Decker Kitchen New Location in Thousand Oaks

In case you missed it, Decker Kitchen moved to a new, much larger location in the Paseo Market Place at 3731 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks in February. It was previously located in the County Line Shopping Center in Westlake Village (since opening in 2018).

Decker is a popular "farm to table" eatery serving a variety of entrees, pizzas and salads. Its new space was previously occupied by Petra Mediterranean Cuisine (2015 to 2019) and before that, Fiamme Restaurant.

www.deckerkitchen.com

Corner Bakery at The Commons at Calabasas Has Closed Its Doors

Corner Bakery, after a long run at The Commons at Calabasas, has closed its doors. The Thousand Oaks location at 111 S. Westlake Boulevard is still open. cornerbakerycafe.com

Charming Charlie to Close All Retail Stores...Again (Including Thousand Oaks and Ventura)

Charming Charlie was founded by (Charming) Charlie Chanaratsopon in 2004, offering women's apparel, accessories and more, around by color. The brand filed for bankruptcy in 2017, reorganized and came back, then announced a 2nd bankruptcy in July 2019, closing all 261 remaining stores. The Charming Charlie brand was sold in September 2019 for $1.1 million to a group led by the original founder. The new owners started opening stores again, beginning with a store in Atlanta in September 2020. The Thousand Oaks location opened about a year ago on the 2nd floor of The Oaks, near the Apple Store. Another store opened at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura. There are now 36 Charming Charlie locations, but they recently announced they are closing their retail stores. Again.

The Thousand Oaks store will be closing before the end of March, with items discounted up to 70% off.

charmingcharlie.com

Angel City Football Club to Train at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks

Cal Lutheran alumna and ACFC’s Director of Corporate Partnerships Alex Mallen, second from the left, played a key role in bringing the university and the club together. With her on North Field are Cal Lutheran Director of Athletics Holly Roepke, ACFC Supporter Relations Manager Austin Hilpert, ACFC Director of Soccer Operations Marisa Leconte, ACFC Vice President of Player Development and Operations Angela Hucles Mangano and Cal Lutheran Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success Matthew Ward. (Photo credit: Tracie Karasik)

Today, Angel City Football Club (ACFC) announced that California Lutheran University will serve as the inaugural training site for the National Women’s Soccer League team.

Angel City, which is bringing women’s professional soccer back to Southern California, will begin practicing today at Cal Lutheran’s Thousand Oaks campus as it prepares for the 2022 season kicking off this spring.

"It’s wonderful to have a new home in Cal Lutheran, which provides the elements of a practice facility that an elite team needs to train at peak form,” said ACFC Vice President of Player Development and Operations Angela Hucles Mangano. “Finding so many high-quality features in one location in the greater Los Angeles area is rare, and Cal Lutheran has those elements.”

ACFC will provide internships to undergraduate and graduate students at Cal Lutheran, which began offering a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2020. The organization’s staff members will guest lecture in a variety of Cal Lutheran classes, and club members will participate in chalk talks with student-athletes. The club’s leadership also will host students and staff at Angel City’s Los Angeles headquarters for an entrepreneurial workshop.

ACFC is one of the first majority female-founded, female-owned and female-run professional soccer teams. The team’s founders are Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman; technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman; media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman; and venture capitalist, Seven Seven Six founder and former Executive Chair of Reddit Alexis Ohanian.

ACFC’s Director of Corporate Partnerships Alex Mallen, a Cal Lutheran alumna, played a key role in bringing the university and the club together.

As a component of the partnership, Angel City will support efforts to renovate the university's North Field, where it will practice, laying the foundation for the site of a future track after the club departs. The university has not had an on-campus track for its track-and-field teams since 2004.

The agreement allows the team to base its training operations at Cal Lutheran for at least two years with the possibility of an extension to a third year. In addition to North Field, Angel City will use facilities within William Rolland Stadium and Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.

The university has a long history of partnerships with high-level athletic teams. Cal Lutheran has been home to the Los Angeles Rams training facility since 2016, and it hosted the Dallas Cowboys training camp from 1963 to 1989. The 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s water polo teams trained in Samuelson Aquatics Center.

“Cal Lutheran is thrilled to develop this win-win partnership with Angel City. We take great pride in being a regional asset and having two professional teams currently using our beautiful campus as their professional training sites,” said Cal Lutheran President Lori E. Varlotta. “At the same time, we are pleased that this burgeoning relationship will provide our students with internships, access to stimulating guest lectures and a glimpse into what successful entrepreneurship looks like.”

