••• After participating in the Montecito Trails Foundation’s clean-up day, I resolved to volunteer more in 2021—if I commit to two days, I can achieve a doubling of my volunteer hours. I’m thinking of lending Santa Barbara Channelkeeper a hand: “The first big rainfall of the season has arrived, known as the First Flush, which means that a fair amount of trash has washed down to our beaches. If you’re looking to make a difference this holiday season and help tackle the problem of litter in our community, consider joining Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade, a network of local volunteers who clean up our creeks, beaches, and trash ‘hotspots’ on their own schedules.” More info here.
••• From Lotusland: “Explore Haber Fine Art to view a collection of fine art imagery from Ganna Walska Lotusland. 20% of all proceeds from these beautiful prints will be donated to the preservation of Lotusland.”
••• Thanks to the folks who made guesses about the recent Where in Santa Barbara…? post. No one got it right, so here’s the answer: the photo was taken at the Riviera Theatre in the Riviera Park complex.
••• We had a new house with a garage temporarily filled with furniture—and a suspect roof above it—so we needed a cheap tarp before the storm arrived. That was a good enough reason to visit Empire Cleaning Supply, which I had once wandered into by accident. It’s in a warehouse on Garden, south of Yanonali, and it shares space with parent company Aramsco (which sells/rents cleaning machines and the like) and Pacific Paper. Maybe it’s just because I’m a fan of offbeat places, but I love it.
••• The January 8 agenda of the county’s Architectural Preserve Advisory Committee includes 780 acres of cannabis cultivation in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Sign up for the Siteline email newsletter and you’ll never miss a post.




















Recent Comments
I graduated from Brooks Institute in 1965, married a lovely native of Montecito and adopted Santa Barbara as my home, not where I was born,… — Max Schnorf
I love Little Mountain and have been three times. The rice is $12 not $17 and it's swimming in butter not oil and everyone whose… — Leslie Westbrook
Le Petit Valentien -- maybe not classic French, but pretty close and great prices and great chef Robert. (and Ethiopian on the weekends!) — Leslie Westbrook
The property has building violations on, and the property was held by a bank that wanted out after foreclosing on the previous owner. — Paul
If Merci chocolate caramels are anything close to their salted chocolate chip cookies...we all will be in heaven ♥️...can't wait to try!!! — Maryanne Brillhart
I tried Little Mountain. Beautiful space and decor. But the menu, portions, and prices are ridiculous even for Montecito. $8 for cold bread (3 small… — Foodie
What I want to know is, why is it that Santa Barbara abounds in Italian places, yet no place really exists for classic French cuisine,… — Drew Hart
Montecito restaurateurs need to learn that not all diners are billionaires and, and that inflated pricing does not work. The successful spots all have a… — Rob
Like the old Paradise Cafe! — Jimmy
Completely Agree. A lawyer opening up a flashy restaurant and expecting the city to compensate him for not knowing what he is doing ? This… — Zeeann