“ANACAPA PROJECT” OPENING THIS SUMMER

In a few months Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone should officially complete its years-long transition into the “Fun Zone.” An entire block of E. Yanonali Street, between Helena Avenue and Anacapa Street, including a building at 131 Anacapa Street, formerly-known as the Bay Café, will become a food & drink mecca that joins an already-booming wine tasting scene. Referred to internally as the “Anacapa Project,” the new business cluster will include a winery, a distillery, a brewery, a farm-to-table restaurant, a coffee shop/pizzeria, and an imported wine store named “Caveau.”

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company has been confirmed as a tenant and will include a beer garden adjacent to the brewery. There is a cinder block building currently under construction that runs along Yanonali where the distillery, brewery and winery will go. Each business will be fronted with a large garage door opening on either side of the building so you can walk off the street through each business to a courtyard in the back.

The restaurant will have a large private dining room that seats 80 people. Sources tell me that the restaurant and the coffee shop/pizzeria will be owned and operated by a local woman involved with the Anacapa Project and that a chef has already been hired.

The opening of the Anacapa Project is tentatively scheduled for June.