Edible Santa Barbara Summer 2011

edible SANTA BARBARA

SANTABARBA RA edible ®

4 Food for Thought

6 Edible Notables

9 In Season

10 Seasonal Recipes

12 Chasing Chiles

14 Edible Garden: Peppers

16 Lavender: A Culinary Perfume

20 Capturing the Essence of Lavender in Santa Barbara County

27 Pasta and Water: Water Conservation at the Kitchen Table

32 What the Grownups Are Drinking

33 Simplicity Means Authenticity in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto

40 Edible Santa Barbara Dining Guide

42 Here’s the Scoop: Gelato and Sorbet

49 Vegetable Literacy: Turnips and Radishes

52 Mobile Food: The Food Truck Craze

54 Edible Source Guide and Edible Events

56 The Last Bite

JUNE, JULY, AUGUST

Recipes

in This Issue

Salads and Side Dishes

18 Braised Endives

17 Goat Cheese Salad

Main Dishes

13 Carne Machaca con Verduras de Sonora

30 Homemade Pasta

18 Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Herb and Lavender Crust

31 Simple Tomato, Garlic, Basil Sauce with Pasta Water

Desserts

46 Ellie Patterson’s Strawberry Shortcake

19 Lavender Pots de Créme

10 Peach Cobbler

Drinks

47 Not for the Kiddies Real Beer Float

47 Sorbet Bellini

ABOUT THE COVER

Photographer Erin Feinblatt captures an image of three scoops of sorbet on a waffle cone from Here’s the Scoop. Find out more about Erin Feinblatt and view his portfolio at erinfeinblatt.com

FOOD FOR THOUGHT D

The James Beard Foundation Award for Publication of the Year. It’s still sinking in that we won a James Beard Award—that Edible Santa Barbara, along with the nearly 70 other locally owned and published Edible magazines that are members of Edible Communities, won a James Beard Award. To those of us in the food world it’s a bit like winning the Oscar for Best Picture. We couldn’t be more proud of our own magazine, of all our fellow Edible magazines and of the founders of Edible Communities, local residents Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian.

In the words of the awards committee, the award recognizes a publication “that demonstrates fresh directions, worthy ambitions and a forward-looking approach to food journalism.” They also went on to say:

The publications produced by the Edible Communities company are “locavores” with national appeal. They are locally grown and community based, like the foods, family farmers, growers, retailers, chefs and food artisans they feature. The company’s unique publishing model addresses the most crucial trends in food journalism; the publications are rooted in distinct culinary regions throughout the United States and Canada, celebrating local, seasonal foods with the goal of transforming the way we shop, cook and eat. Their underlying values speak to today’s spirit of shared responsibility: Every person has the right to affordable, fresh, healthful food on a daily basis.

Through the vision of its co-founders, Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian, Edible Communities began in 2002 with a single publication, Edible Ojai, in their California hometown. Maintaining consistent standards of excellence, the network has grown to 70 publications in 2011. Edible Communities’ regional journalists and publishers are local foods advocates who write with a community voice, reside in the communities where they publish and savor the culinary products produced there.

Edible Communities is more than a group of high-quality, regional print magazines with compelling storytelling and visual narratives. Through electronic and digital platforms—websites, social media, Edible Radio podcasts, and popular local events— its food journalism carries regional stories to national and global audiences. We believe that in years to come the collected work of these unique publications will serve as a valuable resource for exploring the impact of regional food and agriculture from a grassroots perspective.

Along with this kind of recognition comes the realization that our part in the food movement is being noticed. The stories we are telling of our local food culture here in Santa Barbara County are resonating not just with our local community, but on a broader level as well.

This summer as we stop to smell the lavender, have a glass of local wine with our local pasta and indulge in a scoop of artisanal gelato, I think we all have the opportunity to bask in the sunlight and let Santa Barbara shine.

Krista Harris, Editor

PUBLISHERS

Steven Brown & Krista Harris

EDITOR

Krista Harris

RECIPE EDITOR

Nancy Oster

COPY EDITOR

Doug Adrianson

CONSULTING

EDITOR

Laura Sanchez

DESIGNER

Steven Brown

WEB DESIGN

Mary Ogle

Contributors

Pascale Beale

Joan S. Bolton

Guillermo Buelna

Fran Collin

Shannon Essa

Erin Feinblatt

Kurt Michael Friese

Austin Gendron

Jill Johnson

Kraig Kraft

Deborah Madison

Gary Nabhan

Nancy Oster

Mark Pfeiffer

Florencia Ramirez

Laura Sanchez

Carole Topalian

Contact Us info@ediblesantabarbara.com

Advertising Inquiries ads@ediblesantabarbara.com

Edible Santa Barbara ® is published quarterly and distributed throughout Santa Barbara County. Subscription rate is $28 annually. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher. Publisher expressly disclaims all liability for any occurrence which may arise as a consequence of the use of any information or recipes. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you. © 2011 edible Santa Barbara

Notables edible

Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies

YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO EAT JUST ONE Traci Nickson and Christa Hozie have created a line of cookies that are beyond delectable. Their original Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookie is similar to a shortbread cookie but the toasty brown butter and the touch of sea salt take it to a higher plane of existence. Once you taste them, you will crave them. The original is amazing, but they didn’t stop there. They came up with additional flavors—cocoa, espresso, spicy bourbon and even a new cocoa mint that is gluten-free. Their cookies contain simple, high-quality ingredients and are beautifully packaged for gift giving, if you can bear to part with them.

The Brown Butter Cookie Company is located just up the coast from us in Cayucas. It is open every day to visitors who come to smell the heavenly aroma of cookies baking and to see for themselves that these perfect little cookies are each hand rolled.

Find their cookies locally at C’est Cheese, Pierre La Fond and Metropulos Fine Foods Merchant, as well as online at brownbuttercookies.com

Just Say No to Plastic Straws PAPER, GLASS AND METAL ALTERNATIVES

More than 500 million disposable plastic straws are used in the United States every day, according to BeStrawFree.org. Of course you can go without a straw. But for those times when you need or want a straw with your summer drink, try one of the alternatives that are now becoming available. Aardvark makes paper drinking straws from renewable resources that are biodegradable, compostable and chlorine free. Businesses can order large quantities and custom printed options, and anyone can order a box from their website. A box of 400 typical-size straws costs $33. aardvarkstraws.com

Glass Dharma makes a glass straw that is elegant and can be washed and reused many times. Made from borosilicate glass, they are lead-free, very durable and resistant to thermal shock—so much so that if your straw breaks, they will replace it. The best part: They are made by a glass blower on the Mendocino Coast. Individual straws are $6.50–$10, with many options for size and design. They also have sets and accessories such as cleaning brushes and carrying sleeves. glassdharma.com

Endurance makes a line of 18/8 medical grade stainless steel drink straws. Stainless steel is durable and fully recyclable. You can find sets of 4 for around $10 at household supply stores and many online sites, such as lunchville.com.

Pacific Pickle Works SPICY AND DELICIOUS

It doesn’t matter if you think you’ve tasted pickles before. You haven’t quite lived until you have tried the unique pickled vegetables that Pacific Pickle Works has created. The Jalabeanos are perfectly spiced green beans that are addicting to snack on and make the quintessential garnish for a Bloody Mary. The Unbeetables are just that, and could convert even the most ardent beet haters into beet lovers. The Asparagusto and the Cucurambas are equally delicious and equally addicting. The best part, owner Bradley Bennett handcrafts these pickles right here in Santa Barbara using produce grown locally or regionally. Pacific Pickle Works products can be found at C’est Cheese, Lazy Acres, Tri-County Produce and on their website at pacificpickleworks.com

The Anacapa Wine Trail ABC TASTING ROOM, WINE ON TAP AT THE WINE CASK AND LA TOUR

The wine tasting on Anacapa Street just got even better. We’ve always loved the Margerum Wine Company Tasting Room at the Wine Cask at 813 Anacapa. Now Jim Clendenen has opened the Au Bon Climat Tasting Room and Jim Clendenen Wine Library right next door. The close proximity to the Wine Cask means that they can offer dual tastings and even order food from the Wine Cask to accompany wine.

Jim Clendenen has been producing some of our area’s most noteworthy wines for decades. In addition to Au Bon Climat, he currently has three other distinct labels—Ici/la Bas, Vita Nova and Clendenen Family Vineyards. The new tasting room allows him to showcase his offerings and offer vertical tastings of his huge collection of library wines. 805 895-4084; aubonclimat.com

Meanwhile, the Wine Cask has taken the concept of wine by the glass firmly into the future by exclusively offering wine on tap from local winemakers. While you can still order bottles of wine at the restaurant and bar, all wines by the glass come from wine on tap. With no corks, no labels and no bottle waste, wine on tap can offer high-quality local wines at a lower price as well as in a more environmentally friendly footprint. Another bonus is that the wines taste fresher. 805 966-9463; winecask.com

Just down the street a block or so is the new La Tour Wine Store and Tasting Room. It’s on the corner of Anacapa, but the address is 39 E. Ortega St. The tiny spot specializes in imported wines from the Old World, with a few local wines thrown into the mix. 805 403-6923; latourwinemerchants.com

Can-Can Cocktail Classic

PROFESSIONAL BARTENDER COMPETITION

This year, St-Germain has partnered with Edible Communities for their Fourth Annual Can-Can Classic Cocktail Competition for professional bartenders. St-Germain is an all-natural, artisanally produced product, and this year they want their cocktail competition to reflect the importance of working with fresh, local ingredients. We are challenging you, our bartender friends, to develop an original cocktail recipe with St-Germain and with special consideration given for utilizing seasonal, local ingredients.

The editorial staff at Edible, along with L’Equipe St-Germain leader Robert Cooper, will select one winner in each market where Edible publishes a magazine. In our region a winner will be selected for Santa Barbara County. Our regional winner will be profiled in Edible Santa Barbara and will receive a Yarai (Japanese) Cocktail Mixing Glass from Cocktail Kingdom. Each regional winner will then be eligible to win a $10,000 cash prize and be heralded as the national winner of the Fourth Annual Can-Can Classic Cocktail Competition. The deadline to enter is August 31, 2011, and you can enter online at stgermain.fr.

Doug Margerum and Jim Clendenen.

LAZY ACRES

Strawberry Shortcake

INGREDIENTS

4 oz. butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup sugar

4 cups organic flour

2 Tbs. baking powder

1/4 tsp. sea salt

2 cups cream

1 egg

2 pints fresh strawberries

2 Tbs. sugar

1 pint cream, whipped

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400°. In a small bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder.

In a medium bowl cut or rub the butter into the sugar. Combine the flour and butter mixtures by hand or mix on low speed. Add the cream and egg. Mix until dough is formed. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into 6 equal portions. Place biscuits on a lined baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown. While the biscuits are cooling, cut strawberries and sprinkle with sugar. Cut biscuits and layer with strawberries and whipped cream. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

Season in

Almonds (harvested Aug /Sept)

Apples

Apricots

Artichokes

Arugula

Asparagus

Avocados

Basil

Bay leaf

Beans

Beets

Blackberries

Blueberries

Bok choy

Broccoli

Cabbage

Cantaloupe

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chard

Cherries

Chiles

Chives

Cilantro

Collards

Corn

Cucumber

Dandelion

Dates (harvested Sept/Oct)

Dill

Eggplant

Figs

Garlic (harvested May/June)

Grapefruit

Grapes

Kale

Lavender

Lemons

Lettuce

Limes

Melons

Mint

Mustard greens

Nectarines

Onions, green bunching

Onions, bulb (harvested May/June)

Oranges

Oregano

Parsley

Peaches

Peppers

Plums

Pistachios (harvested Sept/Oct)

Potatoes (harvested May/June)

Radish

Raisins (harvested Sept/Oct)

Raspberries

Rosemary

Sage

Spinach

Sprouts and legumes

Squash, winter (harvested July/Oct)

Squash, summer

Strawberries

Thyme

Tomatillo

Tomatoes

Turnips

Walnuts (harvested Sept/Oct)

Watermelon

Yams (harvested Aug/Sept)

Fresh Flowers

Potted Plants/Herbs

Regional Dairy

(raw milk, artisanal goat- and cow-milk cheeses, butters, curds, yogurts and spreads)

Local Honey

Locally Produced Breads, Pies and Preserves

(bread produced from wheat grown locally; pies and preserves)

Local Meat

(antibiotic-free chicken, duck, Cornish game hens, rabbit, goat, grass-fed/ hormone-free beef and pork)

Local Seafood

Many types of local seafood are available year-round, but here is a list of some that will be in season this summer:

Black cod

Halibut

Rock crab

Rockfishes

Spot prawns

Squid

White seabass

Urchin

seasonal Recipes

pulls together. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap on a board and wrap in the plastic, forming it into a flattened disk. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Peach Cobbler

Makes 8 servings

Cobbler Crust

11 ⁄4 cups organic all-purpose flour

1 ⁄ 3 cup organic granulated sugar

1 ⁄4 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cold water

Filling

8 peaches

1 pint of yellow raspberries (optional)

1 ⁄ 2 cup sugar or local honey

Juice of 1 ⁄ 2 lemon (2 to 3 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter, cut in slices, and pulse until it resembles coarse meal. Whisk the egg yolk, vanilla and cold water in a small bowl and then add to the food processor and pulse just until the dough

Preheat oven to 425°. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cut a small “x” in the bottom of each peach. Carefully drop each peach into the boiling water for a few seconds and lift out to cool slightly. Peel the peaches (the peel should come off easily when you peel from the “x”) and slice them. Combine the peaches with the sugar, lemon and cornstarch and mix gently. At this point you can also add a pint of yellow raspberries. Put the fruit mixture in a 9- by 12-inch baking dish.

Take the cobbler dough out of the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured work surface to approximately ¼ inch thick. Don’t worry if it is cracked and broken. Pick up pieces of the dough and arrange them on top of the filling in a random pattern. The dough should not fully cover the peaches, and it should look rustic.

Sprinkle the dough with about a tablespoon of sugar and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 350° and continue baking for another 50–55 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned and the peaches are bubbling. Let cool on a wire rack, but serve slightly warm with lemon lavender sorbet, berry sorbet or vanilla gelato.

Buttonwood Peaches

Often we think only of the wine at Buttonwood, but there’s a reason they are called Buttonwood Farm Winery—it really is a farm. And every summer, they are known for their absolutely stunning peaches. For an inside look at the history and community of Buttonwood, read Betty Williams’ book Life’s a Peach at Buttonwood. And if you really want a taste of life on the farm, you can join them for dinner at the annual All Buttonwood Farm Dinner.

