Monthly Archives: January 2011

January 27, 2011 – Santa Barbara International Film Festival opening night at Paseo Nuevo

I take a lot of pictures for SantaBarbara.com and this blog. I take so many that I wear-out digital cameras every few years. My first digital camera, the Kodak DC-40, which was one of the first consumer digital cameras available, was … Continue reading →

While walking up State Street Monday night, after bartending at Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro for a Solstice fundraiser, I noticed that all the lights were on in the building formerly known as Borders. The placed was stripped clean and looking quite … Continue reading →

Two local Cold Stone Creamery locations, 504 State Street in Santa Barbara and 5718 Calle Real Road in Goleta, are celebrating the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (January 27-February 6) with special limited time ice cream creations representing five festival … Continue reading →

A new mobile gourmet food service named “O Street Truck” will debut in Santa Barbara at the end of February. They specialize in Mediterranean, French-Mex and French Vietnamese fare. O Street Truck will travel around the South Coast (Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria, Isla Vista) … Continue reading →

Brendan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant opened last week at 1755 E. Daily Dr in Camarillo. I first mentioned the pending arrival of Brendan’s in this column on September 8th. Sources tell me that the eatery is now actively looking for suitable spot in Santa Barbara and Goleta … Continue reading →

This just in from Jeremiah Higgins, Operations Manager and partner at Arch Rock Fish 608 Anacapa St: Hi John, Biography is filming a Gordan Ramsay biography special, and since Scott Liebfried has been Gordan’s right hand man for almost 10 years now, … Continue reading →

In this new section of the column I offer you a sneak peek at real restaurant news that cannot yet be published or might never be published, depending on how the story unfolds. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. The well-known downtown … Continue reading →

Santa Barbara rolls out the red carpet for film lovers and food fans during the International Film Festival January 27-February 6, 2011. The eleven-day celebration coincides with “Film Feast,” a new prix fixe restaurant program available at dozens of downtown … Continue reading →

The Spanish restaurant coming soon to 509 State St. (formerly Bricks Cafe) will be named “Cadiz.” Previously in this column I referred to the eatery as “Cabana” then “Casablanca.” Cadiz is scheduled to open in February.

Asian-fusion restaurant The Blue Owl, which offers late-night eats inside Zen Yai restaurant 425 State St. after hours, has started offering lunch on Saturdays from 11:30am-2:30pm. The menu includes Red Curry shrimp Roll (grilled ciabatta and shrimp w carmelized onions), … Continue reading →

A small yellow sign (currently out of public view because the backside faces the street) has appeared in the weeds at the huge empty lot on Hollister Ave, directly across from Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta. It reads: “NOTICE OF PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT Case name: Westar … Continue reading →

I am still busy trying to clear my email inbox and handle other business matters so you might not hear from me for the rest of the week.

Last Friday I broke the news that the owners of La Entrada, the large, stalled construction project on State Street near the train station, closed escrow with a Los Angeles developer. Sources tell me that the developer who purchased the La Entrada property from Mountain Funding is Michael … Continue reading →

Multiple sources tell me that Cliff’s & Co. at 1919 Cliff Dr. on the Mesa closed their doors recently.

Today I added pictures to the SantaBarbara.com Restaurant Guide for: Killer B BBQ and Bar Kingston’s Candy Company Petrini’s – Goleta Sunnyside Market & Deli Tepeyac Taquitos

Petrini’s Family Restaurant, a fixture at 14 W. Calle Laureles in Santa Barbara for more than 50 years, has opened a new location at 5711 Calle Real in Goleta, the former home of Luigi’s Pizza & Pasta. The new eatery is … Continue reading →

Wednesday, January 19th, 7pm at Borders in Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta Jeff & Matt Nichols from Mattei’s Tavern are launching their new cookbook named “Brothers Cuisine.” The Restaurant Guy will be on hand to moderate a question & answer session that … Continue reading →

On Monday, January 24 from 6-9pm John Palminteri and The Restaurant Guy will be bartenders at Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro 516 State St. for “Age of Aquarius,” a fundraiser for the Solstice Parade. This $25 event includes dinner, a no host … Continue reading →

Today I added Petrini’s – Goleta and Tepeyac Taquitos to the SantaBarbara.com Restaurant Guide.

Since November I have been busy planning and running my Santa Claus call center, developing an entirely new food news blog, running and tabulating the Best of 2011 restaurant poll and moving SantaBarbara.com over to entirely new, faster computer hardware with a new … Continue reading →

Call me old-fashioned but I used to think that chocolate was something people eat – that is until I saw this product in CVS recently.

