Behind the Scenes of SB’s Tastiest Week: Curating a Countywide Culinary Revival, One Bite at a Time

“How do you create a food and wine experience that actually means something?”

It’s the question I was asked again and again when I spoke at FestForums earlier this year on the art of designing culinary festivals. It’s also the question I carried with me every day over the past year as I stepped behind the scenes as Director of the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience (SBCE). 

After curating more than 75 events across Santa Barbara County, I’ve come to believe the answer is this: You hand-pick every partner. You craft each detail with intention. And you stay rooted in the community you’re celebrating.

From May 12–18, SBCE returns for its most ambitious season yet, with over 75 curated events spanning Santa Barbara County. It’s a weeklong celebration of our region’s bounty of food, wine, hospitality, and history, all woven together to honor Santa Barbara’s spirit, and the extraordinary people who bring it to life.

Founded in collaboration with The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts and led by its Chairman, Eric W. Spivey, SBCE was created to honor Julia Child’s enduring legacy in the city she called home. Originally set to debut in 2020, the festival was postponed just weeks before its launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It transitioned to virtual programming through 2022, and slowly returned with a limited lineup in 2023 and 2024. Now, in 2025, SBCE is stepping fully into its promise, with a vibrant, wide-reaching, flavor-forward celebration across Santa Barbara County.

I’ve been privileged to work alongside an invaluable advisory committee of Santa Barbara’s culinary and hospitality leaders, whose expertise and vision helped shape the heart of this year’s event. Together, we reimagined what SBCE could be: not just an elegant series of dinners, but an immersive, inclusive, unforgettable journey through our region’s flavors and stories.

As Director, I curated every element of the 2025 program, from intimate cooking classes to elegant gala dinners. Our lineup includes flower-arranging workshops at Rose Story Farms, coffee-roasting explorations at Little King Coffee, oyster shucking lessons, hands-on winemaker blending experiences with Doug Margerum and SAMsARA Wines, vibrant family cooking classes with Apples to Zucchini, and much more. Every event was hand-picked to reflect authenticity, craftsmanship, and the incredible bounty of Santa Barbara County.

Signature experiences this year include an elegant evening at Bellosguardo: the much-anticipated “Dinner in the Garden” honoring culinary icon Alice Waters. This unforgettable night will feature a hyper-local, seasonal menu prepared by a dream team of chefs, with expertly curated wine pairings from Raj Parr. In another exciting first, we’ve partnered with Godmothers’ bookstore to present an intimate author conversation with Alice Waters herself, paired with bites inspired by her recipes, prepared by the bookstore’s in-house chefs – cheekily known as The Godsons – and perfectly complemented by local wines from Babcock Winery.

As Mitchell Sjerven, owner of bouchon Santa Barbara and SBCE Advisory Committee member, reflects, “Our year-round access to incredible ingredients is our superpower. Festivals like SBCE magnify that – bringing farmer, chef, and winemaker together in celebration.” Mitchell will be hosting a Farmer & The Cook Dinner.

Beyond these culinary showcases, this year’s SBCE reinforces its commitment to education and access. Nancy Martz, founder of Apples to Zucchini Cooking School, captured it perfectly: “SBCE gives us the chance to celebrate the producers who make our region so flavorful – and teach the next generation to cook with what’s local, fresh, and in season.”

Among my personal highlights? Hosting the Grand Wine Tasting at El Presidio on May 17, where more than 40 wineries will pour their finest vintages alongside bites from local chefs, live music, and panel discussions led by wine expert Matt Kettmann. This year, we’re also thrilled to partner with our sponsor hotel, Hotel Californian, a cornerstone of luxury hospitality in Santa Barbara. Throughout the week, Hotel Californian will host several unforgettable experiences, including a Toast to the Coast wine country excursion, an indulgent Caviar and Cocktail Masterclass on their rooftop, and a series of exclusive winemaker dinners that showcase the region’s best wines and culinary talent. Their partnership reflects the spirit of SBCE, elegant, immersive, and distinctly Santa Barbara.

Beyond the plates and pours, SBCE is about purpose. A portion of proceeds benefits Santa Barbara County’s local food network, helping to strengthen and sustain our local food system, an effort that perfectly aligns with Julia Child’s lifelong belief that food is a powerful force for connection and community.

Curating SBCE 2025 has been a very rewarding experience. It’s about more than events, it’s about honoring the people behind the flavors, creating opportunities for connection, and celebrating the community that makes Santa Barbara so extraordinary.

As Julia Child once said, “People who love to eat are always the best people.”

This May, we invite them all to gather, toast, and savor the bounty of Santa Barbara.  

Explore the full lineup of events and plan your tastiest week ever at SBCE.events