This twilight dinner has to be the ultimate farm-to-vineyardto-table dinner. It is served in a breathtakingly beautiful spot in their vineyard and features everything grown or raised on the Buttonwood Farm—farm-raised pork and lamb, goat cheese, vegetables, peaches and, of course, wine. Jeff Olsson of New West Catering was instrumental in developing the concept and each year takes it to new heights of culinary expression. This year it will be held on Saturday, August 13. To reserve tickets call 805 688-3032; buttonwoodwinery.com

chasing Chiles

O8 Markets, 6 Days a Week

SUNDAYS

Camino Real Marketplace

In Goleta at Storke & Hollister 10:00am

2:00pm

TUESDAYS

Old Town Santa Barbara

500 & 600 Blocks of State Street

4:00pm – 7:30pm

WEDNESDAYS

Solvang Village

Copenhagen Drive & 1st Street

2:30pm – 6:30pm

Harding Elementary School 1625 Robbins Street

3:00pm – 7:00pm NEW: Extended hours and

THURSDAYS

Camino Real Marketplace In Goleta at Storke & Hollister

3:00pm – 6:30pm

Carpinteria

800 Block of Linden Avenue

3:00pm – 6:30pm

FRIDAYS

Montecito

1100 & 1200

Block of Coast Village Road

8:00am – 11:15am

SATURDAYS

Downtown Santa Barbara

Corner of Santa Barbara & Cota Streets

8:30am – 1:00pm

ne of the reasons chiles gained popularity around the globe so quickly after being brought to the Old World from the New is their usefulness as a preservative for meat. Of course, drying meat had already long been a practice in these same cultures; combining the two strategies must have seemed what we now refer to as a no-brainer.

This recipe is, in a sense, a more rustic (and genuine) version of the fajitas popularized in modern chain restaurants across the United States. It utilizes machaca, a form of dried beef brisket popular in the Sonoran Desert of north-central Mexico and southern Arizona. It is, in essence, what Americans would call jerky. My grandpa used to call it “cowboy meat” due to its ubiquitous presence in saddlebags in the Old West. It retains its popularity for similar uses to this day. For purposes such as the recipe below, it is widely available pre-shredded.

Gary’s fondness for this dish of his adopted homeland, which he affectionately refers to as “The Stinkin’ Hot Desert,” mandates its inclusion here, but it would have been necessary anyway for its foundational use of the cherished chiltepin in two forms— dry and red as well as fresh and green. Adjust the heat level to your tastes by adding or omitting as many as you wish.

A note about nopales—the leaves or pads of the genus Opuntia from the Cactaceae family, or what is commonly known as the prickly pear cactus. It is widely available in bodegas and should be obtained as fresh as possible. Spring and summer are the common harvest times, so look for them then. Wash them thoroughly and boil or grill them for any number of uses. The boiled option often produces a certain mucilaginous texture many people find objectionable, so my preference is grilled.

And about the amaranth: Its leaves are a common vegetable throughout many parts of Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. It is often referred to as quelite or pigweed, and is quite tasty and nutritious. If it is unavailable, you might substitute less authentic (but still delicious) spinach leaves.

The following is an excerpt from Chasing Chiles: Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail by Kurt Michael Friese, Kraig Kraft and Gary Paul Nabhan, available now from Chelsea Green Publishing.

Recipe

Carne Machaca con Verduras de Sonora

11 ⁄ 2 cups shredded carne machaca*

2 cups water

4 red chiltepines, dried and crushed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8–12 green chiltepines, chopped

3 tablespoons dried Mexican oregano

1 cup grilled and diced nopales

2–3 cups chopped quelite (wild amaranth) leaves

1 medium white onion, peeled and diced

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced paper-thin

1 sprig cilantro

6–8 tomatillos, husks removed, coarsely chopped

*For help finding ingredients and making substitutions see ediblesantabarbara.com.

Soak the shredded meat in the water with the red chiltepines for at least 1 hour, up to overnight. Drain off the excess water. Alternatively, simply simmer for about 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the green chiltepines and sauté, being careful about the fumes, which can burn or choke you if directly inhaled. When the chiltepines are tender (3–5 minutes), add the oregano, grilled nopales, quelite leaves, onion, garlic and cilantro and sauté, stirring until the onion is browned.

Add the tomatillos and soaked meat and continue to cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes or until the tomatillos have softened. Taste for salt, although usually the dried meat provides plenty. Serve with flour tortillas and a side of pinto or tepary beans. Serves 2–4.

Kurt Michael Friese is a chef, author and advocate, and is the publisher of Edible Iowa. Kraig Kraft completed his PhD on the origins and diversity of wild and domesticated chile peppers at the University of California, Davis, and is an agro-ecologist and writer based in Managua, Nicaragua. Gary Nabhan is an occasional contributor to Edible Phoenix, lives in Patagonia, Arizona, and works at the University of Arizona. chelseagreen. com/bookstore/item/chasing_chiles:paperback

at Fess Parker Wine Country Inn 2860 Grand Ave., Los Olivos www.bin2860.com 805.693.8537

Chiltepines are small but pack a terrific punch of pungency per ounce. If you can’t get a hold of them, you could try substituting habaneros or other fiery chiles.

DINNER

EDIBLE GARDEN Peppers

by Joan S. Bolton

Bring on the heat.

When it comes to peppers, it doesn’t matter whether you prefer them mild and sweet or spicy and hot. During their time in the garden, they all like it hot. And that can make them a challenge to grow successfully along the coast, where summertime temperatures tend toward the mild side. You’re bound to have better luck if you garden in warmer canyons or inland valleys.

But it also helps to know what’s ideal overall, and then work to re-create those conditions in your own plot.

First, peppers are native to Central and South America, in areas with warm soil, warm days and warm nights. A narrow range of temperatures at all three stages—germination, fruit set and ripening—is key. Proper soil and irrigation come into play as well.

Germination

Pepper seeds are most cooperative when temperatures rise above 77°. Much below that, and they’re stubborn at best. Some experts advise maintaining an even soil temperature of 80° to 85°, day and night, by placing a standard, waterproof heating pad beneath the flats or shallow pots that you start your seeds in. Once the first leaves pop up, you can take away the pad.

Alternatively, you can bypass the germination phase by buying transplants in six-packs or four-inch containers. However, the number of varieties available locally pales in comparison with the hundreds of different kinds—from sweet, blocky bells and pimentos to some of the hottest peppers on Earth—that seed catalogs and online companies offer.

Fruit Set

Right about the time your transplants are due to go into the garden, our entirely too reliable May gray and June gloom can bring your plants to a screeching halt.

It’s OK if nighttime temperatures drop as low as 55° and daytime temperatures hover in the mid-60s to low 70s.

But when your plants get ready to flower, hope for a warming trend. Nights between 60° and 75° are perfect. Above or below can cause the blossoms to fall off. Likewise, in the unlikely event that daytime temperatures hit 90°, fruit set will halt. Still, the blossoms may hang on, then get back to work once temperatures drop back to the 80s.

Provided your plants hold onto enough blossoms to set fruit, they will be at their best with temperatures in the mid-70s to mid-80s during the day and 60s at night for the rest of the season.

Tricking Mother Nature

If the weather doesn’t cooperate by providing sufficient warmth, there are two easy steps you can take to heat up your peppers.

First, plant them in the sunniest, warmest, south-facing location in your garden. If that’s just south of a light-colored wall, all the better, as the light color will reflect sunlight back onto your plants.

The second is to lay down black plastic before you plant. While I detest the use of plastic in the garden, it does capture heat and

CAROLE TOPALIAN

Chile peppers growing in the garden.

keep the soil warm beneath crops. To avoid plastic, use dark-colored mulch. But unfortunately, it’s not nearly as effective as the dreaded plastic.

Soil, Care and Feeding

While you can only fret about the weather, you can control the soil and ongoing care of your peppers. Know that peppers are fussy about soil. They don’t like sand and they don’t like heavy clay. Loamy, light and fertile is just right.

Prepare the bed by shoveling in copious amounts of fine-textured, well-aged compost. You’ll have added enough when the soil smells fresh and you can easily sift it between your fingers. Toss in a few handfuls of bone meal to supply calcium for good measure.

Space your plants at least two feet apart. Shape watering basins around each if you’re planning to hand-water. Or plant them in rows on hills with furrows, then run drip irrigation tubing in the furrows.

If you don’t use black plastic, apply an inch or so of loose mulch to help insulate the soil and keep down weeds. Brush the mulch away from any direct contact with the stems.

Early on, peppers like a good, thorough soak every few days. But as they gain size and their leaves begin to shade their roots, you can ease off on the frequency to once or twice a week. By then, water whenever the top half inch to inch of soil dries out.

If you’re inclined to fertilize, sprinkle some bone meal around your peppers every couple of weeks during the growing season. But if you’ve beefed up your soil with compost at the outset, nothing more may be necessary.

Harvest

You can pick your peppers as soon as they reach full size. The first green fruits may be harvestable 55 to 75 days after you set them out. But they may not fully mature to their true color and flavor for a remarkable 90 to 150 days, and depending on their heritage, they’ll change color and grow sweeter or hotter the longer they remain in the garden.

Pluck a few every week or so, and you can track that evolution. Be sure to use scissors or a knife. The stems can be reluctant to release the fruit, and if you try twisting, you may rip the pepper or even uproot the plant instead.

Joan S. Bolton is a freelance writer, garden coach and garden designer who confesses to a lifelong love affair with plants. She and her husband, Tom, have filled their four-acre property in western Goleta with natives and other colorful, water-conserving plants. They also maintain avocado, citrus and fruit trees and grow vegetables and herbs year-round. SantaBarbaraGardens.com

Lavender A Culinary Perfume

by Pascale Beale

The golden containers of honey that sat on my grandparents’ breakfast table were scented with the wildflowers and lavender of the French Alps. The jars had a distinctive flowerpot shape with the name of the apiculteur (honey maker) italicized on the side. The honey’s rich flavor matched the deep flaxen color. My pleasure, each time I tasted it, was undiminished. Just the aroma of that honey made me smile. I longed to discover where it came from.

I had always heard about the lavender fields of Provence that lay about a two-hour drive away, but for myriad reasons each attempt to visit them had been thwarted. Finally many years later I drove on the meandering small roads of Provence, through the picturesque villages of Cotignac and Aups along the narrow D957, around the beautiful Lake of Ste. Croix, through Moustiers-Ste-Marie and up into the hills leading to the Plateau de Valensole in search of those images that had so mesmerized me.

Could those fields of lavender really be around the next corner, or the next? The hint of their sweet aroma indicated that they could not be far away and then, upon the crest of a small hill I glimpsed an undulating wave of purple flowers cresting to the horizon. It was magnificent.

I stopped the car, switched off the engine and stepped out into the early July sun, luxuriating in the breathtaking scenery. Juxtaposed with the lavender fields were acres of golden wheat and tens of thousands of giant sunflowers, whose large orbs traced the arc of the sun in the sky. Here were Van Gogh’s paintings come to life. My daughter ran through the tall flowers, each one gazing down on her. The air was perfumed with a multitude of scents and the constant hum of foraging bees. At some point we became aware of just how many bees surrounded us and decided to leave them to their work in peace. The odd one buzzed through one open window and out another in the car, their legs coated with nectar. No wonder the honey tasted so good.

We stopped in one of the tiny villages on the oft-windswept plain. A slightly battered signpost by the side of the road had 10 different placards nailed to it indicating local perfume distilleries, lavender shops, soap makers, candle makers, honey farms and lavender museums. The signpost was a veritable illustration of lavender’s history and the many uses it has been put to.

Historical records indicate that the Egyptians and Phoenicians used it in their mummification process and in making perfumes. The Romans were responsible for its spread throughout Europe

PASCALE

and England. They used it in their baths and for medicinal purposes. The word lavender stems from the Latin lavare, meaning to bathe. English lavender fields stem from these times. Roman soldiers took it on military campaigns for a variety of uses, including treating wounds. Indeed its healing properties were first recorded in 77 AD by a Greek military physician named Dioscordes (who was employed by the Emperor Nero) in his extensive work De Materia Medica. He spoke of its merits in treating skin and throat ailments, indigestion and headaches. It was also extensively used as a perfume for rooms by brushing it over the floor, to fumigate treatment rooms for the ill and has long been used as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. It is particularly soothing when treating burns and insect bites.

Fifteen hundred years later the plant was in high demand in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. She used lavender in many forms, from perfume to tea, the latter as a remedy for migraines. Lavender has since been used in everything from aromatherapy, soaps and candles to detergents and medicine. During the First World War, lavender oil was used to dress wounds if medics ran short on antiseptics.

It was first brought to America by the Pilgrims in the 1600s and migrated with the Colonists as they crossed the country. California’s Mediterranean climate is particularly suited to the production of lavender, which brings me back to that honey.

Not long ago, strolling through the Santa Barbara Farmers Market, I tasted some honey from San Marcos Farms. They have a raw, unfiltered local Wildflower Honey that is a transatlantic echo of the one I ate as I child. I stood with my eyes closed, my taste buds running a culinary film in my mind of honeys past. I hope that they will have a lavender honey soon. In the meantime I used the honey with fresh lavender from my garden to make a glaze for a roast chicken, the aroma of Provence and the Central Coast all rolled into one.

It seems that old recipes containing the plant are common for jellies, preserves, desserts and sweets, but its use as a culinary perfume of the savory kind is more recent. Over the last decade dishes with lavender have filtered through all parts of a threecourse meal. Any quick search on the internet will flood your screen with tasty treats filled with the purple flowers. It pairs well with citrus fruit and mint (it is part of the mint family), thyme and rosemary, hence its inclusion in the herb mixture Herbes de Provence. It’s wonderful paired with goat cheese and tastes marvelous with grilled meats and roasts. The more I cook with it, the more I appreciate the depth of flavor it can give a dish, although you have to be careful not to use too much. As with all perfumes, an excess of it can be overpowering—but used with a delicate hand, it is fragrant and enticing.

Pascale Beale grew up in England and France surrounded by a family that has always been passionate about food, wine and the arts. She was taught to cook by her French mother and grandmother. In 1999 she opened Montecito Country Kitchen, a Mediterranean cooking school in Santa Barbara. She is the author of A Menu for All Seasons—Spring, A Menu for All Seasons—Summer, A Menu for All Seasons—Autumn and A Menu for All Seasons—Winter. She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and lives in Santa Barbara with her family.

