Life on the A-List

Walk in the footsteps of San Diego’s well-heeled, who traverse tight-knit social circles and embody the luxury lifestyle—in good times and bad

A 2009 BENTLEY FLYING SPUR purrs to a stop at the Broadway entrance to the U.S. Grant Hotel. The valet opens the car door as a woman draped in Cartier diamonds and a Balenciaga frock emerges and strides into the opulent lobby. Society photographers jockey for the best shot, as a white-gloved waiter places a glass of champagne in her hand. It’s a scene suited for the red carpet at the Academy Awards, but it’s happening right here, on the evening of the San Diego Opera gala. And it’s just a glimpse of what it’s like to live on San Diego’s A-List.

From opening day in the Del Mar Turf Club to the emerald greens of La Jolla Country Club to a private yacht moored at Shelter Island, there’s no shortage of local stages from which to show one’s social status. Simply living in a certain neighborhood carries a distinct cachet (think Point Loma and its tony coastal counterparts, or the Tuscany-like terrain of Rancho Santa Fe). But it’s about more than ZIP codes. It’s about accessibility—to the right guest lists, to the right country clubs. But is there a right list or club?

“La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club is a must,” says Bob Morris, a longtime San Diegan. “What is more A-List than a private beach with amenities?” Among the high-profile members who enjoy those privileges are Gina Seau (Junior’s ex), Michael and Liz Copley, TV sports broadcaster Charlie Jones and Kreiss Design CEO Michael Kreiss. But ask other members of the gala-hopping elite about the most-in-demand club membership, and they’ll suggest La Jolla Country Club. UCSD chancellor Marye Anne Fox, Gateway founder Ted Waitt, Union-Tribune owner David Copley and former Jack in the Box chairman Jack Goodall partake of the perks of a full membership, with a price tag of around $150,000 plus dues.

Some San Diegans don’t have to choose between the two La Jolla clubs; they belong to both of the biggies. Among them: attorney Roy Bell and his U-T columnist wife, Diane, developer Doug Manchester, former San Diego city councilman Scott Peters, Chargers president Dean Spanos and his wife, Susie, and businessman Jim Bashor and his wife, Dianne.

Perhaps the most prestigious membership, though, is to The Bridges Club in Rancho Santa Fe. The highest level of membership is by invitation and available to residents and nonresidents of The Bridges gated community. These members have unlimited access to the club’s amenities—which include all those of a top luxury resort—and golf privileges (members enjoy a new $4 million practice facility), and they own an equity interest in the club’s facilities. The price tag: $350,000 initiation and $1,800-per-month dues.

Public opinion varies less when it comes to our yacht clubs. “San Diego Yacht Club is the one people want to belong to,” says Sharon Cloward, executive director of the San Diego Port Tenants Association. She credits the club’s association with the prestigious America’s Cup race (it was a former trustee and defender of the races held off our coast in 1992 and 1995) and its long history (the club was loosely established in 1886 and has been at its present location on Point Loma since 1924).

“Membership to SDYC carries a lot of weight, especially when you are traveling,” says Cloward. She says members get visiting-yachtsmen privileges at some of the world’s more exclusive clubs, such as the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. “If you’re a yacht club member, you have the opportunity to meet high-profile people and get on other lists,” says Cloward, who lists local lion Malin Burnham among SDYC’s wealthier members. “Money follows money.”

SAN DIEGO’S BUSY social calendar affords plenty of opportunities to flaunt connections and the latest couture—both effective status-boosters. As with SDYC, longevity lends added prestige when it comes to our town’s black-tie galas.

“There are three big black-tie events that have been going on for a long time,” says Tommi Adelizzi, a member of a prominent Point Loma family. (Her father is former Padres owner Jim Lane; her husband is retired S&L boss Bob Adelizzi.) “The Charity Ball [which celebrated its 100th anniversary in February at the Hotel del Coronado and benefits Rady Children’s Hospital]; the Jewel Ball, put on by Las Patronas, a group of La Jolla matrons who choose different beneficiaries each year, at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club; and RITZ (Rendezvous in the Zoo), an auction and dinner-dance benefiting the San Diego Zoo.”

One authority on the high-end party circuit is Jim Lennox, vice president of sales and marketing for Pacific Events. For the past 16 years, he’s helped design and produce some of San Diego’s most-talked-about parties.

