Long: My name is Kelly McDermott Kanabar. I was born and raised in San Pedro, grew up at the old Paradise Hotel, and went to school at the San Pedro RC School (the one you see on Front Street, near the library). After going to high school in Houston (St. Agnes) and doing my undergrad at Georgetown (major bummer: I missed Iverson by 1 year), I came back home in 2001 and partnered with executive chef Chris Aycock to open Blue Water Grill.

My husband, Mukul, is from Houston, where he went to high school at Strake. He did his undergrad at Haverford. We both got our MBAs (entirely online) from University of Texas at Dallas in 2008.

Nobody from our staff has ever cooked on TV or won any Beard Awards. But we’ve been open since 2001, which is still what matters, right?

You can find me at the hostess stand most nights. You will often see my husband, our daughter, and our son causing trouble on the beach in front. Come say hello.