14 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM it all the way to the 2004 Athens Olympics with Team USA. Now she coaches young athletes with their own gold medal dreams at Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills. (Page 25) Luck also factors into the chance encounter that sent Jose Luis Relinque pivoting from studying physics in Spain to a long and successful career dishing up the flavors of his homeland as the chef-owner of Iberia Restaurant in Belmont. (Page 67) In this month’s issue, we also get to know Dariusz Paczuski, another immigrant entrepreneur. This Menlo Park resident turned nostalgia for his backyard apple trees in Poland into apple-based Rocket Vodka. (Page 74) May is Mental Health Month, and we’re proud to again showcase SolMateo’s annual Signature Kitchen Tour of remarkable remodeling projects in San Mateo and Hillsborough. Proceeds from the tour support mental health organizations that serve Peninsula residents. (Page 86) Interior designer Jenny Judge takes us to Burlingame, where she shares her secrets for creating a beautiful home that can withstand the demands of growing families and still look great when the kids are grown. (Page 81) If you’re looking for May getaway inspiration, you won’t have to travel far. Just across the Golden Gate Bridge is charming little Sausalito, a town that offers an outsized bounty of seaside delights less than an hour’s drive away. (Page 37) With spring winding down and summer hot on the horizon, I hope you’ll find something in this month’s issue of PUNCH that puts a smile on your face. Andrea Gemmet andrea@punchmonthly.com {editor’s note} an immutable part of the Midpeninsula’s cultural landscape. Losing it was unthinkable, but after a short, sad staff meeting on August 31, 2005, employees were handed their final paychecks and a sign announcing the closure was hung on the shuttered doors. I felt like a cherished old friend had suddenly died. My colleagues at The Almanac and I were busy reporting on what had gone wrong when the story unexpectedly changed for the better. As Clark Kepler told me when I finally reached him by phone, two days after the closure: “Miracles started happening.” It turned out that I was far from the only bibliophile devastated at the thought of losing Kepler’s. There was a groundswell of support as the community rallied. Potential investors stepped up. And the creative minds that fuel Silicon Valley focused their talents on rescuing this temple to ink and paper. Instead of writing Kepler’s obituary, we broke the news that all was not yet lost. And out of the ashes, the great independent bookstore was reborn. This year, Kepler’s celebrates its 70th anniversary, a milestone that seems all the more improbable in this age of Amazon. We’ve bookmarked key chapters in its storied history, narrated by the people who lived it. (Page 90). The Peninsula’s equestrian community has a venerable landmark of its own in Olsen Nolte Saddle Shop. If you’ve only driven past the building with the distinctive sign on El Camino Real in San Carlos, let us take you inside to meet Al and Nancy Baglietto, whose expertise on boots, bridles and saddles was acquired over decades—in Al’s case, dating back to 1957! (Page 44) Dana Kirk has an unusual strategy for success: a tireless work ethic, a splash of chaos and the occasional lucky break. As a competitive swimmer, she made I’ll never forget the day that Kepler’s went out of business. As a reporter, I was assigned to cover the story, but as a bookworm who’d grown up browsing the shelves of the venerable bookstore, I was heartsick. In my teens, I could often be found among its stacks, perched on a stepladder or snuggled into a worn leather armchair while greedily sampling the goods, page after delectable page, before deciding how to spend my babysitting money. While independent bookstores nationwide had been facing stiff headwinds from online book sellers, Kepler’s was fresh off its triumphant celebration of 50 years as a community institution and
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