San Diego's hottest arrivals in shopping, nightlife, dining, entertainment, attractions, museums, theater, culture, sports and recreation. MAPS of San Diego

DINING
Runneth Over
Sugary sweets have been considered “junk food” for generations, and while it’d be a stretch to call cupcakes healthy, organic cupcakery Cups takes some of the guilt out of indulging. The stylish cupcake lounge has a sleek retro-modern design and more than 50 flavors in its repertoire, each with playful names like the Elvis (chocolate cake with banana cream filling and peanut buttercream), Fig Leap (fig cake with goat cheese frosting) and Velours Rouge (red velvet). The menu changes daily, but always includes one vegan and one gluten-free selection. 7857 Girard Ave., La Jolla, 858.459.CUPS

THEATER
Get the Shakes
William Shakespeare may be 400 years past his prime, but on local stages, he’s never been hotter. The Old Globe’s popular Summer Shakespeare Festival comprises three plays—King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew and The Madness of George III—performed in nightly repertory on the outdoor stage (June 12-Sept. 26). The La Jolla Playhouse offers its own spin on the Bard with its exciting, “gravity-defying” production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring an onstage orchestra playing strains of Felix Mendelssohn’s score, plus aerial acrobatics, puppetry and more. Helmed by LJP’s Tony-nominated artistic director Christopher Ashley, it runs July 20–Aug. 22.

SHOPPING
Hats Off!
Stylish San Diego women worry about it all year: What ever will I wear to Opening Day at Del Mar? Everyone knows haute headgear is expected at the racetrack, but not just any hat will do. When the ponies start running on July 21, be prepared with a piece of wearable art crafted by San Diego’s milliner to the stars, Diana Cavagnaro. Cavagnaro, whose designs have been worn by Morgan Fairchild, Oprah and Alicia Keys, uses vintage trim, designer lace, silk flowers and exotic feathers for her bespoke hats that range from coquettish to chic, wide-brimmed and trimmed to extreme. To get one of your own, make an appointment to visit her fashionable downtown atelier at 311 Fourth Ave., Suite 417, Gaslamp Quarter, 619.239.4287. For more on the Del Mar Racetrack.

ART
La Vie Parisienne
It’s a popular dinner-party question: If you could’ve lived through any era in history, which would you choose? Surely Paris in the late 19th century would be high on the list. Think about it: Zola, Gauguin and Flaubert were shaking up the intellectual world; courtesans were doing the can-can at the Moulin Rouge, and everyone was drinking absinthe and living la vie bohème. This summer, the San Diego Museum of Art recreates that singular epoch with Toulouse-Lautrec’s Paris, an exhibition of nearly 100 works by painter and printmaker Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. In addition to the exhibition itself, which will be on view daily once it opens July 11, the museum will also present the Summer Salon Series, transforming itself into a Parisian-style art party every Thursday evening throughout the summer. Inspired by Toulouse-Lautrec’s work in salons, the series brings in a different contemporary artist each week for guests to interact with over cocktails on the museum’s open-air back patio.

MUSIC
Eclectic and Electric
Folk singer Joan Baez, comedian Joel McHale and Cuban dance band Los Van Van don’t have much in common—except that they’re all scheduled to perform at Humphrey’s by the Bay this summer. One of the year’s most anticipated music lineups, the Humphrey’s season includes acts from a huge variety of genres performing at the spectacular 1,400-seat outdoor venue situated on a marina at Shelter Island; few experiences compare with listening to the Gipsy Kings or Lyle Lovett and his Large Band as the sun sets among the sailboats. Anticipated acts include guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela (Aug. 16), Erykah Badu with Janelle Monae (June 22) and pop singer Colbie Caillat (July 6). Oldies-but-goodies like Diana Ross (June 11) and Jackson Browne (July 21) are perennial favorites; the lineup also includes plenty of laughs, courtesy of comedians Bill Maher (Aug. 20), A Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor (Aug. 23) and more.

HOT SPOT
Queueing Up at the Q
In Little Italy, everybody’s talking about the new kid on the block: the Q Building, which runs the length of Fir Street between India Street and Kettner Boulevard. The mixed-use, concrete-and-glass building comes courtesy of celebrated architect Jonathan Segal, whose cool, modernist designs (more than a dozen in the downtown/Little Italy area alone) are beginning to define the look of 21st-century San Diego. With residential space up top, the Q’s street level is devoted to retail, with three very welcome additions to the neighborhood’s entertainment lineup. In the morning, sleek Influx Café is the place to be for MacBook-toting creatives, with its specialty coffees, fresh-baked pastries and free wi-fi. Next door, Bencotto Italian Kitchen features housemade, handcrafted pastas plus cured meats and artisan cheeses at lunch and dinner. At the end of the block, Red Velvet wine bar—run by Segal’s wife, Wendy—has 35 by-the-glass selections of rare wines from around the globe, plus a seasonally changing menu of wine-friendly small plates prepared by Chef Luke Johnson of Chicago’s Alinea and L.A.’s Melisse. Coffee, pasta, wine, people-watching and good conversation, all on one block—why leave?

THEATER
PUPPETS GONE WILD
One of the hottest tickets of the summer is the short run of Broadway’s three-time Tony-winning smash Avenue Q, which uses puppets to tell the story of a bright-eyed college grad whose tiny bank account is out of sync with his big dreams of living in New York City. The musical follows our hero, Princeton, as he moves into an apartment on the only street he can afford—the decidedly downmarket Avenue Q—and grapples with finding work and love in the big city. Not suitable for children, the show is as raunchy as it is hilarious: If Sesame Street were anything like Avenue Q, public television would be in deep trouble with the FCC. See it July 6-11.

GALLERY
Age of Innocence
It wasn’t so long ago that backyard bomb shelters and duck-and-cover drills were a normal part of childhood in America. From that Cold War-era
perspective come the drawings of San Diego artist Robert Nelson. Fascinated by the fluid notions of good and evil, innocence and corruption, Nelson’s work often juxtaposes the unspoiled icons of childhood with more violent imagery. This summer you can check out Nelson’s stuff at Noel-Baza Gallery’s Robert Nelson: Babies, Bunnies and Bombs, which runs July 9-Aug. 14 at 2165 India St., Little Italy, 619.876.4160,
noel-bazafineart.com.

SIGHTSEEING
Pioneer Park
Two historically significant spots recently reopened in Old Town after prolonged renovations and are worth a stop if you’re visiting the park. Built in 1829 by San Diego pioneer Juan Bandini, the building now known as the Cosmopolitan Hotel has always been the town’s social center. When Bandini sold it in 1859, the lavish adobe was converted into a rooming house. After a long, multimillion-dollar, historically accurate restoration, the Cosmo reopens in June as a 10-room boutique hotel complete with antique wallpaper, drapes, period furniture and an authentic 19th-century wooden bar in the foyer. The restaurant in the central courtyard is a great place for a drink and a snack, even if you’re not a guest of the hotel. Around the corner, a new, technologically savvy Mormon Battalion has opened, commemorating the 2,000-mile long march the Mormon soldiers made from the Midwest during the Mexican-American War. The 35-minute tour includes amusing videos, vignettes and panning for fool’s gold. Don’t miss the great view of Old Town from the watchtower.