Water Week
Brothers Marshall Malibu Surf Shop and Community Center, Inherent Bummer, Banning House Lodge, waterfront restaurants, MORE
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Surf shop
Surf shops are not known for innovation. The locale might change, but the sales model, floor plan, and early aughts surf movie playing off a boxy, busted TV by the register usually don’t. Same boards, wetsuits, and bucket of wax, fin keys, and leash strings (which is all you’re usually in for anyway) by the front door.
There’s one surf shop that’s figured it out, however: Brothers Marshall Malibu Surf Shop and Community Center. On the Pacific Coast Highway, Brothers Marshall is an actual brick-and-mortar model of success, in a business often described as “completely torched.” Proper wave wares are only the start. There’s always something interesting going on, and it’s all courtesy of the owners, brothers Chad and Trace Marshall.
Valley boys who had a heavy Hollywood phase but stayed Malibu-lineup legends throughout, brothers Trace and Chad Marshall are two of the more intriguing individuals in a city full of them. And the shop itself is also a vision of curated chaos. A wall of photo books from friends and fellow Malibu locals Mike D of the Beastie Boys, artist Barry McGee, and more on one side. A lineup of surfboards, all from local shapers, in the back. Custom graphic tees featuring in-house designs, printed on actual, high-quality blanks, boardshorts, and more all around.
And behind the register? Trace and Chad, who welcome every customer, collaborator, or wandering tourist in. They’ll tell stories about what went down in the lineup this morning, who yelled at who, who got the best wave, and how you just missed “Keanu in the store. Yeah, he stopped by earlier for a burrito at Country Kitchen next door. Vince Klyn, though, you know? He played Warchild in Point Break, yeah. He should be by later. He always comes by in the afternoons.” And don’t worry, there are still bars of wax and leash strings by the front door, too.
Brothers Marshall is one of the most excellent open doors along the PCH. Unless there’s surf. In that case, they’ll be closed and marked with a “Be Back Later” sign. The brothers will still be close by, though, just down the road at First Point. –James Royce
→ SHOP: Brothers Marshall Surf Shop and Community Center (Malibu) • 21237 Pacific Coast Hwy • Daily 10-6p.
WORK • Thursday Routine
One wave at a time
TRAVIS FERRÉ • founder & EIC • Inherent Bummer
Neighborhood you live & work in: California Heights
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
The main priority for me every day is to go surfing. It’s always the first task I try to tackle. Sometimes I get to it, and sometimes I don’t. But my livelihood and my liveliness are greatly increased when I get in the ocean.
I currently live and work in Long Beach — which, despite the name, hasn’t really been my kind of beach town or surf spot, since (long before I was born) 1941, when the breakwall went in. I’m from Huntington Beach, anyway, and since it’s one of the most consistent waves in Southern California (not the best, but definitely consistent), I go there instinctively. I know it’ll be rideable, and I know exactly where to go. If you need a surf shop, go to Kanvas by Katin on PCH in Surfside for FU Wax.
After I get in the ocean, everything else is easy. Phone calls, writing, producing, brainstorming — I run an independent surf media company called Inherent Bummer — so my day consists of wrangling various things to make that function, like making sure things are published and money is made, somehow, someway. Occasionally, I succeed.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Right this second I’m working on a surf film for Red Bull featuring three of their biggest surf stars, and publishing the always hungry Inherent Bummer newsletter, a growing bonsai that I love to prune. I’m also doing some consulting, writing a few articles for various magazines and always plotting for our annual surf and music festival during the US Open of Surfing in August called the Inherent Bummer Factory by the Sea. I’m also rebranding a legacy surf brand. For the majority of the last decade, I’ve been asked to “save surfwear and surf culture,” and it’s a Sisyphean boulder I’m always up for rolling.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Every Friday is Pizza Friday at my house, and I have a (nearly) three-year-old who makes sure we observe weekly. My wife and I find that Marlena in Naples is the best spot for that if we go out. And Thunderbolt is awesome for ordering in. Marlena has a gluten-free pizza that is good enough to order even if you love gluten. In the same neighborhood of Naples is Kihon, a sushi spot worth the drive for the tuna tasting. The staff is so kind.
Colossus on 2nd Street is a really great bakery and in another life I would spend a significant amount of time inside the historic bar Reno Room, a spot Bukowski was rumored to regularly play pool at thanks to their port worker and alcoholic friendly hours of 6a-2a every day. The booths are awesome and they fused a Mexican food restaurant to it (Cocorenos) and it has zero pretense.
Long Beach is a great town to be in your late 20s or early 30s. There are loud, gritty bars and live music venues. Less pretense than LA. Just raw art. Classic bars like The Pike and Joe Jost’s are what they are. Alex’s Bar is always hosting live punk music and Fingerprints record store is legendary and just moved into my neighborhood on Atlantic Avenue. I’m sort of aging out of that fun so I end up at places like Nonna Mercado in Cal Heights for bread and pastries and Oh La Vache Cheese Shop on 4th Street for epic sandwiches (released daily on their IG) and gourmet groceries. Beachwood is a brewery and distillery with a great pinball selection. Sala is an epic natural wine and coffee spot run by the nicest and most knowledgeable staff ever. I don’t like natural wine but the owner Derrick and his partner Brandee always know how to steer me in the right direction when I come in for vino. It’s also near Fingerprints, so a coffee and/or wine before a perusal of the record store is a day well spent.
