Merci Is Entering Its Dinner Era

Longtime Montecito favorite Merci launches dinner service this Thursday, and reservations are available now. Owners Elizabeth Colling and Nick Barainca agree that dinner was never part of the plan. In fact, “We couldn’t figure out what it would look like without diluting and cannibalizing our lunch business,” says Barainca. “You can’t just do fast-casual all night.”

From an economic standpoint, however, they wanted to grow—and had even been looking for a second location for a few years. So their focus turned back to Montecito. Colling and her family recently spent two years in Paris, and when Barainca visited, they saw that they could emulate, to some degree, the restaurants they loved there—where the food and service are excellent, but the atmosphere is insouciant and authentic. Merci’s location outside a supermarket is obviously less than ideal, but, says Barainca, “we figured that if people don’t mind it right now, then they probably won’t mind it at dinner.”

To say people don’t mind it is a dramatic understatement. Merci has been popular ever since it opened in May 2019—the chicken paillard and chocolate chip cookies belong in the hall of fame—and even before that. When Colling and her husband, Stephane, moved here from New York City in 2011, she had experience working at restaurants in L.A. (Spago, Bastide) and as a food editor at Martha Stewart Living. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, so in 2015, I created a pop-up called Merci to Go,” she says. “For 18 months, I cooked off-site, packaged everything up, and brought it over to the Country Mart in my car.” The space was tiny, and when the Xanadu Bakery space became available, she was offered the entire storefront. (She regrets only taking half.)

Barainca had also worked at L.A. restaurants (Melisse, Rockenwagner Bakery, Four Seasons Beverly Hills, AK Restaurant + Bar) before coming here to be chef de cuisine at the Coral Casino and then Mattei’s Tavern. “That’s where I met Stephane,” he says. “That was the bridge to it all.” Barainca went back to L.A. and did some consulting before opening a pop-up series called Gargantua in Santa Monica. “From there, I met the owners of Beacon Coffee in Ojai. They made me a proposition to do a residency there, which I did for 14 months.”

“Stephane and I ate there a couple of times,” says Colling, “and I was like, ‘Oh!'” 

After Gargantua ended, Barainca agreed to consult at Merci, and they hired a chef… who didn’t show up on opening day. (“I had just gotten married and my honeymoon was slated for three days later,” says Barainca.) But they got it up and running, and over time, Barainca came onboard as a partner.

Now, after nearly seven years, they’re ready to take on dinner. “The main issue was how to make it like us, but not just more chicken paillard,” says Colling. “We had no desire to dress up lunch and pass it off as dinner.”

Indeed, dinner is a totally different experience, with table service and reservations (but there will always be plenty of space for walk-ins). The terrace got a revamp, with new, Merci-style furniture, planters, and powerful heaters extending in front of Caffe Luxxe. There’s no ignoring the supermarket, but at a friends-and-family dinner, I didn’t find it bothersome. In a way, it adds a frisson—there’s a tension between the prosaic location and the high-caliber food and chic ambiance that feels sexy and unique, not unlike at Bell’s in Los Alamos.

The concise menu—a sign of both confidence and a small kitchen—is a logical extension of what Merci does so well at lunch. According to Barainca, “It’s a mixtape of the greatest hits from places in Paris where we thought, We have to do this.” I’ve only had the one meal, but everything was excellent, particularly the steak au poivre (side of frites, natch) and a flawless chocolate soufflé with espresso cream. The hall of fame better make some more space.

All photos (except place setting and soufflé) by Studio Arna, courtesy Merci.

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