Lavender Recipes

Goat Cheese Salad

Makes 8 servings

1 tablespoon mustard

1 ⁄4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

4 ounces mache greens

2 ounces mixed salad greens

1 tablespoon fresh lavender flowers, finely chopped

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and finely chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

4-ounce log of goat cheese

Combine the mustard, olive oil and vinegar in a salad bowl and whisk together to form an emulsion. Place salad utensils over the vinaigrette. Place the mixed greens and mache greens on top of the utensils. This will keep the salad ingredients from getting soaked in the vinaigrette.

Combine the herbs and zest in a small bowl. Place the goat cheese on a plate and then cover the goat cheese with the herb mixture, rolling the log so that it is completely covered. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Cut the log into ½-inch slices. Set aside.

When you are ready to serve the salad, toss so that it is well coated. Divide equally on salad plates and top each salad with slices of goat cheese. Serve with a warm baguette or olive bread.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Herb and Lavender Crust

Makes 8 servings

2 1 ⁄ 2 - to 3-pound beef tenderloin

Medium-coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh lavender, finely chopped

1 tablespoon lemon thyme, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

1 tablespoon oregano, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lavender honey

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place the tenderloin in a large ovenproof dish. Pour a little olive oil over the meat so that it is completely coated. Sprinkle a large pinch of salt and pepper over the tenderloin.

Roast for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350°.

In a small bowl combine the fresh herbs with a little olive oil to form an herb paste. Remove the tenderloin from the oven and spoon the herb mixture over the roast, pressing it in gently to adhere to the meat. Return the pan to the oven.

Roast for an additional 25–30 minutes for medium-rare meat. The internal temperature should be 125°. Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest on a cutting board, covered loosely with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing thinly.

Place the baking dish that held the roast on the stove over a medium flame. Add the butter and honey and, as the butter melts, scrape up all the delicious brown bits that will be in the bottom of the pan. Add a touch of hot water if necessary to create a light sauce.

Place the thinly sliced tenderloin onto warm dinner plates and then spoon a little of the pan juices over the slices of beef. Serve with the braised endives.

Braised Endives

Makes 8 servings

8 endives, halved

Olive oil

Butter

Salt and pepper

(continued on next page)

Trim the ends off the endives and cut them in half lengthwise. Peel away the outer leaves.

In a large saucepan (large enough to hold all the endive halves in one layer) add a little olive oil and a large knob of butter. Heat until sizzling. Place each of the endive halves in the pan and brown on both sides, approximately 3–4 minutes each side.

Once browned, add salt and pepper and enough water to come

1 ⁄ 3 of the way up the side of the endives. Reduce heat and cook slowly for 20–25 minutes covered, turning occasionally. Serve alongside the tenderloin with some of the pan juices from the endives.

Lavender Pots de Crème

Makes 8 servings

2 1 ⁄ 2 cups heavy whipping cream—do not use ultra-pasteurized cream as it will cause the pots de crème to separate

6 sprigs fresh lavender flowers, coarsely chopped

5 1 ⁄ 2 ounces sugar ( 3 ⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon)

Just under 1 ⁄ 3 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons fresh lavender flowers, coarsely chopped

Place the cream, chopped lavender sprigs and sugar in a small saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and let stand for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to thicken in the pan.

Strain cream through a fine mesh sieve, discarding the solids. Stir in chopped lavender flowers. Divide the mixture evenly amongst 8 small cups or ramekins, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until the mixture has set. Serve with a crisp cookie.

Culinary Lavender

Not all lavenders are suitable for culinary use—some of the most decorative have a medicinal or soapy taste. For best results use organically grown varieties of Lavandula angustifolia or the variety Lavandula intermedia “Provence” or buy dried lavender that is labeled for culinary use. When using dried lavender, use 1 ⁄ 3 the quantity of dried flowers to fresh.

You can harvest either the buds or flowers for use in cooking, just remove the buds or flowers from the stem and rinse to remove any dirt. Even the stronger-tasting leaves and stems can be used in spice rubs or thrown over the coals when grilling. For more information see “Growing Lavender” on page 23.

The Tepusquet Road Bridge linking Kenneth Volk Vineyards to the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail is finally open. Begin

Santa Barbara County wine tour at KVV and

your

the trail. Offering one of the most extensive portfolios of wines produced on the Central Coast.

Capturing the Essence of Lavender in Santa Barbara County

by Nancy Oster

PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRAN COLLIN

Amidsummer mix of lavender, chamomile, mugwort and rose petals is said to bring out sprites, fairies, brownies and elves. Recently, my granddaughter Saraphina created a fairy village under our persimmon tree. Her rose-petaled paths are lit at night by solar lanterns, but so far we haven’t spotted any fairies. Perhaps we just need to add a little lavender to attract them.

I’ve heard that even the firefighters in the Santa Ynez Valley believe in the power of lavender, although in this case it’s power to deter rather than attract. Mice had been happily gnawing away at the electrical wiring inside the fire engines at one of the stations.

Learning that lavender is known to repel rodents, like mice and gophers, the firemen bought sachets of lavender from a local grower to put under the hood and inside the fire engine. Did it work? It’s rumored that it did.

I know that lavender grows well in Santa Barbara and nearby communities. In fact it grows so well that it supports two summer lavender festivals: one in Ojai in June and another in Paso Robles in July. What is it about lavender that attracts humans as well as fairies? I decided to visit some local lavender farms to find out.

Andre Organic Lavender Farm.

Andre Organic Lavender Farm

Owner Cheryl Andre-Wagner

Buellton is my first stop. Heading toward Lompoc on Highway 246, Cheryl’s seven-acre field of purple and white lavender appears on my left. I make a quick turn into the dirt driveway that leads to the front of her roadside farm shop.

Cheryl’s son Tim is out working in their newly transplanted field. The plants look healthy and robust. They have been recently moved from her previous acreage on Santa Rosa Road. The farm currently has 1,200 plants, with plans to increase that to 10,000. They grow the Grosso, English and Abrialli varieties, which produce more oil and are well-suited for aromatic and cosmetic uses. For culinary use, they grow the more delicately flavored Vera and Sarah varieties.

Cheryl worked in Rona Barrett’s lavender fields for five years until Rona sold her lavender farm. Then with the help of her parents, Ruth and Ralph Andre, Cheryl planted her own field of lavender on Santa Rosa Road in Buellton. During the next seven years they built their business together selling lavender direct to the public through their shop and by mail order.

They hand-harvest their lavender dry buds for sachet and culinary use, and make lavender bunches and wands from fresh lavender. With the culinary buds they make lavender salt, pepper and sugar. They also distill buds into essential oil to make a variety of food, cosmetic and cleaning products.

countertops to reduce bacteria. Culinary lavender salt brings out the flavors of the lettuce in a salad, and lavender pepper accents baked chicken. A lavender bath reduces arthritis pain and lavender mulch keeps bugs away from plants.

I buy some lavender dog shampoo. Cheryl warns that it doesn’t produce a lot of lather but fleas and ticks don’t like it at all, and it leaves your dog smelling good. She doesn’t mention that my dog’s fur would also be extremely soft and shiny afterwards. I’ll be buying more of that.

Clairmont Farms Lavender

Owners Meryl Tanz and Glenn Thalheimer

My next stop is Clairmont Farms Lavender in Los Olivos. Look for their sign just outside of Los Olivos on Roblar Road. When the lavender is in bloom, you can’t miss it. The narrow olive-tree-lined driveway allows you to pull over between gnarled trunks to let an oncoming car pass. When you see the miniature Statue of Liberty that stands in a small patch of lavender in front of their house, pull into the gravel parking area in front of the shop.

The fragrance, color and textures will make you feel like you’ve walked right into a landscape painting. In fact, watercolorists come often to paint this field of lavender. Meryl says many people gasp as they get out of their cars and tell her “You live in Paradise!” She says each morning as she walks down the driveway to pick up the newspaper she breathes deeply and counts her blessings. Life is good.

Culinary lavender is less pungent than the varieties grown for aromatic oil and yields much less oil, so it is more often used to enhance food products and is usually sold in bud form, not as an essential oil. Cheryl sells a creamed honey infused with her culinary-grade oil and lavender honey-roasted almonds also made with the oil.

Listening to Cheryl talk with other customers I learn a lot about lavender. For example, she says the lavender oil in her purse-sized lip balm can help heal cold sores, cuts and burns (a first-aid kit in a tube). Her linen water can be lightly sprayed on a pillow to induce relaxation, in corners to keep spiders from settling there and in mop water and on

Twenty-five years ago this was a horse farm where Meryl raised thoroughbred racehorses. She began the conversion 14 years ago after selling most of her horses. She still loves to ride, but today she’s happy to sit with me in the wooden chairs near the copper distiller and talk about lavender.

Marcus, an employee of 25 years, is preparing the distiller for the next batch of lavender buds. Meryl’s dog is resting in the sunshine. One of her roosters crows in the distance while she explains that her husband, Glenn, has taken one of their hens to the vet. Each chicken, she says, has its own personality, and most of them have names. A colorful group of hens are nearby, pecking the ground for bugs.

Dried lavender at Clairmont Farms.

Their five acres of lavender are mostly the Grosso variety, but she uses only the Provence variety for her culinary items, which include lavender salt, pepper, tea and honey infused with lavender buds.

Her body products are sold around the valley in antique, clothing and local grocery stores, as well as at a new artists’ cooperative in downtown Los Olivos. Her most popular items are the scrub, hand lotion, body butter, lip balm, essential oil and soap. The reorder rate is high. Visitors to the valley often stop to visit the farm, then re-order by mail or come back on their next visit. At the end of the day Meryl says, “I have chatted with Russians, Serbs, French people, a lot of British, Canadians, Americans from many states and a few Australians.”

Customers arrive frequently as we talk. “Those people were from San Diego,” she tells me. When the bloom peaks in July, there will be a steady stream of cars coming up the drive.

Before I leave, I purchase a few products myself. My all-time favorite is the Lavender Honey Wash, which contains honey blended with lavender, rose, geranium and orange essential oils. You massage a teaspoon of it into your face, then lie back in the tub for a few minutes. Who would have guessed that honey could make your skin feel so good? I also buy a dozen freshly laid eggs to take home. Meryl invites me to stop by with a picnic lunch to enjoy the pre-harvest bloom in July. I love my job!

Rivendell Aromatics

Owners Sandy and Roland Messori

At this point I’m convinced the fairies are right: Lavender is ambrosia for the soul. I have one more farm to visit. This one is just outside of Carpinteria, about four miles down Highway 150. The driveway sign is on the right as you head towards Ojai. Visits are by appointment. My daughter-in-law Kris has joined me for this visit.

Thirty acres of this 40-acre farm are planted with Hass avocados. All are in bloom and we can hear the hum of bees at work pollinating and gathering nectar. In the grass and alongside the road we pass clusters of brilliantly colored flowers—a deep purple bearded iris here, star-shaped borage flowers there. We spot orange calendulas, Clary sage, tall white flowers and smaller yellow and red flowers. We meet Sandy at the house. Her van is packed with items to sell at the Ojai Farmers Market on Sunday, but she has set some aside to show us.

Sandy studied ornamental horticulture at Cal Poly. After college she moved to Ojai and took a job at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, where she built their labyrinth, created and maintained an extensive herb garden and mingled fragrant herbs with the more traditional landscaping plants.

Growing Lavender

Lavender loves our Mediterranean climate of cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. It grows easily in many Santa Barbara gardens, but here are a few tips if you are growing it for the first time:

Plant your lavender in a spot with full sun and somewhat sandy soil or a location with excellent drainage. While it likes healthy soil, lavender does not need fertilizer and is rarely bothered by pests or diseases. It is drought-tolerant, but it does need summer watering when dry. Gravel makes a good mulch around lavender plants.

Pick flowers early in the morning. Harvest often to encourage more blooms and to keep the plants compact. You can prune lavender plants back by a third to a half after flowering, but don’t cut too far back into old wood.

A wide selection of lavenders can be found at our local nurseries. Not all lavenders are suitable for culinary use. Here are some varieties of culinary and aromatic use that are worth seeking out:

Lavandula angustifolia “Munstead”

This is a popular variety for culinary use as well as fragrance, and it is a beautiful addition to an herb or vegetable garden.

Lavandula angustifolia “Sarah”

A good culinary lavender with a compact size, making it ideal for pots and edging.

Lavandula angustifolia “Vera”

This is thought to be the original species and is suitable for both culinary and fragrant use.

Lavandula intermedia “Abriali”

This is an older variety that is well suited for fragrance and oil production.

Lavandula intermedia “Grosso”

This is the classic lavender grown for fragrance, but with its hint of camphor it is not a good choice for cooking. The large spikes of flowers are perfect for arrangements.

Lavandula intermedia “Provence”

Grown for both fragrance and culinary use, this variety is also a little more tolerant of less-thanperfect drainage.

At home, she raised herbs to sell at farmers markets. Soaps were her first herbal product: lavender, lemon verbena, spearmint oatmeal and Ojai orange are her best-selling soaps. But it was distilling her first essential oil and creating healing oil blends that brought it all together for her. Her first distiller was a small glass tabletop unit. Sandy says, “It’s magical work. I feel like an alchemist turning plant materials into a golden bottle of precious essential oil.”

When they moved to the farm she had room for the larger distiller she shows us. This one holds 75 pounds of plant material (about 30 full-sized lavender plants). Her Grosso lavender plants yield about 20 ounces of oil per batch. Other oils are even more precious, yielding very small amounts of oil per pound of plant material.

The plant materials rest on a rack at the bottom of the container. Steam generated from below is forced up through the plants and carries the oils into the condenser. The water (hydrosol) and oil drip into a collection bottle. The oil rises to the top, where it accumulates and is siphoned out, separating it from the hydrosol which is siphoned into another container.

Both the oil and the hydrosol are useful products. In fact, in ancient times, hydrosols were used more widely than essential oils. Sandy sells many oils and hydrosols, each with their own healing characteristics. Along with over 50 varieties of lavender, she grows Clary sage, Helichrysum, incense cedar, sacred white sage, lemon verbena, rosemary, lemon eucalyptus and California fennel. Helichrysum (also known as Immortelle), for example, helps to ease arthritis pain. Hydrosol sprays help clear the mind and brighten the spirit. Teachers buy Sandy’s lavender hydrosol spray for its calming effects in the classroom.

In addition to fields of lavender and Helichrysum, Sandy has created a labyrinth with lavender plants. She invites us to walk the three-ring Chartres-design “lavarinth.” The sound of the bees in the trees around us supports meditative thoughts as we walk to the center and back out just as the sun breaks through the morning fog.

