Ragged Point
Ragged Point, CA · Food & Drink
Santa Barbara Independent
Montecito’s New Wine Bar Posts Up Near the Bird Refuge
When I first walked into the light and bright Vic’s Wine Bar, the new weekend-only respite in the Little King space, owners Aleah and Ethan greeted me with such warmth I felt like I had arrived at a friend’s house for happy hour. Eyes genuinely bright and wine bottles in hand, it was as if they couldn’t wait to catch up, pour me a glass, and offer me a bite of the latest recipe they’ve been obsessing over. This kind of hospitality is rare, and the vibe at Vic’s is as refreshing, natural and delicious as their fantastic wine list.
Coastal View
Culinary Crawl leaves Carpinteria hungry for more
Carpinteria came ready to crawl. Nearly 300 foodies donned aprons and took to the streets Thursday, Sept. 17, for the Carpinteria Community Association’s Culinary Crawl, sipping, savoring and strolling their way among local restaurants and businesses — and giving organizers plenty of reason to start thinking about next year.
decorhint.com
12 Santa Barbara Restaurants That Prove Small Spots Can Be Legendary
A great meal does not need a chandelier, a sprawling dining room, or a reservation made three weeks in advance. Sometimes all it needs is a tiny kitchen and food good enough to make you immediately start planning your next visit. Santa Barbara understands that assignment remarkably well. Some of...
KEYT
Italian Family Brings a Taste of Home to Santa Barbara with Gelato
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - For one Italian family, gelato is more than a sweet treat. It’s a taste of home, childhood memories and a connection to their roots. Now, they’re bringing that tradition to Santa Barbara. Sweetaly recently opened on State Street after the owners’ daughter, who attends...
sitelinesb.com
Restaurant Roy to Close After 30 Years
••• Congratulations to Little Mountain for its well-deserved rave—three stars out of four—in the New York Times. While the reviewer got a lot of things right about the restaurant, the location is certainly not “in a strip mall” and the headline’s emphasis on “freakiness” is bizarre for such an establishment so effortlessly elegant in terms of its food, setting, and service. (Photo of chef Diego Moya by Kort Havens, courtesy Little Mountain.)
Santa Barbara Independent
Brave & Maiden: Trapped in the Lompoc Vortex with the Santa Ynez Blues Again
Brave & Maiden Estate Santa Ynez Valley Sauvignon Blanc Limited 2025. In my retail days, I preferred not to taste with winery owners or winemakers unless I already knew the lineup. This was due to cowardice, mostly. If the wines turned out to be disgraceful, or merely meh, there was no dodging the question that always comes, delivered with the approbation-seeking mindset of a mom handing you her baby and asking, “So … what do you think?”
Santa Barbara Independent
Meet Santa Barbara’s Agave Ambassador
Jorge Báez is on a mission to change the world’s — and specifically Santa Barbara’s — understanding of mezcal. Much of the motivation comes down to his own upbringing in the rather Americanized city of La Paz in Baja California. “I grew up knowing that...
