My husband and I have a challenge when we travel. It’s food. For me, food is a HUGE part of the travel experience. I don’t even consider a destination if there isn’t an interesting food culture to explore; I like to eat my way through a city. On a recent trip I shared some of my foodie adventures on Facebook and started crafting this blog post when one of my friends said, “We’re going to be in Santa Barbara for a month this summer. Would LOVE restaurant, bookstore, and market recommendations. Actually, maybe you could just come and personally show us all your favorites.”
My husband, the cautious connoisseur, said, “I’m going to start a blog. I’m going to call it Starving My Way through Santa Barbara.”
Don’t worry. I am very respectful of his needs and he really wasn’t starving his way through our travels. As long as we make room for beer, bacon, and French fries (or home fries), I can usually get my beloved to accompany me just about anywhere. What can I say? He’s Irish.
his beer, my kombucha
Here are a few of my Santa Barbara tips/favorites.
Begin with a list from a trusted friend, preferably one who shares a similar foodie sensibility. In other words, a local.
Study the list closely and choose the restaurant your beloved will most likely NOT agree to visit. Share THAT meal with a friend. Yaytoon is a beautiful Lebanese restaurant with a festive outdoor patio. I enjoyed a fantastic meal with my friend Nan who shares my love of Greek and Mediterranean flavors. The attention to detail here is simply exquisite as you can see from the photo below, but the moment I will never forget was this: we wanted to order a Rosé wine to accompany the meal and we wanted it to be a dry Rosé so we asked our waitress for a recommendation. She returned with a bottle that she thought we might enjoy, opened it, and poured us a taste. I did the usual swirl and sniff routine, not because I’m a wine connoisseur, I’m simply well-trained in the art of tasting. The wine was lovely. I smiled and said, “Perfect.”
She replied, “That was the longest two and a half seconds of my life.” Precious. And that was the spirit in which she served us … through every nosh and nibble.
El Encanto was, indeed, a room with a view. The setting was gorgeous and the service was stellar but I didn’t find the food as imaginative as the meals that followed. (Be sure to read on!) I ordered the ceviche followed by cedar plank salmon. The vegetable medley was especially delightful. I found myself eating slices of spring.
The next morning we were off to the Savoy Cafe & Deli. My husband loves to watch Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and this restaurant was featured on one of the shows so it was high on his list. Admittedly, I expected a greasy spoon establishment because I rarely watch the show and whenever I happen to catch a glimpse of it I see Guy Fieri dipping his fingers into something … well … greasy. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when my plate arrived garnished with organic greens and a slice of orange.
The Lark was next on our list. We couldn’t get reservations for a Friday night so we did some rearranging of carefully laid plans and visited the restaurant on a Thursday evening instead. Full house. If you’re planning a trip to Santa Barbara you’ll want to make a reservation for sure. The outside eating area is delightful with all kinds of artifacts and art to enjoy. And the food, oh the food. We began with ras el hanout spiced zucchini because it came with crispy squash blossoms and I never pass up zucchini squash blossoms. Ever.
zucchini flowers = crispy fried squash blossoms
. . . followed by the farmers market pappardelle: grilled asparagus, spring garlic, fava beans, shaved speck, Meyer lemon breadcrumbs, Pecorino cheese, prosciutto, and peppers that spoke picante. I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a more colorful and tasty pasta entree. Yes, I ate the flowers; they were delicious.
And, I saved the best for last: Barbareño. My friend said, “Go there for the bread, you’ll love the bread!” I’m thinking okay, who doesn’t love good bread? David (the waiter like no other) placed thick slices of homemade sourdough bread on our plates and said, “Served with our very own homemade butter.” Need I say more?
Hubby ordered the California Roll to start: avocado, market (yellowtail) fish, cucumber, nori vinaigrette. This was a BIG stretch for ‘white-on-white‘ but he loved it. The fish was poached and wrapped in creamy (dreamy) avocado slices. ‘California dreamin,’ indeed.
I ordered the Cobb Salad to start. This restaurant is known for modern (imaginative!) interpretations of traditional dishes. What you see below is a ‘Cobb Salad’ featuring whipped blue cheese (think whipped cream with a blue cheese finish), bacon ‘dust’ and tomato caviar. I know, right? Swoon.
My beloved ordered the pasta: ‘oak’ tagliatelle. (He liked it!)
And I ordered the Santa Maria BBQ. Tri tip is a specialty in this region and it was beautifully prepared but I’ll let David tell you all about that. Click here to hear him describe not only the beef but the ‘Movie Snacks’ dessert (crème brûlée, popcorn, and homemade milk duds) that followed. To live for!
Okay, YOUR turn.
26 thoughts on “California Dreamin’ (Santa Barbara, CA)”
What a yummy post! I love the idea of the list – I’m off to Mallorca at the end of June and would love to have a list like that, but I don’t have any veggie friends that are as ‘foodie’ as I am so I don’t know who I’d ask! 😉
Neens, the best way to find a similar list if you don’t have friends in the area is to find one really good restaurant and ask the waiter, the bar tender, or a local seated at the bar eating his/her dinner to direct you from there. The key is, your first restaurant has to be good enough to set the tone for the rest!
I love that you and your husband are so different Sue Ann. My husband and I are total opposites too. And we have less and less in common as the years go by, but it doesn’t seem to matter. My two favourite photographs are the plate of hummus (chick peas are my favourite food, a fact that causes my family much hilarity) and the hand written note, with the exquisite hand writing, I could look at that black ink all day. X
Penny, she wrote an entire book in this script. It’s called Ordinary Sparkling Moments. Check it out: http://christinemasonmiller.com/books/
I, too, am attracted to lettering styles!
