RETAIL ROUNDUP:Vegan fare hot at 118 Degrees

The day may come soon when Costa Mesa is known as the vegan capital of Orange County. The city, which boasts the all-plant-based Native Foods restaurant and the vegan-heavy menus of Mother’s Market and Avanti Café, got another meatless spot at the end of June.

118 Degrees, featuring a menu based entirely on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains, is in the CAMP alternative shopping center at 2981 Bristol St.

The restaurant is open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and offers prices ranging from $5 to $25. All the produce in the kitchen is grown in the Orange County area.

In addition to food, the restaurant has a lounge with a live deejay on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and holds classes and workshops on organic diets.

Owner Jenny Ross said that unlike Native Foods and other vegan restaurants, 118 Degrees presents its ingredients simply, rather than creating meat substitutes with tofu or soy.

“We’re more vegan by default,” she said.

South Coast Plaza welcomes three stores

It’s been a productive summer so far at South Coast Plaza, as the mall has opened three new stores that are either county or West Coast exclusives.

Molton Brown, an English bath-and-body chain, has established its first California store on the second level near Bloomingdale’s. In fact, the South Coast Plaza store — which offers lotions, soaps, makeup and other products — is the chain’s first location west of the Mississippi; the other sites are in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Also new to South Coast Plaza are a pair of Orange County exclusives: Calypso Christiane Celle, a luxury apparel store, and Movado, a Swiss design boutique that specializes in watches and clocks.

Place your ad on a placemat

Local businesses will have a unique opportunity to get publicity, as the Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa is offering ad space at its annual pancake breakfast on Sept. 29.

The club will produce placemats with business card-sized ads for the fundraising event, which is routinely attended by around 1,000 families. Businesses may apply to the Kiwanis Club to purchase an ad for only $60 before Aug. 17. Afterward, the price will increase to $75.

The breakfast, held at Costa Mesa High School, will divert half of its proceeds to the American Youth Soccer Organization and the other half to the Kiwanis Club.

Newport Rib Co. co-owner Fran Ursini, a member of the club, said Kiwanis officials would put their share into scholarships and local youth activities.

“Everything that we make will go right back to the kids,” he said.