With the holidays behind us, if you’re like me, you long to travel. Well, this month’s list of books will send you from Havana to Singapore, and all from the comfort of your couch. In Armando Lucas Correa’s tremendously moving The Night Travelers, we arrive in Berlin in this story spanning three generations of women. […]

It is always a pleasure to host artists in the Dear Montecito column. I feel that their stories and reflections help ground us, particularly when the current event landscape feels so urgent and so claustrophobic. As the opening to our 2023 column, I wanted to invite a young writer to use this space to reflect […]

Jacqueline Duran knows money – but more than helping you make cash – she wants to help her clients plan for their futures with confidence and integrity. “I didn’t start out wanting to be in finance,” Duran explains, “I went to college for biology and pre-med and was on track to go to med school. […]

Montecito hedge fund titan Graham Duncan is the new owner of the late Pierre Lafond’s Wine Bistro in the Upper Village. Duncan, co-founder of East Rock Capital, a multi-family investment office, bought the former Montecito home of Lisa Hearst Hagerman, granddaughter of legendary publisher William Randolph Hearst, for $19.4 million in March 2021. The property, […]

Karen Folsom is a Santa Barbara-based illustrator and commissioned portrait artist. Her work includes children’s books and promotional material. She illustrates book and music covers as well as posters and murals. She wrote and illustrated The President’s Pet. Her concept and editorial work has been featured for clients in entertainment, hospitality, foundations, and private ventures. […]

On a recent afternoon I received a random phone call from a senior woman who lived in Hope Ranch. She introduced herself as Vibeke Einhorn. She said she had a box of cookbooks, and that she was moving into an assisted care facility, and would I want them. Her kind, dignified voice and fondness for […]

Last week marked 10 years since Rori’s Artisanal Creamery opened their first scoop shop at the Montecito Country Mart.  Owner Rori Trovato has been creating her beloved ice cream from a commercial kitchen in Carpinteria since 2010; the shop at the Mart was the first retail shop followed by locations in Santa Barbara (at the […]

The signature restaurant at the Rosewood Miramar Beach, Caruso’s, has earned a Michelin Guide one-star and Michelin Green Star designation in California’s 2022 rankings. The distinguished honor places Caruso’s as a fine dining destination among Michelin’s esteemed list of 89 restaurants in California, all rated according to the guide’s rigorous standards, and one of only […]

When a motocross racer crashes in the middle of nowhere, a mysterious man responds in haste. But who is he – A lonely doctor? A good Samaritan? A satanic mechanic? Watch Matthew Rollins’ new short film Whiskey Throttle to find out!  Q. How did this project get started? A. I took a year off from […]

From area farms to the sea, celebrate the season with simple, homemade dishes that make the most of its best and brightest produce and pair them with fresh selections from our local fish markets.  Let’s start with a vegan/paleo butternut squash soup with roasted poblano chiles, which are mild in flavor but occasionally and unpredictably […]