••• I snapped a few more photos of Ancora Osteria, opening in Montecito’s Upper Village this week, during a preview reception the other night. The space is a definite improvement over Via Vai. Co-owner Luca Crestanelli of S.Y. Kitchen says that reservations are being limited at the start in order to allow the restaurant to ramp up.
••• More on Milio’s Pizza, opening at 801 State Street this Friday. —Noozhawk
••• Local introduced a new all-day menu. On page two: “Ask your server about our vegan patty melt, cauliflower tacos, pasta primavera, and other [vegetarian] off-menu options.” Also, “both fryers are dedicated gluten-free. Many favorites—including crispy chicken, calamari, fries, and dessert doughnuts—are gluten-free. GF burger buns are available.”
••• For those of us who can’t wait for the annual Greek Grab Go event in the fall, the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church’s annual Greek Festival is August 14-16 at Chase Palm Park. You can expect, gyros, pastitsio, souvlaki, spanakopita, baklava, and more.
••• According to its Instagram bio, Wella’s Soul Food (318 N. Milpas Street, between Gutierrez and Montecito) opens August 16.
••• Simpson House Inn, purchased by Hearth Hospitality (the Craft House Inn, the De La Vina Inn, Barbareño, Bistro Amasa) earlier this year, relaunches daily afternoon tea in the garden on August 26 with a new menu from Barbareño chef Julian Martinez. It’s $75 per person and reservations can be made online. (Photo by Zach and Dune.)
••• The lease for the upstairs space at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum building overlooking the harbor is on this week’s city council agenda, but one of the proprietors says they’re actually postponing it for a few weeks and will share more info once the lease is signed. They’re shooting for a May opening.
••• I did the hard work of doing recon at the new Sweetaly gelato shop in Paseo Nuevo. Don’t be fooled by the first photo below—soon after I took it, the line was out the door. The flavors lean toward the classic, although I was surprised not to see chocolate among the gelati. The closest is Ferrero Rocher, based on the milk chocolate and hazelnut candy, which I paired with tiramisu and enjoyed quite a bit, although they started to melt while I looked for somewhere to take a photo. Here’s hoping some outdoor seating is in the works.
················
Sign up for the Siteline email newsletter for the freshest food news in town.
“ask about our vegan … off-menu options”. They can’t devote menu space to them?
Thank you for caring about vegans. /s
Thinking the same on both accounts…
Haha—more proof that vegans are so needy…
Right, because the carnivores also have to ask what’s on the menu.
maybe they should devote 1-3% of their menu space to the vegan population
yeah, because carnivores will not eat any dish that is plant-based or worse, labeled vegan.
Another $250 a couple dinner with s single glass of wine each and eating the middle and $350 for the nice entrees and wine. Don’t you ever mention this trend?
The menus and prices certainly are not an improvement. By the way I think most people enjoyed the ambiance of Via Vai
Unless exceptional…restaurants in Santa Barbara are going to struggle to stay open with most charging more and more each time I open the menu. And the trend of making the tip % choices larger is out of control and offensive. Stop the insanity!!
Agree, the tipping is out of control and adds a significant amount to your final bill. Their expectation that 20% is the minimum starting point is a cash grab. We vote with our feet and wallets and don’t eat out as much as we used to because it’s hard to justify the prices when I look at the final total.
I visited Sweetaly and thoroughly enjoyed their gelato – it’s excellent quality, bursting with flavor, not too sweet. It’s a great addition to State Street. Highly recommend.
Erik: Sweetaly has outdoor seating now. I, too, was confused that dark chocolate is on the Sorbetti menu and not the Gelato menu. I recommend pairing the salted caramel and coffee flavors.
At some point, Santa Barbara has to admit we have more restaurants than people to fill them (tourists and locals combined). I’m always amazed banks and investors keep funding new concepts without asking the boring questions: How many restaurants are already chasing the same customer? What is actually missing from the market? Who is filling these seats on a Tuesday in February? Does the town need this concept, at this price point, in this location? I wish every new restaurant well, but when even some of the town’s strongest operators are struggling to make the math work, maybe those boring questions should come before the lease gets signed.
Could not agree more! I miss the days when a restaurant became a fixture and a place to build memories. Now these places are just a flash in the pan and we could practically get rich betting on whether they’ll be open in a year. It feels like every new space is just a wash and repeat with nothing inventive, just higher prices. On the one hand, I’m happy to see chefs and all the staff gainfully employed, but on the other, a lot of times they are people coming from out of town and squeezing an already tight housing crisis and demanding prices the average consumer won’t pay except on a special occasion. These places just cater to tourists who aren’t loyal to anyone and just want to try the next new thing. Who will patronize them when the hype dies?
Via Vi needed no improvement A beloved, long time family restaurant that is sorely missed All this “improvement” in Montecito is destroying what was a wonderful little village for so long
I really miss Via Vai, their food was fantastic and it was always a welcoming, happy place with no pretensions. I miss what Montecito was before it went LA.
Agree!
I agree. And who doesn’t miss Tuttis, Montecito Cafe, Genos, Casa Linda, Wholy Cow and even Little Alex’s? It’s now mostly chichi “elevated” dining. Where’s the fun.
I am surprised that no one has mentioned the increase to ice cream in what reminds me of price fixing. No matter where you go, the price for a (generous) scoop of ice cream is now $8.50, whether it’s downtown or uptown (Haas). A cone used to be a simple pleasure for adults and especially kids when they were out and about. Now it’s almost $35 for a family with two kids. I get that rents are expensive, but that outpaces most families’ wallets. It’s Costco and TJ’s for me, and if I ever make it back to Europe, I’ll have the same size cone for 1.50 Euro.
I was downtown on Friday night and Mister Softee was advertising their cones at $3.75 with free sprinkles. Their soft serve is pretty tasty!
Baskin-Robbins, 31 Flavors on upper State Street has a generous scoop with sprinkles for around six dollars. It’s under new ownership, looks great inside and the manager is super friendly.