The hectic pace is starting to slow down — just a little. Owner Veronica Salazar held a special invitation-only ceremony recently for friends and colleagues to celebrate the grand opening of El Huarache Loco at Marin Country Mart. Salazar introduced her cooking to local residents at the Saturday farmers markets at Marin Country Mart, serving up hot dishes from her stove under a tent. She's moved from the tent to a brick-and-mortar restaurant, completing a major goal. "It's been so busy. I've wanted this for a long time," Salazar said as she greeted guests to her restaurant. Salazar is the …

This is one of the strangest kitchen recipes ever: The head chef at a gourmet restaurant, a former McDonald's executive and an investment banker creating — of all things — healthy food.Love Your Food Everyday, that's the idea that brought them together.Mill Valley's John Mitchell, the former head chef at Tavern at Lark Creek, is used to serving delicious and decadent delights to an educated and demanding foodie clientele. McDonald's has taken a lot of flack for allegedly promoting a menu loaded with unhealthy foods and light on healthy options. The fast food chain's brass do know about …

Brothers Mario and Tony have been excellent hosts to their friends and neighbors in Corte Madera, providing them with tasty dishes and drinks for more than 25 years."When we first came here, Corte Madera didn't have a place of its own. There was the shopping center where people would come from everywhere, but that was something different," said Tony, born Saheed Farahmand. He and his brother Manoochehr emigrated to Umbria, Italy, where they perfected their craft in the kitchen. The two, dubbed Mario and Tony, then brought a taste of their adopted homeland to Corte Madera, where they found a …

Lark Shoes & Repair offers complete repair service for shoes, boots, handbags, riding boots, and zippers on shoes and purses. This is an old-school shoe store and a family-owned business. The family also operates Red Hill Shoes & Repair, the only shoe reir shop in San Anselmo. Shelves hold leather oil, products for coloring, bleaching, softening, water and stain protector for leather suede and fabrics, shampoos, shoe polish and dye, plus pads for arch support and metatarsal problems, heel and arch cushions, shoe trees, shoe horns, drizzle booties and orthotic supports.  The store is widely …

Well, it's time to celebrate, and Shah Bahreyni has a big reason to party.Bahreyni and chef Sam Ramadan, with a full head of steam, opened the doors to Boca Pizzeria in The Village earlier this month. The grand opening on Jan. 9 of his third restaurant in Marin came just 18 months after Bahreyni opened the first Boca Pizzeria to Novato. Boca Steakhouse opened in Novato six years ago."We always wanted to expand on (the Novato site)," General Manager Greg Eddings said. "It's fantastic, we love everything we do … organic, local ingredients when possible, everything's fresh and it's just a great …

There's a new stop on a popular route for cyclists in Corte Madera. City Cycle, with shops in San Anselmo and San Francisco, will ring in the new year with a new store.City Cycle's new outlet takes over the space on San Clemente Drive formerly occupied by Golden Gate Harley Davidson. The store is set for a "soft" opening Monday, Jan. 2, 2012 with a grand opening possibly in early March."It's been a huge amount of work to get this going and it's happened in a short amount of time," said Mitch Trux, the store's director of community outreach. "We look forward to starting a  new chapter in the …

The holidays are fast approaching and time is running out to find just the right toy for the children.There are lots of toys at Toy World on Redwood Highway in Greenbrae, though there aren't a lot of flashing lights, sirens, or video games. "They're not inexpensive, but these are heirloom toys," said Toy World co-owner Karen, as she examined a wooden animal. It's a relatively plain toy, without even a splash of paint or a touch of glitter. That doesn't mean it's any less important.Toy World recently closed the doors on its former store in a smaller space at the Bon Air Shopping Center after …

Regis got a sneak peek, but Wednesday everyone is invited to try red velvet, chocolate chocolate chip, pumpkin spice and other bundt cake flavors.Nothing Bundt Cakes has expanded its franchise westward and is the newest tenant at The Marketplace shopping center in Corte Madera. Mayor Alexandra Cock and members of the Corte Madera and San Rafael chambers of commerce will be on hand at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday for the official ribbon cutting ceremony.The bundt bakery had a special guest when it opened its doors on Nov. 17. Regis Philbin was next door at Book Passage in the latest stop of his book …

This article is written by Tim Sciascia, a brewer at Marin Brewing Company, which will release its latest cask of beer on Wednesday. This is not intended to be a restaurant review. Denise Jones, head brewer of Moylan’s Brewery and Restaurant, arranged a trip to the Hops-Meister hop farm, an organic hop grower near Clearlake on August 25. Myself and two colleagues from Marin Brewing, along with Denise and her other brewers and cellarmen took the two-hour journey north to get a close-up look (and smell!) of the hop growing process and to purchase hops for some of our upcoming beers.  We arrived…

Chance Claxton makes sure to pack a healthy and tasty lunch for her kids before sending them back to school. She's concerned about more than the health of her children, though. Claxton is also thinking about the health of the planet.Claxton and her partner, Lynn Julian, founded Kids Konserve, a company with Marin roots which sells "reusable, waste-free lunch kits," to combat what they saw as a growing environmental problem."So, about 5 years ago now, my daughter was in preschool. She went to a preschool where any trash that was created by the lunch would come home with her," Claxton said. "…

Welcome Mimi the Sardine to Corte Madera.  Pia Andersson is originally from Sweden and now lives in Corte Madera. She is the owner of this delightful, fun, family friendly store filled with high quality, colorful eating accessories for kids and table coverings for your home. Her products are manufactured in Oakland, with 100% organically-grown cotton fabrics from Sweden, and are sold across the country as well as internationally. Their world-class Swedish designs emphasize fun, while the quality, durability, and easy care of the fabric make you and our planet happy. The cotton has a water-…

The Ragged Sailor seems to have found a safe harbor in Corte Madera.The frame shop and gallery relocated a month ago to The Marketplace on Tamal Vista Boulevard after more than 30 years at its former Larkspur Landing location. Slowly but surely his clients are finding the new store near Book Passage."It's been busy. I'm not saying I'm ready to buy my Mercedes yet, but I wasn't buying a Mercedes at the other location," owner Cobb Blake said. "So it's a different space but it's a better-traveled space." When the Larkspur Landing shopping center changed ownerships and was rebranded Marin Country…

Has anyone ever said to you, “You smell like a dog?” Well, if EO has its way, thatphrase might actually be a compliment.EO (Essential Oils), the 16-year old Corte Madera-based, family-owned company whose blue-bottled aromatic products are infectiously popular worldwide in the natural human body care market, is now offering natural pet care products for your dog. EO introduced their pet line in February, and kicked it off with a promotional dog modeling competition that received more than two-hundred enthused entrants.The new EO pet line appears to be consistent with the company’s long-held …

She loved Bette Davis so much, she legally changed her name. Bette Wolczanski might be an even more popular movie star among her fans. "I'm not moving unless I can take Bette with me," said one customer as a casual discussion at the counter of Bette's Flicks turned to real estate. That's the kind of relationship Wolczanski has with her customers, most of whom are also her close friends. Bette's Flicks offers movies and television series, old and new, offbeat and popular, on both DVD and the ancient format of video tape. The revived art deco Lark Theater can be seen across Magnolia Avenue from…