New York Caliber Restaurants in Santa Barbara?

[Bobbo]

I would like to know if there are any fine dining, well renown restaurants in the SB area that are worth a trip for a special occasion. I know thi sis very vague. I am looking for a place that would rank as a two or three star, even four in SF or NYC.

thanks in advance.

[Carolyn Tillie]

In a word, no...

Santa Barbara is not a bastion of fine dining and hardly ranks with any 2-star restaurants.

The *closest* you would find (IMHO) would be Sage & Onion at 38 E. Ortega Street - Phone: (805) 963-1012. It is very, very good California cuisine but at best, one-star.

Most people who head to Santa Barbara go to La Super Rica Taqueria at 622 N. Milpas Street. Probably the most famous taqueria in the entire state...

[syrah girl]

The Wine Cask is very nice, we celebrated an anniversary there. Ambiance,food, service, wine list were all excellent.

[Carlsbad]

I would second The Wine Cask.

[Bobbo]

Do you think there is a market for a 2 or three star NYC caliber restaurant?

[Carolyn Tillie]

I personally don't think so...

A restaurant of that calibre would require year-round attendance to justify the expense. Those who live there wouldn't support it enough to survive and the tourist industry that frequents the area is seasonal (mostly summer).

[Juanito]

I would agree that one is not going to find NYC caliber dining in SB - the labor pool just isn't deep enough.

If you want to come close, go to Miro, at the Bacara resort. Technically, not in SB, but just outside the city limits. It is the finest dining the SB area has to offer. Service, food and ambience flirt with the starred levels you seek.

[Juanito]

Do you think there is a market for a 2 or three star NYC caliber restaurant?

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Yes, I think there is a market; that is, a subset of the population who are comfortable within that context of dining. They are positively screaming for such a place. However, I don't think that subset is large enough to make the venture a successful one. It's been tried. Restaurant economics in this town are indeed dismal. Add that to the scarcity of potential employees capable of performing consistently at that level and you have a recipe for frustration and failure.

[Bobbo]

thanks, i wish the california dining public would eat out with a more new yorker approach.

[Carolyn Tillie]

thanks, i wish the california dining public would eat out with a more new yorker approach.

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Bobbo, that is a really loaded statement that -- I think -- begs expansion.

What do you think, exactly, is a New Yorker approach to dining that we don't have? Are you just wishing for a 2- or 3-star restaurant in an area of California that wouldn't be able to sustain it or is it a deeper desire? As we Californians don't live atop each other in a very small, concentrated land-mass, we have glamorous locales that, as Juanito aptly stated, does not have a deep-enough labor pool.

[Bobbo]

No, whatt I meant is that the larger majority of Californians, are not very adventerous in their eating habits. This is why I beleive a restaurant would not work. New Yorkers live to eat out this is obvious by just looking at the amount of posts on the NY thread on this site compared to the CA.

I only have posed these questions because I someday hoped to open a high end establishement in SB. Being a SoCal native and a SLO gradualte I know the area very well and adore the central coast. I by no way am trying to say that NYC is better. I currently live and cook in NYC and really dispise the place. But the food is good.

thanks again......and im not discouraged about SB, I think it can be done. La Super Rica is good though. Can tfind that here in NYC.

[rjwong]

Bobbo, thank you for your clarification. I agree with Carolyn that your "new yorker approach" remark was a really loaded statement to me, a foodie from LA-LA Land. The whole California cuisine influence (Alice Waters, Chez Panisse, etc.) is alive and well on the Left Coast.

"The freshest, local, seasonal produce, simply prepared ..."

FYI A restaurant is going to open up in SB called The Hungry Cat. The original is here in Hollywood, operated by David Lentz, husband of Suzanne Goins (Lucques, A.O.C.). In answering your question, you might want to keep your eye on this place and see what kind of reception the Hungry Cat gets in Santa Barbara.

To me, SB still seems to be a college town, and great place for a day trip from LA. Were you also thinking of the surrounding areas (i.e., Montecito)?

[Juanito]

FYI A restaurant is going to open up in SB called The Hungry Cat. The original is here in Hollywood, operated by David Lentz, husband of Suzanne Goins (Lucques, A.O.C.). In answering your question, you might want to keep your eye on this place and see what kind of reception the Hungry Cat gets in Santa Barbara.

But the Hungry Cat is really bistro dining, not approaching the starred dining in the initial post.

I hope the HC does well, and I await its arrival with excitement. I wish they'd picked a better spot - that corner has been cursed in the past. I love their menu and I think folks will come out and support them - I sure hope so.

