Tag archives: restaurant

Photos by David Mendoza III Hello loves! I am certain by now you’ve read all about it in Women’s Wear Daily, the Hollywood press, and – yes – Rolling Stone Magazine. And now, yours truly brings you into a scene both luminous and joyous – Lucky’s 25th Anniversary soirée held on Sunday, March 8.  We […]

More spoiler alerts on Monte’s Restaurant (1198 Coast Village Road) Montecito! First up – Chloe Lobdell, a Santa Barbara native, is now the Rincon Hill Farm Director, replacing Aiden Ostrowski. Seen making deliveries to the restaurant are local sea urchin merchants, as well as purveyors of tableware and décor. Inside views from peeps include the […]

Hello loves! Wonder no more my dears about the latest on new biz in Montecito. I am here with the first dining notes teaser on the soon-to-open Monte’s Restaurant, at 1198 Coast Village Road.  Sipping my organic matcha tea as I write this, I can hear you sigh, “The location with the most storied restaurant […]

From brioche French toast on lazy mornings to prime rib before the big show, Lucky’s has long been “Montecito’s Second Living Room.” For 25 years, this beloved steakhouse has been serving unforgettable meals – and creating cherished memories for our community. Now it’s time to celebrate, and this is the last week to submit your […]

Maybe it was a touch of brioche French toast and some morning laughs on a lazy weekend, or a Saturday prime rib before the big show… or remember the time the whole family got burgers after the hike?  As surely as the unforgettable meals they serve, Lucky’s – “Montecito’s Second Living Room” – is endeared […]

Bar Lou, the French-Mediterranean restaurant on Coast Village Road, is set to close. Opened by restaurateur Warner Ebbink and Chef Brandon Boudet, the restaurant replaced Oliver’s and featured a redesigned dining room and a menu built around shareable dishes and local ingredients. Popular items included the Steak au Poivre, Halibut Almondine, and Sea Urchin Spaghetti. […]

Montecito’s Upper Village is about to welcome a new culinary gem: Little Mountain, a refined, ingredient-driven restaurant helmed by acclaimed Chef Diego Moya. Slated to open soon, the restaurant will showcase Moya’s signature wood-fired, seasonal cooking rooted in sustainability and global technique. His diverse culinary journey spans top kitchens from Lima to Paris to New […]

Montecito just got a little more delicious. The latest gem to grace the neighborhood is Ospi – a California-Italian restaurant with a bold Brooklyn soul and an unmistakable Westside edge. It’s not just another opening, it’s an invitation to live la dolce vita, one forkful of rigatoni alla vodka at a time, which by the […]

Restaurateur Warner Ebbink and Chef Brandon Boudet didn’t plan on opening another restaurant. As it happened, the pair was focused on a hotel project in Ojai when the opportunity presented itself. But when the coveted building on the corner of Coast Village and Middle Road became available, they knew they had to have it. Even […]

To the new 449-seat capacity Harbor Restaurant, atop Stearns Wharf, with my trusty shutterbug Priscilla, which opened in September with panoramic views over the Pacific through giant crystal-clear windows. The seafood eatery first opened in 1941 and has undergone an impressive renovation under its new owners, Santa Barbara realtor John Thyne III and wife Olesya, […]

Their reopening anxiously anticipated, The Palms Restaurant project at 701 Linden Avenue is scheduled for the Carpinteria Planning Commission on December 2. The project cleared the Carp Architectural Review Board (ARB) in October. Currently it is an 11,453 square-foot lot with a 10,508 square-foot, two-story building on site. Renovations include a new third story addition […]

Soul Bites Restaurant, on lower State Street, is the community-based entertainment space during Black History Month and all year round. The food is served up homemade by owner and actor, Stirling Nix-Bradley and his partner Rose. Their mission: “To feed the soul of our community through the comfort of our kitchen.”  Due to recent financial […]

It was all love and laughter with a unanimous – yet unofficial – ‘yes’ vote from the Carpinteria Architectural Review Board on Thursday, May 30, as it reviewed the project plans for the renovations and reopening of the beloved “Palms” restaurant and music venue, 701 Linden Avenue. The historic venue, in more ways than its […]

Happiest Man Alive is a tough claim to quantify – but when they decide to hand out an honorary statuette for the title, Larry Nobles will be a red-carpet nominee. “The way the stars aligned to make all this happen is just unbelievable,” he exults. Nobles and I are sitting at the gorgeous off-hours bar […]

The newest spot in town for a sexy sipper is, actually, a perennial favorite. The Plow & Angel, the famed watering hole at the San Ysidro Ranch that, for decades, has been a classy yet approachable place to sip, unwind and be seen, reopened last month as a Prohibition Era-inspired watering hole. No secret password […]

“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 […]

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 […]

Culinary whiz Mitchell Sjerven, owner of the West Victoria Street eatery bouchon Santa Barbara, had a double celebration last week with Bastille Day, which was also the 25th anniversary of his popular restaurant’s opening. “It is a story of enduring relationships,” says Mitchell. “From working side-by-side with my wife, Amy, to having both my daughters, […]

Earlier this week, Ty Warner announced a new partnership with seven-Michelin star chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller, who has been tapped to oversee all food and beverage operations at the iconic Coral Casino on Channel Drive.  “I’m excited to be part of the Coral Casino story,” Chef Keller said in a statement. “It’s an honor […]

I, like many, was heartbroken when it was announced that the Black Sheep Restaurant was up for sale in 2020. Local foodies mourned the idea of losing another beloved downtown restaurant. Even if the establishment lived on under new ownership, it would not have been the same. For me, their white marinated anchovy crostini exemplified […]