JANUARY 23-29 is “restaurant week” in Santa Ynez Valley. Here is a press-release I received from Laura Kath, Media Relations Director for the Santa Ynez Valley Visitors Association, that lists participating eateries: SANTA YNEZ VALLEY RESTAURANT WEEK IS JANUARY 23-29, 2011 … Continue reading →

Some people like chain restaurants for the popular food and the jobs they bring. Others don’t like them because they feel chain restaurants can ruin our unique charm and turn Santa Barbara in to another suburb of L.A. How do you … Continue reading →

I am told that Curious Cup in Carpinteria no longer plans to have a cafe & coffee shop as part of their bookstore.

A message on Edhat this morning says that Carvel Ice Cream at 147 N. Fairview Ave in Goleta closed January 10th. FYI, I am writing this message on my iPhone while in the waiting room at my doctors office (annual … Continue reading →

Owners Laura & Ernie Rodriguez open their new Mexican restaurant named Tepeyac Taquitos at noon this Saturday at 201 W Carrillo St., near the intersection of Carrillo & De La Vina. The grand opening will be featuring live Spanish guitar music … Continue reading →

Owner Kiona Gross opens her independent bookstore and coffee shop named “Curious Cup” today at 929 Linden Avenue in Carpinteria. Curious Cup is a specialized bookstore focusing on children, teen, and young adult books with an emphasis on multicultural and bilingual books. In addition … Continue reading →

Today I added Killer B’s BBQ and Bar at 718 State Street to the BBQ section of the Santa Barbara.com Restaurant Guide.

I received this message from Kyle Hopkins, an owner of the new Killer B’s BBQ and Bar on State Street: Hi John, Let me give you a little background for your readers on what is happening over at 718 State St. … Continue reading →

January 11, 2011 – Santa Barbara “Film Feast” Preview Reception at Wine Cask .

A reader pointed out something interesting in yesterday’s Best of 2011 poll results: “Best Place for Ladies Night Out” and “Best Place for Guys Night Out” are right next to each other. The distance between Blush (hers) and Dargan’s (his) is literally about 20 feet. … Continue reading →

Here are the winners of the SantaBarbara.com Restaurant Guide online poll that started last Thanksgiving and ended on New Years Eve. The results will be displayed online throughout 2011 and beyond. Survey participants considered 115 different food & drink categories. … Continue reading →

I spoke with owner Patrick Rand over the weekend and he tells me that his restaurant Patrick’s Side Street Cafe at 2375 Alamo Pintado in Los Olivos closed last Wednesday. He asked me to pass this message to you: “Thanks to … Continue reading →

This is an update to Friday’s blog. Henrietta Forystek, owner of Max’s Restaurant at 3514 State St., tells me that her eatery has been renamed “Max’s Cucina” and will start serving Italian cuisine Tue-Sat 5pm-10pm. Amadeo Greco is Executive Chef and General Manager, … Continue reading →

There were two big questions relating to this guide that I pondered last year: 1) Should I upgrade this blog to the modern era? 2) Should the SantaBarbara.com Restaurant Guide have Buellton & Solvang eateries added to the mix or should it stay … Continue reading →

I have nearly finished tabulating the results of the 2011 survey of best places for food & drink on the South Coast. They will be announced tomorrow and will be displayed in the restaurant guide all year. The survey was conducted online last year from … Continue reading →

On August 10th I broke the news that “Nicky’s Pizza” would be replacing Pizza Hut which closed at 2840 De La Vina a few weeks earlier. On October 20th I took Nicky “off the radar” because there didn’t appear to be … Continue reading →

My restaurant Command & Control Headquarters has received intelligence that events are unfolding on upper State Street in the community of Santa Barbara, California just north of Los Angeles. A Duty Officer from the Watch Team sent me a briefing this morning about a chef that is … Continue reading →

I had a very strange dream the other night and you were in it. In my dream Santa Barbara was being attacked by aliens and the entire community came to the beaches to see what was going on. Thousands watched … Continue reading →

This blog was launched on December 19, 2006 and the format has not changed at all since then, not even a little bit. But time and technology march on so today marks the day that I officially sunset my 1990′s-style … Continue reading →

One of my New Years resolutions was to have Make It Work come by my office to give the Rumor Machine a badly-needed tune-up. The Rumor Machine did quite well in 2010 but it definitely had a few hiccups. While the Make … Continue reading →

Killer B’s BBQ and Bar has opened at 718 State St, the former home of Kozmo’s (2010),  California Crisp (2009) and Fat Burger (2008).

I am still working away, tabulating your votes for best restaurants of 2011. I hope to publish the results on Tuesday.