better. Though I’m a traditionalist and I like classic stuff better than new stuff, that thinking doesn’t translate to the amazing advancements shapers like Pyzel have pioneered to help us surf better, more, and increase stoke levels.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I serve as the chairman of The Police & Fire Foundation and president of the Riviera Village Foundation. Locality is important to me. BeachLife also supports Surfrider, Heal the Bay, and anything that mixes community with our beach lifestyle.
ASK FOUND
Three PROMPTS for which we seek your immediate attention:
What’s your go-to spot for oysters?
What’s your go-to spot for jewelry repair?
What was your getaway hotel of choice this winter?
Hit reply or email found@itsfoundla.com with more answers or questions.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, Echo Park
Our 9 favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. See also: Chinatown, South Bay.
Ototo (Allison Ave), izakaya w/ Japanese bar food hits, best sake list in town, walk-ins only