Eats

Just when area vintners find themselves knee deep in grape juice and slippery skins, the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association (SBCVA) extends an invitation to join the messy fun. Over four days this October, wine lovers can get an eyeful of the action as winemakers, chefs, and tasting room staffers roll out the red carpet […]

Here in the no-longer-so-wild West, we like to celebrate our lifestyle and civic longevity with parades, parties, and lots of hearty food. The friendly folks of Los Alamos, that scenic burg located just off Highway 101 about 18 miles south of Santa Maria, are no different, having annually rolled out the red carpet and cast […]

In the mid-1970s, the Firestone family built Santa Barbara County’s first post-Prohibition winery to bottle their homegrown wine grapes under their own label. Tony Austin, prote;ge; of Andre; Tchelistcheff, the godfather of the California wine industry, came aboard as winemaker and eagerly shepherded the fruit of the young vines into remarkably good wines.  Since then, […]

These last days of summer belong not so much to baseball and back-to-school, as to the incredible tumble of squash erupting from vegetable patches and grocery bins all over town. Green, yellow, smooth, or warty, the prolific members of the squash clan pretty much rule the season of harvest. Heralded as “baby” squash during the […]

Noted for its converted dairies and makeshift barrel rooms, Santa Barbara County’s early wine scene harbored surfers-, cyclists-, and retail clerks-turned-vintners who tackled harvest with second-hand equipment and jerry-rigged crush pads. Rustic and colorful, the early 1980s saw the birth of a local industry destined for greatness, no matter how humble its beginnings. In 1987, […]

A vacationer’s dream and a resident’s paradise, the little town of Los Olivos offers art galleries, fine dining, and lots of winetasting, as well as quiet neighborhoods, a post office, and a well-stocked market. In the heart of downtown, within the embrace of Fess Parker’s renowned Wine Country Inn and Spa, the cozy Restaurant Marcella […]

Sliding down the slippery slope toward harvest, winemakers and growers on the Central Coast spend hours each day contemplating their ripening grapes. Despite a rough spring fraught with both high heat and a cold snap, the 2008 vintage promises a deliciously juicy—if somewhat diminished—yield. Among the locals patrolling their vineyards on a daily basis are […]

Most Central Coast residents appreciate the bounty of fresh fruit, veggies, and meat that grows in our proverbial backyard. For foodies who’d like to learn more about these wonderful edibles, as well as those who simply want to celebrate the sheer abundance of choice, a group of area chefs and farmers has launched an innovative […]

Just when it seems there’s nothing new to do in town, along comes Costa de Oro Winery to liven things up. In a bid to infuse Santa Maria’s social life with a dose of good fun, Gary Burk, the winery’s co-owner and winemaker, has launched a series of events designed to get locals off the […]

Like a thousand fiery suns setting in the haze of a summer sky, tomatoes tumble from market bins and vegetable patches, scarlet, ripe, and ready to eat. We’ve waited all winter for this prolonged moment of juicy heaven and now is the time to welcome it with open arms … er, mouths. Fast-maturing Early Girls […]

All year long, farm workers labor in Central Coast fields and vineyards, turning the soil, tending crops, and harvesting the produce that sustains us. They have helped create the bounty in which we all share, and to demonstrate our collective gratitude, a group of area wine producers has come together to say thank you. On […]

Walking across the planks of the pier-like entryway, diners heading into Santa Maria’s The Jetty Restaurant can imagine a restless ocean stirring just beneath their feet. Couple that sensation with an occasional sea breeze wafting in from Guadalupe, and the effect just about mirrors a ramble to a real jetty. Located on the corner of […]