Eats

At the top of the new fall menu at Root 246 is a famous quote from beloved chef and television personality Julia Child. “People who love to eat are always the best people.” The quote is a fitting kickoff not just for the menu but for the chef behind its execution. Chef Crystal “Pink” DeLongpré, […]

In the beginning there were few—vendors, that is. The year was 1978. The campy soundtrack from Grease was heating up the charts. It was a sunny Saturday morning and a handful of local farmers gathered at the old Young’s Giant Food parking lot on Broad Street in SLO.     They didn’t know it then, but […]

When a red wine glass is on the table in front of you, the waitress is handing you a glass of Eberle Mill Road Viognier, and it’s not even noon yet, you know you’re in for a good Sunday brunch.  Pecans, bacon, and apples coated in poppy seed vinaigrette are forthcoming as Gary Eberle launches […]

Humberto Hernandez opened his first restaurant at the age of 16 in Jalisco, Mexico. He had spent the past five years learning to cook at home and working in kitchens and thought he was ready to take the next step.  “We had a little bar and food,” he said. “It was hard because it was […]

Dannika Stefano had big dreams for herself growing up in Guadalupe. The makeup artist-turned-private chef spent her youth dreaming of going to Hollywood to pursue her dreams.  “I was in the beauty industry doing makeup for a long time, since getting out of high school,” she said. “I came to Los Angeles to pursue acting […]

I  love to try new things. In my role here, I’m always looking to find the newest places to spotlight, hoping to give readers some fun fresh culinary ideas. But sometimes, I like to go back and visit the classics. That’s what brought me into Papa Napoli‘s in Santa Maria. I have some pretty fond […]

Santa Maria just got something it really needs–a new Vietnamese restaurant. The recently opened Viet Kitchen on Skyway Drive is just what Santa Marians on the south side of town need, and from what I can tell, really want. Vietnamese cuisine is some of the world’s best comfort food, and the restaurant is off to […]

Have you ever met a “mom on a mission”? If you have, you remember the encounter and the mother in question. The mom on a mission I know is Wendy Thies Sell, the former writer of this very column, whose 10-year-old daughter has Type 1 diabetes. It’s become a mission for her to help spread […]

Here on the Central Coast, every sip of wine or beer bears a hint of the region that produced it. So what happens when you combine them both? Don’t go dumping your beer into that glass of chardonnay because that’s not what I’m talking about. Beer-and-wine hybrids are making a name for themselves all over […]

What kind of a beer drinker are you? I’m not asking if you’re a fun drunk or an angry drunk, I’m asking your preferred brew: Is it light beers? The hoppier Indian Pale Ales (IPAs)? Or maybe you’re like me, and you go for something dark and smokey, like a stout? Maybe you don’t know […]

I‘ve been saying it for what feels like years now: The best coffee shop in Santa Maria isn’t even a shop. If you’ve never seen the light-roast-with-cream-brown trailer pulled by the dark-roast-hold-the-cream-black pickup truck cruising around town, it’s time to let you in on the best kept caffeinated secret in the valley–Coffee a la Cart. […]