Food & Drink

Something is brewing in Santa Barbara County; some of the area’s most creative and fearless culinary minds have hopped on the beer bandwagon, making beer condiments, beer desserts—you name it!  “Really, the sky’s the limit,” said Kady Fleckenstein of Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company. “We feel like you can do anything with beer.” Fig Mountain’s first […]

Something strange happens upon entering the tiny “town” of Harmony, population 18. First, your cell phone stops working. Then, as if sucked into a Twilight Zone episode, time evaporates. Hours sweep by as you lose yourself in the fiery glow of a glassblower’s handiwork. Yellow finches and hummingbirds flit from branch to branch as you […]

Seasoned Santa Barbara County vineyard manager Ruben Solorzano’s 25th wine harvest has also been his earliest.  The respected viticulturist oversees 22 vineyards, “all the way from Lompoc to Happy Canyon,” for Coastal Vineyard Care Associates.  The 2015 wine harvest began for Solorzano on July 23.  Sauvignon blanc, growing in Happy Canyon in the eastern Santa […]

So is desert hot the new normal now? As we all know now, it’s been a really hot year. With just one fan in our house, our family has been scrambling to find a way to cool off. When I was a kid it was all about popsicles and running through the lawn sprinklers. These […]

This time of year presents Central Coast wine lovers with an embarrassment of riches—so many wine events to choose from, and all just a short distance from home. In the span of a few weeks, we can attend Harvest in the Wine Ghetto; SAVOR the Central Coast; Bubblyfest; Santa Maria Grapes & Grains Beer and […]

Whether she is rescuing abused street dogs in Thailand or rehabilitating ancient grapevines at home in Santa Barbara County, Deborah Hall has found new meaning for her life on her 130-acre ranch, near Lompoc. Two miles east of La Purisima Mission, deep in a canyon in the Sta. Rita Hills wine appellation, is Gypsy Canyon, […]

Finding a tiny specialty shop among the more common strip mall scene is a treasure. Discovering it’s a candy shop is a dream. For a chocolate lover, actually walking into the Heart & Sugar shop is almost heavenly.  Sunlight streams through the small shop, filling it with a golden tint as powder blue chalkboards hanging […]

They don’t wear red tights and a cape. Nor do they have superpowers. However they do dedicate their lives to helping the less fortunate, and they drive a cool van with a giant carrot on the back.  The fine folks at Veggie Rescue are making our community a better place, and it’s probably only slightly […]

Louisiana is 2,000 miles from the Central Coast, but somehow Jerome Stevens brought a little slice of the Pelican State to Guadalupe.  Inspired by his roots in Lafayette, La., Stevens opened a small joint in Guadalupe dishing out both types of popular Louisiana food: Cajun and Creole cuisine.  Calling it Papa Jay’s Cajun and Creole […]

The new coffee house and eatery in the shopping center at the corner of Clark and Bradley in Orcutt is more than a coffee shop.     For 6 Degrees co-owners Starr Hall Egan and her husband, Jude, first and foremost, it is a place for locals to gather.  “We moved here, and we thought, […]

Quinoa, edamame, and dark chocolate have become buzz words in the health food industry appearing on dinner plates increasingly often. They generally don’t appear in candy, but when they do they can make a surprisingly complementary component that satisfies the craving for something sweet.  One Santa Maria business is scoring big with its combination of […]