“One of the top parties is the San Diego Opera gala,” Lennox says. “It’s the glamour—the women try to outdo one another in their top-level couture gowns—and the fact it’s on opening night.” The gala is chaired by the Dow Divas, an investment club that is arguably the city’s most high-profile group of women. Among them: Iris Strauss, Sheryl White, Lee Clark, Joan Jacobs, Sheila Lipinsky, Jeanne Jones, Colette Royston, Lee Goldberg, Sally Thornton, Lael Kovtun and Karen Cohn.

Another in-demand ticket, Lennox says, is the San Diego County Humane Society’s Fur Ball. “It’s the only black-tie party in San Diego where you’re invited to bring your dog, and it’s one of the few parties that sells out every year.”

Other A-List steadies: La Jolla Playhouse’s annual gala, which has recently featured performances by top Broadway actors (the 2008 entertainer was Kerry Butler, Tony Award–nominated star of Xanadu); the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s Monte Carlo bash; the San Diego Museum of Art’s Art Alive!; and Quail Botanical Gardens’ Gala in the Gardens, a floral spectacular that fills the grounds with food and drink stations.

On the more casual side, Mama’s Kitchen hosts an annual culinary festival at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine, attended by foodies and a “young, diverse, hip and well-dressed crowd,” says Lennox. Another event generating increased buzz: the ARTSea Café party, hosted by ARTS (A Reason To Survive). “Andrew Spurgin of Waters Fine Catering is the culinary chair and brings in some incredible chefs,” says Lennox.

Perhaps the most coveted invitations are those to intimate dinner parties that take place at the sprawling estates and seaside manses of the region’s most influential residents. “Charles and Tanya Brandes’ parties are to die for . . . if you can get invited,” says one who didn’t. When Charles, founder of Brandes Investment Partners money management firm, and Tanya were married at their Rancho Santa Fe estate in 2006, Sir Elton John performed for wedding guests. Last October, the couple hosted an extravagant Halloween party, transforming their home into a haunted castle that was rumored to have taken months to complete. “It was over-the-top outrageous,” says one guest. The pair even brought in pop star Fergie for a private performance.

According to another source on the A-List party circuit, “the most sought-after invitation, most likely, goes to a La Jolla couple who hold two dinner parties a year —one in the summer and one at Christmas.” Some two dozen couples are hosted for dinner and dancing at the pair’s seaside villa. “Their decorations are breathtaking, and their invitations are usually hand-delivered by Adelaide’s or another florist. The attention to each exquisite detail is amazing, and each evening is magical.” While our source was hush-hush on the couple’s identity, it all sounds very much like the extravagant dinner parties thrown by businessman Jim Bashor and wife Dianne.

THE DEFINITION OF A-LIST in San Diego can be as fluid as the downtown skyline, adapting to an influx of people, places and ideas. Gibràn Huerta, founder of the invitation-only luxury concierge company theONE, takes a regular pulse of our VIP scene. He caters to a high-profile clientele—foreign dignitaries, celebrities, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, owners of Fortune 500 businesses.

“Our members are bons vivants—people who want to enjoy life,” says Huerta. The 23-year-old San Diego native was working as a concierge at the W Hotel when he noticed he was receiving a number of calls from locals wanting his assistance and insight, he says. So he set out to create his own team of concierge privées to “bring the boutique hotel concierge experience to San Diego’s elite residents.” (He also has an office in Baja.) From arranging private-jet travel and securing hard-to-get concert tickets to personal shopping and facilitating real estate transactions (“private island acquisitions” is listed among the service offerings for theONE), no request is out of reach.

“ ‘No’ is not in our vocabulary,” says Huerta, who calls himself “a concierge privé first and foremost,” then a business owner. A few highlights from his hot list: Crescent Heights Kitchen & Lounge, for its sophisticated urban vibe; Hard Rock Hotel’s Moonstone Lounge, for bottle service in a private cabaña; and Confidential Restaurant & Loft, for culinary creations by chef Richard Sweeney, a recent contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef.

One of the more exclusive food-and-wine experiences available locally can be found at ultra-luxury outpost The Grand Del Mar. Last summer, Jesse Rodriguez, the advanced sommelier—he’s one of only two individuals in San Diego to carry the Court of Master Sommeliers distinction—and director of wine for The Grand Del Mar, hosted an exclusive, “hush-hush” winemakers dinner for 30 guests in the resort’s signature restaurant, Addison. The response was overwhelming. “We’ve already heard from 60 people asking if they can be invited to the next one,” says Rodriguez, who plans to host the winemakers dinner each August.