The premise of Bobbo's post speaks to 2 and 3 star dining - and I still maintain that we have neither the labor pool nor the population to support such a venture.

Who comes close?

As I mentioned in my prior post, Miro. But it has a built in support system - a world class resort that draws people from far and wide. Would it work as a stand alone restaurant? I'm not so sure.

Downey's - I would say this place would be on the short list

Biltmore Four Seasons - yawn

The San Ysidro Ranch is in the process of renovating its operation - perhaps when it reopens it will make the list - but again, we're talking about a resort with built in clientele.

I like Wine Cask, Bouchon and Sage - but none have the ambience which would garner them two or three Michelin stars - or am I wrong?

Who am I missing?

Bobbo, if you don't mind, where are you cooking in the City?

Edited November 7, 2006 by Juanito (log)

[Bobbo]

I guess I should have been more clear. When we speak of stars here in NY we speak of tthe Ny times stars. Michelin really has not made too much of an impact, although the Times stars lately are way off, but thats another story.

thanks for the recommendations of places to watch. I still really beleive SB can be a dining getaway sometime in the future.

[Juanito]

I'm a NYer - born and raised. Moved to SB twenty some odd years ago, but still make many trips per year back to see the family - and eat!

Yes, Michelin stars are very different from NY Times stars - that's for sure.

There are several places in and around the area that would merit multiple stars from the NYT - all have been mentioned in this thread, and there are others, as well.

Something you should keep your eye on, if you're serious about your idea. The wine culture has exploded here - and the Santa Ynez Valley is ground zero for that explosion.

IMO, some of the best food in the area being served today is at the Restaurant at the Ballard Inn - a small inn located in (where else?) Ballard, in the heart of the SY Valley. The chef has solid credentials, having cooked in some very high profile spots in SF and on the East Coast, one being Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger. His food is inventive and delicious. So yes, it can and is being done, albeit on a small scale - his restaurant only seats thirty or so.

Other high profile chefs have been nosing around the Valley, shopping for locations. So it will happen - and when it does, competent foodservice professionals will migrate to the area to take advantage of those opportunities, deepening the labor pool.

My advice to you? Don't be late. You want to get in before this occurs, not after. Occupancy costs are already high - they'll surely go higher when a "big name" chef locates here.

Consider this: who would have thought the French Laundry could accomplish what it has, where it is? The SY Valley is ripe for something like that.

[Bobbo]

the very thoughts I have had for awhile

[alanamoana]

New Yorkers live to eat out this is obvious by just looking at the amount of posts on the NY thread on this site compared to the CA....

thanks again......and im not discouraged about SB, I think it can be done.  La Super Rica is good though.  Can tfind that here in NYC.

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right, but eGullet was founded by new yorkers. so it is much more likely to have more posting on the new york thread. new york is also a lot smaller (since we're talking about manhattan and the boroughs for the most part) than the vast stretches of california. the concentration of restaurants and amount of time people spend in restaurants (because their kitchens are so small) is much greater than california in general.

los angeles and most of southern california aren't in the same league as san francisco and most of northern california when it comes to cuisine of the 2-3 star level, but i'd have to say that they're doing better and better (from what i'm seeing and hearing about).

i'd think that santa barbara could certainly sustain a 2-3 star level restaurant, but you'd have to do some serious market research when it comes to location. you might have to base it on seasonal traffic, i certainly wouldn't depend on college town business.

when it comes to adventurous dining, i think that is a bit of a different topic. people all over the united states are willing to pay for good food and good service. if you're talking about molecular gastronomy, then that's another subject entirely. but fine dining with interesting flavor combinations is always welcome, i think, particularly if couched in the typical terms of california cuisine: fresh, locally grown or produced, organic when possible, seasonal offerings.

edited to add: when it comes to labor, it is all in how you train your people. just because there aren't a ton of out of work actors, writers, musicians and models in sb like there are in new york doesn't mean you can't find good front of house staff .

Edited November 8, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[savvysearch]

NYC is a 3 star restaurant kind of a town and egullet is a 3 star restaurant kind of a forum. I don't think Californians eat out any less, but the restaurants that are popular in California are very different from the types in NYC, where there is a strong european tradition. In CA, the popular restaurants are more likely to be asian or hispanic, cultures that don't conform well to a star system. CHowhound is probably a better example of the culinary fabric of LA, a vibrant forum of adventurous eaters but very different from the crowd here at egullet.

WIth SB, it think it has to do with more than whether the locals will support a 3 star restaurant. I don't think they have a strong local media that can build much excitement on a level with the media's influence in NYC.

Edited November 12, 2006 by savvysearch (log)