Eats

More than any other time of year, Christmas tends to tap into one’s desire for tradition. This weekend, hundreds of millions of people around the world will celebrate Christmas with their favorite family traditions. [image-2] For me, it’s a mix of old and new: sharing with my children the fond holiday traditions I remember as […]

A much-publicized trend this holiday season is to “shop small” and buy local; support your hometown businesses to keep them afloat during these tough economic times. Here are three ways to do just that, if you’re looking for holiday gifts for the cook or oenophile in your life. What could be a more appropriate holiday […]

The intoxicating aroma of concentrated black cherry hangs in the air at a local winery—almost as much as does the anticipation as the priciest wine grapes Dave Potter has ever purchased hibernate in barrels. Usually passionate about Rhone varietals—Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre—Potter is trying his purple-stained hand at Pinot Noir as well this year. “I’ve […]

In this season of giving, we are reminded to do what we can to improve the lives of those less fortunate. Residents on the Central Coast have generously raised millions of dollars over the years, allowing nonprofit groups to do their important work. It is worth mentioning that the local restaurant and wine industries contribute […]

In the days following Thanksgiving, instead of reheating your turkey dinner in the microwave oven, how about trying something new and exciting this year? Three Central Coast chefs were kind enough to share their favorite leftover turkey recipes: Chef Rick Manson of the Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe, Chef Ryan Gromfin of Central City Market […]

If your oven at home is too small to hold a tom turkey and several casserole dishes, if you find no pleasure in peeling potatoes, if you dread doing the dishes, or all of the above, consider letting someone else do the cooking this Thanksgiving. Several local chefs are more than willing to do the […]

A billboard along the east side of Highway 101 in Nipomo reads “Better for wine. Better for the planet. Cork is the natural choice.” And with those words, a 400-year-old, billion-dollar industry fights back after years of losing market share to the humble screw cap. Many Americans still wrongly associate the easy-to-use and re-use screw-cap […]

Four decades ago, he was a young Vietnam veteran with a vision: to plant Pinot Noir vines where there were only bean fields. His grape gamble paid off, and now, decades later, his peers are celebrating his contribution to the state’s wine industry. Buellton wine producer Richard Sanford is the first Central Coast resident chosen […]

One of the world’s oldest holidays—dating back 2,000 years—Halloween still delights children and adults alike. Whether you go all out decorating your home with cobwebs, tombstones, and flying witches, or just take the annual trip to the pumpkin patch and dole out Butterfingers to trick-or-treaters, Halloween is America’s second-most popular holiday, after Christmas.  Here on […]

From a very early age, I loved to eat and lingered over every meal. My mom has marveled that she’s never seen a child savor her food as much as “little Wendy Lou!” Living in rural Wisconsin, surrounded by cornfields and dairy farms, I grew up on casseroles, cheese curds, and the freezer full of […]

The 200-plus wineries in Santa Barbara County have names as diverse as the wine and the people who make it. There’s the winery that shares the name of a world-renowned tire company, the label founded by the beloved actor who portrayed American frontiersmen, and now a winery named after a British blues-rock band with multi-platinum […]

Fall is a special time on the Central Coast: The days get shorter but warmer, shadows grow longer, the afternoons usher in slightly chilly breezes, and it’s time to enjoy the autumnal colors. Yes, the Central Coast does put on a fall show. To see it, you need go no farther than the vineyards that […]