Confections by Kirari West is now Blue Zones Project Approved! 

Blue Zones Project Approved™ Restaurants encourage customers to make healthier choices by changing the food environment or providing menu options that are based on what people are eating around the world that help them live to 100. Confections by Kirari West in Redondo Beach is now part of the Blue Zones(R) movement! 

Designated in July 2025, Confections by Kirari West, at 625 N. Pacific Coast Hwy. in Redondo Beach, joins its nearby sister store, Kirari West, as a Blue Zones Project Approved Restaurant.  

Originating as a family-owned bakery in Japan, restaurant owner Hiro Saito opened Kirari West Bake Shop in Redondo Beach’s King Harbor Plaza in 2014. While the bake shop’s menu offers traditional bakery items such as hardy loaves, soft muffins and flavorful cookies, this is not your average bakery.  

According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 2 million people in the United States suffer from wheat intolerance, or celiac disease. This means that people impacted by this disorder have trouble digesting foods like bread, pasta or anything made with wheat flour. While many restaurants offer choices on the menu without wheat, there is no guarantee that cross-contamination does not occur in the cooking process.  

At Kirari West, there is no risk of cross-contamination as the store’s inventory consists entirely of non-gluten products. The bakery’s popularity has not only skyrocketed as a result of their gluten-free options, it also has seasonal beverages, baked goods and savory dishes that everyone can enjoy.  

Since opening its doors more than two decades ago, Kirari West has expanded with locations in Portland and a second location in Redondo Beach. While Confections by Kirari West started out solely with baked goods like artisan breads, scones and even Bake-at-Home gluten-free flour mixes, you can now find menu options like their quinoa bowls and smoothies. 

Their Daybreak Bowl is the perfect way to start your day with a base of hearty kale and quinoa, roasted corn, creamy avocado and a sunny side up egg. For all their bowls, you have the option to pick from their Power of Green Sauce, Tahini Sauce or Berry Vinaigrette to enjoy with your veggies. Consider pairing your bowl with one of their fruit smoothies sweetened with natural ingredients like honey or dates. Between their Amazon Violet Smoothie blended with acai or their Oregon Sunshine Smoothie with fresh oranges, there’s something on the menu for everyone to enjoy.  

As part of their pledge to be a Blue Zones Project Approved Restaurant, you can find smaller portion sizes for their pancakes and pizzas, alternatives to whole fat milk as well as salad dressings served on the side. Their staff has also committed to making healthier choices in their personal lives by signing the Blue Zones Project(R) Personal Pledge.  

Food tastes better together. We’re grateful to Hiro and his team for providing healthy menu options that allow us to dine together. 

Sources:  

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/celiac-disease/definition-facts

https://confectionskw.com/pages/about

Volunteer Spotlight: Linda Abbiss Brings the “Live” to the LiveWell Program

By: Jason Argent, Volunteer Executive Writer

For Linda Abbiss, retiring after 35 years at Northrop Grumman wasn’t the end of her work. It was the beginning of a new kind of purpose. These days, you’ll find her outside with dirt on her hands and a smile on her face, doing something she loves and has grown up doing: gardening. 

Linda is one of Beach Cities Health District’s (BCHD) dedicated Garden Angels, volunteers who help bring the LiveWell Kids program to life. Designed to teach elementary school students about healthy habits, from nutrition and physical activity to gardening, LiveWell Kids connects what happens in the classroom to what’s growing in the schoolyard. That’s where Garden Angels come in. They help manage and maintain the school gardens, working side-by-side with teachers and students to plant seasonal crops and spark curiosity about food, nature, and health. 

Linda joined the Garden Angels in March 2024 and immediately felt at home. A lifelong gardener with a sprawling backyard garden of her own, she’d been looking for a way to give back, and this was the perfect fit. 

“Growing up, my mom lived in a place where there just weren’t a lot of community resources,” she says. “That stuck with me. I always knew that when I retired, I’d find a way to give back to the community.” 

