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A premade old fashioned sits next to a key on the table
November 16, 2024
Community, Experiences, Featured, Winter 2024 - Issue 46

The Warmth of Le Petit Soleil

French styled bed and breakfast offers European flavor and flair.

Aja, Jasmine and James with their German relatives.
November 16, 2024
Community, Featured

Family Ties: Finding Comfort Abroad

In this first-person piece written by Edible San Luis Obispo Managing Editor Aja Goare, she shares how her visit to Germany and the food she ate there helped preserve the memory of...

October 1, 2024
Experiences, Featured

Life Lived Well: Wellness Retreats

These wellness retreats are driving distance from SLO and will take your self-care the extra mile.

Food for Thought, photo of Aja Goare
September 6, 2024
Community, Fall 2024 - Issue 45, Featured

Food for Thought: Fall 2024

With each stage of life, I’ve discovered a new relationship with the night. The stillness and quiet brought on by the sun’s absence can have a meditative effect, offering a tim...

Food for Thought - Summer 2024
June 1, 2024
Community, Featured, Summer 2024 - Issue 44

Summer Food for Thought: Letter from the Editor

Anyone who has ever worked back of house at a restaurant during a dinner rush knows how hectic the shift can be — an open flame on the grill, plates whipping down the line, “CO...

September 4, 2023
Fall 2023 - Issue 41, Featured

Food for the Thought: Letter from the Editor

Throughout the pages of this magazine, the voices of women in food, wine, industry development and other related sectors are amplified, offering colorful insight into their world o...

June 1, 2023
Featured, Summer 2023 - Issue 40

Edible San Luis Obispo – Editor’s Letter Summer 2023

The age old saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” is no truer than in the hospitality industry, where partnerships between restaurants, wineries, farmers and ranchers ...

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    Recent Posts
    Monarh Grove Winery Rose
    June 19, 2026

    Monarch Grove Winery Opens New Grover Beach Tasting Room

    Illustration by Jenna Hartzell
    June 15, 2026

    Perspective: Executive Taste

    Ben Arrona’s Benny’s Pizza Palace and Social Club serves the only Detroit-style pizza in San Luis Obispo County.
    June 10, 2026

    Benny’s Pizza Palace Serves Authenticity in San Luis Obispo

    From Mike Sinor, Founding Winemaker of @ancientpea From Mike Sinor, Founding Winemaker of @ancientpeaks and Co-Founder of @sinorlavallee , comes Shuck Shack Oyster and Natural Wine Bar in Avila Beach. He opened the business with his children, Tomas and Esmée, with premium hospitality as the priority. 

The wine bar is just steps from the beach and offers local oysters, tinned fish, caviar and chips alongside heavier options like wood-fired pizza, European-style nachos, Nduja and cheese melts, and other shareable bites. The wine list spotlights rare pours from a deep bench of producers, many championing regenerative farming, alongside a few Sinor Family favorites.
    🇵🇹 Portugal style wines are on the menu at Monarch 🇵🇹 Portugal style wines are on the menu at Monarch Grove Winery (@monarchgrovewinery) in Grover Beach (@visitgroverbeach where the owners recently opened a new tasting room. 🦋🍷

- - -

“On the Move” is featured in the 2026 Summer Issue of 
@edibleslo

Story By Emily Basanese
Photography by Sarah Kathleen

Monarch Grove Winery’s tasting room has been a fixture of the Grover Beach Amtrak station, greeting riders as they disembarked from the train. Like the butterfly, the tasting room recently migrated away, just around the corner to a larger space. Owners Ercilia Martins and Julie Garcia are excited for this new stage of their business.

After that initial trip, Julie was hooked. She began taking winemaking classes and scouting locations for the right space to open a tasting room at home in Grover Beach. They wanted to apply that same Old World approach characteristic of Portuguese winemaking to their wine. That’s when they landed on Monarch Grove Winery.

Ercilia and Julie purchased Monarch Grove Winery on the first day of 2024, but their passion for wine started long before their acquisition. Ercilia is originally from Portugal and grew up in the countryside, where her family made their own table wine. She brought Julie home for visits in 2019 and 2022. That’s when Julie first began learning about winemaking from Ercilia’s father, Joe Martins. 

“I fell in love with the culture and wine, and how food went with wine,” Julie says. “It’s an art.”

Transformation has been a running theme in both Julie and Ercilia’s lives, so a winery branded with the Monarch butterfly, a creature that undergoes dramatic physical change itself, was a serendipitous fit. 

“The Monarch is a symbol of transformation and this whole experience has been a big transformation in our lives,” says Julie.

Grover Beach was also spot-on. When Ercilia first visited the small beach town, she instantly felt at home; it reminded her so much of Portugal. Grover Beach may not have the renown of San Luis Obispo or Pismo Beach, but that was part of the appeal. 

“There definitely has always been a pull to this community,” says Ercilia. In 2018, the two purchased their first home in Grover Beach and
    Some frames from Edible SLO Summer 2026 release pa Some frames from Edible SLO Summer 2026 release party. Thank you again to everyone at @theandersonpaso for your hospitality!

🎥: @stephenheraldo
    We laughed, we toasted, we celebrated - and we’re We laughed, we toasted, we celebrated - and we’re still smiling about it! 
 
What a beautiful evening of merrymaking to celebrate the release of our Summer issue. We’re grateful to all who helped bring the magazine to fruition: our editors, writers, photographers, illustrators, designers, story subjects, advertisers, partners, EVERYONE who graciously shared their resources, talent and stories with us. The only thing that could top that was enjoying a pretty rad party together.  
 
Huge thanks to @theandersonpaso for hosting the party in such a beautiful space, and for the delicious food, drinks and hospitality that made it so memorable. Now let’s show up for them - their restaurant is OPEN! ✨👏
 
Thank you, Edible community, for making these events some of the highlights of our lives. We’re grateful to celebrate alongside you. Consider our cups (and hearts) full ❤️
 
📸: by @simpledaysocial
    “Have It Your Way” introduces you to @chinagourmet “Have It Your Way” introduces you to @chinagourmetpr  owned by Jack Ming Chen. At China Gourmet, the menu is just a suggestion. 

Words by @ajabgoare 
Photography by @fusillofoto 

“I don’t see my favorite on the menu but I want it.” @chinagourmetpr owner Jack Ming Chen is happy to oblige. 

Team members at China Gourmet as well as on photographs of some of their popular dishes. 

Team members at China Gourmet as well as on photographs of some of their popular dishes. 

At China Gourmet, it’s all about having the dining experience that’s all about what you want.

🤤

This article was featured in our Summer 2026 issue. 

Subscribe to Edible SLO and receive your quarterly printed magazine delivered to your door.
    🤔 “Perspective: Executive Taste” - In this Perspec 🤔 “Perspective: Executive Taste” - In this Perspective piece, Loretta McFarland shares how learning to cook in her home kitchen as a child led to a career with unexpected opportunities to serve some iconic people, including a music legend and an American president. 

Words by Loretta McFarland
Illustration by Jenna Hartzell

➡️ This piece is featured in the Summer 2026 issue of Edible San Luis Obispo.

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