Beyond the lavarinth is a large display field of various types of higher-yield aromatic Lavandula intermedia varieties and the delicate Lavandula angustifolia more commonly used for culinary purposes.

On our hike around the farm, we pass several installations of beehives, rented for pollination. The lavender comes into full bloom when the avocado bloom ends, so the beekeeper pulls the avocado honey frames and puts in new frames for lavender honey. Sandy sells her lavender-pollinated honey at the Ojai Farmers Market.

Our visit ends far too quickly, but we promise we’ll come to the Ojai Farmers Market and the Ojai Lavender Festival. We each purchase a bottle of Cleopatra’s Secret rejuvenating face oil, a few hydrosol sprays and a jar of honey.

A Golden Bottle of Oil

I come away from these visits with a new appreciation for that small vial of pure lavender oil extracted from fields of vibrant flowers. Whether or not you believe in plant energetics or fairies dancing in the moonlight, you can’t help but leave these farms feeling refreshed and hopeful that a drop of lavender oil on a paper towel in the dryer or a few drops in your shampoo bottle will soothe away your cares and lift your spirits.

Personally, I know for sure that a drop or two on the path to the fairy village will help to inspire and support a little girl’s belief that fairies walk along those rose-petal paths in her village at night while she is sleeping.

Nancy Oster lives in Santa Barbara, where her lavender blooms profusely for use in cookies, syrups, truffles and fragrant flower arrangements. Nancy blogs about her cooking adventures (which sometimes include lavender) at GrandmaNansKitchen.blogspot.com.

The distiller at Clairmont Farms Lavender.

Lavender Resources

Lavender Farms

Andre Organic Lavender Farm

926 W. Highway 246, Buellton open Mon–Thu 9am–4pm, Fri–Sat 9am–5pm 805 350-0593 andreorganiclavender.com

Clairmont Farms Lavender 2480 Roblar Ave. Los Olivos open daily 10am–6pm 805 688-7505 clairmontfarms.com

Idyll Horse Farm

Farmers market: Saturday in Santa Barbara

Rivendell Aromatics

Visits are by appointment; 805 649-2476

rivendellaromatics.com

Farmers market: Sunday in Ojai Santa Barbara Lavender Farm 805 686-9522; sblavender.com

New Oak Ranch

9599 Ojai-Santa Paula Road U-pick lavender June 19–July 31 on Saturdays and Sundays 10am–4pm. To visit during the week, or anytime throughout the year, call 805 640-1189 newoakranch.com

Lily Bee Lavender eifrid.com/lilybee/lavender-perfume/ index.html

Santa Ynez Lavender santaynezlavender.com Lavender Festivals

Ojai Valley Lavender Festival Libbey Park, Ojai June 25, 10am–5pm ojaivalleylavenderfestival.org

Central Coast Lavender Festival downtown Paso Robles City Park July 9, 10am–3pm cclavenderfestival.com

Growing Lavender for essential oil

allnaturalhealth.us/lavender_ production.htm

Local Organic EVOO & Over 50 Family Recipe Specialty Foods From Santa Barbara Wine Country

Open daily for tastings 11 a.m. To 5 p.m. www.globalgardensonline.com 2477 Alamo Pintado Ave, Los Olivos, CA

Stevie Balfour-Ritchie, Todd Norman, Eric Llamas, and Norma Hernandez

1 Pound of Pasta = 230 Gallons of Water

Pasta and Water Water Conservation at the Kitchen Table

by Florencia Ramirez

The Italian machine grows long linguine noodles with ease. The fresh pasta is dusted with the gold coarse powder of semolina and disappears into butcher paper before it remerges at the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market the next morning.

I take one and a half pounds of Solvang Pie Company fresh pasta home. I dress the naked pasta with sautéed tomatoes, garlic, basil and shreds of Parmesan. The lively dinner cadence is replaced by the silence of linguine noodles pirouetting around forks and the occasional loud slurp. Joaquin, my 5-year-old interrupts the silence: “This is the best pasta I’ve ever had.” We all enthusiastically nod in agreement, mouths satiated with pasta.

Our family is not alone in our love affair for pasta. In the United States each person eats on average 17 pounds of pasta each year, which translates to a water footprint of 3,910 gallons of fresh water. The water footprint or virtual water of 230 gallons per pound of pasta, roughly one package, reflects the water required to grow the stalks of wheat and added ingredients.

Water footprint totals present the global average. The water footprint of food varies depending on the county, region, state and farm. All food has a different water story to tell depending on its origin. The water story of the pasta I serve on this night begins at a farm in Santa Ynez.

A welcoming committee of clucking chickens is the first to greet me on the seven-acre farm of the Solvang Pie Company, tucked between a creek and hillside. About 350 chickens wander on this farm with owner Tracy Derwin, her husband, Fred, and her baby, Reagan. “My husband jokes that if I get any more chickens he will leave me for a cat lady,” laughs Tracy. The chickens eliminate her need for pesticides. They eat the slugs and other tasty bugs that feast on her apple trees.

In addition to pest control the chickens supply fresh eggs. “When I first began making pasta two years ago, the dough was sticky. After trial and error we realized that if we gather the eggs the morning we make pasta, without refrigeration, the dough is perfect.” The water footprint of a single egg is 23 gallons of fresh

water. This reflects the average fresh water used to grow the feed, clean and quench the thirst of an egg-laying hen.

The water footprint of one egg largely reflects the embedded water to grow the feed for a chicken. Tracy’s chickens are raised with modest amounts of blue water. Water is colorless but researchers have assigned colors to distinguish different sources. Blue water is sourced from groundwater, reservoirs and rivers that scribble across the landscape. Tracy’s chickens are on a diet of grass that grows between the rows of apples trees. Their favorite meal is the wheat germ mixed with scant amounts of water from her 30 acres of wheat fields in San Luis Obispo County.

The amber waves of wheat are grown on more land than any other crop in the world. The majority of wheat grown in the United States

has the friendly accent of a North Dakota farmer; that state grows enough durum for 13.7 billion servings of pasta each year. Most wheat in the world (90%) is grown with green water, or rainwater. This includes North Dakota wheat farms that rely exclusively on healthy rainfall.

Here, in California the acreage dedicated to wheat is growing, with 752,000 acres this year. Eighty percent of California wheat is grown on irrigable land—farmland that can be irrigated. Fewer farms require irrigation during robust rainy years like the one we are in. The majority of durum wheat called desert durum is grown in the Imperial Valley. The dry valley relies on water from the Colorado River to sustain its wheat crops. A wheat farmer irrigates with either sprinkler or flood irrigation. Most opt for flood irrigation, which may be cheaper in the short term, but unfortunately uses much more water than sprinklers.

After the rains between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Tracy and Fred plant hard white wheat and durum. Tracy’s wheat farm is rain fed most years. During dry years her wheat will be watered with sprinkler irrigation once, maybe twice, before being harvested in the summer. This year requires no irrigation.

The room that houses the mill smells creamy sweet. The wheat berry sifts through nine screens of silk that separate the white flour from the wheat germ and bran. Wheat berries are rubbed between North Carolina granite and concrete. Stone-ground flour is thought to be of better quality. Plastic bins lined with flannel catch the white flour that will age for two months before it is mixed into dough for the bakery.

“What happens to the wheat germ?” I ask as I look to the bin holding the separated brown wheat. She replies, “Some of the wheat germ and bran is used in our baking but most is fed to the chickens.” Nothing is wasted on Tracy’s farm.

Tracy reduces waste through her diverse operation. The apples she grows for her pies are fertilized by the chickens that wander beneath them. The chickens provide the eggs for the bakery, fed by the excess wheat germ.

Purchases from a diverse farm like Tracy’s diminish waste that occurs on the conventional journey of food to our plate. Food is wasted at each stop on the food production chain: farm, processing plant, supermarket, restaurant or home kitchen. Between 30% and 50% of all food produced never makes it to our mouths in the United States. All the food that lands in trash bins represents many gallons of wasted water. Seventy percent of all water in the world is ultimately connected to the food we put on our plates. If the world’s water was contained in a gallon bucket, a single drop of water on the tip of your finger would represent the amount of fresh water available in any given moment. The drop is equivalent to less than ½ of 1%. This drop of water has sustained life on the planet throughout the ages, yet it is predicted that two-thirds of the people living on this planet will experience water scarcity by 2025. If we are to ensure abundant water sources for our growing human population we must take a hard look at how water is used for food production.

Every meal we eat either stresses or sustains our fresh water supplies. I will conserve water with the long slurps of linguine pasta from the Solvang Pie Company. For the most important water conservation begins at the kitchen table.

Fred and Tracy Derwin in their orchard with their baby Reagan.

A beautiful vista at Tracy’s wheat farm.

Recipes

Homemade Pasta

Makes a little over 2 pounds

Once you open the door to fresh pasta you won’t want it any other way. Tracy’s fresh pasta is available every Saturday at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market. Here is a fresh pasta recipe for home just in case you miss the farmers market. The Solvang Pie Company also sells wheat berries and durum for home milling. Ask about the bagged stone-ground flour. This recipe can be used with or without a pasta machine. The pasta machine I use for this recipe is the Marcato Atlas 150.

2 cups flour

2 cups semolina flour

1 pinch salt

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons oil

Sift together the flour, semolina flour and salt.

Empty about ½ of the flour mixture onto a clean counter surface. Form the flour into a mountain shape with a deep well in the center. Reserve the remaining flour mixture.

Start to add the eggs and olive oil into the well, whisking the eggs with a fork. I find that I can add about three eggs and oil in the center well before it resembles an overflowing volcano. Once this happens, I start to mix the eggs into the flour and create another well and add the remaining eggs. Depending on the dryness of the flour, you may need to add some or all of the reserved flour mixture to get a firm but kneadable ball of dough.

Dust work surface with additional semolina as needed. Knead the dough until it is smooth and supple, about 8–10 minutes.

Wrap dough tightly in a plastic wrap at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll dough to your desired thickness and cut into your favorite noodle shape or refer to the directions provided with your pasta machine.

Place the fresh pasta on a dusted counter of semolina or hang on a pasta rack to keep noodles from sticking to each other.

Cooking Fresh Pasta

Boil enough water to cover the noodles, 2 quarts per pound of pasta (trust me, this is all the water you need, not the 4–6 quarts normally suggested). Add 1 tablespoon of salt to season the pasta for every 2 quarts water. Add pasta noodles into the boiling water making sure they are separate pieces (not one big clump). Stir a few times to be sure the pasta does not stick together. Fresh pasta cooks quickly. Stay close. Check to see if it is done at 3 minutes. If not, check pasta in 1-minute increments thereafter.

Remove pasta from water. Save the pasta water to make your favorite sauce. The starchy salty water is excellent in pasta sauces; it thins the sauce, adds flavor and salt. Reusing the pasta water in sauces is common practice in Italy. Your water conservation will be rewarded in flavor. The pasta water adds a rich, buttery flavor to the sauce. You will find yourself wiping the plate clean.

Simple Tomato, Garlic, Basil Sauce with Pasta Water

Makes 4–6 servings

2 tablespoons local olive oil

4 garlic cloves, diced

2 pounds local, organic tomatoes chopped into eighths

1–2 ladles salted pasta water

1 bunch fresh, local basil, stemmed Parmesan cheese, to taste

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil until it begins to brown. Add tomatoes and sauté until soft.

Ladle 1–2 scoops pasta water to thin and season the pasta sauce. Simmer the sauce to allow for the flavors to marry. (Refrigerate the extra pasta water to add to leftover pasta sauce for tomorrow’s lunch. The sauce is even tastier the next day.)

Turn the flame to low and add basil. Keep flame on just long enough for the basil to wilt (about 2 minutes).

To serve, drape the sauce over a pound of your favorite pasta, cooked as above. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Resources

You can find the Solvang Pie Company/Creekside Apple Ranch at the Tuesday and Saturday farmers markets in Santa Barbara and the Wednesday market in Solvang. 805 688-8948; solvangpieco.com.

Florencia Ramirez holds a master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago and is owner of Azul Conservation Products, a water conservation business. She is writing a book entitled Eat Less Water, which examines the relationship of food and water. She lives in Oxnard with her three young children and husband. Visit eatlesswater.com to read more about food and water.

WHAT THE GROWNUPS ARE DRINKING

This summer we are focusing our attention on the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, complementing Laura Sanchez’s article with a tasting of “ghetto-licious” wines. With 13 tasting rooms now open—Ampelos Cellars, Evening Land Vineyards, Fiddlehead Cellars, Flying Goat Cellars, Jalama Wines, La Vie Vineyards, Longoria Wines, Loring Wine Company, Palmina, Piedrasassi New Vineland, Samsara, Taste of Sta. Rita Hills and Zotovich Cellars—we couldn’t include them all this time. But with the whole summer in front of you, why not work your way through the Ghetto one winery at a time? Here are a few to get you started.

Fiddlehead Cellars Sauvignon Blanc

Happy Canyon, 2010 ($25)

Winemaker Kathy Joseph was bottling this wine the day we were there for a photo shoot, so we knew we wanted to include it in our tasting. What a perfect sip. It’s elegant and balanced yet approachable. This is the wine for a warm summer day or even one of those foggy days when you want to think of a sunny day. It could be the first bottle you open up for a dinner party. And it’s a terrific palate refresher. It has restrained acidity and lovely, soft fruity qualities. Take it to the beach with a bag of pistachios, and you won’t look back.

Palmina Malvasia Bianca

Larner Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley, 2010 ($26)

Palmina is well known for their Italian varietals, and this one is a classic. A little research turned up that Malvasia Bianca is an ancient varietal coming to Italy by way of Greece. We’re glad that our Mediterranean climate makes it possible to grow here. Palmina’s 2010 vintage has an aroma that just leaps out at you and makes you think of a warm summer evening under an arbor of night-blooming jasmine. We all loved the cool and exotic fruit nuances of star fruit, guava, with maybe a touch of caramelized pineapple. Some tasters felt this would be a bocce ball wine, and one said that this would pair beautifully with just about anything this summer.

Fiddlehead Cellars Pink Fiddle

Pinot Noir Rosé

Sta. Rita Hills, 2010 ($22)

We weren’t planning to taste two wines from Fiddlehead, and we weren’t even planning to taste a rosé. But it is summer and once we tried this wine, we couldn’t resist it. First of all this is a beautiful wine. It’s a particularly brilliant shade of pink, almost reminiscent of hibiscus water. We picked up a little cherry flavor with a slight spiciness at the end. Even the most ardent red wine lovers gave up their bias and liked this wine’s structure and its balanced acidity. And it’s simply a delicious, juicy summer wine. We could drink it at lunch or happy hour; before, during or after dinner.