There is a huge coffee culture here is seems — Coffee Drunk, Steelhead, Colossus, Nonna Mercado. But my absolute favorite is Rad Coffee: the coffee costs like two bucks and when you walk in early in the morning they’re blasting Circle Jerks or Adolescents, having a great time. They have a bunch of silly coffee with Fruity Pebbles in it (kids seem to love it), but if you just want a cup with no pretense and some punk rock, they’ve got you. It is the opposite of the monoculture coffee shop.
How about a little leisure or culture?
The farmer’s market on 2nd and PCH on Sunday morning is a staple for us. Weiser Farms, fresh fish thrown off the boat in Santa Barbara and driven straight down for Sunday’s market makes my family happy. I love when they have uni and Griffin just caught a record-breaking vermillion. It’s on the water in the marina and my daughter and I go watch stingrays between stalls or when it gets too crowded.
Any weekend getaways?
My wife and I were married at Bell’s in Los Alamos, easily the best restaurant in the state in my opinion. We love a trip up that way with a stop at Bart’s Books in Ojai, before eating at Bell’s for as many meals as possible before heading back south. Perfect way to spend a weekend without getting too far, but far enough to change the climate just a touch.
What was your last great vacation?
Our family’s secret getaway is Charleston, SC. A long jaunt sorta, but LAX will put ya there in like 4.5 hours. My wife is from North Carolina, but we have access to a family spot outside Charleston near the beach. Growing up a surfer I always thought South Carolina was a writeoff because there are no waves. Turns out there are, especially if you know where to look, and thanks to my friend Cam Richards — a pro surfer from Myrtle Beach, SC — I know where to look now. Such a drastically different beach and culture. I love feeling like a fish out of water while still being near the water.
Charleston is so old and historic and haunted and interesting. You can see where both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars started and you can eat oysters and the drinking culture is awesome. Cocktails taste better here. Amazing food and drinking town. As someone from CA, going there just feels like a stroll through your social studies book or something. There are great restaurants like Chez Nous and Vern’s, but there are so many more.
What store or service do you always recommend?
There is an old dry-cleaning and tailor spot on 2nd Street called Roxie’s Cleaners. They have become my tailor. I take all my new and old clothes there, and make them fit and repair holes in pockets. I never knew having a tailor could alter your life and your clothes for the better.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Objects
Elevated water accessories, 3 ways
ON THE WATER: Boat days are fun, in theory. And for those who are simply guests on a seaworthy vessel, perhaps in practice, too. But, for the host, they can be chaotic and stressful. Yes, there are the practical elements: Do we have enough gas? Are we stocked with life vests? But then there are the essentials: Do we have enough snacks and drinks packed in appropriate containers? Junedays (above) makes coolers for life on the water, helping take some of the work out of pre-voyage planning.
Unlike traditional, popular coolers, which are hard, bulky and heavy, Junedays’ water-repellent and lightweight coolers are designed with lugging in mind: up and down a dock, back and forth from the beach, to and from a park picnic. They’re also made with food-grade material and feature a modular storage system, so lots of different snacks and sodas fit in separate compartments, all in one cold bag. I’m a particular fan of the Winnie 2 Bottle Wine Cooler, which I pack with a bottle of bubbles and plenty of cups. It’s water days made easy.
→ SHOP: Winnie 2 Bottle Wine Cooler (Junedays) • from $34.
MAKE IT SPARKLE: Many people stock their wedding registry with high-thread count sheets and Ginori 1735 china sets, but when I got married, all I wanted was the Aarke Carbonator 3. Having lived many years with a hand-me-down SodaStream, I was ready for an upgrade from this Swedish home brand that defines elevated essentials, transforming mundane moments around the house (like carbonating water) via eye-catching sleek accessories.
I’m not sure I can say with full confidence the Carbonator’s (very fizzy) bubbles are any fizzier than my previous machine, but the bubbles were never the issue — it was the ugly, plastic office-looking device that had to sit on my counter. Aarke’s models are composed of stainless steel and in addition to plastic bottles, they also sell stainless steel and (for other models) glass water vessels. As soon as my Aarke arrived, I happily put my SodaStream on the Brooklyn stoop — still totally usable for someone who was blissfully unaware of this superior option they could display with pride on their kitchen counter.
→ SHOP: Carbonator 3 Kit Stainless Steel (Aarke) • $220.
COME FLOAT AWAY: As the saying on the needlepoint pillow says: “Any day on the water is a good day.” But it’s an even better day with the right pool float. In the category of elevated pool floats, the Frontgate Lazy Day Pool Seat reigns supreme. Shaped like a classic chair, legs dangle freely in the water, while bottoms are fully submerged, torso and arms completely free to hold drinks or books. The floats are insanely durable, capable of surviving summers going from pool to ocean and back again. They’re the buoyant upgrade to those plasticky Amazon-specials currently deflating in your pool. –Sylvie Florman
→ SHOP: Lazy Day Pool Seat (Frontgate) • from $77.
GETAWAYS • Catalina
Great lodge
Perched on the spine of a ridge, the Banning House Lodge sits a couple hundred feet above the tiny village of Two Harbors in Catalina. It’s the last outpost on that ridge, which extends up another 2000 feet before dipping and winding a full 23 miles to the town of Avalon.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, waterfront
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best in LA and surrounds. Paid subscribers access the complete Nines archive.
Nobu Malibu (Malibu), Peruvian-Japanese, yellowtail jalapeño, celeb spotting, reserve (best tables available by phone: 310-317-9140)