Lark: The What & The Why | Creating in Huntington Beach, California

The conceptualization of lark happened when, at the prodding of a friend and the impending acquisition of a photography company where I held my favorite job coordinating photo shoots, I examined, introspectively, how I wanted to live my life and what things truly mattered.

What is success to me? Doing the work I love. Producing allows me to pull together the pieces of a big puzzle and create something new altogether. It’s the creative process that feeds into so many layers: meeting new people, seeing new places, learning new things, growing from experiences.

What are things I yearn for? What does it truly mean to live?  Actively engaging with others, discovering new places, enjoying amazing food and so on (it’s a long list) — but mostly sharing these experiences. Why? To evoke happiness, interest, excitement, conversation, meaning, hope and inspiration.

How could I bring what I’ve honed professional into what I love personally? How do I break down walls between the two and invite everyone a part of these nurturing and unique experiences?

Lark bloomed with the opportunity to work side by side with a talented chef and setting our first communal table. We took the idea of pop up social dining and elevated it by applying our creative spin adding style, design, fashion, music – whatever may be inspiring us at the moment. We love the idea that we are both malleable and progressive. Not knowing where this adventure would lead, but knowing it would be both daring and fun, we called it a lark.

Drawing from personal experience, we operate on the firm belief that giving and sharing your gifts is the best – and when you work with others whose talents you can embrace and lift up (and vice-versa) the combination sets things on fire. Lark puts out a positive vibe and a good energy that is about continually taking the next intentional step towards the things we love, which we hope you have the opportunity to experience. Lark is growing and changing, but its foundation will always be about inspiring others.

Images captured by the lovely & talented @taliadecoite

Chef Kyle Powers and Lisa Martinez on a lark at Urban Americana ~ Summer 2018
On a super fun lark at Urban Americana ~ Summer 2018
Lisa Martinez on a super fun lark at the ultra hip Urban Americana in Long Beach ~ Summer 2018

Why Pop?

Popping up a restaurant and marketplace in different locations is a cool and fun way to bring people together to share what we are passionate about in life.  For me, this is the perfect combination of friends, food, wine, and design (an abridged list as you may surmise).   It is also a way for “Lark” to figure out where it fits in this world, a sort of living business plan.  Our motto is “do, reflect, refine, and do again”.   We often tell people it’s about “doing” instead of “dreaming of doing”.   We hope this leads to becoming experts at pop-ups and, later on, having our own brick and mortar.  However, we are grateful to have discovered the opportunity to bring people together for a wonderful and unique experience doing what we love.  The beauty of popping up is that each event is fresh and different.  The combination of locations, people, food, design are constantly changing and evolving.  This makes it easy to call it an adventure, ahem, Lark.

-Lisa Gutierrez-Martinez, Owner/Creative Director

Ready to greet out guests!  at our AoSA Underground Dinner Party in Huntington Harbor.
Ready to greet out guests! at our AoSA Underground Dinner Party in Huntington Harbor.