News about great shops in your neighborhood

News about great shops in your neighborhood

String Art

In 1974, while working as a diesel mechanic on earthmovers and bulldozers, Jay Ifshin rented an inexpensive violin and began taking music lessons in his free time. Unimpressed by the rental instrument’s sound, he decided to build his own violin, and a new business was born. Since 1981, Ifshin Violins has provided string musicians of all abilities with instruments, accessories, and lessons, first at a small Berkeley shop, and now at Ifshin’s spacious new location in El Cerrito. The new store, opened in February 2008 and just steps away from El Cerrito BART and shops, has something for every level of string player from youngster newbie to accomplished soloist. Ifshin and his team minded all the details when designing and constructing the space that features violins, violas, and cellos from around the world, as well as from Ifshin’s Jay Haide line. Green and recycled construction materials—including, Ifshin says, “ground-up blue jeans” for insulation—were incorporated whenever possible. And thanks to the judicious use of acoustical sheet rock, the instrument trial rooms provide musicians with a quiet, private place to check out the sound of the wares. Ifshin also created a larger sales and display area, expanded the instrument rental department, and installed a solar electrical system that, he says, generates more electricity than the store uses. As a finishing touch, there’s art, too. Ifshin adorned each corner of the store with his collection of vintage French and Italian performance posters. Some posters, available online and in the store, are for sale.

Ifshin Violins, 6420 Fairmount Ave., El Cerrito, (510) 843-5466; www.ifshinviolins.com.

—Gina Gotsill

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Stress Less

Perhaps the Buddha wouldn’t be anxious about the current state of the world. For the rest of us, there’s StressCare, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that tutors the tense in the art of mellowing out. By the end of the standard StressCare eight-week course, students have a firm (yet relaxed) grasp of numerous mental and physical techniques for coping with modern life. Are you a likely candidate? Classes, as the StressCare website notes, cater to those with “job stress, family stress, financial stress, world stress, illness, injury, aging, loss”—in short, to your average human being. Students show up in sweats for gentle yoga, focus on the simple task of breathing, practice mindful munching (typical in-class assignment: thoughtfully roll a raisin around inside your mouth), chart their responses to stress-inducing situations, and more. Founded in 1997 by longtime Zen practitioner David Weinberg, StressCare promotes the mindful living principles and methodology of Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of the well-known self-help tomes, Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You Go, There You Are. The $395 course fee includes two months of weekly group instruction plus a day-long session, print materials and CDs, and a free pass to all future StressCare retreats. Classes take place in Berkeley, Orinda, and Walnut Creek; a new session in Berkeley starts April 30 and a related course on mindful ways to cope with anxiety and depression begins May 6. Word to the wise: just don’t stress about the homework.

StressCare, 2078 Curtis St., Berkeley, (510) 540-8928; www.stresscaretraining.org.

—Autumn Stephens

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Steam Clean

If you’re looking for a break from your daily routine, a visit to Harbin Hot Springs, a scenic woodland retreat and workshop center in Lake County, may be just the ticket. Guests come to imbibe the Harbin experience, which starts with leaving your cell phone at home and disconnecting from daily distractions. Here, you are free to contemplate a new perspective on life as you hike or camp on the spacious 1,600-acre property, or drop in on yoga classes, workshops, and other events. You may also choose to swim, sunbathe, or indulge in Harbin’s own Watsu® (aquatic massage) in the clothing-optional pool and deck area, featuring hot, warm, and cold natural spring pools. Accommodations include a restaurant that serves mostly organic fare, a vegetarian kitchen where you can prepare your own meals, a 56-room hotel, cabins, and vast areas suitable for pitching a tent or car camping. The hotel, built in the 1920s, and the cabins take you back to another era—there are no televisions, phones, or air-conditioning, and alcohol is prohibited. There are luxuries, though: you can’t help reveling in the quiet that permeates this secluded retreat, and may just congratulate yourself for finding a place to tap into a simpler life. Established in 1850 as a commercial retreat and sold in the 1970s to the Heart Consciousness Church, Harbin Hot Springs is a nonprofit that promotes New Age philosophies and encourages visitors to see the natural beauty in themselves and their surroundings.

Harbin Hot Springs, 18424 Harbin Springs Road, Middletown, (707) 987-2477; www.harbin.org.

—Gina Gotsill

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Bottled History

An authentic-style 12th-century Tuscan castle and winery overlooking its own pristine vineyard, Calistoga’s Castello di Amorosa invites visitors to take a trip to a faraway time and place. Owner Dario Sattui, who also owns St. Helena’s V. Sattui Winery, opened Castello di Amorosa in 2007 as a sprawling wine-tasting destination inspired by European architecture and culture. While the winery uses technologically advanced equipment and techniques not available during medieval times, its winemakers keep one foot firmly planted in the Old World, incorporating traditional methods into the process. (For example, the vintners use a punch-down method to create red wines, mixing the skins and seeds of the grape with the juice.)

Castello di Amorosa creates small lots of handcrafted Italian-style white, red, rosé, and sweet wines, producing only 15,000 cases a year, says marketing manager Jim Sullivan. The wines are not available in stores—enthusiasts buy their bottles on-site, online, or through the Castello di Amorosa wine club.

Castello di Amorosa is open year-round for tastings, tours, and demonstrations of traditional winemaking techniques. Visitors are also invited to take a seat at the long table in the Royal Apartment and embark on a food-and-wine pairing fit for royalty: St. Andre Triple Cream Cheese paired with Bien Nacido Chardonnay, dark chocolate filled with cappuccino tiramisu ganache paired with Il Barone Cabernet Sauvignon, and more.

Castello di Amorosa, 4045 North Saint Helena Highway, Calistoga, (707) 967-6272; www.castellodiamorosa.com.

—Gina Gotsill

Faces of the East Bay