DINING OUT Turning Up the Heat

By Nancy Ransohoff Photographs by Carter Hiyama

TurningUptheHeat

THE RESTAURANT AT THE SANTA YNEZ INN HAS A WINNING NEW LOOK AND FIRED-UP MENUS INSPIRED BY ITS WINE COUNTRY LOCATION.

he Santa Ynez Valley culinary scene continues to heat up with the opening of The Victor Restaurant and Bar (thevictor. us). The Santa Ynez Inn’s new signature eatery, located in a freestanding building adjacent to the hotel, is fresh from a two-T year renovation.

A new design creates a welcoming ambience in the sophisticated yet warm dining room with earthtoned upholstered banquettes, wood floors, and black chairs against white wall paneling. Anchored by a marble-topped counter and tables, the bar area is an inviting spot to enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine and perhaps linger for dinner. Outdoors, a welcoming fireplace is the focal point on shaded patios with sofas and table seating.

Along with the renovation comes a new concept. “Since we are surrounded by oak-studded grassy pastures, we were inspired by the notion of a cookout on a ranch,” says Kristopher McLaughlin, Santa Ynez Inn’s general manager. “With that vision, our concept of adding a live-fire component to our restaurant was born. Whether it be locally caught fish or a juicy tri-tip, every menu item has an element that is cooked in our live-fire Josper oven or on our Santa Maria barbecue.” Chef Beto Huizar carries out that vision, highlighting “live fire, land, and sea” on his menu while putting his own creative spin on classic dishes that are made with local ingredients whenever possible. “This style of cooking takes me back to my childhood,” says Huizar,

Santa Ynez Inn general manager Kristopher McLaughlin (top, right) applauds the restaurant’s new live-fire concept, which dominates chef Beto Huizar’s (top, left) menu. Raw ingredients get their due, too, in dishes like Yellowfin Tuna Crudo (above). Creamy paneled walls in the dining room are a textured backdrop for black furnishings and rich wood accents.

Among the riffs on traditional cocktails is the Rare Fashioned, made with Eagle Rare Bourbon and blood orange bitters.

The cornerstone of the kitchen is a Josper charcoal grill-oven (left), used to produce flame-kissed dishes such as mesquite-grilled Santa Maria Tri Tip Frites with crispy shoestring fries and tomato béarnaise sauce.

who was born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico. “When I was growing up, we lived in the countryside, where a lot of the cooking was done in an underground pitoven using mesquite. We’re bringing that concept to life in a bit of a different way.” Inside the gleaming stainless-steel kitchen is the Spanish-made Josper charcoal grill-oven. Many dishes are cooked entirely or finished with this appliance, using mesquite charcoal to maintain a temperature of 600 to 700 degrees. Equal attention is given to meats and seafood in dinner plates, such as the Santa Maria Tri-Tip Frites, a twist on the classic steak frites made with Wagyu tri-tip cooked sous vide and finished in the grilloven for a rich, savory char. The end result is served with a tomato béarnaise sauce and house-made shoestring French fries. >

Huizar shucks the main ingredient (far left) for Chef Beto’s Grilled Oysters (left).

Cedar Plank Salmon is a vestige of the restaurant that previously occupied the building. “The Vineyard House used to make a similar dish,” says Huizar, who tops the hint-of-smoke fish with white wine–cream sauce and crispy quinoa and accompanies it with sauteed spinach and fennel.

In the starters section, Yellowfin Tuna Crudo and Kobe Beef Tartare spotlight raw ingredients, while others—among them the grilled oysters with garlic and butter—get the live-fire treatment. The traditional Mexican dish of Rajas con Crema balances a slight heat from strips of roasted Pasilla pepper with the sweetness of caramelized onions and incorporates a silky cream sauce made with crème fraîche. The mixture is rolled into warm house-made corn tortillas. “That’s my childhood on a plate,” says Huizar.

Huizar also draws from his more than 20 years of experience running his catering company and cooking at noteworthy Santa Ynez Valley eateries, including The Vineyard House, The Ballard Inn, Mattei’s Tavern, Industrial Eats, and most recently, Mad & Vin, located in Solvang’s The Landsby Hotel, a sister property of The Santa Ynez Inn.

For a final flourish, the evolving dessert menu includes delights like raspberry and Chambord soufflé, New York-style cheesecake topped with grilled seasonal fruit, and Chocolate Pot de Crème with fresh berries. “For fall desserts we’ll move into pears, persimmons, and other seasonal flavors,” says Huizar.

Cocktails lean toward classics with a twist, such as the Victor Gimlet, made with Tito’s vodka, lime juice, muddled mint leaves, elderflower liqueur, and simple syrup, with a fresh mint garnish. Beer selections include domestic, imported, and local craft brews, with Topa Topa Chief Peak, Firestone Walker Mind Haze, and Belhaven Scottish Ale on draft.

The wine list embraces the area’s riches while adding some hard-to-find French and Italian options. “With our wine destination location, we wanted to give people an opportunity to try not only local wines, but also some they could not easily get in the valley,” says McLaughlin. “We created our wine list so that it pairs well with our menu,” he says, pointing to examples such as “oysters with a crisp glass of Chablis or a local pinot with our Santa Maria tri-tip.” The Victor Collection house label is made by Santa Barbara County’s Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards.

As of this writing, Saturday and Sunday brunch is gearing up at The Victor, along with daily happy hour, featuring discounts on drinks and a special menu. Along with those additions, the Santa Ynez Inn is poised for a name change to The Genevieve. It’s all part of this establishment’s exciting culinary and hospitality evolution. 