VC Star | Ventura County Star
Texas Roadhouse sets October opening date in Camarillo
Texas Roadhouse, known for its hand-cut steaks and honey cinnamon butter rolls, plans to open its first Ventura County location in October. The restaurant is scheduled to welcome patrons Oct. 19 at 650 E. Ventura Blvd. at the Promenade in the Camarillo Premium Outlets, near Finney's Crafthouse. It will employ 220 people. “We’re just really excited to be joining the community,” said Sadie Crees, marketing coach for the restaurant. Construction on the 8,300-square-foot restaurant began last year and is nearing completion, Crees said. The eatery will offer dine-in and takeout service. The Camarillo Planning Commission approved the project Sept. 17, 2024, said Camarillo spokesperson Michelle D'Anna in an email. Texas Roadhouse built 16 new parking spaces and signed a shared parking agreement with the shopping center. The Camarillo location was selected as part of the company’s California growth strategy. “We had gotten a lot of great feedback and responses that the community would love one there,” Crees said of the site. No further locations are planned in Ventura County “so far,” she said. The restaurant is hiring full- and part-time workers. Applicants can apply online at becomearoadie.com or in person. For online applications, managers will contact candidates to schedule interviews,
Santa Barbara Independent
Solvang, California’s Solvang Farmers Market, Part of the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers’ Market Association, Voted as Second “Best Farmers Markets of 2026” in Reviewed Readers’ Choice Awards
Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service. The Solvang Farmers Market in Solvang, California (http://www.SolvangUSA.com), has been voted as the second “Best Farmers Markets of 2026” in the Reviewed Readers’ Choice Awards, the results for which were publicly announced on September 17. The unique Southern California travel destination, affectionately known as “The Danish Capital of America,” is joined by first place category winner Copley Square Farmers Market in Boston, Massachusetts, and third place winner, Charleston Farmers Market (Charleston, South Carolina), in the top three spots, with the Downtown San Luis Obispo Farmers’ Market being the only other California market to place in the list’s “top 10.”
Santa Barbara Independent
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Invites the Community to Sip California’s Native Landscape with “Garden to Glass”
Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service. This October, Santa Barbara’s celebrated cocktail culture meets California’s unique native flora in Garden to Glass, a month-long collaboration celebrating Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s 100 years of natural beauty and conservation through limited-edition botanical cocktails crafted with edible native plants harvested directly from the Garden.
Santa Barbara Independent
The Story Behind Santa Cruz Market’s Super Salsas
Addictively salty while thirst-quenchingly fresh — plus, as spicy as you like, from mellow to mouth-tingling — the line of salsas sold by Santa Cruz Market engage the tastebuds like an edible orchestra, hitting all the notes needed to make this condiment the star of your meal. I occasionally make that salsa-with-chips my entire meal, often by accident, as the small tub evaporates in one sitting, leaving me full and satisfied.
argonautnews.com
Smoke is the Secret Ingredient: The Tasting Kitchen finally reopens after 2023 fire and delays
Chef Casey Lane feels right at home on Abbot Kinney. He landed here in 2009 at age 25 to open The Tasting Kitchen, which, according to Forbes, “helped turn a scruffy Westside street into one of the most consequential dining corridors in America,” and he is back again, reopening the restaurant in July after a 2023 fire and permit and construction delays.
Santa Barbara Independent
Famed Santa Barbara Eatery Roy Preparing to Hang Closed Sign, for Good
Apparently, all things must pass, as we were reminded by St. George (Harrison). The sad news comes that the longstanding local institution/eatery/musician hang known as Roy is reaching its swan song, or at least a transitional formation, by year’s end. Roy, being Roy Gandy, is a nice boy from...
costcowineblog.com
2023 Aurelle Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
We always seem to drink a lot of Pinot Noir this time of the year. This bottle from Santa Barbara county had been lingering around in stores near us for a bit, and we finally decided to grab one and see what it was all about. Turns out, a pretty...
sitelinesb.com
“Storytelling Bar” Beau Will Have a Sister Restaurant
••• The new Goleta location of Cajé Coffee Roasters (5340 Hollister Avenue) has opened. —Noozhawk. ••• The folks behind the “storytelling bar” Beau aren’t done with world-building. They have plans for a restaurant called Esther’s, but they’re being coy about the location. (There will be a scavenger hunt with clues; details on that TBA. Obviously, there’s a newly available spot nearby….) What we do know is this: “Esther is Beau’s love interest in the book series hence the second location opening and it’s all tying in to book release next year. And she’s a time traveler so this place is going to be very different.” The Instagram profile promises breakfast daily, “noon plates,” tea and espresso, “tonics and elixirs,” cocktails, “supper fare” on Fridays and Saturdays, and an “apothecary.”
voyagela.com
Community Highlights: Meet Joel Huff of Frontside Cafe
Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel Huff. Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?. Chef with over 30 years of experience in the culinary...