New Tribe, New Vibe
If you’ve ever come across a mouth-watering scent during your hike at Black’s Beach or the Saigon Trail, chances are you’ve detected the cuisine over at Mustangs and Burros. The adventurous La Jolla eatery waits amidst the five-star Estancia Hotel, serving up a southwest cuisine alongside a Hacienda-style décor. Their menu consisting of top-notch food in a casual dining environment make this restaurant fit for any occasion among friends and family.
Described as a coastal inspired cuisine with a California twist, Mustangs and Burros pride themselves on their unique menu combining Baja and Mediterranean flavors. The culinary team prioritizes cooking sustainable and local ingredients, sourcing from over 50 California farms daily. The establishment’s environmental ideals can easily be spotted within their dishes, as Executive Chef Vincent Savignano notes a crowd favorite, the Tomahawk: “The story and philosophy really meshed with our overall goal of what we wanted Mustangs to represent.” This special dish is a grass-fed, free-range, non-GMO antibiotic piece of meat all the way from Tasmania, Australia, which Savignano declares could be ordered based on the presentation alone!
While experiencing the unique dishes and offerings of the restaurant, what really sets Mustangs and Burros apart from the rest is the communal atmosphere. They have broken away from the conventional means of seating to create a welcoming environment creating a sense of branching out, by palette especially. “Our plates are designed for sharing which lets the diner break away from the normal ordering structure. Our casual dining style brings diners together to sample and taste different things they might not otherwise try,” he describes. The combination of menu offerings and cozy seating gift the La Jolla community a unique bonding experience through cuisine.
Just beyond the kitchen walls of lies a culinary team that has just as much fun crafting the plates as the patrons do enjoying them. Savignano recounts, “One of the most exciting things was getting to know my team and being able to combine all our unique culinary flavors to make a new menu that’s uniquely us. There’s a little bit of each of our team member’s personality in our new menu and a true diversity in the flavor profiles.” With a happy staff placed among a playful cuisine and relaxed atmosphere, Mustangs and Burros has created nothing short of a gem among La Jolla.
Experience a fabulous new happy hour every day from 4-6PM with discounted appetizers, wine, beer and cocktails! Complementary valet offered.
Volume With a View
Having inherited his family home, a typical fisherman's cottage with an ocean view in Bird Rock, David Shepardson had a clear vision of how he would transform the home into a great view itself. Through a year and a half process involving both labor and love, Shepardson and his team put the pieces of the puzzle together, and created a home with drama, volume, and attention to detail that you could not overlook if you tried.
Shepardson had been in the real estate business for 25 years before he branched out into home re-designing. His career took off in San Francisco, where he worked on furnishing homes that had already been structurally finished. When his family home in San Diego was passed along to him, he knew he had a special project on his hands—a home he wanted to rebuild from the ground-up. It’s his most treasured project to date, as he describes, “It’s very artistic. It truly is, it’s a jewel.” Shepardson credits his dedicated team, architect Hector Magnus and contractor Doug Chapman especially. Shepardson praises, “He [Hector] and I hit it off quite well, he really listened to the vision I had for the place.” His wife, professional organizer Catherine Carpizo was also a contributor to the project, as was Hector’s wife Pamela Magnus who incorporated eco-friendly features. The tight-knit team made for a smooth ride during both planning and construction.
The key element is the dramatic sense of space, the volume and the high ceilings, which are a drastic change from the previous layout of the home. “It was a very small, typical fisherman’s cottage, low ceilings with tiny little rooms. I wanted open volume. So the main room, kitchen, dining area, living room is all open with very dramatic high ceilings -- exactly what I wanted,” he boasts. The open layout is the big picture element, but there are plenty of well-thought-out details; Shepardson describes these touches as his favorite part of the process. “The details a lot of people miss, you really have to look closely…there are so many different subtle details in the design and how it’s put together,” he explains, citing the epoxy floor in the garage, the laser-cut screens from Italy, and a custom-made, bright red sink, which when lit up at night can be seen from a distance through a window.
Escape to the Garage
Shepardson is quick to mention the detached garage as one of his favorite highlights of the home; he has nicknamed it ‘the cube’ and it bears no resemblance to a garage. The cube is more of a third bedroom or guest house than anything—featuring a kitchenette, a bathroom, a flat-screen TV, and stairs leading to a private deck. Given the cube's location just 100 feet from the ocean, the views from the deck are unbeatable.
The Dutch front door is the only detail remaining from the original home. Shepardson's furniture choices for this home have a more contemporary feel, drawing inspiration from homes he had seen renovated in San Francisco. He mixed contemporary furniture and open space with older art pieces for an interesting stylistic contrast. Almost all of the furniture pieces were items he already owned; many were in San Francisco, most purchased without a plan as to their eventual home. “That’s what was so much fun for me. I had a lot of these pieces in San Francisco and I didn’t know where exactly they would go, but when Hector completed his work, as the house came together, I saw a perfect place for each of those pieces,” Sherpardson recalls.
Bird Rock, Coming Home to Roost
As Shepardson planned the major redesign with an eye on honoring his family and bringing past into present, he didn't realize that another family's legacy would be involved, quite coincidentally. During the remodel he met his now wife Catherine, whose great-great grandfather had pioneered and developed much of Bird Rock back at the turn of the century. Shepardson explains, “He owned most of Bird Rock and developed and sold it. So her coming back here is very interesting.” Catherine's great-great grandfather, Michael Hall, is said to have named the neighborhood after an offshore rock in the shape of a bird. The project became that much more meaningful, Shepardson recounts, “It was just a wonderful coincidence when we did meet, she came here and said ‘this is amazing…my great-great grandfather used to own this land.’ You’re kidding me!”
The big reveal was during a party Shepardson hosted for guests including close friends of his mother. “All of her friends said ‘you created a vision your mother would love,’ and that meant a lot,” Shepardson recounts. “I was nervous, because these were all friends of hers; she lived here for 30 years. I didn’t want to put anybody out aesthetically or otherwise…and they just really embraced it. That was the highlight for me, the final seal of approval, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since,” he adds.
