Tag archives: restaurant

Stella Mare’s, a French-inspired dining room in Montecito just off Cabrillo Boulevard overlooking a scenic bird estuary, was one of the first restaurants to close during the COVID-19 lockdown. Now, five months later, the eatery has reopened with a new menu and an expansive outdoor dining area for 50 guests. Open at 25 percent occupancy, […]

Another notable restaurant to reopen this month with a handful of autumn-inspired dishes is Intermezzo by Wine Cask in downtown Santa Barbara. Formerly known as The Wine Cask, the popular upscale eatery closed its doors on March 15, and began a renovation, updating the physical space as well as the concept before quietly unveiling its […]

Ca’Dario Ristorante is serving a seasonal menu made up of hearty and comforting cuisine, according to executive chef and owner Dario Furlati. Chef Furlati, who hails from Tuscany, takes his cue from the Northern Italian countryside’s rustic cuisine. Look for butternut squash tortellini with creamy mascarpone sauce, sage and walnuts ($24), arugula and gem salad […]

Fall is here, and restaurant chefs in town have begun introducing new dishes that aren’t just inspired by the traditional flavors we associate with fall – such as root vegetables and wild game – but also the bounty of area farms for their autumn-inspired dishes. The timing couldn’t be better, with COVID-19 cases slowing down […]

Complex, intriguing, and utterly delicious, Oaxacan cuisine – with its roots in southeastern Mexico, where proud indigenous people fine-tuned the art of Mexican cooking over centuries – is making its way into the hearts (and stomachs) of Santa Barbarans at Flor de Maiz. The latest concept by restaurateur Carlos Luna, the restaurant opened last fall […]

What Montecito Night Will You Not Forget? I would say, when Katy Perry was here (earlier this year). We had about 40 Japanese girls, all 12 years old. They come here every year to learn English and manners, and do four or five dinners with us. Well, it was a night when all the A-listers […]

Last week, the Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch was honored in an article by the Michelin Guide, marking it as one of 11 “Must-See” outdoor dining venues in the United States. With restaurants across the country forced to make the most of outdoor dining venues given the ongoing pandemic, the article makes note of nearly […]

Lucky’s owner Gene Montesano announced this week that his iconic Montecito steakhouse will boast a second location at the Malibu Country Mart this fall. “From Santa Barbara to Malibu, we are thrilled to be expanding down California’s beautiful coast and opening up in such an iconic destination,” said Montesano in a statement. “The Malibu Country […]

Policyholder lawyers in the USA are singing “La Marseillaise” after a decision last week in Paris holding in favor of a French restaurant group seeking insurance coverage for a COVID-related “administrative closure” of its four restaurants in Paris which caused lost profits and extra expense. This is an “order of civil authority” in our parlance. […]

If you’ve walked along Coast Village Road in the past weeks, you may have stopped to peruse the menu posted at the Montecito Inn; the hotel’s new restaurant, Coast & Olive, is set to open for takeout orders in the coming weeks. The eatery, which is run and managed by the Copus family, the owners […]

Despite the inability to fully open and seat and serve diners, Dario Furlati, owner of the Ca’ Dario restaurants, has softly opened his newest location on Coast Village Road, offering dinner for takeout. “It’s been a long time coming, and I’m happy I can finally open the doors,” he told us earlier this week, behind […]

The Luna-tics were out in force when prolific restaurateur Carlos Luna opened his latest Mexican eatery, Flor de Maiz, on Cabrillo Boulevard, just across from Stearns Wharf. The 140-seat eatery, wedged nicely between the Bluewater Grill and the FisHouse, is named after the flower xochimoyahuatl, when the tribes of pre-Hispanic Mexico venerated corn as the […]

Santa Barbara Restaurant Week is back – a gastronomic extravaganza starring some of the South Coast’s top eateries and some of the best bang-for-your-buck eating you’ll find all year. The promotion, which features prix-fixe menus at three price points – $25, $35 and $45 – lasts two full weeks, from February 21 through March 6. […]

We needed to be tourists in our own town, so when my husband’s daughter and son-in-law came for a visit we took off. On her bucket list was to see a real stagecoach stop and away we went to Cold Spring Tavern. Leaving Santa Barbara it was bright and sunny. The closer we got to […]

Last week marked the first anniversary in business in Montecito for husband and wife team Brendan Smith and Rachel Greenspan, owners of Bettina in Montecito Country Mart. “It’s been a lot of work, but an overwhelmingly positive experience,” Greenspan told us earlier this week.  Riding on the coattails of the success of their mobile pizza […]

The owners of the Montecito Inn on Coast Village Road announced last week that a new restaurant concept will be coming to the historic hotel, expected to open in Spring 2020. The announcement comes after the closure of The Monarch and Silver Bough, two restaurant concepts by Scratch Restaurants, a Los Angeles-based restaurant group, which […]

She’s been the toast of the town, friend of Oprah and Ellen, been to the White House with President Obama. Her list of notable customers ranges from Katy Perry, the aforementioned Ms Winfrey and Ms DeGeneres, Kirk and Anne Douglas, and, well let’s put it this way: they didn’t come for the publicity; they came […]

To the Bluewater Grill, with my trusty shutterbug Priscilla, when the popular eatery launched its new Maine tasting menu, which runs through the end of August. Having been a frequent visitor to Dark Harbor on the island of Isleboro in Penobscot Bay over the years, I was transported back to my sailing days with Marshall […]

The Stonehouse, the San Ysidro Ranch’s award winning eatery, has added another accolade to its long list. Under the direction of Todd Smith, wine director, the restaurant’s robust collection has just earned the Wine Spectator Grand Award for the fifth consecutive year. The underground wine cellar houses nearly 12,000 bottles of the most premium and […]

Social gridlock reigned at restaurateur Ali Ahlstrand‘s new State Street eatery, Alito’s, when John Thyne and Kevin Goodwin celebrated the 15th anniversary of their real estate company, Goodwin & Thyne Properties. More than 270 guests turned out for the boffo bash, with 1,138 properties sold in the last decade and a half. “It is amazing […]