Samsara Pinot Noir

Turner Vineyard, 2009 ($46)

Winemaker Chad Melville named his label after the Sanskrit word that refers to the eternal cycle of life. And we are eternally glad that there is a place in this world for Pinot Noir. This wine has a poetic sense of place that won us over immediately. One of our tasters thought it had a sculptural complexity that made it quite enlightening. We also picked up notes of earthy plum, fresh berry and cherry highlights. We thought this wine would pair with all sorts of summer dinner parties, and we wouldn’t mind sipping it while watching the sun go down over a field of lavender.

Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir

Sta. Rita Hills, Clos Pepe Vineyard, 2009 ($45)

Brian Loring might possibly be even more obsessed with Pinot Noir than our tasters. We weren’t able to track him down the day of our photo shoot in Lompoc, but our group was looking forward to tasting one of his Pinot Noirs. And we were not disappointed. This is a deep, dark sumptuous wine. Some would call it a low-cut dress; some would call it a sexy, sensuous, sultry wine for a late night. Adult supervision required. We called it a complex wine that could stand on its own and yet with a hint of cocoa, it might just pair beautifully with dessert or an evening campfire.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our journey to Lompoc via these wines. There is more about the Lompoc Wine Ghetto in the article to follow. And for further details on the tasting rooms, visit lompocghetto.com.

Krista Harris, Mark Pfeiffer and Laura Sanchez contributed to this piece along with input from our intrepid team of tasters.

Simplicity Means Authenticity in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto

by Laura Sanchez

PHOTOGRAPHY BY FRAN COLLIN

Front row, left to right:

Sashi Moorman

Melissa Sorongon

Rick Longoria

Kathy Joseph

Back row, left to right:

Steve Clifton

Ryan Zotovich

Antonio Moretti

Ghetto painting by Austin Gendron

“For consumers, discovering the wineries of the Lompoc Wine Ghetto is a little like finding a bottle of Grand Cru Burgundy inside a Budweiser box.”

Set amid a maze of aluminum-sided warehouses and asphalt, the Lompoc Wine Ghetto is a no-frills workaday environment. In fact the 85,000-square-foot industrial zone between Seventh and 12th streets off of Chestnut Court and Industrial Way more closely resembles a self-storage structure than a worldclass winemaking facility. And it is precisely this bare-bones aesthetic, coupled with the economic benefits of low overhead costs, that first attracted wine producers to this gritty part of Lompoc. For, with minimal start-up capital, enterprising winemakers found they could rent a space, purchase fruit and make high-quality, hand-crafted wines very simply.

In 1998, a handful of scrappy winemakers led by Rick Longoria began converting the utilitarian bays into wine production facilities. The area’s cool climate and proximity to vineyard sources in the Sta. Rita Hills made it ideal for winemakers keen to reduce cooling costs and fruit transport distances. Growth was limited over the years by a zoning restriction that allowed only wineries with production facilities there to open tasting rooms. A July 2010 change to these zoning laws, allowing all tasting rooms to operate under a conditional use permit, has recently opened the door for a rapidly increasing number of wineries.

There are no grand entrances or picturesque picnic areas. No sweeping vineyard vistas or vine-themed boutiques. But a look inside the metal roll-up doors and angular concrete architecture of Lompoc’s Sobhani Business Park reveals an unexpected treasure: Some of Santa Barbara County’s most talented winemakers are crafting wines in a raw industrial space.

Today this prosaic corner of Lompoc is home to 13 tasting rooms—Ampelos Cellars, Evening Land Vineyards, Fiddlehead Cellars, Flying Goat Cellars, Jalama Wines, La Vie Vineyards, Longoria Wines, Loring Wine Company, Palmina, Piedrasassi New Vineland, Samsara, Taste of Sta. Rita Hills and Zotovich Cellars—each of which offers an array of wines in a unique and surprisingly stylish environment.

The location of this industry cluster, it seems, directly reflects the wineries’ priorities. In the Wine Ghetto wine quality comes before aesthetics. “You can make just as good a wine in an industrial park as you can in a fancy chateau—and maybe even better,” winemaker Ryan Zotovich explains. “The innards are no different: four walls, floor drains, pipes and insulation. But here our focus is on the wine, not the shell.”

For consumers, discovering the wineries of the Lompoc Wine Ghetto is a little like finding a bottle of Grand Cru Burgundy inside a Budweiser box. Because of the unpretentious setting, visitors are often surprised by the sophistication and consistent high quality of the wines as well as by the remarkable elegance of many of the tasting rooms. “We’re sort of underground,” says Clinton Froehlich of Jalama Wines. “We see that as an opportunity to exceed people’s expectations. Visitors often feel like they’re in on a secret.”

Kathy Joseph in a mobile bottling unit, Fiddlehead Cellars.

Rick Longoria, Longoria Wines. Ampelos Cellars

Evening Land Vineyards

Fiddlehead Cellars

Flying Goat Cellars

Jalama Wines

Loring Wine Company

Palmina

Piedrasassi

Vineland

Samsara

Taste of Sta.

Zotovich Cellars

Antonio Moretti, Taste of Sta. Rita Hills.

Chad Melville, Samsara.

Steve and Chrystal Clifton, Palmina.

Clinton Froehlich (left) and Mark Cargasacchi, Jalama Wines.

The precision and cool-climate elegance of many wines produced in the Ghetto—Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Nebbiolo, Barbera and Syrah—will please both neophytes and connoisseurs alike. However it is the value of wines purchased there that will astound them. With lower overhead costs, winemakers tend to pass along the economic benefits of their utilitarian production zones to consumers—not in the form of inexpensive wines, mind you—but as a very high quality-to-cost ratio.

One has to wonder if the ascetic, asphalt-and-metal appearance of the place lends a purity of expression to the wine produced there. Chad Melville feels that setting plays a significant role in wines he crafts. “The Ghetto is raw,” Melville explains amid the geometric edges and stainless steel tools of his space. “That resonates for me.” He shares that he first recognized the significance of creative setting upon listening to a Ray Lamontagne album recorded in an abandoned Vermont barn. “You can hear the stillness and the soulfulness in his music,” he says. “You can tell he’s not on a soundstage in L.A. Place is meaningful.”

The rawness of the Wine Ghetto also means a more authentic experience for tasters. “Two months out of the year I’m punching down and pressing within 50 feet of the tasting room,” says Jalama Wines owner and winemaker Mark Cargassachi. “There are no walls. That means that visitors experience the smells of fermenting fruit, the sounds of the forklift and, of course the occasional fruit fly.” While this behind-the-scenes glimpse of wine production may quash some romantic notions, it links tasters with something real.

With the facility stripped down to the essentials and in many cases as sole proprietors, winemakers in the Ghetto have an intimate, hands-on connection with the wines they produce.

“Winemakers here are making very small amounts—a puddle—of very personal wines by hand,” explains Melissa Sorongon co-owner of Piedrasassi New Vineland and wife of winemaker Sashi Moorman. “In that sense, the Wine Ghetto brings you closer to the story—to the winemaker’s relationships with the grower, with the fruit and the wine in each barrel.”

That often means being able to taste with the winemaker himor herself, hear the story of the wine’s journey from earth to bottle and connect on a deeper level with it.

In essence, the Wine Ghetto’s asphalt-and-aluminum appearance serves as a gentle reminder that it’s what’s on the inside that matters—that the soul of wine needs no flash or embellishment. It thrives on authenticity and intention, passion and resolve. It gives back just as much as you’re willing to put in. And for winemakers in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, that means everything.

Laura Sanchez is a Santa Barbara–based wine writer whose work appears in an array of print and online publications.

1 Ampelos Cellars/Chien Wines 805 736-9957 ampeloscellars.com

2 Evening Land Vineyards 805 736-9656 eveninglandvineyards.com

3 Fiddlehead Cellars 800 251-1225 fiddleheadcellars.com

4 Flying Goat Cellars 805 736-9032 flyinggoatcellars.com

Road Trip to Lompoc

5 Jalama Wines 805 735-8937 jalamawines.com

6 La Vie Vineyards 805 291-2111 lavievineyards.com

7 Longoria Wines 866 759-4637 longoriawine.com

8 Loring Wine Company 805 742-0478 loringwinecompany.com

9 Piedrasassi New Vineland 805 736-6784 newvineland.com

For hours and more information about all the tasting rooms at the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, visit lompocghetto.com.

The best place for coffee is South Side Coffee Company at 105 S. H St. Opens at 6am on weekdays and 7am on weekends.

Break for lunch at Sissy’s Uptown Café at 112 S. I St., sissysuptowncafe.com. Or if you’re craving a burrito, go to Floriano’s Mexican Food at 319 E. Ocean Ave.

After the tasting rooms are closed, you can head over to D’Vine Wine Bar at 107 W. Ocean Ave. Wine flights and by the glass along with small plates and tapas. Open Tuesday–Thursday 3pm–9ish, Friday and Saturday 3pm–11ish.

For dinner try the fish tacos at Mariscos El Palmar at 722 E. Ocean Ave. or indulge in an Italian American dinner at the comfortable family-run La Botte Italian Restaurant at 812 N. H St., labotteitalianrestaurant.com.

To find out about events and other happenings in Lompoc, check out the page called Cool Lompoc on Facebook or the Chamber of Commerce website at Lompoc.com

10 Palmina 805 735-2030 palminawines.com

11 Samsara 805 331-2292 samsarawines.com

12 Taste of Sta. Rita Hills 805 735-8774 tasteofstaritahills.com

13 Zotovich Cellars 805 736-1600 zotovichcellars.com

Farmers Markets and CSAs

The Lompoc Farmers Market is on Fridays 2–6pm at Ocean and I Street.

Nearby, the new Vandenberg Village Farmers Market is on Sundays 10am–2pm on Burton Mesa Boulevard, adjacent to Constellation Road.

The Santa Rita Flower Farm offers a CSA program with a pickup location in the Old Town section of Lompoc under a 50-year-old walnut tree. Customers arrive on bike or foot as well as by the occasional car to pick up their weekly shares of the organic farm offerings. For more info email Jeff Hendrickson at SantaRitaFlowerFarm@yahoo.com.

The Santa Rosa Hills CSA has a pickup location at Palmina Winery in the Wine Ghetto. Their CSA box includes local produce and extras from a variety of neighboring farms, such as Finley Farms, Tutti Frutti Farms, Jimenez Farms and many more. They also offer extras such as almonds, olive oil, walnut oil, jams, eggs, pies and honey. Additional pickup points are at Buttonwood Farm Winery, Cold Heaven Winery and the Gatehouse at Hollister Ranch. For more information call 805 816-8188 or visit srhcsa.com.

AUSTIN GENDRON

edible

SANTA

BARBA RA

Dining Guide

Santa Barbara County has its own unique food traditions—from Santa Maria barbecue to Santa Barbara spot prawns and the world-class local wines that accompany them—so we’d like to help you find some of the area restaurants that create the distinctively Santa Barbara dining experience. Restaurants are chosen for this dining guide because of their emphasis on using local, seasonal ingredients in their menus and their commitment to real food.

Santa Barbara

Backyard Bowls

331 Motor Way

Santa Barbara

805 845-5379

5668 Calle Real

Goleta

805 770-2730; backyardbowls.com

Santa Barbara’s most innovative breakfast and lunch spot featuring Acai Bowls—bowls of a thick smoothie made from acai, an antioxidant-rich berry, topped with fresh fruit, granola and other toppings. They also offer oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies and more. Mon–Fri 7am–6pm; Sat–Sun 8am–6pm.

Bouchon

9 W. Victoria St.

Santa Barbara

805 730-1160; bouchonsantabarbara.com

Bouchon sources all of its ingredients using an “as-fresh-andas-local-as-possible” approach, and Chef Greg Murphy is a familiar sight at the local farmers markets. Experience fine dining, excellent regional wines and relaxed service in a warm, inviting ambience. Private dining in the Cork Room is available for groups of 10–20. Dinner nightly from 5:30pm.

Carlitos Café y Cantina

1324 State Street

Santa Barbara

805 962-7117; carlitos.com

Enjoy fresh Mexican cuisine across from the historic Arlington Theater on State Street in a sun-filled patio while the beautiful dining room features lovely views and a Cantina stocked with 100% Blue Agave tequilas. Member Santa Barbara Sustainable Seafood Program. Open daily 11am–10pm.

Cava Restaurant & Bar

1212 Coast Village Road

Montecito

805 969-8500; cavarestaurant.com

Experience the bold flavors of superb Latin cuisine from Spain, Mexico and South America in a romantic setting in Montecito. Member Santa Barbara Sustainable Seafood Program. Open daily 11am–11pm, weekend breakfast from 8am.

Coast Restaurant

31 W. Carrillo St.

Santa Barbara 805 879-9100; canarysantabarbara.com

Coast Restaurant and Bar offers savory, accessible comfort food in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara at the Canary Hotel. The food at Coast reflects Santa Barbara’s plentiful bounty of local seafood and farmers market produce. Restaurant serving 7am–10pm daily. Bar open Mon–Thurs 11am–11pm and Fri–Sat 11am–midnight.

Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro

Loreto Plaza at 3315 State Street

Santa Barbara

805 569-2400

1324 State Street

Santa Barbara 805 892-2800; renaudsbakery.com

Renaud’s is a bakery specializing in French pastries and French style cakes, as well as a bistro offering an extensive menu for lunch and dinner. Open daily 7am–3pm, and until 5pm Mon–Sat at Loreto Plaza.

Sojourner Café

134 E. Cañon Perdido St.

Santa Barbara 805 965-7922; sojournercafe.com

The Sojourner has been serving unique dishes created with wholesome natural ingredients for over 30 years. They purchase organic produce from local growers, carry local wines and beers and are known for their innovative desserts. Serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Open daily 11am–11pm, Sunday 11am–10pm.

Spiritland Bistro

230 E. Victoria St.

Santa Barbara

805 966-7759; spiritlandbistro.com

Spiritland Bistro serves organic world cuisine with a local flair, healthfully prepared and artfully presented. They are dedicated to locally sourced organic produce, sustainable seafood and meat, and in addition to traditional fare, they provide a wide range of options for vegan, vegetarian and raw diets. Open daily for lunch 11:30am–2pm and dinner Sun–Thur 5:30–9pm and Fri–Sat 5:30–10pm.

