Sandbox by the Beach

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Settled in the heart of Ventura, California, Sandbox Coffeehouse is the perfect stop for the soul surfer and working individual. Supporting local talent, music and art is our mission so come by, grab a latte and continue on your stroll through beautiful southern Cali.

Jerry Calote, Fine Artist

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Check out the work of Jerry Calote, our art booker!

Jerry Calote was born and raised in a small agricultural town in Central California. At the age of 18 he was accepted into the University of California at Los Angeles in a scholarship program. At UCLA he became interested in studying motion picture and specifically, animated film. He was mentored there by Dan McLauglin Jr. in the animation workshop and practiced his drawing and painting skills within the medium of motion picture. After graduating from film school in 1976, Mr. Calote employed himself as a technician in various motion picture and commercial productions in the Los Angeles area.

In 1985 Jerry Calote was invited to produce an art project in Switzerland. In his new environment he found inspiration to begin creating paintings on canvas and produced his first serious body of fine art work. He obtained temporary residency in Switzerland, and built an art atelier in the Berner Oberland called Atelier Calote. For 12 straight years he spent most of his time in Europe producing a variety of artworks ranging from surrealistic paintings to modern art, and large murals on indoor and outdoor walls throughout Kanton Bern.

In 1998 Jerry Calote returned to Southern California to engage his creative energies again in his homeland. His art studio is now based in Agoura Hills, California.

He manages to retain his professional connection to Switzerland and returns there yearly to paint in the summer season.
Jerry Calote is a world traveler, and enjoys painting the impressions of his destinations as the artistic documentation of his experience.

Featured on vcstar.com!

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Check out this article about us on vcstar.com!

As workers plied drywall off the walls of the shell of the building at 204 E. Thompson Blvd. in Ventura, Todd Ryzow was already visualizing what his Sandbox Coffeehouse was going to look like.

It will have a European ambiance, he said — something he picked up during the past six years he spent teaching English in the Czech Republic.

“Europeans take their time to enjoy whatever they’re doing,” Ryzow said. “They work just as hard, but they find time to stop and enjoy a cup of coffee, to speak to their friends before they go on to work.”

Ryzow, an Oak Park native, plans to open Sandbox Coffeehouse before March 1 at the former site of Bad Ass Coffee, which closed in 2009. The site had been scheduled to be a scooter business, but the plans were never finalized.

History

Posted on Feb 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Established in 2012

This cafe is our 4th. The first and second cafes were developed in Fort Collins, CO during 1995-1999. Cafe Luna was an outdoor cafe serving fresh grilled chicken, vegetable, and fruit skewers, served with brown or white rice. We also had freshly prepared sushi rolls and our famous “Luna Ball”… a wonderful dessert that was not only healthy, but very portable. The Wyld…flower Cafe was a true coffeehouse serving locally roasted coffee beans, bakery, live music, and beer and wine. The cafe was across from Colorado State, so it was a great place to study. Our most recent cafe was Kava Dume Coffeehouse and Wine Bar, located in Agoura Hills, CA(2002-2006). Kava Dume was many people’s 3rd space. The cafe was a place to connect with those around you, and many friendships were born there. Our concept in developing a cafe is nothing new, in fact, we would say it comes from a peroid long ago, when coffeehouses were a place of connection and change. We hope you will enjoy the Sandbox!!