ABOUT ANGEL CITY FOOTBALL CLUB

Angel City Football Club (ACFC), the 11th member of the National Women's Soccer League, will take the pitch in Spring 2022 and call Banc of California Stadium in downtown Los Angeles their home. Former England Women’s National Team forward Eniola Aluko leads the team as sporting director, and Freya Coombe is the team’s head coach. Learn more about ACFC at www.angelcity.com, and follow the team on social media @weareangelcity. Season tickets start at $180 for 12 home games, and group deposits are now on sale at https://angelcity.com/tickets.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

Cal Lutheran is based in Thousand Oaks, California, with additional locations in Woodland Hills, Westlake Village, Oxnard, Santa Maria and Berkeley. With an enrollment of about 3,800 students, Cal Lutheran offers programs through its College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Psychology, School of Management, School of Professional and Continuing Studies and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, Cal Lutheran attracts students from across the nation and around the world from a diversity of backgrounds, cultures and faiths. For more information, visit CalLutheran.edu.

Chez Nini Bistro Opening this Summer at The Promenade at Westlake (Or Maybe Not)

FINAL UPDATE May 2024: La La Land Kind Cafe will be the new tenant in this space.

UPDATE: Summer has come and gone and still no Chez Nini. Now we’re in December 2023 and No No Nini.

Chez Nini Bistro is coming this summer to The Promenade at Westlake (thanks to Rob J of Conejo Deals for the heads up). From the owners of Nicolas Eatery in Malibu (a family-run restaurant serving food made with French cooking techniques) . To be located next to Sprinkles Cupcakes.

Two Doughs Pizza Co is Now Open at the Former Numero Uno Location in Agoura Hills

Two Doughs Pizza Co is now open at the former home of Numero Uno Pizza at 28860 Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills. They serve wood-fired pizzas, salads, pastas and more.

Learn more at twodoughs.com or on their Instagram and Facebook pages.

National Park Service Releases Film "To Right a Wrong: The Story of Ballard Mountain"

Today, the National Park Service released a new 13-minute film called To Right a Wrong: The Story of Ballard Mountain, which documents a community effort to change the name of a local peak in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA).

Previously known as a racial slur, the mountain was renamed in 2010 to honor the first black family to homestead in the Santa Monica Mountains. View the film below.

The short documentary details the efforts of area residents and historians to remove the offensive name from a local mountain, located south of the cities of Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills, California. Their actions reverberated across the region and ended up reaching the modern-day Ballard family, descendants of John Ballard whom the mountain was eventually named for. The inspirational, heart-wrenching film chronicles the resiliency of a family who overcame incredible hardships.

"So often people will give attention to something because it's media worthy, but this was something that a group of folks thought was worthwhile," said great, great grandson Ryan Ballard referring to the renaming effort. Ryan’s father, 96-year-old Reggie Ballard, was also extensively interviewed for the film.

Local historian and Moorpark College history professor Patty Colman and residents Paul and Leah Culberg were instrumental in making the name change happen. They chronicle their recollections in the film, along with SMMNRA park superintendent David Szymanski.

"Ballard Mountain is the untold story of an African American family’s experiences in the Santa Monica Mountains and the City of Los Angeles,” Szymanski said. “It is important because it reminds us of the unrecognized people who passed our cities and parks down to us.”

Funding for the project was provided by the Santa Monica Mountains Fund and the National Park Service. The film was directed and filmed by Darius Dawson and edited by Austin Rourke, both alums of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. It was written and narrated by Ana Beatriz Cholo, the public affairs officer for SMMNRA. Additional photography was provided by Kayla McCraren, the park's visual information specialist.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park Service, it comprises a seamless network of local, state, and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit nps.gov/samo.

www.nps.gov/samo/learn/historyculture/ballard-family.htm

Ox Bone Ramen Coming Soon to the North Ranch Gateway in Westlake Village (OPENED IN MID-APRIL)

UPDATE: Ox Bone Ramen opened in mid-April. See www.oxboneramen.com.

Ox Bone Ramen is "coming soon" to the North Ranch Gateway at 30689 Thousand Oaks Boulevard (cross street Lindero Canyon Road) in Westlake Village, near Domino's Pizza, Baja Fresh and Dunkin Donuts. Over the last five years, this space has been occupied by Milad's Kitchen (recently closed), West Village Cafe and Tekos Brazilian Grill. No other info at this point. Stay tuned.