The Wine Cask

813 Anacapa St.

Santa Barbara

805 966-9463; winecask.com

The Wine Cask Restaurant offers fine dining in their exquisite Gold Room and the Wine Cask Bar Café offers casual dining in the courtyard, patio or by their cozy fireplace. Their food is sourced from area farms and local purveyors. They also have a tasting room where you can sample some of the finest wines of Santa Barbara County. Restaurant nightly from 5:30pm; bar and café Mon–Fri 11am–10pm, Sat–Sun 4–10pm; Tasting Room daily noon–6pm.

bouchon

santa barbara

Santa Ynez Valley

Avant Tapas and Wine

35 Industrial Way

Buellton

805 686-9400; avantwines.com

Avant offers a selection of savory tapas, gourmet pizzas and desserts that are the perfect counterpoint to the over 30 wines available for tasting at their state-of-the-art production facility. Open Sun–Thu 11am–8pm, Fri–Sat 11am–9pm.

ADVERTISING IN THE DINING GUIDE IS BY INVITATION ONLY

Dos Carlitos Restaurant & Tequila Bar

3544 Sagunto St.

Santa Ynez

805 688-0033; doscarlitosrestaurant.com

Dos Carlitos offers inspired Mexican and Latin cuisine handcrafted from the freshest ingredients to accompany its awardwinning 100% Blue Agave margaritas. Dos Carlitos is a place to enjoy friends and family in a relaxed outdoor patio or casual indoor setting. Member Santa Barbara Sustainable Seafood Program. Open daily 11am–10pm.

The Firestone Walker Tap Room Restaurant

620 McMurray Road

Buellton

805 686-1557; firestonebeer.com

The Firestone Walker Tap Room Restaurant celebrates the unique tastes of the Central Coast. Showcasing fresh ingredients from local sources, our menu reflects our passion for capturing a distinctive blend of regional cuisine, beer and wine. Extraordinary flavors, prepared simply by talented hands – that is our mission. Open Mon–Thu 4–9pm and Fri–Sun 11am–9pm.

Full of Life Flatbread

225 West Bell St.

Los Alamos

805 344-4400; fulloflifefoods.com

On weekends Full of Life Flatbread converts their production flatbread bakery space into a restaurant and offers an extremely innovative menu based almost entirely on what is grown locally and in season. Open Fri–Sat 5–10pm, Sunday 4–8pm.

Los Olivos Grocery

2621 W. Highway 154

Santa Ynez

805 688-5115; losolivosgrocery.com

The Los Olivos Grocery delicatessen is a valley favorite for breakfasts and lunches. In the evenings they offer alternating dinners featuring Southern soul, Mexican and Mediterranean dishes. Local wines and beers are also offered. Open daily 7am–9pm.

Los Olivos Wine

Merchant & Café

2879 Grand Ave.

Los Olivos

805 688-7265; losolivoscafe.com

The Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café brings together the best flavors of the Central Coast. Their award-winning wine list offers over 500 wines, primarily from Central Coast winemakers, to enjoy with their fresh, seasonal and local cuisine, or to enjoy at home. Open for lunch and dinner daily 11:30am–8:30pm.

Root 246

420 Alisal Road

Solvang

805 686-8681; root-246.com

Root 246 in Solvang offers a full menu of farm-to-table creations and one of the most extensive selections of local wine. The contemporary yet comfortable setting includes a main dining room, a “chefs room” for private dining, two lounges and an outdoor patio. Wed–Sun: bar opens at 4pm with dinner at 5pm.

The Hitching Post II

406 E. Highway 246

Buellton

805 688-0676; hitchingpost2.com

From Santa Maria–style barbecue to more contemporary cuisine such as smoked duck breast, ostrich, homemade soups and outstanding pastries, The Hitching Post II also offers their own world-class Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Wines. Open daily except major holidays. Cocktails/wine tasting Mon–Fri at 4pm, Sat–Sun at 3pm. Dinners only Mon–Fri 5–9:30pm, Sat–Sun 4–9:30pm.

Here’s the Scoop GELATO AND SORBET

by Shannon Essa

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN

FEINBLATT

Shepherd Farms strawberry, lemon-lavender, and berry sorbets on a waffle cone.

Iam in Paris. My windows look over the rooftops of the fourth arrondissement, and outside my door there are the most heavenly pastries and other delicious things to eat: French macarons. Crepes with chocolate melted all over them. But what am I thinking about? I am thinking about the green apple sorbet from Here’s the Scoop in Montecito and owners Bob and Ellie Patterson, who gave me the opportunity to work in the store for a few days.

I have been experimenting with homemade ice cream, gelato and sorbet for several years now, so I was absolutely thrilled to be able to learn to make large quantities of gelato and sorbet. What is better than eating a big bowl of gelato? Making a giant tub of it, that’s what.

Bob and Ellie like to give back to their community, and besides the various events put on for the youngsters of Santa Barbara in their store, they also buy much of the produce for their gelato and sorbet from local farmers.

Gelato in the freezer disply case at Here’s the Scoop.

Ellie and Bob Patterson, proprietors of Here’s the Scoop.

Since they opened Here’s the Scoop seven years ago, they have been fixtures at the farmers markets in town. Strawberries come from Tom Shepherd, blood oranges from Somers Ranch. Almost all their fruit flavors are seasonal.

Ellie is constantly trying out new flavors, like the cherimoya, sourced from local cherimoya trees. Before I tried this gelato, I had never had cherimoya before; a fruit native to South America, the flavor reminded me of those Wacky Wafer candies I ate when I was a kid. They taste exotic, yet familiar. Also, making sorbet out of them is not so easy.

Ellie and Bob do not take the easy way out on their fruit flavors. They could easily buy strawberry syrup to make their strawberry gelato instead of husking hundreds of strawberries (the staff’s least favorite job). They could buy canned pumpkin instead of roasting baby pumpkins and scooping out the meat, or they could forego the cherimoya completely. To get the amount of fruit purée they need, the cherimoya is cut in half then pushed through a strainer to get all the seeds out. There are a LOT of seeds and there is a lot of pushing. For those who think the price of quality gelato is a bit high, let me be the first to tell you there are reasons for that: the cost of good local ingredients and the cost of labor—sometimes intensive labor.

Ellie has always loved the farmers market—and that is part of the reason she, Bob and their daughter Alex ended up living in Montecito. Both Bob and Ellie grew up in Rhode Island, but met in the San Fernando Valley in the 1980s while working for the same high-tech company—Bob in operations, Ellie in both purchasing and sales and marketing. They often visited Santa Barbara and its farmers markets, as they had purchased a townhouse in Santa Barbara for their weekends. Eventually the pull of the beauty and small-town feeling of Santa Barbara—not to mention the Northridge earthquake of 1994—was too much to resist, and the family relocated permanently to Santa Barbara in 1995. When the idea of a gelato shop entered their orbit, it was not the idea of Bob and Ellie, it was Alex’s idea. But it was Ellie and Bob who went to Italy to study the ins and outs of gelato production and to research the equipment. And Alex? She ended up with a job in the process, and started working in the shop when she was just 14.

Sorbets made at Here’s the Scoop have no dairy—it is just the fruit, sugar and water. The gelato is made with milk and cream, but no eggs. (Except the French vanilla—it is the only gelato made with eggs.) The ingredients are weighed and then blended with a giant immersion blender. Then they are poured into one of my favorite pieces of machinery of all time: a professional gelato maker manufactured by Technogel in

northern Italy. This gorgeous, also very large, machine churns and freezes one batch of gelato every eight minutes, which is how Here’s the Scoop can make their flavors fresh daily.

On one of the days that I was working there, we made several types of sorbet and gelato. The green apple (that would be the one I am dreaming about now) was the first kind I made. Apples are chopped and blended with local organic apple juice and sugar, then poured into the machine. It is truly amazing there is no dairy in this sorbet. It is so creamy and delicious it seems full of fat. Instead, it is a great way to get your kid to eat fruit. Then we moved onto one of the store favorites—s’mores. This favorite of local children has chocolate gelato layered with crumbled graham crackers, chopped Hershey’s bars and marshmallows.

Other flavors may be more interesting to adults. Lavender Lemon is one that appeals intensely to some. “We initially only made this flavor from Mother’s Day till Labor Day, but last year customers started asking if they could sign the petition,” Ellie tells me. “When I asked what petition, they

said that they wanted that flavor to be a permanent yeararound flavor. We, of course, complied with their request.”

Indian rice pudding—a gelato with rice, cardamom, dried papaya, mango and almonds—is a flavor that Ellie thought up in the middle of the night one night, and it is now a popular flavor. Even daughter Alex gets in on the act with new gelato ideas—the Savannah Honey & Almond (using local honey from San Marcos Farms) is all hers, as is the s’mores flavor mentioned above. Ellie and Bob also experiment with wine flavors for local wine festivals and events. They’ve added sparkling wine to the Lavender Lemon and made a Merlot and blackberry sorbet using Buttonwood Merlot, among many others. This is one of the best parts of the job for Ellie— tasting, or thinking, about something delicious and then making a gelato or sorbet out of it.

Of course, in the summer the fruit flavors, such as peach, pluot and watermelon, sing—if not scream. What could be better than ripe, local summer fruit blended into an icy, refreshing concoction on a sunny afternoon? “It is fun and exciting to

Making a batch of apricot sorbet.

Handmade fresh waffle cones.

follow the growing seasons of fruits in making our sorbets,” says Ellie.

Ellie even had me work behind the counter one day. I learned to make waffle cones and served samples to customers. Ellie and the staff are extremely generous with samples. So generous, that I asked Bob and Ellie if they ever said no to another sample. “Not really,” said Ellie. So a visit to Here’s the Scoop could result in a taste test of many flavors before a final flavor decision is made. A couple of other fairly humorous, also touching moments happened during my brief time there. A father brought his young daughter into the shop and ordered her a cone and himself a cup. While he was paying, his daughter decided she also liked the idea of consuming his cup of gelato. She skillfully managed to ingest part of her dad’s gelato, presumably while he wasn’t looking. The look on her face was priceless. Pure joy.

Another day, Ellie and I sat outside the shop talking and a boy of maybe 11 or so stopped by. Ellie is great with kids, but it took some gentle prodding (and some initial small talk) to get the youngster to express what he had really come for. “You know that coupon for a free sundae that I won?” Ellie nods, even if she doesn’t. “Well, I want to use it, but I can’t find it.” I try not to giggle—he is so cute. “Go in there and get your sundae,” Ellie says with a smile.

I think in the end, it really comes down to the kids for Ellie and Bob. I ask Bob what is the one thing he loves most working in the front of the shop. “The kids,” he says. “Definitely the kids.” And the one thing he loves most about working in the back? “That’s easy,” he says with a smile. “Tasting the gelato as it comes out of the machine!”

Here’s the Scoop is located at 1187 Coast Village Rd., Montecito. 805 969-7020.

Shannon Essa is a California native whose beverage of choice is Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. She is the author of restaurant guidebook Chow Venice! and splits her time between Santa Barbara and Europe, writing and leading wine-, beer- and food-based tours in Spain and Italy for Grapehops Tours.

Recipe

Ellie Patterson’s Strawberry Shortcake

Makes 8–9 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons baking powder

1 ⁄ 2 teaspoon salt

11 ⁄ 2 sticks butter, cut into 12 pieces

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 ⁄ 2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 egg beaten with a little cold water for egg wash

1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle over biscuits

3 pints fresh, local organic strawberries

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 quart Here’s the Scoop strawberry sorbet (made from organically grown farmers market strawberries from Shepherd Farms)

To Make the Shortcake

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix in the butter at the lowest speed to break the butter into pieces about the size of a pea. Add the eggs and cream to the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated—do not over mix. The dough will be moist and sticky.

Strawberry shortcake.

Sprinkle flour on your working surface and place the dough on top. Flour your hands and pat the dough out until it is approximately ¾-inch thick. Dip a 3-inch fluted cutter in flour and cut out 8–9 biscuits. Place them on the parchment paper–lined baking sheet.

Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

To Prepare the Strawberries

Rinse, remove stems and slice the strawberries vertically into a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar. Let sit for at least an hour so that the strawberries will release their own juices. If you would like a thicker sauce, you can purée a small quantity of the strawberries.

To

Make the Whipped Cream

Place mixing bowl and wire beaters in refrigerator until chilled. Pour whipping cream into chilled bowl. Mix on medium-high speed until cream just starts to peak. Add sugar and vanilla and mix a few moments more until the peaks are stiff.

To Assemble

Split biscuit in half and lay bottom half on serving plate. Place a large scoop of strawberry sorbet on the biscuit. Spoon sliced strawberries on top. Add a dollop of whipped cream. Place top of shortcake on an angle. Serve and enjoy.

Drink Recipes

Sorbet Bellini

1 pint Here’s the Scoop peach sorbet

1 bottle Prosecco or other sparkling wine (or sparkling water)

Assemble 6 friends and 6 wine glasses. Pour a couple of ounces of bubbly into each glass. Add one large scoop of sorbet to each glass. Add a little more bubbly to fill each glass and stir slightly.

Variations

This cocktail can be made with other Here’s the Scoop sorbets such as apricot, strawberry or watermelon. We also tried this cocktail with a float of St-Germain Liqueur.

Not for the Kiddies Real Beer Float

1 pint Here’s the Scoop vanilla, chocolate or espresso gelato 1 six-pack or 750ml bottle local stout or porter beer, such as Firestone Velvet Merlin, Telegraph Stock Porter or Island Brewing Jubilee Ale.

Assemble 4–6 friends and 4–6 pint glasses or other roomy beer glass. Pour chilled beer halfway up each glass. Add one scoop gelato. Then add more beer as far as you can (or want to) go. You may have leftover beer, but we think that will be OK.

Sorbet Bellini.

Turnips and Radishes

by Deborah Madison

FROM HER FORTHCOMING BOOK

Summer typically involves visions of basil, tomatoes and corn, but they are just our favorites, for good reason, of course. Because they don’t usually come on until late summer, I wanted to consider some vegetables that aren’t as glamorous but which are steady, plentiful and often delightful, namely turnips and radishes. While it’s easy to pass them by in favor of more obvious enchanters, the cool ends of summer are their time. By the time it’s hot enough for corn and tomatoes, we can give radishes and turnips a break, then go back to them once the corn is finished.

