Thank you so much for attending Alta Live with biker bar owners Jeff Vance, Ferial Sadeghian, and Peter Lago and Alta Live host Beth Spotswood. If you missed any part of our conversation, you can catch up right here.
Here are some notable quotes from the event:
- On owning a bar at the center of biker history: “The idea for me is just to be a custodian of this piece of history, welcoming people as they come into town, and try to let people know what our American history of freedom really is. A lot of it is our freedom to gather, our freedom to ride motorcycles.” —Peter Lago
- On the call of the open road: “For a great meal, for a drink, I’ll jump on a bike or go for a drive and go hundreds of miles. This is one of those places. The lonelier the spot, the better. As we say, we’re conveniently located in the middle of nowhere.” —Jeff Vance
- On investing in the local community from the start: “That was a promise we made to ourselves and to the community: we’re going to go through this [renovation] without closing. It took us a while to know everything, to learn everything—it was also a new business for us, so there was a learning curve for us—but I do feel that time did allow us to know the community, and it allowed the community to know us. We weren’t just there to do a quick thing and leave.” —Ferial Sadeghian
Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.
- Read “The Joy of a Great Desert Biker Bar,” by Louise Farr.
- Visit the Cuyama Buckhorn in New Cuyama and follow it on Instagram.
- Visit Johnny’s Bar & Grill in Hollister.
- Check out Alta Journal’s Desert Issue.
- Join us for a party and a toast celebrating the Desert Issue on February 27 at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.•
