Looking for a decadent sweet treat? Lilify carries a new, sublime line of small batch, artisanal chocolate bars handmade in California in the shop. The owners of Valerie Confections, Valerie and Stan, create their luxury chocolates in Los Angeles.

The gorgeous Blushing Berry Bar, pictured here, is velvety white chocolate studded with raspberry, pistachio, and rose petals. Lilify also carries Valerie's Almond Toffee Bar, Bittersweet Bar, Rice and Sesame Bar, and Durango Bar (milk chocolate, roasted almond, smoked salt, and cocoa nib). All these are available online and in our shop at 281 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.

On The Beach Surf Shop is happy to have this season's Bromelia swimwear in new spring colors at our shop at 693 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.

A woman-owned business, Bromelia swimwear embraces sustainable practices, is made in Los Angeles, and celebrates all different body types.

Cella Restaurant and Bar welcomes our new Executive Chef Cal Stamenov to the team at 525 Polk Street in Downtown Old Monterey. Blending classic technique with local simplicity and slow food cooking, Chef Cal brings years of experience and relationships with the area's best farmers and foragers.

Chef Cal, who has become the chef's chef of the Central Coast, has reigned from the early days of the Highlands Inn overseeing the Masters of Food and Wine events, to building Bernardus Lodge's culinary team that would end up cultivating some of the area's best chefs.

Chefs Ben Spungin and Cal Stamenov are happy to be back together again at Cella after working with each other at Bernardus Lodge during the iconic years of Marinus Restaurant.

Looking for storage solutions for your home? Cha-ya Japanese Tea and Things has a couple of new tansu in the shop. A tansu is a traditional Japanese mobile storage cabinet and they're commonly used to store objects of daily use, clothes, and personal items. Right now, we have a tall tansu for the kitchen and a shorter tansu for clothing.

We also have a beautifully decorated four panel screen which would enhance any room. Visit us at 118 Webster Street in Downtown Old Monterey to view these in person. We're open Monday - Saturday, 11am - 4pm.

Om Studios is excited to announce that our renovations are done and the studio is back open again at 631 Cass Street, Suite B in Downtown Old Monterey. We had to take a huge pause to repair winter storm damage, but the time away has allowed us to make some nice updates to our studio.

We're now back to our regular schedule offering yoga, barre, and reformer classes. You can book your classes up to two weeks in advance on our website.

We want to give a special thanks to Rene for her amazing art studio, Lululemon, and Alta Bakery for allowing us a space to practice while our studio was closed. We love our community!

MY Museum's online auction is now live and ready for your bids! We can't wait for you to see the incredible items. Whether you are looking for trips, spa services, gift cards to local restaurants, wine, new experiences or family fun adventures, we've got you covered.

And the best part? Every penny raised from the auction goes directly to making this non-profit children's museum in Downtown Old Monterey a better, safer place for the kids of Monterey County and beyond. The online auction closes on Saturday, May 20, at 7pm...will you be the lucky bidder?

Thank you so much to all of our auction donors - this would not be possible without you!

Welcome to Lighthouse District in the News, an occasional post featuring recent news articles on Monterey's Lighthouse District. Please click the links below to read the articles.

Local bookstores hope for a bright future with a new generation of brave, first-time owners [Lighthouse Books]
by Agata Popeda
Monterey County Weekly, 05/04/23

After opening two escape room locations and an arcade, fun is Christina Riddoch’s domain [Escape Room 831]
by Dave Faries
Monterey County Weekly, 05/04/23

Cypress Boutique now carries SunPaxx in our shop located at 800 Lighthouse Avenue, Suite C in Monterey.

SunPaxx fanny packs, big enough to carry all your daily essentials, are the perfect way to go hands-free. Plus, they have a smaller, secondary pocket for all the things you need to grab in a hurry - phone, keys, glasses, or pepper spray.

These locally designed bags, available in three color schemes, are built with durable, water repellant recycled nylon. The quality is amazing!

You know that at Mission 19 Taqueria we make our tortillas from scratch every day, preparing our dough in house and finishing them when you place your order.

Now, we're excited to announce that we're offering tortillas made in house with Flaming Hot Cheetos! You have to come and try them here at 598 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey.

Poppleton's Handcrafted Furniture and Interior Design introduces Oculum, a collection of geometric weaves from American designer Kelly Wearstler inspired by organic forms.

Oculum, a high-design performance textile created for indoor-outdoor lifestyles, features five texturally rich fabric designs in Wearstler’s signature palette of earth tones. They are dimensional, durable, and dynamic.

Please visit Poppleton's at 299 Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey for more information.

Shear Addiction Barbershop and Hair Studio, located at 160 Webster Street in Downtown Old Monterey, is happy to announce our newest barber at the shop, the talented Mervyn Tila. Mervyn specializes in fades and beard trimming and shaping.

Please book your appointment through Shear Addiction's website - Mervyn's schedule is now available.

Spa on the Plaza, located at 201 Alvarado Street in Downtown Old Monterey, is offering Mother's Day specials. To make an appointment, please phone us at 831-647-9000.

Mother's Day Specials

Better Than Roses
$370 for 170 minutes
Treat the mother in your life to a well-deserved, rejuvenating day! Start with our 30-minute private rose tub followed by an 80-minute rose remedy massage and an invigorating 60-minute antioxidant facial.

A Delightful Surprise
$190 for 80 minutes
Have Mom glowing and feeling renewed with our refreshing 80-minute antioxidant facial with an added jelly mask.

Venture Gallery presents the work of Maria Poroy, our featured artist for May. Her exhibit, entitled Art Squared, includes larger work as well as dramatic abstract paintings on 12x12 wood panels using mixed media and extreme texture.

Known for her use of color and texture, Maria pushes her abstract work a bit further in this exuberant show. The centerpiece of the exhibit, called Connections, is a series of eight canvases with interlinked designs that celebrate color and work well together, allowing the pieces be grouped and displayed in various ways.

Venture Gallery is now open 10am-6pm six days a week and 2pm-6pm on Tuesdays. Maria Poroy's artwork will be featured through May 2023. Venture Gallery is located at 260 Alvarado Street in Downtown Old Monterey. Visit our website to shop online for work by our local artists.