It isn’t the accolades from Food & Wine, Wine Spectator or Wine Spirits (which named Rodriguez one of the Best New Sommeliers in 2007) alone that have inspired such buzz. It’s the personal relationships he cultivates with winemakers that helps ensure a distinctly first-class experience for guests. Working with Californian, German, Austrian and French vintners, he’s created 13 private bottlings—“wines made just for us,” he says. Rodriguez first met many of the winemakers during his four-year tenure as sommelier at The French Laundry, chef Thomas Keller’s iconic Napa Valley restaurant. “When we make a wine with a certain producer because we connect with that producer, it adds an extra dimension,” Rodriguez says. “We bring the guest something really special.”

THE CITY’S NEWEST luxury boutique hotel, Sè San Diego, is poised to become the gathering place of A-Listers from around the country—and world—with the largest penthouse on the West Coast (8,000 square feet); a gourmet restaurant (Suite & Tender) helmed by James Beard Award–winning chef Christopher Lee; a swanky rooftop pool and deck; a recording studio; and an expansive, world-class spa. Tohnia Miller, the director of sales and marketing, says the hotel caters to a discerning, sophisticated clientele—titans of industry, celebrities and international jet-setters.

Power suits and designer purses pervade the lobby, which is accessed from Fifth Avenue through two 9,000-pound bronze pivot doors. An cream-colored silk chandelier resembling an undulating school of jellyfish casts an ethereal glow on Nepali carpets, exotic woods and silver-leaf-covered walls. A pattern of ceramic “fins” paints a three-dimensional wave along one wall. In each of the hotel’s 184 guestrooms, including 37 suites and three penthouse suites, the detailed nuances of the Asian-inspired aesthetic shine: leather furniture, rich drapery, Jerusalem bone limestone finishes in the bathrooms, Brazilian walnut flooring. Many of the one-bedroom suites boast panoramic views of the city from spacious balconies. The larger suites come equipped with full Italian kitchens (complete with Miele and SubZero appliances) and living rooms. Sè Spa serves as a veritable urban oasis, with nine personal treatment rooms, a private VIP lounge and an exotic treatment menu inspired by cultures of Southeast Asia, India, Northern Africa and Japan. A must-see: the Moroccan Rasul spa room.

For those accustomed to the penthouse lifestyle, courtside or luxury box seats are the only option for cheering on a favored sports team. At Petco Park during Padres baseball season, the place to be—and be seen—is in the Sony Dugout seats.

“A ticket here is an event, an experience—not just a ticket to a ball game,” says David Stearns, manager of luxury seating. At 45 feet from home plate, a front-row seat gets you closer to the batter than even the pitcher is. Arriving though a VIP entrance (after accessing VIP parking, of course), these ticket-holders are greeted by a concierge before entering the first-class Sony Dugout Club. Two private restaurants serve up an array of gourmet fare, and fine wines and cocktails are poured from a hosted bar. Seated in the private dining room, you can watch through windows as players warm up in the adjacent hitting tunnel. Patrons can rub elbows with other high-profile Dugout Club members, including Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn and a number of player agents. There is, however, a “limited inventory” of membership slots, Stearns says. “We’ve had people on the waiting list for three years. These tickets very rarely go unused.”

If racing exotic cars is your sport, the Targa Trophy caters to an A-List of auto enthusiasts. The locally organized luxury road rally series takes place in Orange County (April 25), San Diego (June 27), and Los Angeles (October 3). Each rally consists of a full day in which each driver is challenged to demonstrate driving skills, knowledge of the road and mastery of the vehicle over a 300-mile course, followed by an extravagant after-party. The inaugural event in 2007 went from Symbolic Motors in La Jolla to The Parker in Palm Springs and finished at downtown’s W Hotel.

“There’s a greater demand than there are spots,” says Patrick Van Shoote, partner of Symbolic Motors, an event sponsor. “We became interested in sponsoring [the Targa Trophy] because many of our customers were doing it. Several cars—Lamborghinis, Bentleys—came from our showroom. It’s an opportunity for collectors of exotic cars to really enjoy their cars, to drive them harder than usual for a day and have a little competition, but still a friendly atmosphere. And the after-party is great.” Van Shoote, who’s participated in every Targa Trophy, is still undecided which car he’ll drive in this year’s rally. “If the weather’s good, I’ll drive a vintage Corvette. Otherwise, I’ll just take my Bentley.”

Clearly, some San Diegans are weathering the challenging economic climate just fine. After all, when you’re deeply ingrained in the highest social stratum, the forecast always looks a little sunnier.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »