Brunch is often the best part of a weekend. Walk along Cabrillo St. on an early (but not too early) weekend day, and the winding lines outside of restaurants will confirm the popularity of this all-encompassing meal that straddles breakfast and lunch. While many locals have their favorite place to brunch, there is a new […]
There’s a new culinary experience at the San Ysidro Ranch – and it’s top secret. The Secret Cellar premiered in December, building on the luxe property’s famous world-class dining but offering something totally exclusive. It brings diners underground – past the Stonehouse patio, past the entrance to the Plow & Angel and down the stone […]
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It all started a year ago with a spontaneous conversation around food here in the heart of Montecito. Suddenly, Jennifer Markham (owner, founder of Oaks Culinary Group and SkinnyDips & Salsas) and Bryan Goligoski (culinary artist), both residents of Montecito, realized that there wasn’t a variety of healthy seed-based dips and salsas available on the […]
Founded in 2013, UCSB’s Zero Waste Committee was formed to address the university’s goal to reduce waste and redesign their consumption. As a national leader in sustainability initiatives and awareness, the university’s goals are in part maintained by the Zero Waste Committee, represented today by public outreach coordinator Caroline Bancroft. In our interview, Caroline talked […]
In last week’s edition, we told you about Bettina’s plans to open a new location in Carpinteria. This week, word on the street is that Chef Mollie Ahlstrand, formerly of Trattoria Mollie on Coast Village Road and then on State Street, is opening an Italian market/deli on Casitas Pass Road, in the same shopping center […]
To celebrate local women of history, this column dedicates the month of March to them – their contributions, their stories, their inspiration, and opportunities to support. As a Black woman born in Jamaica, West Indies, growing up in Queens, New York City, and deciding to make Santa Barbara home 15 years ago, Leonie H. Mattison, […]
From a somatic therapeutic perspective, stress, unexpressed anger, heartbreak, and grief are believed to be issues in your tissues that make up your internal state. The word “somatic” is derived from the root “soma,” which means “living body,” and your physical body can serve as a valuable guide when you listen to its messages. Somatic […]
Watch most Kung Fu movies and you’re sure to see the protagonist’s “master,” quintessentially depicted as the graying wise man, often cranky and whipping around a long beard. Meet Yun Chao Zhang, or Master Yun as everyone calls him, and he is nothing like those tired clichés, yet he is a master in the truest […]
Janell Balmaceda uses a pitchfork to spread mulch over the walkways that weave between the garden rows below Thorrington Field. Student intern Peter Schramm (’25) hammers together pieces from several wooden pallets to create new compost bins. This spring, the Westmont garden will be flourishing again, thanks in large part to Balmaceda, Westmont’s new sustainability […]
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Santa Barbara’s young art scene emphasizes identity, voice, and change. All three can be found in the work of 21-year-old Isa Saldivar. Working their way out of the foster care system, Isa came to Santa Barbara as a queer, Chican@ outsider – a perspective that continues to inform their art. In our conversation, Isa reflects […]
On a blustery January Saturday, I attended the first-ever Queer Climb Night in Santa Barbara, hosted by Climb Out, a newly formed group dedicated to creating community for self-identified LGBTQ+ individuals. As much as I enjoy the sport as an on-again, off-again pastime, I often feel intimidated when walking into climbing gyms. The walls, which […]
Uncredited inventors in science, math, aeronautics, architecture, music, and art, women have made numerous contributions to everyday life. Heralding causes from suffragettes, No Kid Hungry, health care, truth in cosmetic ingredients, and redefining beauty – women strive to change the patriarchal narrative. Take notes, Almar Latour, the hemline index, rather the long and short of […]
Well, readers, it’s still cold outside and a nourishing soup is on my mind. This week, I was pondering the white vegetables in the farmers market and their often overlooked brilliance. These vegetables, which are lacking in pigment, have a phytonutrient, or plant chemical, known as anthoxanthin. Vegetables such as garlic, onion, fennel, potato, turnip, […]
“The practices we use to do business today, from a sustainability standpoint, are the same ones my grandfather used 95 years ago,” vintner Steve Sangiacomo told me this week. “How we farm, how we treat our employees – it’s all about responsibility.” Sangiacomo Family Wines is a premium wine brand in Northern California – they […]