I put turnips and radishes together because they share a few qualities, starting with their membership in the cruciferous family of plants. They can also look rather similar, as with small round red turnips and large round red radishes. There’s a long Japanese turnip, which, like a French breakfast radish, is pinkish-red on top, fading to white at the bottom. Helios, a golden radish, is acknowledged to be similar to be the Small Early Yellow Turnip-Radish described in Vilmorin’s book,

The Vegetable Garden, from l885. Both can be sweet and crisp or hot and spicy depending on the weather and their age, and both can be enjoyed raw or cooked. Indeed they do quite well together in either form.

Despite Pliny the Elder’s praise for the turnip—a vegetable he described as one of the most important, falling just below the bean—it’s all too often regarded as a lowly tuber, fit only for livestock. I used to make a turnip soup at Greens, but to sell it our most enthusiastic waiter would wrangle customers into trying it, promising them with force and charm that they’d love it. Because they did, turnip soup eventually became a reliable seller, but there was this prejudice to overcome. What was it that gave turnips such a bad name?

People seemed to fall back on the idea that turnips were for wartimes and livestock, conditions that made them unfit for humans. True, they have been grown for animal feed and one can still order a variety of turnip suitable for livestock, especially sheep (see Johnny’s Selected Seeds), but I doubt that

any of our customers had personal experience eating such field turnips. Still, the notion that a soup made from a vegetable regarded as appropriate for ruminants would taste good was highly improbable.

Turnips haven’t had an easy go of it. They don’t get people salivating. But turnips at the farmers market in Santa Fe are among the most sought-after vegetables. Our farmers grow small, gleaming white roots with smooth skins that needn’t be peeled. The greens, which are tender and free of prickles, cook quickly. This is an entirely different creature than the turnips imagined by those doubters of my past and are, in fact, the very kind of turnip they were eating in their soup years ago. These little roots are so crisp and sweet that you can also eat them raw, sprinkled with a crunchy sea salt, and you can slice them into salads. Such turnips are, in fact, sometimes referred to as “salad turnips.”

Radishes are so cheerful looking that people tend to buy them impulsively, then forget about them until the leaves are wilted, the flesh soft and unappealing. The French have a great solution to such neglect—they put them out with butter and salt and some bread and people munch on them before a meal.

Those lovely white salad turnips are likely to be Hakurei. There are also globes called Scarlet Queen, Red Round or Hidebeni, which have dramatically scarlet stems as well as roots. French or Italian varieties are likely to be flatter in shape, although there is one French turnip that boasts a long, tapered root. The classic American turnip—white with a purple top—called Purple Top White Globe is an heirloom that can be as sweet and lovely as the Japanese varieties if not allowed to grow too large. Another Japanese turnip named Hinona Kabu grows up to a foot long and is scarlet-pink on top bleeding to white, vaguely resembling the French Breakfast radish and, to a lesser extent, the Cincinnati Market radish, which is entirely scarlet and about half the length. Turnips also venture into hues of gold. Boule d’Or, or Golden Ball is one, Golden Globe another with pale orange flesh. Petrowski turnip is a very flat, golden-fleshed variety and, like the other two, an heirloom.

Radishes don’t have to overcome the stigma that turnips do, and they also display startling variation. There are yellow varieties— Helios being one, Jaune d’Or Ovale a more oval-shaped radish.

There are the exotic, large Chinese radishes that have either green or red “meat.” They are gorgeous sliced paper-thin and soaked in cold water, which makes them crisp and curly, like a ruffle. Red Meat, Green Meat, White Winter, China Rose, Watermelon are some names to look for. Then there are the other shapes, very large red, purple, black, and pink varieties as well as white. Their names usually say it all: Scarlet Globe, Plum Purple, Spanish Black Radishes. Daikons, the large, very long, white Asian radishes with resplendent leafy tops, are milder than most radishes. French breakfast radishes, about the size of a finger, red on top fading to white, are among the sweetest and most delicate—as long as the weather stays coolish. Long Scarlet radishes are a few inches longer than French breakfast radishes and are entirely scarlet. Rat-Tailed radishes were once grown for their pungent edible seedpods and they can be still. Last summer a grower in the Boulder farmers market had a stunning array of radish varieties that had customers gasping, “You mean all those are radishes?” They were, but not nearly as many as there could be. Radishes are so cheerful looking that people tend to buy them impulsively, then forget about them until the leaves are wilted, the flesh soft and unappealing. The French have a great solution to such neglect—they put them out with butter and salt and some bread and people munch on them before a meal. Try this with turnips, too, or slice them thinly, sprinkle with black sesame seeds and sea salt.

The leafy tops of turnips and radishes can and should be enjoyed as well. Unless young they tend to be spicy, but their rough hot quality actually sets off the sweetness of the roots should they be combined. Turnip greens, except in the case of salad turnips, take more than a few minutes to cook, but hardly the hours some claim. Radish greens cook in little time and new tender leaves make a peppery addition to salads. The leaves are also good sliced and tossed with slivered radishes. Daikon greens are one of five ingredients featured in a healing Chinese broth because they are filled so exceptionally with good nutrients. In any case, the leaves too should be regarded as a food instead of fodder for the compost pile, when possible.

One of the prettiest crudités plates you can make consists of paper-thin slices of whatever radishes and turnips you can find, the skins left on. (You might throw in a yellow beet as well for more color). Cover them with water, refrigerate for 30 minutes or so, then drain, heap on a plate, garnish with the most tender looking greens and serve. They will be irresistible.

Note: Seeds can be found for many of these radish and turnip varieties from Baker Creek, Kitazawa Seed Company and Seed Savers Exchange.

Deborah Madison is the author of 11 books, including Local Flavors, What We Eat When We Eat Alone and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. A former chef and pastry chef, she lives near Santa Fe, New Mexico. For more information visit deborahmadison.com.

MOBILE FOOD The Food Truck Craze by Jill Johnson

CULTURE SHOCK

It may look like a fire-breathing dragon on wheels but in reality it’s a food truck with a vibrantly painted image of a Vesmuhunu on its hood, in the form of one of Sri Lanka’s colorful wooden masks. Sri Lanka, known on old globes and maps as Ceylon, has a long, colorful and spicy tradition of food, tea and storied hospitality. Ian and Nirosha Moore, proprietors of Culture Shock, continue that heritage here locally and curry favor with their curry flavors. Get your taste buds ready for some serious tantalizing. Chicken curry, cooked in exotic spices and coconut milk; fish curry, ahi tuna cooked in exotic spices and made dry with a touch of sourness; kale sautéed with onions, garlic and shredded coconut; and chicken bratwurst in a parata roti and curry sauce. Flavorful food at a fiscally sound price. A win-win situation all around.

GREEN AND TASTY

Though technically not a truck (it’s actually a trailer), Green and Tasty has all the elements of a taco truck but with a modern, updated vibe. They cater primarily to schools but can also be hired for parties and other special events. Their specialty is making nutritionally balanced meals that kids will love. We tried their delicious quesadillas at a recent food truck festival and immediately became jealous of the students who get to eat their food every day.

KUNFUSION KULINARY

Owner/chef Lori Nunes had pretty much seen it all on the employment front, having worked as a store manager, real estate agent and photographer before being lured away to study the culinary arts. Inspired by the Asian food she loves and that of her grandparents’ homeland, the Portuguese-settled Archipelago of the Azores in the North Atlantic, Lori has concocted a menu that may, at first glance, get one “kunfused,” but soon find deliciously different. Try the arepas, savory cornmeal cakes smothered with tempura-battered Kobe beef with house-made kimchi and ginger five-spice ketchup. Kudos to them for using locally grown organic fruits, vegetables and local meats. You can’t miss the big, black vintage catering truck emblazoned with a smiling white Buddha on the sides. Look for it cruising the streets and highways between Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles. Hopefully we can tempt them to come a little farther into Santa Barbara County sometime soon.

O STREET TRUCK

Sacre Bleu. Andiamo. Vite! Ooh La La. Huge goldenrod and white letters spelling out some serious exclamations adorn this big red—or is it International Orange?—gourmet food truck offering up locally sourced, eclectic fare combining Mediterranean, French-Mex and French Vietnamese flavors. O Street Truck is the brainchild of Liz Bradley, whose company Olive Street Table provides French pastry pizzas and other gourmet foodstuffs to such venerable foodista venues as Williams Sonoma, Costco and local favorite, Lazy Acres. Although the “Truck” serves up products influenced by the “Table,” such as the Fromage en Provence French Pastry Pizza, at the moment it is best known for its bahn mi sandwiches. Large crusty baguettes filled to the brim with marinated beef or chicken, along with cilantro, cucumbers, carrots and a secret sauce that oozes flavor all over the place. These sandwiches are not for the napkin challenged.

ROAD DOGS

Not a truck, nor a trailer, this food cart still epitomizes the essence of mobile food. Owners Carol Dailey and Jared Guthrie have come up with a menu of classic and outrageous hot dogs and all the fixings. Fan favorites include the Mac & Cheese Dog and the Picnic Dog (topped with pickles, onions, crushed potato chips, a couple types of mustard and homemade potato salad!), and we were happily surprised to see that any of them can be made with veggie dogs.

LICKETY SPLIT

What would life be without dessert? Thank goodness there’s a food truck for that. Lickety Split serves up frozen yogurt, “Yo-Witch” yogurt and cookie sandwiches and iced coffee drinks. Matthew McBride and Alex Gubelmann have brought something special to Santa Barbara with their stylish and innovative truck. They say it’s the first mobile frozen yogurt food truck to hit Southern California. And they’ve done it right. They source their berry toppings from local farmers and use a locally roasted coffee. And their signature homemade chocolate chip cookies sandwiched with frozen yogurt are true standouts.

Finding Food on the Move

CULTURE SHOCK

Facebook: Group: Culture Shock SB

Twitter: @cultureshocksb Website: cultureshocksb.com

GREEN AND TASTY

Facebook: Page: Green & Tasty

Twitter: @greenandtasty

Website: greenandtasty.com

KUNFUSION KULINARY

Facebook: facebook.com/kunfusion.truck

Twitter: @KunFusionTruck

Website: kunfusiontruck.com

LICKETY SPLIT

Facebook: facebook.com/LicketyTruck

Twitter: @LicketyTruck

Website: licketysplitstruck.com

MOBILE CAFE(S) 1, 2 AND 3

(See Last Bite on page 56)

Facebook: facebook.com/MobileCafe

Twitter: @MobiliCafeSB

O STREET TRUCK

Facebook: facebook.com/OStreetTruck

Twitter: @oSTREETtruck

Website: ostreettruck.com

ROAD DOGS

Facebook: facebook.com/RoadDogsInc

Twitter: @RoadDogs2 Website: roaddogs.com

THE BURGER BUS

Facebook: Page: The Burger Bus

Twitter: @TheBurgerBus Website: theburgerbus.com

THE BURGER BUS

We wrote about Michael and Cheryl Gardner’s wonderful concept back in fall 2009, and it’s just as good if not better than ever. The burgers (and their fantastic vegetarian falafel sandwich) are a locavore’s dream. They use local produce and ingredients from the farmers market and TriCounty Produce. They even use local Telegraph beer in the batter for their scrumptious onion rings. They also offer deep-fried pickle chips and yam fries. But perhaps their biggest innovation is their Burger Bus CB&J TM—a cheeseburger and jelly made up of 1 ⁄ 3 -pound patty covered in melted cheese, sweet grilled onions and seasonal Mama’s Preserves jelly, all piled high on a toasted ciabatta roll.

Jill Johnson is an artistic soul with an inquisitive mind and a hearty appetite for life...and food. You can find her musings of spilled milk and cookie crumblings at her blog, cookiesinheaven.blogspot.com.

edible Source Guide

The Edible Source Guide is a compact listing of all of our advertisers with the details of their businesses. Please visit these advertisers to pick up your free copy of Edible Santa Barbara.

BREWERIES

Telegraph Brewing Company

Handcrafting unique American ales that embrace the heritage of California’s early brewing pioneers and use as many locally grown ingredients as possible. Visit the tasting room Thursday from 4–6pm, Friday from 4–8pm, Saturday from 2–6pm. Telegraph beer is available at many restaurants and grocery stores in Santa Barbara County and throughout California. telegraphbrewing.com

CATERERS AND CHEFS

New West Catering

Uniting the artistry of fine restaurant cuisine with the versatility of full-service catering, New West Catering is your unparalleled choice for special events in the Santa Barbara County wine country and beyond. 805 688-0991; newwestcatering.com

FARMERS MARKETS

Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market

Eight markets, six days a week. See schedule on page 12. 805 962-5354; sbfarmersmarket.org

FARMS AND CSA PROGRAMS

Dey Dey’s Best Beef Ever

Local grass-fed beef. Never any hormones, antibiotics or corn. They now sell pasture raised chicken, too. Available at Santa Rita Crossroads Farm Stand at the corner of Hwy 246 and Drum Canyon Rd. and at the farmers markets: Sunday in Goleta and Studio City; Wednesday in Solvang; Thursday in Carpinteria and Goleta; Saturday in Pasadena. 805 570-9000; bestbeefever.com

John Givens Farm

John Givens started John Givens Farm in the Goleta Valley under the “Something Good” label in 1980. Their produce is USDA Certified Organic and is raised in Santa Barbara County on 180 acres in 12 locations. Contact them by phone to join their CSA program. 805 964-4477.

