Wait! Is it true the acclaimed Taco María is shutting down Saturday?
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 26. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at the latest local news and events.
OK, so I know Taco María has been serving up plates of deliciousness since 2013 at OC Mix at SoCo Collection and racked up countless accolades along the way, but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet to try it out for myself. I’d taken notice of its Michelin star and had resolved to visit soon, but time has just about run out, according to this L.A. Times story by Cindy Carcamo.
Alas, chef Carlos Salgado has decided to close Taco María, and the last evening of service has been set for this Saturday, Carcamo reports. It’s already booked through the weekend, so I’m too late for that.
However, there is a positive note to Salgado’s announcement, as he says he intends to relocate to a space with a bigger dining room that’s a “better fit,” he told the food writer. He does plan to stay in his native Orange County, so that’s another plus.
A look at this summer’s prix fixe menu is a glimpse at the Alta California cuisine the chef champions. “The chef’s restaurant nixtamalizes and makes all of Taco María’s masa products from heirloom corn grown by small family farms in Mexico,” Carcamo notes in her story.
The late Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold named Taco María The Times’ Restaurant of the Year in 2018, she also notes, and Taco Maria has been included on the Los Angeles Times 101 Best Restaurants list every year since.
But although it at first looked promising, the restaurant’s 28-seat location has not been ideal, the chef said, as the center evolved to offer different services to visitors.
“The suit was never much of a flattering fit, but it served us well,” Salgado told Carcamo. “It didn’t match our intentions, match our vibe. I feel like we kind of grew up and have been in need of a more suitable space for a while now.”
And so, he will take a breather and consider other locations for Taco María.
“He’d like to find a location with a larger interior dining room that can accommodate 50 seats with a separate sit-down bar,” Carcamo writes, and he’d like more space for food prep and storage. A dedicated restaurant and bountiful parking would be just the ticket. “You know, like a full grown-up restaurant,” Salgado said.
Salgado assures those of us who have so far missed out that we still have hope.
“It’s not the end,” he told Carcamo. “It’s not anyone’s last chance to eat at Taco María.”
MORE NEWS
• A pair of stories published by the L.A. Times this week reveal the extent to which Disney execs held sway over the Anaheim City Council for years and the public and personal costs involved. The first is an illuminating deep dive by Times reporters Adam Elmahrek, Gabriel San Román and Nathan Fenno, who interviewed a former member of the City Council, Jordan Brandman in “A politician’s downfall reveals a Disney exec and a secret ‘cabal’s’ power over Anaheim.” The same reporters also penned a companion piece, “A politician allegedly said he wanted to shoot up Anaheim City Hall. Officials kept it quiet,” another must-read to get the full picture.
• Actor Megan Fox appeared to be caught in the crossfire Thursday during a confrontation between an Orange County Fair-goer and the security guard protecting her and musician Machine Gun Kelly, according to this report in the L.A. Times. “There were no reports made to OC Fair security about the incident,” a spokesperson for the Orange County Fair and Event Center said Friday in a statement to The Times. “Security at the OC Fair is provided to all our guests for their safety and enjoyment.”
• The Orange County Board of Supervisors yesterday approved a $4.5-million settlement for the mother of two children allegedly sexually abused for years by a family friend, City News Service reported. The board voted 4-1 for the settlement, with Board Chairman Don Wagner casting the lone dissenting vote. The issue in the case was whether social workers properly notified Anaheim police about suspicions from the mother of the two victims that they were being abused, according to court records.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND COURTS
• Stephen William Beal, 64, was convicted Wednesday of planting the homemade package bomb that detonated at an Aliso Viejo day spa in 2018, killing his ex-girlfriend and injuring two others. Ildiko Krajnyak, 48, was killed by a blast on May 15, 2018, when she opened a cardboard box she found at the Magyar Kozmetika day spa, according to testimony at Beal’s trial in downtown Los Angeles.
• Federal officials Monday announced the arrest of a third suspect in a 2022 firebombing attack at a Costa Mesa Planned Parenthood, following the arraignment of the two individuals already under arrest for the incident. The third suspect, Xavier Batten, 21, of Florida, was arrested on Friday by FBI agents and is being held without bail.
• A new jewelry theft scheme is afoot in Newport Beach, its police department announced via social media in recent days. Authorities said they have received reports of distraction thefts of jewelry and watches that have been stolen from victims who were approached by strangers while running errands, walking in their neighborhoods or biking. The thefts have largely been reported in the Newport Coast and San Joaquin Hills Road areas, along with the Crystal Cove shopping centers, but a police spokesman told the Daily Pilot the trend appears to be new countywide.
• Three males were arrested Saturday night following a brazen heist at the Kay Jewelers in Irvine, according to a social media post by the Irvine Police Department. Officials said the three men entered the store at around 7 p.m. and began smashing display cases before taking off in an awaiting four-door Honda with $55,000 in merchandise. They did not get far, as they were found by police “off the 5 Freeway at Jamboree,” according to the report. One adult, 21-year-old Keonte Blockmon of Moreno Valley, and two juveniles were arrested, and the briefly stolen jewelry was returned to the retailer.
• Lake Forest City Councilman Benjamin Yu, 40, has been charged with allegations of domestic violence, according to a City News report. Yu, elected to the council in November, was charged July 7 with corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and false imprisonment, both misdemeanors, according to court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 23 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. It’s not Yu’s first run-in with the law; Irvine police arrested him for driving under the influence of alcohol on Oct. 11, 2021, and he was charged with two DUI misdemeanor counts in that case. He was granted diversion for military veterans on May 23 and has a court date Aug. 3 to show proof of enrollment in the military diversion program.
• A San Clemente woman was arrested July 19 with three others on a nine-count federal indictment alleging they defrauded lenders and investors out of millions of dollars, CNS reports. Tammy Le, 48, the former owner and chief executive of CareAccess MSO Inc. in Cerritos was arrested without incident, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The indictment alleges they defrauded lenders and investors out of millions of dollars via false claims that the owner’s struggling business was booming. Also arrested were: Macy Zia, 50, of Fullerton, a former senior accounting manager at CareAccess; Galen Clark, 31, of Simi Valley, a former CareAccess information technology manager; and Chris Ruiz, 52, of Pasadena, the owner of Auxilium Health Network, an Arcadia-based independent physician association.
BUSINESS BUZZ
• PacWest Bancorp is merging with its Santa Ana-based rival, the smaller Banc of California, it was announced Tuesday, according to this Bloomberg report published in the L.A. Times. The banks said in a statement that Centerbridge Partners and Warburg Pincus will invest $400 million as part of the deal to obtain about 20% of the combined company and warrants to buy more shares. PacWest stockholders will get 0.66 of a share of Banc of California common stock for each of their shares. The banks will sell assets with the aim of repaying $13 billion of wholesale borrowings, the companies said. Shares of Banc of California surged as much as 22% after the Wall Street Journal reported the pair were in talks. PacWest shares closed down 27%.
• The hotel workers strike rolled into another week, this time moving into different spots, including Laguna Cliffs Marriott Hotel Resort & Spa in Dana Point, which has been the target of criticism from the union and pro-labor lawmakers. The latter, in a letter issued earlier this month, called out Laguna Cliffs for hiring temporary workers to break the strike and for racial disparities in hiring, according to this L.A. Times analysis of the ongoing strike.
• The details are so far hazy, but Disneyland has reached a class-wide settlement in a federal lawsuit accusing it of deceiving people who bought “Dream Key” ($1,399) annual passes thinking they would b given unlimited access to the park only to find that they were blocked in favor of daily-pass purchasers, according to this story by our L.A. Times colleague Keri Blankinger. The parties have until the end of August to hash out the fine points.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Fountain Valley officials on Saturday celebrated the opening of the city’s new 1.12-acre Moiola Park, which stands on the Finch Avenue site of the former Fred Moiola Elementary, a school that served students from kindergarten through eighth grade but was shuttered in 2012. The namesake for the park was a former Fountain Valley city councilman who died in an airplane crash in 1963.
