Photo credit: Orchids & Onions
The OB Garden Cafe – owned by OB People’s Organic Food Market, Co-op – has been nominated for an Orchid in San Diego’s annual Orchids & Onions contest.
The annual gig is sponsored by the San Diego Architectural Foundation, and has become a city tradition that hearkens back to 1976. Jurors this year include architects, landscape architects, interior designers, a developer, an artist and a clean-tech executive. The whole idea is to educate San Diegans on good design, while encouraging private developers and the public agencies who hire them to strive for better quality.
The jurors meet soon to decide the winners and losers. And the public can also vote online between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, at orchidsandonions.org for the People’s Choice Orchid and Onion.
Then on October 4, everything’s unveiled at the U.S. Grant Hotel. As Roger Showley, formerly the San Diego U-T architectural critic, said:
“Orchid winners will receive bouquets of orchids and thank their colleagues, funders and loved ones. Onion winners — if they show up — will receive bunches of onions and, if they get in the spirit of the evening, will crack a joke, blame city building inspectors and promise to do better.”
The Garden Cafe, located at 4741 Voltaire Street in OB, was recently developed by the community’s favorite organic market, “People’s” – as many simply call the historical store that itself has been around since the early 1970s. The organic eatery was designed by local OB architects, hanna gabriel wells.
Here is what the Orchid & Onion website says about the cafe:
OB Garden Cafe
In a community constantly battling a franchise-takeover, there lies a hidden gem that is truly of the community; the OB Garden Café. Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market has expanded their cult-crazed deli into a full-fledged restaurant committed to the people it serves and the community it resides in. The values of sustainability and adaptive reuse are similarly reflected in the restaurant as they are in the co-op located next door.
People’s is a staple in the community and has become synonymous with Ocean Beach. OB Garden Café is an extension of this and serves organic, locally-sourced food and drinks with vegetarian and vegan fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In keeping with its context, the restaurant is designed with a laid-back, modern beachy feel with a natural material palette.
Legend has it the walls “talk” as the wood cladding that wraps both interior and exterior elements was carefully reclaimed from roof sheathing from previous bar, bringing years of history with it. The oversized peace sign is made of reclaimed wood from a sunken barge in Mission Bay. A rooftop deck is perched atop the garden courtyard creating an oasis in what was once a bleak, gravel parking lot. Locals enjoy weekly rooftop yoga practice and groups gather for yard games over kombucha and beers. Windows and doors retract to create an indoor/outdoor experience allowing the ocean breeze to pass through. The materials and scale of the project fit appropriately in the neighborhood and offer a sense of place for all to enjoy.
OB Garden Café has fully embraces the “Ocean Beach-ness” that natives love and is an emerging favorite in the neighborhood.
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