Coastal hotel developers face their share of challenges; then there’s Mo Honarkar.
Honarkar, founder of real estate firm Laguna Beach Co., saw his Hotel Laguna shuttered for several years in preparation for a revamp of the historic downtown site.
He faced numerous delays and issues involving the California Coastal Commission, city planning officials and other regulatory agencies. A complicated divorce proceeding put the property in court-ordered receivership for a time. Then the pandemic added another set of challenges.
Capping things off, a grand reopening event for the ground-floor lobby, bar and restaurant areas of Hotel Laguna held earlier this month came days after the Surf City oil spill forced a closure of the city’s beach. The beach reopened on the 14th.
Honarkar is still optimistic about the property’s chances at success; he says the site will serve as a gathering place for Laguna Beach residents, similar in respects to Lido House in Newport Beach.
Foodies are sure to be drawn to the hotel, whose exec chef is Craig Strong, formerly of Ocean on Main and the local Montage. He counts a Michelin star in his résumé.
As for the city’s best wedding spot, Honarkar says Hotel Laguna is again taking reservations.
If it seems Laurent Vrignaud is always on the run, well, he is.
See Christopher Trela’s page 20 story on our 2019 Restaurateur of the Year award winner’s latest local opening, Moulin Bouillon. It’s on Bristol Street, near Jamboree Road.
Next up is a Moulin spot at South Coast Plaza, where he’ll add to the mall’s collection of notable French-inspired eateries. It’s set to open next month.
More running for Vrignaud: he told Trela that he was making a quick trip to France to participate in the Paris Marathon, scheduled to take place this past weekend, on Oct. 17.
Then it’s back to America, and back to running his successful restaurant empire.
Vrignaud will do well to match the time of our fleet-footed Web Editor Jackie Moe, who placed No. 274 in her age group in the Oct. 10th Chicago Marathon.
Bill Gross has lost a couple highly publicized court battles this year, but he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
The Pimco co-founder’s latest investment outlook, released last week, riffed on the latest James Bond movie with the headline “You Only Hang Twice.”
“Having received a restraining order nine months ago in the famous Gilligan’s Island trial, I and my wife Amy had just been sentenced to five days in jail (with time off for community service) for playing 15 minutes of music at 9 p.m. in our backyard pool. The music was below city decibel limits but was somehow disturbing the peace of our noise-sensitive neighbor,” wrote Gross of his latest legal run-in.
He then used much of the outlook to poke fun at both the presiding judge’s judgement, and the effectiveness of an area soup kitchen.
As for thoughts on the finance world, the Bond King spoke of a different bond in the outlook, saying “it’s the bond market that may have seen its finest hour and is now a potential target for future bears.”
