Eats

Imagine a baseball-loving boy moving to Southern California just in time for the legendary 1965 season when the Los Angeles Dodgers earned the National League pennant and went on to win a world championship. It was there, sitting at Dodger Stadium during that magical season, watching the likes of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Maury […]

Santa Maria Valley loves its signature tri-tip barbecue: oak wood, open fire grill, just a bit of salt, and salsa on the side. So what could make it better? A couple of entrepreneurs decided to take on that challenge, and what they came up with can be described as deliciously instant gratification.  For most people, […]

It seems like every family has that one signature dish that brings everyone together. It’s treasured like a priceless jewel. And more often than not, it’s a secret.  Family recipes are special because they are the root of numerous fond memories, in which the food is the focal point to where everyone gathers. Often that […]

Lompoc has been gaining notoriety for its wine, but city representatives want to highlight their food scene as well. From a lunchtime nosh to a date night dinner, there are plenty of ways to taste Lompoc during its inaugural Restaurant Week.  Chelsea Cochran, executive assistant at the Lompoc Chamber of Commerce, said that 17 restaurants […]

Why are mushrooms so interesting? Is it because they thrive in the dark? Is it because of their expansive medicinal uses? Maybe it’s because they just taste so good, adding a depth to the dishes in which they are added. Whatever the reason, they are revered by foodies and mushroom aficionados alike, and on Jan. […]

A train barrels by just one block from Paso Underground, obscuring the sound of drizzling rain. I’m sipping one of Orion Stang’s ultra-small-batch Dilecta label releases, his 2013 “Match” blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvedre sourced from three Paso vineyards. The wine—like the nearby locomotive—boasts a lingering finish that haunts the senses long after the […]

New Year’s Eve was a mellow dining experience for me. As people everywhere enjoyed swanky dinner places or visited loud noisy bars, my family and I decided to ring in the new year in an atmosphere that was quiet, familiar, and to adopt an overused phrase: where everybody knows our names. We ate at the […]

As we ring in a new year, it’s also a time to reflect on the good things we enjoyed in 2015 here on the Central Coast, good things like outstanding locally crafted wine, cutting-edge beer, fresh produce grown year round, excellent cuisine, new restaurants, and the creative artisans working so hard to bring us the […]

As I look back at my wine country wanderings over the past year and through the hundreds of photographs that I’ve taken along the way, I realized how many experiences and wines that I have yet to write about in this column. So, before the year is up, I want to share with you a […]

She captured the hearts of television viewers nationwide earlier this year on the Food Network’s cooking competition show, All-Star Academy, a rigorous cooking contest that she survived through the finale, placing first runner-up. Solvang native Vanessa Craig, took the newfound fame after the TV show aired and started her catering business, Vanessa Loves Food.  “I’ve […]

You typically don’t expect to find fine dining in an industrial strip. Especially not in an industrial strip on a street called Industrial Way. However in Buellton, there sits an exception to the expectation. Or should I say, a pleasant surprise? Terravant doesn’t just sit in an industrial complex, it’s literally tucked away at the […]

Many of the finest restaurants in the United States and Canada count on Santa Maria’s Babé Farms for year-round, high-end produce. This isn’t where you’ll find the ordinary.  Babé Farms grows and hand-harvests 80 unique vegetable varieties—some almost too beautiful to eat.  We’re talking nine different colored radishes, including slim white icicles, red-and-white finger-shaped French […]