Here’s what life looks like in Nosara in the water and around the town in October 2025. All kinds of fun scenes in this episode and we hope you enjoy it.
Tag: Nosara Restaurants
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The Chef Juan Pa NP Episode is a fun one!
Chef Juan Pa (from Chancho’s BBQ) is a super interesting man. He was raised ‘fancy’ but chose the ‘streets.’ He’s filed with tattoos and interesting attire but at one time was in law school & a paralegal, then high end culinary before finding his rightful spot as a key member in helping “Keep Nosara Weird” as our wise sage Carl Wells popularized.
There’s all kinds of good shorts & amusing moments in this episode. I sure enjoyed it & hope you do, too.
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NP #147: Nosara’s Chefs, Episode 1: Henry from El Local
We at Nosara Podcast are thrilled to launch our new series, Nosara’s Chefs, about the chefs overseeing the restaurants in our area! The Nosara‘s Chefs, Episode 1 begins with Mr. Henry from El Local.
Here are some thoughts from Henry about his El Local adventure:
“To make El Local happen, I had to fight against my own fears, other people’s perception of me, and carve out a real man who doesn’t give a shit about people’s opinions are and to do EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO yet be successful… We make everything from scratch and put on our sign to create a special identity… There’s no secret EL LOCAL had a hard beginning… The 1st administration (before I arrived) left many money debts and my wife was pregnant. I was broke, then my best friend and I had a big falling out… The owner, George Brown, provided me the opportunity to manage EL LOCAL and he was explicit instructing me to ‘take care of this restaurant as it is yours.’ Furthermore, Spacialle not only offered to help but went to great lengths to help us become who we are. I have tremendous gratitude and appreciation to both her for countless items, and George for the opportunity… So essentially I had nothing and EVERYTHING at the same time… So this is how I took care of everything: Learning and improving my techniques, studying and making interesting and new recipes, teaching people the intricacies of service and kitchen operations, and more… When COVID came this provided the opportunity to make us stronger and more confident with our products… We’re proud of what El Local has become and I’m looking forward to the future.”
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NP #107: Mary Smathers; Being an author in Nosara, tennis updates, getting people involved in the community, Nosara pros & cons, restaurants, Ostional’s recent increase in activity in 16 minutes
Mary Smathers is an author and active community member who shares her background and recent book launch, provides tennis info and updates, explains how new people can and should get involved in the community right away, what her Nosara likes and dislikes are and updates on Ostional’s recent growth increase.
*Stay tuned to my YouTube channel for several brief segments with Mary by subjects
Here’s notes from this 16 minute version with Mary:
Appreciates me providing info from somewhere besides social media
I complain about social media not actually advancing our issues.
Mary used to write for La Voz for years when it’s focus was on Nosara. In recent years she’s been working on her novels and her 2nd novel is now released:
Mary’s new book background
Bio info, where her stories originate from, fascination with California history, the story or journey behind the main characters
Tennis brief history and Nosara Tennis Club and most recent tennis tournament.
Shout out to 94 year old Ed Kornbluth and the kids… Lots of friends available from all kinds of various areas in the world and good people to know and ways to learn the community
Mary wants new people to get involved and meet people and interact. Tennis club, Biblioteca, Bomberos, wildlife refuges, etc. Get involved!
Beverly Kitson reference and library history and what library is doing today. Over 25 years with private funds, over 15,000 books in many languages, how library is community center, etc.
Ostional-Guiones seems different worlds. No big growth in Ostional but that’s starting to change. Osti struggles with jobs and that part Of growing is good to help locals. New houses and progress in developments near where she lives.
I ask favorite and least favorite things about Nosara. Pros: Community closeness in helping, amazing restaurants. Negatives: Growth is uncontrolled, safety in traffic, not living pura vida way.
Not leaving Nosara loves writing here and living in other home too.
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NP #90: Michael Streda from Beach Dog Cafe questions the future of Nosara’s restaurants and asks for help
Times are tough these days for Nosara’s restaurants. Coronavirus drastically reduced tourism and making it to high season is proving difficult, if not impossible, for multiple locations.
Michael Streda from Beach Dog Cafe feels the restaurants helped shape the Nosara experience and are an important part of the community. However, his restaurant is struggling to remain open and he is starting a GoFundMe as an attempt to save his employees’ jobs.
In this episode, Mike shares his thoughts how Nosara is ‘on the cusp of turning into franchises like Subway and hotel based restaurants and losing part of what makes us special’ along with explaining his personal situation.
Here’s a link to his GoFundMe: https://gf.me/u/yrmkbi
Donate $50-$100 for a free lunch… Over $100 gets free T-shirt
***Personally, I agree with some of Mike’s statements in the video. So restaurant owners please feel free to reach out to me if you need some help. I am putting together an article for the Nosara Times soon and happy to include info for those working hard to make it. We can do quick podcast episodes too if you want to share your personal story.
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NP #83: The Sacred Playground: What is this ‘Playground’ and why is it ‘Sacred?’ Mike and Lori show us their new adventure and explain what it is all about in 17 minutes
Michael Streda from Beach Dog Cafe and Lori Anne from Spirit Lounge are unique human beings. They seem to strengthen and challenge one another both personally and in their businesses. Their newest adventure, The Sacred Playground, is definitely not a ‘normal’ business concept… So I wanted to find out why these already successful Guiones business owners decided to go ‘all in’ manifesting this strange idea. This episode is Mike and Lori both explaining and sharing the experience of their newest project and I hope you enjoy it!
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NP #4: A conversation with Mike Streda: The Beach Dog Cafe Story and sooo much more.
Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with my good friend Mr. Mike Streda to dig into his story a bit for your listening pleasure. This is definitely one of the more interesting conversations you’re going to hear from anyone in Nosara and I want to thank Mike for sitting down with me and sharing such powerfully personal information. Most of you know Mike as the owner of Beach Dog Café… However, there is so much to him that most people would never even be aware of.
Watch & listen here by clicking this link:
Quite frankly: Mike is a powerhouse of a personality and a constantly evolving human being. We discuss everything from plant medicine to Martial arts to owning and fighting so very hard for success with his business in Nosara. All of this is in addition to a massive, radical personal transformation over the past couple of years.
Really fun times at UFC fight night watching Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov battle. Luckily, I picked Khabib and Mike took Conor. This photo was taken in Round 3 and Mike is looking worried 🙂 We actually had a really tough time editing this because there’s so much… In fact, we actually ignored our entire first recording because the information is so controversial and we’re not sure people are ready to hear it. So we’re probably going to do a part 2 to this episode because the most intense and detailed stuff I’m a bit too chicken to publish just yet.
Lori, Mike’s better half, is a driving force in the ‘new’ Mike So we hope you enjoy this appetizer of an introduction into Mike. Stay tuned and know there’s a bunch more on the way… Mike is a super interesting guy and there’s more to come in the future. Make sure when you’re in town get into Beach Dog Cafe for a great meal or 2 and enjoy the newer setup.
PS – After this conversation was recorded, I did take Mike up on his challenge to get into BDC and taste his new vegan, bacon infused mini burgers and now I have to admit it, Mike was actually right… They were really good. So Mike I apologize for the ‘vegan food tastes like a shoe’ comment, Mike. You’re onto something and I’ll be back for more!