• Two local artists set up canvases in Angels Stadium one night last week to capture the essence of America’s pastime live. They were there due to a collaboration between the team’s leadership and the nonprofit Laguna Outreach for Community Arts, reports Daily Pilot staff writer Sara Cardine in a feature story about the unique happening. Fernando Micheli and Hugo Rivera, who both run galleries in Laguna Beach, were the featured artists.
SPORTS
• Don’t trade two-way star Shohei Ohtani, L.A. Times columnist Dylan Hernández implores owner Arte Moreno and the Angels’ baseball operations department in this look at Ohtani’s prospects and apparent desire to stay with the Halos through the playoffs this year. “This is my sixth year,” Ohtani said. “My feelings haven’t changed about wanting to go to the playoffs with this team and win once we’re there.”
• The L.A. Rams have reported to a Newport Beach hotel to start training camp, reports the L.A. Times, and their coach Sean McVay, 37, said Tuesday that he and his wife, Veronika, are expecting the birth of a baby boy in late October. The Rams will have acclimation workouts the next few days and hold their first public training camp workout at UC Irvine on Saturday.
• Tony Ciarelli and his late brother, Rocky, will be enshrined in the CIF Southern Section Hall of Fame, it was announced last week. In a decorated career as a throws coach in track and field, Ciarelli helped his athletes accrue a combined 32 section divisional and Masters Meet titles. He produced 52 state qualifiers in the shot put and discus throw. Those athletes brought home a total of 33 state medals. Rocky Ciarelli, who died unexpectedly at the age of 66 in February, guided the Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball program to the CIF Division 1 and the CIF State Southern California Regional Division I titles in his final season in 2019. After graduating from Huntington Beach in 1974, he would go on to coach the Oilers from 1985 to 2008. He coached a total of 32 years in prep volleyball, including his time at Edison (1982-84) and Newport Harbor (2015-19).
• The USA Diving Junior Nationals, featuring the best junior divers from across the country, got underway Sunday and will continue through Aug. 1 The competitions are held at Marguerite Aquatic Complex, 27474 Casta Del Sol, Mission Viejo.
CALENDAR THIS
• Choreographers and dancers accepted into this year’s program offered through the National Choreographers Initiative will showcase the work they’ve accomplished over the past few weeks on Saturday, July 29, at the Irvine Barclay Theater. Tickets are available in-person and via live stream, with in-person tickets between $20 to $60 and virtual tickets at $20. For more information about the showcase or to purchase tickets for either option, visit thebarclay.org.
• #SymphonyInTheCities returns to Mike Ward Community Park Woodbridge in Irvine on Saturday, July 29. The evening starts with family-friendly activities at 5:30 p.m., with the free concert following at 7 p.m. Pack lawn chairs and blankets. The park is located at 20 Lake Road, Irvine. Additional details can be found here.
• The second annual Milpa Music Festival at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano takes place this weekend, from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 2 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The family-friendly event will pay homage to the legacy of the land on which the farm is located while highlighting the unique flavors, colors, textures and scents of “milpa” crops: corn, beans and squash. Milpa Music Festival will feature 13 musical acts that are committed and passionate about the environment, sustainable agriculture, and food security. One-day tickets purchased in advance are $45 for adults; $15 for children ages 5 to 12. At the door, $50 for adults; $20 for children. Two-day tickets are $70 for adults; $25 for children in advance. At the door they are $80 for adults and $30 per child for the two-day pass. Children under 5 admitted free. You can purchase tickets here.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Thank you for reading today’s newsletter. If you have a memory or story about Orange County, I would love to read and share it in this space. Please try to keep your submission to 100 words or less and include your name and current city of residence.
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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