Rancho San Julian Beef

Rancho San Julian Beef produces high quality beef from cattle raised humanely and healthfully on an agriculturally sustainable ranch in Santa Barbara County. Available at the following farmers markets: Saturday in Santa Barbara 8:30am–12:30pm, Tuesday in Santa Barbara 3–6:30pm and Friday in Montecito 8–11:30am as well as on their website rsjbeef.com

Santa Rosa CSA

Each week, the Santa Rosa Hills CSA packs a box of local produce and extras from a variety of neighboring farms. Pick up points are at Buttonwood Farm Winery, Cold Heaven Winery, Palmina Winery and the Gatehouse at Hollister Ranch. 805 816-8188; srhcsa.com

Shepherd Farms

Organic since 1973, Shepherd Farms brings produce from the farm directly to your plate. Join the CSA program, or visit them at the farmers market or at the farm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 1–5pm and Saturday 11am–3pm. 6701 Casitas Pass Rd., Carpinteria; shepherdfarmscsa.com

FOOD PRODUCTS

Full of Life Flatbread All Natural Pizza

Each of their frozen line of artisan flatbread pizzas is handmade by their bakers in small batches. Almost all of their ingredients are sourced local from growers and artisans, which reduces food-miles, helps the environment and ensures high quality. Available at grocery and natural food stores throughout the country. fulloflifefoods.com

Joëlle Olive Oil

Joëlle Olive Oil offers a full line of fresh, cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil estate grown in California. Award winning in international competitions, all of their oils are unfiltered, extra virgin, and date-stamped for year of production. joelleoil.com

Simply Pies

Simply Pies specializes in delicious organic pies, pot pies, quiches and cheesecakes that are handcrafted with fresh, local organic ingredients. Vegan, gluten free and sugar free options. Open Tuesday–Saturday 7am–5:30pm; Saturday 10am–5:30pm. 5392 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara. 805 845-2200; Email: orders@simplypiessb.com; simplypiessb.com

GROCERY STORES & PRODUCE DELIVERY

Isla Vista Food Co-op

A community-owned food co-op open to the public and highly regarded for its sustainable business practices and high-quality foods. Highlighting tri-county local, organic, fair-trade, farmer-owned, vegan, vegetarian, kosher, raw, gluten-free and all-around sustainable ways of being. Open daily 8am–10pm. 6575 Seville Rd., Isla Vista. 805 968-1401; islavistafood.coop

Lassen’s Natural Foods & Vitamins

Lassen’s has been providing the finest natural foods and supplements for 40 years and now has 9 stores in California. In Goleta at 5154 Hollister and in Santa Maria at 1790 S. Broadway. Mon–Sat 9am–8pm; lassens.com.

Lazy Acres

Santa Barbara’s best source for wholesome, natural and organic foods and products with real people dedicated to providing unmatched personal service. Monday–Saturday, 7am–11pm, Sunday 7am–10pm. 302 Meigs Rd., Santa Barbara, 805 564-4410; lazyacres.com

Los Olivos Grocery

Los Olivos Grocery offers a wide selection of local products and produce and their delicatessen is a valley favorite. In the evenings they offer alternating dinners featuring Southern soul, Mexican and Mediterranean dishes. Local wines and beers are also offered. 2621 W. Highway 154, Santa Ynez. 805 688-5115; losolivosgrocery.com

New Frontiers Natural Marketplace

New Frontiers Natural Marketplace is a full service natural foods grocery store and deli. Located in Solvang at 1984 Old Mission Dr. (corner of Alamo Pintado and Mission Dr.) Call 805 693-1746 for hours and additional information. They are also located in San Luis Obispo at 1531 Froom Ranch Way (on Los Osos Valley Rd. near Home Depot).

Plow to Porch Organics

Local organic/pesticide free/chemical free and all natural produce delivery service and organic market. The market carries a wide array of seasonal and local produce, meat and food products and is located at 3204 State St., Santa Barbara. Open Monday–Friday 10am–6pm. 805 895-7171; plowtoporch.com

Whole Foods Market

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market, a leader in the natural and organic foods industry and America’s first national certified organic grocer, was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” in 2008 by Health magazine. 3761 State St., Santa Barbara, 805 837-6959; wholefoodsmarket.com

LANDSCAPING AND GARDEN SERVICES

Homegrown Pantry Kitchen Gardens

Homegrown Pantry Kitchen Gardens specializes in the design, installation and maintenance of organic vegetable and herb gardens. 805 305-7509; homegrownkitchengardens.com

Thriving Essentials

Thriving Essentials is a one-stop concierge business for all things pertaining to security and sustainability, providing you with everything from emergency food supply and home security systems to organic gardens and solar installation. Visit thrivingessentials.com

MEDICAL SERVICES

Integrative Medicine Center of Santa Barbara

The Integrative Medicine Center of Santa Barbara is a primary care medical clinic, balancing modern conventional medicine with alternative healing. Santa Barbara office: 601 E. Arrellaga Suite 101; 805 963-1824. Lompoc office: 806 E. Ocean Ave; 805 740-9700. drsaundersmd.com

PACKAGING PRODUCTS

Be Green Packaging

Be Green Packaging, LLC designs, manufactures, and distributes well designed, high quality, industrial and foodgrade, tree free, GMO free, compostable packaging made from renewable plant fibers. begreenpacking.com

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

American Riviera Bank

Offering a local and sustainable approach to banking. The founders of American Riviera Bank are a carefully selected group of successful, prominent, experienced and influential community and business leaders who understand the unique needs of the Santa Barbara community. Lobby hours Monday–Thursday 8am–5pm, Friday 8am–6pm. 1033 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara. 805 965-5942. americanrivierabank.com

Modern Organic Design

Modern Organic Design is a boutique architectural firm specializing in residential, small commercial and tenant improvement projects. Contact Travis B. Colburn, A.I.A., at 805 259-4067 for a free consultation or visit modernorganicdesign.net for more information.

RESTAURANTS

See our Edible Dining Guide on page 40.

SPECIALTY RETAILERS

Chocolate Maya

Chocolate Maya scours the world for pure, luscious chocolates and offers incredible savory bars, truffles, bonbons and gift baskets as well as a wide choice of organic and fair trade chocolate products. Monday–Friday 11am–6pm, Saturday 10am–4pm. 15 W. Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara. 805 965-5956; chocolatemaya.com

C’est Cheese

C’est Cheese is your local source for the finest cheeses and artisanal foods. In addition to cheese, they offer a host of gourmet foods such as salamis, fine cured hams, olive oils and vinegars, wines, handmade chocolates, catering services, gift baskets and picnic coolers. Monday–Friday 10am–6pm. Saturday 8am–6pm. Closed Sundays. 825 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara. 805 965-0318; cestcheese.com

Global Gardens

Global Gardens uses only the freshest of organic or natural, pesticide-free ingredients to make their exclusive line of extra virgin olive oils, fruit vinegars, appetizer spreads, glazes, savory snacks and confections. Open daily 11am–5pm. 2477 Alamo Pintado Ave., Los Olivos. 805 693-1600; oliverevolution.com

Grapeseed Company

The Grapeseed Company creates eco-friendly spa and skin care handcrafted from the byproduct of wine plus antioxidant rich local and organic botanicals. Tuesday-Saturday 10:30am–5:30pm; Sunday noon–5pm. 201 West Carrillo St., Santa Barbara 805 456-3655; thegrapeseedcompany.com

Here’s the Scoop

Here’s the Scoop offers the finest gelato and sorbet made fresh daily from local farms and farmers market fruit. They specialize in seasonal flavors as well as traditional Italian flavors. 1187 Coast Village Rd., Montecito. 805 969-7020. heresthescoop@cox.net

WINERIES AND WINE RETAILERS

Alma Rosa

With certified organic vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills, Alma Rosa focuses on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as well as Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir-Vin Gris. All wines are food friendly with the high acid and extraordinary balance for which Richard Sanford’s wines have been known since 1976. Open 11am–4:30pm daily. 7250 Santa Rosa Rd., Buellton. 805 688-9090; almarosawinery.com

Avant Tapas and Wine

Avant Tapas and Wine is the tasting room for over 30 vintners producing their wine at the Terravant Wine Company’s state-of-the-art production facility, in Santa Barbara County. Open for tasting Sunday–Thursday 11am–8pm, Friday–Saturday 11am–9pm. 35 Industrial Way, Buellton. 805 686-9400; avantwines.com

BiN 2860 International Wine Shop

With both local and international wines available, BiN 2860 at Fess Parker Wine Country Inn & Spa has one of the best wine selections in the Santa Ynez Valley. 2860 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. 800 446-2455, 805 688-7788; bin2860.com

Buttonwood Farm Winery

In 1968 Betty Williams came to Buttonwood, creating a life that found expression through a connection with the land. The vineyard now has 33,000 vines with a mix of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Marsanne, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Visit the tasting room at 1500 Alamo Pintado Rd., Solvang. Open 11am–5pm daily. 805 688-3032; buttonwoodwinery.com

Foxen Winery & Vineyard

Bill Wathen and Dick Doré have been making wine together since 1985, when they founded Foxen Winery & Vineyard at the historic Rancho Tinaquaic in northern Santa Barbara County. Visit the two tasting rooms at 7200 and 7600 Foxen Canyon Rd., Santa Maria. Open daily 11am–4pm. 805 937-4251; foxenvineyard.com

Kenneth Volk Vineyards

Proprietor Ken Volk has been making Santa Barbara and Central Coast wines for more than a quarter century. He is known for crafting world-class wines, particularly

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Their tasting room is open daily 10:30am–4:30pm. 5230 Tepusquet Road, Santa Maria. 805 938-7896; volkwines.com

Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe

The Wine Merchant specializes in premium California wines with a focus on highlighting the Central Coast. They feature Bernat Wines which are estate grown and made by owner Sam Marmorstein. In addition they carry a line of signature gourmet products. Open daily 11:30am–8:30pm. 2879 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. 805 688-7265; losolivoscafe.com

Oreana Winery & Marketplace

Oreana Winery & Marketplace is a tasting room, wine shop, gourmet gift market and fully-functional winery housed in a historic tire shop. From their small batches of Pinot Noir to their sizable red table wine, Oreana has a wine for everyone. Open daily 11am–5pm. 205 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara. 805 962-5857; oreanawinery.com

Palmina Winery

Palmina wines are based on Italian varietals, but with the unique characteristics and passion of winemakers Steve and Chrystal Clifton. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 11am–5pm; Sunday–Monday, 11am–4pm. 1520 E. Chestnut Ct., Lompoc Wine Ghetto. 805.735.2030; palminawines.com

Qupé

Qupé is dedicated to producing handcrafted Rhône varietals and Chardonnay from California’s Central Coast. They employ traditional winemaking techniques to make wines that are true to type and speak of their vineyard sources. Their tasting room is open daily 11am–5pm. 2963 Grand Ave., Suite B, Los Olivos. 805 686-4200; qupe.com

Roblar Winery & Cooking School

The spirit of easygoing hospitality is central to Roblar’s philosophy. Come by for a taste of their current releases, browse the gift shop and deli, or stay for lunch. Open for tasting Saturday–Sunday 10am–5pm, Monday–Friday 11am–4pm. 3010 Roblar Ave., Santa Ynez. 805 686-2603; roblarwinery.com

Tessa Marie Wines

Sangiovese is the cornerstone of winemaker Tessa Marie’s efforts, but she has recently expanded her portfolio to include several new varieties in her all Italian lineup. The tasting room is open Thursday–Monday 11:30am–5pm and is located at 2901 Grand Ave. Suite C, Los Olivos. 805 688-6081; www.tessamariewines.com

Wandering Dog

edible Events

THURSDAY–SATURDAY, JULY 14–16

Santa Barbara’s California Wine Festival

Santa Barbara’s Annual California Wine Festival is a midsummer tradition where thousands of wine and food lovers gather to sip and savor unlimited premium wines and sample gourmet food. californiawinefestival.com

SATURDAY–SUNDAY, JULY 16–17

24th Annual French Festival

Join the fun at the French Festival on July 16 and 17 from 11am–7pm in Santa Barbara’s Oak Park. It is the largest French celebration in the Western United States and features a wide variety of entertainment, from cancan to the poodle parade, as well as lots of great food, from crepes to quiche. Admission is free. For more information call 805 564-7274 or visit frenchfestival.com.

FRIDAY–SATURDAY, JULY 22–23

The Chardonnay Symposium

An insightful weekend of education and exploration designed to enlighten wine consumers and industry professionals and hosted by the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country Association. thechardonnaysymposium.com

WEDNESDAY–SUNDAY, AUGUST 3–7

Old Spanish Days Fiesta

A celebration of Santa Barbara’s heritage, through music, dancing and family events. Serious foodies frequent the mercado at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. oldspanishdays-fiesta.org

Wandering Dog Wine Bar offers the most interesting and delicious wines from artisan producers along the Central Coast, as well as from around the world. Sample one of their tasting flights or create your own from the nearly 50 wines available by the glass every day. Monday–Thursday 1pm–8ish, Friday–Saturday 11am–10ish; Sunday 11am–8ish. 1539 C Mission Dr., Solvang. 805 686-9126; wanderingdogwinebar.com

The Winehound

The award-winning Winehound features the world’s best wines—from the everyday to a luxury cuvée—all top dogs, no mutts. Open 11am–7pm Monday through Saturday, noon–6pm Sunday. 1221 Chapala St., Santa Barbara. 805 845-5247. thewinehound.com

Zaca Mesa Winery & Vineyards

Zaca Mesa is a Santa Ynez Valley estate winery dedicated to Rhone varieties. Since 1972, they have handcrafted wines from grapes grown in their vineyards to express their distinct character and genuine quality. Open daily 10am–4pm. 6905 Foxen Canyon Rd., Los Olivos. 805 688-9339 ext. 308; zacamesa.com

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13

All Buttonwood Farm Dinner

Join the Buttonwood “family” for a convivial experience celebrating the bounty of Buttonwood Farm. buttonwoodwinery.com

SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 1–31

epicure.sb: A Month to Savor Santa Barbara

Coming this October, Santa Barbara will feature a monthlong foodie festival with diverse epicurean offerings sure to sate your appetite! This epicurean adventure will showcase regional cuisine, libations and culture. Festivals include the Sol Food Festival, Harbor & Seafood Festival, California Lemon Festival, California Avocado Festival and Celebration of Harvest. For more information: info@sbdo.org

THE LAST BITE

Nancy

Weiss by Jill Johnson

Thanks to the forward thinking of Nancy Weiss, the director of nutrition services for the Santa Barbara School District, students at several area schools can eat amazing food served up daily from a lunch truck, called the Mobile Café. Fresh veggies, check. Locally sourced, check. Healthy, check. Things that kids will eat, i.e., grass-fed 100% beef burgers, check! Delicious, oh, yeah, check!

There are currently three food trucks covering Montecito Union Elementary School, Santa Barbara High School and San Marcos High School, with plans to roll out a fourth later this year to serve Dos Pueblos High School.

Although she is the director of nutrition services at an educational institution, Nancy Weiss is no stranger to the restaurant business. She was the founder, owner and operator

of SOhO Restaurant for 13 years before leaving to be the food service coordinator of Goleta Valley Junior High School in 1996. Her stated mission, when ultimately promoted to be the District’s department director in 2008, was to “create, through networking and communication skills, a Nutrition Services Department that reaches far beyond the revitalization of food served in our schools. I want to implement a total food service system that sustains us all. I want to infuse our schools with local resources, uniting community leaders in the causes of health and nutrition.”

In addition to serving area schools and nonprofits, now members of the general public can try out the delicious food of the Mobile Café at the Wednesday Farmers Market at Harding School. To find out more, visit faceback.com/ MobileCafe or follow on Twitter @MobileCafeSB.