When people mention Cafe Sevilla to me the question today is always, “When will Cafe Sevilla Re-open?!”  Well, San Diego salsa dancers your 8 months or so of waiting is coming to an end.  Cafe Sevilla is re-opening in its new 5th Avenue location with a whopping 10,000 square feet restaurant and club this month.  The former location was only 7,000 square feet back on 4th Avenue and Spanish-born owners Rogelio and Janet Huidobro have invested $2.7 million in making sure that the new location meets every salsa dancers’ expectations.

Some of the major changes will include a  larger tapas bar when compared to the old location and an underground nightclub that will accommodate 330 people. We are talking capacity for 90 additional salsa dancers compared to Cafe Sevilla’s old digs.

My hope with the new location is that it meets the needs of San Diego’s salsa dancers and that they bring quality, LIVE entertainment that San Diego sorely needs in a venue.

Cafe Sevilla’s Grand Opening Party & Fundraiser to benefit the It’s All About the Kids Foundation is scheduled  for June 29th but the real salsa dancing  will begin on a regular schedule on Thursdays each week.  I’m already working on getting the first Thursday of each month designated as Meetup.com night and I will get details to you all soon about it.

See you sometime in June at the new 5th Avenue Cafe Sevilla!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

Hope you are all doing well.  Just a quick reminder that our 1st Wednesday’s of the Month with Meetup.com event falls on May 5th which incidentally is Cinco de Mayo!

The event will be similar to those we’ve held in the past except that in honor of Cinco de Mayo Cafe Sevilla has extended drink specials on Tequila shots and Margaritas.

For those of you unfamiliar with Café Sevilla, the venue is known for its great Spanish Cuisine and as a great salsa dance venue.

The event is open to everyone so feel free to come alone or bring any friends. We’ll meet downstairs at 8pm in the VIP area of club that will be reserved for our group.  Just look for the Meetup.com signs.  Valerie will give a free salsa lesson starting at 8:30pm.

For full details and to RSVP please check out the special event page here on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group. If you have additional questions feel free to contact me on Twitter @RitmoBello.  See you all Wednesday May 5th!

John ;-)

@RitmoBello

1^st Wednesdays of the Month with Meetup.com is coming up again and with it a great opportunity to meet new people here in San Diego.  It’s hard to believe that this is the twelfth and final Meetup event for 2009 at Cafe Sevilla!

To end the year off right we are asking people to donate to the Marine Toys for Tots organization here in San Diego.

Please bring any new, unwrapped toys for donating to the Marine Toys for Tots. We will have an area on site at the event (8pm to 10pm) to collect any new unwrapped toys to help out the less fortunate during this Christmas season.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Marine Toys for Tots organization check out these videos here that explain some of the great services they provide to our community:

This monthly event held at Café Sevilla is a great way to break the ice with new people in a safe and friendly environment. Just like last month, the event is FREE to attend!

For those of you unfamiliar with Café Sevilla, the venue is known for its great Spanish Cuisine and as a great salsa dance venue.

The event is open to everyone so feel free to come alone or bring any friends. We’ll meet downstairs at 8pm in the VIP area of club that will be reserved for our group.  Just look for the Meetup.com signs.  Valerie will give a free salsa lesson starting at 8:30pm.

For full details and to RSVP please check out the special event page here on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup group. If you have additional questions feel free to contact me on Twitter @RitmoBello.

Don’t forget to bring your toy donations and see you all at 8pm Wednesday December 2^nd at Café Sevilla!

Putumayo World Music is known throughout the world for connecting people with different types of world music.  Their CD’s are easy to recognize in the stores with their colorful artwork and unique music compilations.  Many of their best CD’s are salsa music collections. I own a couple and really enjoy the distinct salsa artists that are represented on those CD’s.

I was happy to learn that they are going to release a new salsa CD shortly titled “¡Salsa!”.  The new CD features a number of well known salsa artists from Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico Venezuela, New York and other places that have influenced salsa music.  These artists include Eddie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Chico Alvarez, Son Boricua, Poncho Sanchez, Jose Conde, Fruko y sus Tesos, and Grupo Galé. 

Apart from sharing great music, Putumayo also helps out the world community through the sales of its CD’s.  For example, a portion of the sale of the new “¡Salsa!” CD will be donated to the Pan American Health and Education Foundation (PAHEF) in support of its efforts to improve health care in the Caribbean and throughout Latin America.  I included the video above to give you some more background information about Putumayo and what they do worldwide.  

For those of you in San Diego on April 1^st, I’ll be giving out 3 copies of the new CD at the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group’s Meetup.com night at Café Sevilla.  The first three people to show up at 9pm at the VIP area will get the CD’s.  To find out more information about that event please visit the RSVP page that is already set up (click here to be taken there).

Check out the new Putumayo “¡Salsa!” CD! 

Just a quick reminder that the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group will be hosting its 3rd monthly meetup event at Cafe Sevilla this Wednesday March 4th.

The monthly Meetup.com events held on the first Wednesday of each month at Cafe Sevilla are a great way to meet other local salsa dancers in the San Diego area.  The San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group allows anyone interested in salsa dance to find like minded people and connect with those who share their passion for the dance.  The group is especially great for those new to San Diego and new to salsa dancing since it provides a safe environment in which to interact with other dancers.  

To find out more information about this month’s event please visit the special event page setup on the San Diego Salsa and Latin Dancing Meetup Group website (click here to be taken there).

If you have no idea what Meetup.com is all about, check out this informative video that does a good job explaining the concept.  See you all Wednesday night at Cafe Sevilla!