Why Sweet Farm fled Half Moon Bay for the East Coast with its llamas, piglets and turkeys in tow

'We had to make that calculated decision to get out now,' says co-founder Nate Salpeter. Sweet Farm staff prepare llamas Sheika and Dolly for their move to New York. (Photo courtesy Sweet Farm) For years, Kevin the pig, Gizmo the cow, and Paco the llama enjoyed the Coastside air and sprawling pastures of Half Moon Bay’s nonprofit animal sanctuary Sweet Farm. They even achieved a certain level of celebrity, popping up in ...

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Why the owner of Burlingame’s Rasa gave up a Michelin star

Twenty years ago, Ajay Walia left the lucrative worlds of finance and tech to open a restaurant and spread awareness of the diversity of Indian cuisine. He wanted guests to forget images of steam-table buffets, and winning a Michelin star at his South Indian Burlingame restaurant Rasa in 2016 should have authoritatively proven his success. So why did Walia close down Rasa to reopen it as a second location of ...

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In the age of the rescue dog, the Bay Area’s most prestigious purebred show still matters

Local champions on the care and criticism of a canine crucible: the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show “You don’t have to show dogs to love them, but I think you have to love dogs to show them,” says breeder-owner-handler Pat Trotter, a Golden Gate Kennel Club maven who’s also been to Westminster 11 times. (Photo courtesy of the Golden Gate Kennel Club) The semen is always cold. It has to be. At home ...

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PEZ Palace: inside Silicon Valley’s quirkiest museum

PEZ Palace: Inside Silicon Valley’s quirkiest museum In Burlingame, collector Gary Doss has compiled a sweet tribute to a candy classic By Kasia Grobelny From Daffy Duck to Darth Vader: Pez has reflected pop culture for more than 60 years. (Photo by Charles Russo) Candy has a way of bringing out everyone’s inner kid, and Pez — the ubiquitous candy known as much for its dispenser as its taste — has remained perennially popular over the years. Dating back more than ...

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Plastic droids and evil Care Bears: the (less nostalgic) story of Kenner’s Star Wars toys.

Stanford Design Professor Bill Burnett recounts his time at Kenner (and how Star Wars ruined the toy industry) By Charles Russo Partial disintegration: a couple bounty hunters short of a collection. (Photo by Charles Russo) I still have my childhood Star Wars lunchbox. It’s the same one I took to my first day of pre-school…a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (which is to say — about 40 years ago in northern New Jersey). My lunchbox ...

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The Dance Cam Mom conquers the world

Redwood City resident Robin Schreiber reflects on her unexpected fame as the Golden State Warriors’ most well-known fan. Something like a phenomenon: Robin Schreiber, AKA The Dance Cam Mom, at her home in Redwood City. (Photo by Charles Russo) It can take Robin Schreiber upwards of an hour to reach her car after a Warriors home game, even though it’s really just a 10-minute walk. Swamped in every direction by selfie-hunting fans, Schreiber — a ...

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