Eats

Presqu’ile Winery, located in the lone valley of Santa Maria, has grown into an established staple in the Santa Maria community since purchasing its vineyard land back in 2007, offering cool-climate pinot noir, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc wines. But starting this month, the small, family-owned tasting room is shaking things up with a new executive […]

Some have called him a renegade. Others might call him a rebel with a worthy cause. But after a long coffee talk with Mark Stambler as the sun came up at his bakery in the Baywood-Los Osos community, this peaceful man with a desire to keep the world fed would best be described as “Father […]

Years ago, while working at Bay Area farmers’ markets for a Watsonville-based farm, I learned that the food sold at farm stands and farmers’ markets is usually picked fresh that morning. By the time the sun comes up and the produce is arranged on the farm stand tables, the quality is so superior to store-bought […]

Lobster corndogs. Ramen burgers. Ice-cream-cone cannoli. Foodies far and wide are being treated to boundary-pushing hybrids on their plates, and now two Central Coast beverage makers are bringing a fanciful blend in the form of a six-pack.   Firestone Walker brewmasters teamed up with Niels Udsen, owner of Castoro Cellars, to create Rosalie. She comes […]

As a person who loves sleep, my weekday mornings are usually a mad dash of toothbrushing, laundry digging, lunch prepping, and coffee swilling. I usually grab a banana for the road and call that breakfast. Sometimes I have a few minutes to spare for toasting bread, but morning meals are generally a luxury I just […]

It’s incredibly easy to know next to nothing about how food production actually works. Most of us drive past the fields every day but barely note the gradual change from empty dirt to tidy rows of leafy greens. The workers sometimes seen running boxes of strawberries to the loading truck don’t seem to have any […]

It’s immediately apparent that Alfredo Koch knows what he’s talking about. He’s a professor and coordinator for the agribusiness/viticulture and enology program at Allan Hancock College, and he’s got credentials galore: an ag degree from Cal Poly, a doctorate from UC Davis, three wineries under his belt, and decades in the game.  We met on […]

I know this contractor dude, Ivan Casavantes, who I see at remodel jobs all over the county. He always seems to have some secret spot, right around the corner, with the best quesadillas or breakfast burritos on the coast. He brings enough for his whole crew but rarely lets the restaurant’s name slip. I think […]

The wonder of self-pour taps might be common knowledge in some circles, but they’re all brand spanking new to me. On a recent Friday, I explored these space-age contraptions at the vaguely corporate but also thoroughly enjoyable Blast 825 Brewery in Old Orcutt. This new way to serve beer works like this: Patrons prove their […]

When a little birdie told me that Solvang’s Root 246 recently revised its list of handcrafted signature cocktails, that was all the inspiration I needed to check it out. The wife and I were feeling adventurous, especially as I could count on one hand the number of high falutin’ five-course meals I’ve had in my […]

My family doesn’t usually go out for Italian food, except for the occasional Americanized junk pizza when we’re feeling lazy or hosting a sleepover or what have you. My wife’s grandmother was born in Italy and passed her family’s cooking techniques to her grandkids, so most of the time, my wife’s two-day Bolognese sauce and […]

It only took 10 minutes of chatting with Chef Conrad Gonzales about his new eatery for it to become abundantly clear that he was planning something bigger than just another restaurant.    The guy is passionate about food, but not just the end result on the customer’s plate. He talked about the varied, interconnected origins […]