Tag archives: food
“I cooked my way through college. I was the cook in our fraternity for a while because our actual cook quit, along with a couple other guys. So I made meals for 50 guys, six days a week. That teaches you how to cook pretty fast.” Not to worry; “Frat House Epicure” does not define […]
The sweet potato is one of my favorite fall finds. I adore all varieties, but right now in the farmers market, there is a particularly sweet one called ‘Bonita Sweet’ and Chavez Family Farms has them! This varietal of the Japanese sweet potato is so sweet – like its name suggests – and oh so […]
After nearly 30 years, the mudslide of 2018 put an end to her elegant Trattoria Mollie on Coast Village Road. She opened a new Mollie’s next to the Granada on State Street, but COVID-19 crushed that endeavor too. Armed conflict broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in 2020 and the country is now […]
Empty Bowls, the popular fundraiser for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, staged its 26th event at the new $20 million Sharehouse in Goleta, with a record 750 guests being shuttled by the Santa Barbara Airbus from the Hilton Garden Inn, a short distance away. The 77,000-square-foot Foodbank property, which boasts 10 times the refrigerated […]
This nutty little tuber may be small, but she makes up for it in personality and flavor! I found some gorgeous sunchokes this week at Mt. Olive Farm. The sunchoke or Jerusalem artichoke is nothing like the globe artichoke and is in fact a member of the sunflower family. The root is the edible part […]
The holidays are upon us and I for one am all for the sides, give me all the sides! I tend to make plant-based sides that everyone can enjoy and just not tell people that they are in fact eating vegan. It helps to serve incredibly delicious sides that surpass all your guests’ wildest dreams. […]
“Put the hen in a Dutch Oven. Brown her in butter for 1 minute. If you have a piano in the kitchen, play ‘The Minute Waltz’ 12 times. Add a little water. Put on the lid and let simmer. When you have finished playing half ‘The Dance of the Hours,’ dragging it slightly, you’re ready […]
The mushroom is getting its due time in the spotlight right now and with just cause. This miraculous fungi, which is more of a fruit than a vegetable, is one of the coolest things we consume from nature. Not only is the mushroom incredibly nutritious, but it also plays a vital role in plant health […]
Meet the honeynut squash – the newer, cuter, more nutrient and vitamin packed cousin of the butternut squash. This squash was a creation of Chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Michael Mazourek, a plant breeder at Cornell University. This honey-colored squash is easier to manage than the larger butternut, has more […]
Last week it was quietly announced that a new restaurant called Jemma Montecito is in the works for the Las Aves complex near the Bird Refuge; the complex traded hands last year for $19M, selling to a Los Angeles-based investment group, the Runyon Group, which has big plans to revitalize the complex and bring in […]
A recent trip to the Boston area to drop off my son for his first year of college had me guessing what his future diet would be. Would he have access to the same quality, wholesome meals we prepared at home, served with warmth and love? Would he at least enjoy wholesome and nutritious meals […]
Michelin star or not, Montecito and The Hamptons share riviera and foodie status. On the map, they’re opposites, split by a 3,000-mile expanse. But Montecito and The Hamptons – both aspirational coastal enclaves – mirror each other in special ways, from idyllic weather and the bon vivant lifestyle they both promote, to the sophisticated travelers […]
It was back in 2011 that UCSB environmental studies professor Dr. David Cleveland published his white paper indicating that 99 percent of the produce grown in Santa Barbara County was being exported elsewhere. That statistic alone wouldn’t be so startling given that agriculture and food is the number one industry in Santa Barbara County. The […]
The beet, such a unique vegetable in both flavor and its vibrant colors. I’ve noticed over the many years that I have been a chef, that you either love or hate beets, and there is not much in between. For the lovers, this week is for you. I originally created this recipe for Rosh Hashanah […]
We eat with our eyes, and this Tuesday, October 10, guests will get to do both at Art After Dark – an evening of culinary creations curated to the art nestled around Mar Monte Hotel in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The evening begins with a reception on the hotel’s Front Terrace that overlooks the […]
So, say you’re in a situation where once every week you cannot cook for an entire 24 hours, but the family still needs to eat, and let’s add in it’s the 16th century (no DoorDash). What do you do? You invent fish and chips. That’s the answer, and that’s what happened for Jews living in […]
“Wow!” is all I could say when walking through the farmers market this weekend. Summer is definitely my favorite season of produce and with all of the rain we had last season, the bounty at the market is just breathtaking. Eggplant is on my mind this week… although it was a hard decision to make! […]
Sophie McNally, a visionary entrepreneur and owner of the company Kitchenette, is changing the way people interact with food through innovative technology. And she is doing it right here in Montecito! “We moved to Montecito during Covid. During that time, we were so worried about the virus and I didn’t trust going out to eat, […]
Zucchini, Crookneck, Pattypan, Chayote, Costata Romanesco, melons, and cucumbers… there are so many varietals of the summer squash and when they arrive, they arrive with gusto! I often find I must be so creative to use them all up. The squash family, often mistaken for a vegetable, is classified as a fruit because they have […]
I will wait all year for the perfect tomato, the not-flawless, stunning, smells-like-summer-and-tastes-like-heaven tomato. Sure you can find them year round in the grocery store, but the ones that look perfectly red and round and taste like water – why waste your time? Tomatoes, in all their summer glory, are in the farmers market as […]