Now, she volunteers one to two days a week, using her green thumb to nurture not just plants, but a sense of wonder in young kids who may be discovering gardening for the very first time. 

This August, she’ll once again be part of BCHD’s Volunteer Day, a large-scale community effort to prepare the school gardens for the new year. It’s a big undertaking, and Garden Angels like Linda serve as volunteer leads, helping to coordinate teams, share expertise, and make sure the gardens are ready for little hands come fall. 

For Linda, it’s more than just pulling weeds or planting lettuce. It’s about connections. Connections between kids, nature and health, and a connection between volunteers and their community. 

“It’s amazing to see how curious the kids are. They plant something themselves, it grows, and their eyes light up. They’re learning where food really comes from, and that healthy food doesn’t just come in a package” she says. 

At home, Linda still tends her own robust garden and spends time with her husband, daughter, and grandson. But the hours she spends as a Garden Angel are rooted in something just as lasting: a deep love for her community and a belief that even small seeds can grow into something meaningful. 

How allcove Beach Cities Helped John Hooper – and Many Other Young People – Find Their Way

Above: John Hooper (center) talks with Senator Ben Allen (24th District) during an event at allcove Beach Cities.

By Jason Argent, BCHD Volunteer

At 27, John Hooper is more than a mentor. He’s living proof that change is possible. His journey from elite athlete to struggling with addiction, and ultimately finding recovery, led him to allcove Beach Cities. Now, he’s paying it forward, helping young people who, like him, need a safe space to heal, grow, or just simply catch their breath amid life’s chaos.

Finding Purpose at allcove Beach Cities

John was a multi-sport athlete in his high school. He was a star quarterback, but baseball was his true love and where his talents really shined. As a standout lefty pitcher, Division I college scouts were knocking on his door early and often. But then, a fluke snowboarding accident shattered that same left collarbone that threw the heat those college recruiters wanted so badly. Everything changed. 

John enrolled at Texas Christian University, leaving baseball behind and diving headfirst into fraternity life. The social scene took center stage, and drinking and partying became a big part of his college life. Over the next few years, the heavy drinking intensified and his “good times slowly turned into bad,” according to Hooper. There were some dangerous situations, some that ended up in an emergency room.  His best friend from high school was killed in a car accident, a devastating loss that compounded his struggles. By the time COVID hit in 2020, John had lost his job in Texas and was spiraling, to a point where he wasn’t able to stop drinking or abusing drugs.

He knew something had to change.

John moved to Los Angeles in August 2020 to enter a sober living program. The transition was brutal: Strict rules, no phone, complete isolation from his old life. At first, he resisted. He left after three months, thinking he could manage on his own. Within two weeks, he relapsed. His parents, recognizing the pattern, gave him an ultimatum: Get help or get out.

This time, something clicked. “Desperate to get my life together,” John re-entered sober living on January 6, 2021, with a different mindset: Not for anyone else, but for himself. He committed fully, staying in the program for nearly two years. John has been sober now for over four years, and his entire healthy life is in front of him.  

Recovery isn’t just about sobriety. It’s about rebuilding a life with purpose. That’s where allcove Beach Cities came in. John joined the Youth Advisory Group at allcove as a volunteer, not knowing exactly what to expect. He just wanted to expand his role in his community. But what he found was something bigger: A mission. He played a crucial role in helping allcove Beach Cities open its doors, and when a Peer Specialist position became available, he stepped into it seamlessly.

Now, John works one-on-one with young people who are navigating struggles similar to his own. Through lived experience, he offers guidance, support, and most importantly, hope. “I can honestly say I feel like I am making an impact on my community and changing young people’s lives through the work I am doing at allcove,” John says. “I use my story to benefit others.” “My lived experience is what makes my role with allcove so unique,” says John. “Being rooted in work that is meaningful to the young people in our community, operating as a peer specialist holds extreme value. My judgement and work with individuals is impactful. Without my story, without the changes I made in my life, none of it is possible. My hope is my story can inspire and help others.”