Vacation

As promised, I’m writing about a few of the places (well, the ones I have pictures of) that I ended up at during the course of vacation. Since there was so much planned, I didn’t have a ton of time to hit all of the places around (There’s quite a few restaurants I’ll just have to try the next time I’m over there). But that doesn’t mean I didn’t get any good food. In fact, the meals just progressively got better, not a bad thing at all!

I got to Santa Barbara around 1:30pm PST after a 7am flight out of Boston. So at about 2:30-3ish, a few of us wandered over to Stearn’s Wharf to grab some dinner (dinner to us east coasters anyway). A couple of the places looked a bit touristy but after eyeing the menus and consulting our local guide, the Internet, we settled on the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company, the absolute last building on the wharf before the Pacific Ocean.

One thing to note though, we sat outside and quickly realized how cool it could get. It was around 70 degrees but getting progressively windier…lesson learned =P

Cioppino

Crab Salad

The next day, I ended up further down Cabrillo Blvd at the harbor. I did some research that morning and came up with a destination…Brophy Brothers. They have a rotating fish menu (the freshest stuff of the day I guess) that hit a wide range of flavors. Everything was delicious and I washed it all down with beer from Firestone brewery (I’ve yet to find this out in Boston sadly).

The biggest hit was the Thresher shark and fixings. The dish was very well put together, well cooked without being tough, and the flavors worked really well together.

Brophy Brothers

Oysters on the Half Shell (From Long Island…I was bummed they weren’t local!)

Thresher Shark

Sea Bass

And then for the kicker. After a day long wine tour, I scored standby dinner reservations at a French restaurant right in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, Bouchon. I read nothing but fantastic reviews and ravings and had to experience this for myself.

A little side note, but we accidentally walked into the “auxiliary” dining room where the bathrooms are, thinking that was where the main restaurant was. Oops.

From the beginning until the very last bites, Bouchon was top notch. Service was prompt, the staff was very knowledgeable and above all, helpful without sounding pretentious. They really made a good night into a fantastic night out. Add the service to the great food and an awesome wine from Fiddlehead Cellars (2006 Fiddlehead 728 Pinot Noir) and…well, should I go on? =)

I ended up with a fresh heirloom tomato salad and a rack of lamb. The heirloom tomatoes were juicy and the salad felt lighter and refreshing, a good thing! And the lamb? Best lamb I’ve ever had (so far). Every bite was juicy and well seasoned. I got no hints of any burnt bits and savored every single bite (I made it a point to clean off the bones…I have witnesses!).

Heirloom Tomato Stack

Lamb

For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of this dessert

So there you have it, my entire trip to Santa Barbara in two posts. I really wish that I spent more time out there, there was so much more to do but I guess that’ll have to wait until next time!

Bridlewood Winery

As I’ve probably mentioned a couple times, I was recently vacationing in Santa Barbara. It was a short one though, 4 days in all but I wish I could have made it just a couple days longer. I was there for a wedding, the marriage of two amazing people I know (the groom especially with his stylish collection of hats) and they really made everyone feel at home. Yes, you two are WONDERFUL. From the welcoming party to the wedding and reception on the beach, the wine tour, and the beachside BBQ…it was definitely one of the best vacations I’ve ever been on. Truth!

I mean, seriously, when every day looks like this, how can you be unhappy?

Santa Barbara, by the East beach

I even ran a couple mornings. I never run. I hate running. Yet I felt oddly at ease just jogging down the beach path. And you know what? I enjoyed it…a lot!

Santa Barbara from Stearns Wharf

Santa Barbara from Stearns Wharf

Stearn’s Wharf

I arrived at about 10am local time (after being up at 4am EST to catch the flight) and then spent the rest of the day wandering the beach and then down to State Street. I think I ended up with 5 meals total (it was a long day). I got to catch the sights at Stearn’s Wharf (and observe a seal napping in someone’s boat) and then walked up State Street a ways (stopped in a board game store while I was at it) before ending the night at the welcome party. By the way, Firestone Brewery serves up some amazing beer, the Firestone DBA being my favorite (I ordered something else to start and then after watching about 20 DBA’s get poured in a row, decided I’d be the 21st). Also enjoyed some fine meals around the area, I’ll post about this next time.

The day after the wedding, we were all loaded up onto a bus headed for the Santa Ynez Valley, as the newlywed couple put it, “The Sideways inspired wine tour” (I loaned them the DVD by the way…gotta take credit wherever I can =P ). We ended up at Gainey Winery, Bridlewood, and then finally a town I can’t seem to remember that well (Los Olivos maybe?). The highlights definitely were the Gainey Riesling, the Bridlewood Blue Roan Syrah, and the cries of anguish/agony as the bus drove past Firestone Brewery on the way back.

Gainey Vineyard

Bridlewood Vineyard

Bridlewood Vineyard

Last but not least, the Ledbetter beach BBQ. Festivities started at 10am and closed at 6pm…making this pretty much a full day of work for everyone involved. And I can’t forget kudos to the newlyweds for setting this all up and managing not to go insane in the process! The California tri-tip highlighted a great day of BBQ and fun!