Eats

Craft beers from more than 40 breweries are set to be served during this year’s Lagerville Beer Fest in Buellton. The popular festival—which also features food vendors and live entertainment—takes place on Saturday, April 9, at Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., where it originated in 2018.  To celebrate the return of the event, after its two-year […]

Garlic, onion, tomatoes, coconut milk, bell pepper, and red palm oil imbue mild white fish with tons of flavor in the classic Brazilian stew moqueca baiana.  “It has a redness base to it and it just gives the fish stew like an exotic color to it. It has a distinct taste to it, and it’s […]

More than 20 all-you-can-taste options await guests of the Buellton Wine and Chili Festival. Sampling every different chili will give festivalgoers more than their money’s worth, but nobody’s gonna stop anyone from going all-in on their favorite. “You get to walk around and try everyone’s chili. If you really like a chili, you can keep […]

As a kid, Jessica Foster loved to make mud pies—with real mud—while playing in the dirt. That’s the only memory she can confidently label as foreshadowing her career path.  “I liked candy, but I didn’t love chocolate,” the professional chocolatier said. “I was like the fruity candy kid. I was more into Skittles, Starbursts, stuff […]

As far as menu items go, Santa Maria-style barbecue is just the tri-tip of the iceberg at Alisal Ranch’s two on-site restaurants.  The resort’s new chef de cuisine, Adam Measurall, oversees both—River Grill and Ranch Grill—and often juggles different cooking techniques. But one consistency is fresh, locally sourced ingredients. “The style of food is pretty […]

Brace yourselves, foodies. There’s a seven-day sweet and savory storm heading to Lompoc in the form of the city’s seventh annual Restaurant Week.  In conjunction with this year’s festivities, several restaurant owners throughout Lompoc are offering exclusive deals for $20.22, the same price as participants of Santa Maria Valley’s Restaurant Month, albeit within a much […]

Even while bringing more than 150 wine tasting options under one roof, the organizers behind the Garagiste Wine Festival are more interested in quality over quantity. Luckily for them, finding rare and unadulterated wines comes easy with showcasing micro-production wineries, festival co-founder Douglas Minnick said. “Wineries at this level of production are not making wines […]

Revenge is a dish best served cold—or in chef Michael Cherney’s case, a dish best served cured.The co-owner of peasants DELI & MARKET explained why he considers his Cinco Jotas Jamón sandwich—made with a rarely found, imported cured ham from Spain—such a tasty reprisal. “When I worked for Robuchon in Las Vegas for three years, […]

When it comes to assembling the perfect charcuterie display, Deanne Carrisosa likes to think outside the box. The Santa Maria local described the way she organizes her boxes and boards as “all over the place,” and said many of her final products end up looking more like colorful paintings than symmetrical assortments. It can be […]

Twenty dollars. 22 cents. About a dozen different dining options.As part of Santa Maria Valley’s Restaurant Month, which kicked off on Jan. 14 and runs through Feb. 13, several local restaurants are offering their own limited-time combos, made up of each venue’s respective menu selections. What each of these specials have in common is a […]

Move over Starbucks and Little Caesars, there’s a new coffee and pizza joint in Santa Maria, with an average wait time that’s on par with both corporate competitors, if not less. Fire and Vice owner Aaron Running described his new venture as a cozy coffee shop and lunch spot by day, and a booming bar […]

As much as she loves scuba diving and paddle boarding, moving closer to the ocean was more of a work-related decision for winemaker Alisa Jacobson. “That fog that comes off the ocean and the winds do help develop the flavors that I like in wines,” said Jacobson, who moved to the Central Coast from Sonoma […]