Eats

Having lived in cities like San Francisco and Houston, one of the big empty places in my culinary heart is the sore lack of solid Vietnamese restaurants on the Central Coast. My hankering for dishes like pho and banh mi often goes unfulfilled, leading me into a foodie sadness spiral. But thanks to the opening […]

The champagne’s been popped, the wrapping paper has been thrown away, tacky sweaters are ready to return to the store (just kidding, Aunt Maggie; I loved the light-up Frosty the Snowman sweater). For many of us, the year’s end came with one strong simple message: Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on […]

We ate our feelings in 2016, and by 2017 we were stuffed. It was a year filled with changes all over society, some of which sent us right back to the comfort foods we’d promised to lay off of in January. For foodies in the Central Coast, the year had its share of amazing triumphs […]

It’s a quiet evening in downtown Santa Maria when we enter The Garden Mediterranean Restaurant and Cafe. Owner Reda Kchik comes out to warmly greet us and joins us as we sip red wine and talk about the newly opened venue. He is eagerly sharing stories of the work he has put into the stunning […]

Chag Sameach! That basically means “happy festival/joyous holiday,” depending on which strict translation script you like to stick to. In this case, the happy festival is Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights celebrating the time a small group of Jewish people held out in a battle against the Greeks for their right to observe their […]

I’ve never really been one for a lot of fake corporate kitsch in restaurants. That cute rusty license plate from 1956 Montana hanging on the wall over your table was probably made in a Taiwanese factory anyway. But I have to say, the Black Bear Diner is pretty damn charming. The locally owned franchise, which […]

The other night, my fiance and I were at home re-watching a classic film from the 1990s, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Shot almost entirely in Italy, the movie features some exotic and breathtaking locations along the Italian coastline, including Ischia Ponte and Bagno Antonio in Ischia as well as the city streets of Procida and […]

There is good news for restaurateurs and chefs on the Central Coast. If you put soup on your menu, I guarantee you will have at least one loyal customer who will order it every time: me. I won’t bore everyone with too many details (as I have before) about why I think soup is the […]

For months now I’ve had First and Oak on my list of must-try spots, and I finally broke down on a chilly Tuesday night and ventured out to Solvang to see what everyone’s been talking about. It turned out to be one of the best dining experiences of my entire life. First and Oak’s concept […]

It’s almost become a cliche to declare a love for “underground” food spots. It’s sort of an absurdist statement, if you really think about it. What do you exactly love? That food is prepared for you in a highly suspect environment that isn’t entirely on the up-and-up? Should this really be a thing foodie culture […]

In the late 1990s, I was stuck working the worst possible job in the history of time. I was writing copy for a law firm’s fledgling website and hated every minute of it. Lawyers, y’all. Anyway, one of the highlights of the job was my cellmate (or office mate, however you see that), Brenda. She […]

Don’t let the size of J’s Burgers fool you. It’s a small joint, with some tables inside and a small counter and soda fountain. Nondescript, lacking any dominant decorating theme or over-the-top merchandising, J’s is a quiet space still growing after just four months of being open. But what J’s lacks in ornamentation they make […]