P.S. If you’re not on my newsletter list, hop over to the subscribe button. There is a yummy zucchini hummus recipe in my No Longer Asleep at the Meal freebie! xxoo
Oh wow. Yum! Can’t wait till our trip. Thanks so so much. Definitely going to try out the Lebanese and the last one and maybe just all if them if we can swing it!
Be sure to visit Chaucers! Daily. xxoo
Sounds delicious! How exciting that “White on White” is venturing out on some culinary adventures! We just had an amazing meal at Cafe & Bar Lurcat Minneapolis with the kids to celebrate the youngest’s college graduation. Perfect everything. Salmon prepared exactly right. Seared cauliflower with irresistible smoky notes. Beet salad with rocket and crème fraîche that I’m still dreaming about. All the dishes were very fresh and herb forward. Ken, our waiter and his team made us feel like royalty. The pavlova was the perfect “cherry and whip cream on top.” An evening we will remember for a long, long time.
Herb forward. My kind of meal! Did you listen to the little clip from the waiter? (above) Ha, ha, I know you would appreciate that kind of service, Erin.
So nice to ‘see’ your smiling face. xxoo
“I’m going to start a blog. I’m going to call it Starving My Way through Santa Barbara.” this line absolutely cracked me up! i especially admired the inventive cobb salad at barbareno – it looked fabulous. yum yum yum.
I know, right? He cracks me up, too, April! He says that a lot when we’re having a ‘culinary moment.’
I am so hungry right now. You’re such a tease, Sue Ann. 😉
Has WoW started his blog yet? hahahahaha!!!!
If you’re ever want to imagine that you are eating pizza in Tuscany, visit Cibo in my fair city of Phoenix, AZ.
And make sure to order the Nutella and mascarpone crepes for dessert. Heaven on a plate.
Heaven on a plate. Yes, please. xxoo
DC is one of my favorite places to visit because of the places to eat. There are 3 places I HAVE to eat during any visit.
Fiola is #1. It’s Chef Fabio Trabocchi’s place in Penn Quarter (he used to be the chef at the Ritz in Tyson’s). I go for adventure here – whatever his specials are. I am never disappointed in the food or the service.
Oyamel is #2. It’s Jose Andres Mexican Tapas place in Penn Quarter. We get a variety of tapas, and I always get the Chicken Thigh with Green Onion, JB always gets the scallops and we fill in in between. I typically eat there at least twice – dinner with him and lunch on my own or with girlfriends while he’s working.
Oceanairre is #3. I know it’s old school and full of lobbyists and politicians, but I love the raw oysters and the service (my favorite waiter is Pinot and I’ve known him for a decade now!). JB won’t eat the oysters, but he loves the restaurant.
Thank you, Debra! I love it when someone sends me to restaurants in my own backyard. What a treat! We need to make a date the next time you’re in town! #foodsimpatico
(Oh, and we are going to New Orleans for vacation in October and I already have begun making dinner and brunch reservations) 😉
Hi Sue.. Pat and I just got back last week from a trip to Santa Barbara. We usually go there and SLO once or twice a year. We stay at The Cheshire Cat or The Montecito Inn in Montecito (a suburb). We ate at Louies which is run by Anne Rizzoli. We both had Grilled Scottish Salmon. In the past we’ve eaten at Bouchon, Olio e Lemone, Enterprise Fish Co., and the best recent one was at the Montecito Inn. Pat likes to shop on State St and I like to people watch on Tuesday during the farmers market. In my wine making days I would go up to either Daume (in Camarillo) or PerBacco (in SLO) for my Sangiovase juice. Paso Robles is a good wine touring area. If you are interested in Italian Pottery, an old friend from when our kids played, Ben Spalluto, has a shop on State St.
Oh my goodness, Sam, we may have been there at the very same time or very close. We stayed at the Cheshire Cat from May 19th through the 23rd! I’m adding your restaurants to my list and yes, we saw that Italian Pottery shop. I wish I had known! We found some very yummy treats at the farmers market on Tuesday night. My husband is still kicking himself for not purchasing the pistachios. I picked up some gorgeous walnut oil. It’s always such a pleasure to ‘see’ you here.
Ahh I am positively drooling all over my keyboard. Thank God we celebrated our daughters graduation yesterday with lots of great food (samosas, raita, mint sauce, mango chutney and strawberry cheesecake) and had a faboulous lunch with friends today at a local restaurant here in my hometown of Turku. Conveniently called Di Trevi (http://www.ditrevi.fi/en) since the café next door is called Fontana 🙂 Or else I would have gone through the refrigerator faster than lightning…
Hence down one of the best meal I´ve had for a long time was the lamb at another small restaurant called Tintå (like Vino Tinto but with a language twist).
Carina, I always enjoy talking food with you! Those meals sound divine. . .
I get my pistachios from Costco.
I’ll let me husband know! So were we in Santa Barbara at the same time??????
How divine Sue Ann. I was drooling at the mouth watering photos and your descriptions. I need pasta now. Thanks for sharing with us.
I very much enjoyed looking at that food and dribbling! Sue Ann you can happily marry me and take me out to eat any day! <3
Ha, ha, love that Dawne. I love it that we share a true reverence for food and all things ‘beautiful’. 😉