Eats

You don’t need an airplane, helicopter, or Google Earth to get a bird’s-eye view of Zaca Mesa Winery. Just grab a bottle of Tread, the Los Olivos venue’s newest release.  “If you were viewing a vineyard from overhead in aerial view, you would get this picture,” Winemaker Kristin Bryden said in press materials, describing the […]

Solvang’s newest coffee spot is both a source of caffeination and congregation. Repurposed from a local church’s social lounge, Holy Grounds Cafe and Coffee Shop celebrated its grand opening at the end of August, after a six-week period of remodeling.  One of the church’s deacons, Pam Gnekow, pitched the coffee shop idea to her peers […]

Michael McDonald—the prolific local chef, not the Doobie Brother—has experimented with so many ingredients over his three-decade career that he’ll occasionally forget parts of his own recipes. Luckily his contact list is full of former mentors, students, and collaborators. And the great thing about sending a quick text is “you don’t have to have a […]

Popular San Luis Obispo vegan takeout joint Ziggy’s doesn’t just have the support of SLO County residents. “People ask us all the time, ‘When are you going to open in Santa Maria or Lompoc?’” said Alex Gonzalez, manager of the vegan eatery. “We even have people drive from Bakersfield and Fresno just to have lunch. […]

Santa Barbara local Peter Cham said most people are surprised to hear that it takes him multiple days to make fried chicken.  “I know fried chicken sounds really simple, but it’s surprisingly difficult to make really good,” said Cham, executive chef at Roblar Winery in Santa Ynez. “So with ours, we brine it for 24 […]

Alan Vecente’s prolific culinary career has taken him to professional opportunities in Nevada, Colorado, New York, and Spain, but his latest venture is based in the small Central Coast town he grew up in. In more ways than one, the Sisquoc Baking Company’s origin is a story of coming full circle. The bakery was founded […]

Repurposed from a Roaring ’20s-era gas station, one of Los Alamos’ newest hot spots feels old in all the right ways.  “The facility just has an authenticity to it,” said Don Conner, one of the operating managers at The Maker’s Son, which opened its doors to the public earlier this summer. “Legitimately, this building is […]

Cold water, iced tea, and protein bars weren’t the only refreshments awaiting hikers at the summit of their uphill journey through Alma Rosa Winery’s 628-acre property, during the estate’s second annual fundraiser hike—Peace of Mind: 10,000 Steps in the Right Direction. While participants had wine tastings to look forward to at both the halfway point […]

The COVID-19 pandemic, characterized by empty shelves and grocery store lines that wrapped around the block, ushered in a new wave of curiosity about food supply chains and how they operate. This year, locals can learn a little more about the hands that feed them at the third annual Santa Barbara County Farm Day. “During […]

Just a little ways north, downtown San Luis Obispo has hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, historic buildings, and parks. It also has loads of tourists, which dwarf the city’s 47,000 population. Until recently it lacked one vital ingredient: a tasting room. With hundreds of wineries fanning out across the county—and annual visitors estimated at 7 million, […]

How’s that old saying go? When life gives you lemons, make tea and cookies? Orcutt resident Julie Young spent most of 2019 preparing to start her own business, Teacups Children’s Tea Parties, but the following year put those aspirations to rest, at least for a little while. “While my original idea was only tea parties […]

Founded in 2000, Flying Goat Cellars is technically, legally old enough to drink its own wine. While 2021 marks this local winery’s 21st year in business, birthday wishes aren’t the only cause for recent celebrations at its tasting room in Lompoc.  Among some big wins in multiple wine competitions over the past few months, one […]