Montecito Moms

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Calendar of Events

Sophie McNally

by Dalina Michaels

Sophie McNally, a visionary entrepreneur and owner of the company Kitchenette, is changing the way people interact with food through innovative technology. And she is doing it right here in Montecito!

“We moved to Montecito during Covid. During that time, we were so worried about the virus and I didn’t trust going out to eat, so we were cooking all our meals at home, three times a day. I found that it was good but also exhausting! So, I started thinking about how I could make meals and freeze them to save myself time,” McNally said.

With two young daughters (Olive, 4, and Maya, 2), and her husband, Adam, McNally began to work on recipes that could work for everyone in her family: “I wanted something that was tasty for grownups, but simple enough for kids.” to the age-old question: What’s for dinner? Instead of calling for delivery, you just need to open your freezer and stick your Kitchenette meal in the oven!”

It should not be a huge surprise that McNally, whose parents are restaurateurs in New York City, was drawn to making good food for her family. McNally’s vision centers around bridging the gap between traditional cooking methods and modern, time-constrained lifestyles. The result is a culinary experience that is not only efficient but also immersive and enriching.

She started with four basic options: harvest lasagna with cheese and butternut squash; build-your-own burrito bowl with chicken in a light tomato sauce, guacamole, and roasted bell peppers; Santa Maria-style BBQ chicken and corn succotash; and turkey meatballs with spaghetti squash. Nothing too fancy... just hearty, healthy meals.

McNally uses special “flash freezing” technology so that the meals are always fresh. “People associate frozen food with the TV dinners from the 1950s. Even today, what you typically find in the freezer section is either low quality or low flavor. We are changing that stereotype.”

McNally’s business launched this spring and delivers to the Montecito/Santa Barbara area. “We currently make all our meals in a commercial kitchen in Camarillo, but we are hoping to move into a commercial kitchen in Goleta this fall, which will help with our operational expenses.”

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And easy! McNally has set up a website where the customer picks the delivery date and food choices. She recommends ordering one to two meals a week and then keep them in your freezer for those days you are in a pinch: “We want to give families options for those weekday nights when you are rushing around with kids and activities and just want to come home and have a delicious meal. Our costs break down to about $12 per serving.”

McNally’s story is a testament to the power of combining passion, innovation, and determination to create positive change. Through Kitchenette, she has proven that technology can enhance and elevate age-old traditions, bridging the gap between the past and the future of cooking.

“Now, we are branching out and offering other choices and side dishes to complement the main meals. But our primary focus has just been to offer an alternative

As for her family’s “temporary” move to Montecito during Covid? “We are definitely here to stay! We love the beach, hiking in the mountains, and of course, eating at local restaurants like Bettina, Loquita, and Merci.” influenced by Spanish Gothic and Renaissance architecture and Moorish tilework. Hearst and Steedman even bought the bulk of their antiques from the same antiques dealers Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley. All the art you see at Hearst Castle is represented in a smaller scale at the Casa; everything from a 15th century Spanish ceiling to polychrome reliquaries, and even ancient choir stalls.

To check out Kitchenette’s food offerings, go to: www.getkitchenette.com.

What is your top priority for Collections, Conservation, and Exhibitions?

For Collections, a fully fleshed out digital database and paper archive with all the provenance and history on each item in the Casa. For Conservation, my top priority is getting the French 15th century mille-fleurs tapestry conserved and a support made for it. This piece has the tiniest flowers I’ve seen in this type of tapestry, and it is incredibly unique with hints of Middle Eastern influence in the design. And my top priority for a first exhibition would be to do a micro exhibition locally since the Casa is still relatively unknown to many of the people who live here. It will display a rich array of beautiful objects from the Casa that relate to the community we live in, from vintage Fiesta shawls to early Channing Peake work, and art from the golden age of Spain, which had such an indelible influence on the architecture and aesthetic of this region.

Are there works that have not been displayed?

Yes many! And it’s an exciting time because not only are we using archival evidence to properly display things just as they were circa 1931-1934, but we will also make them available to the community with new exhibitions, programs, and seasonal display rotations.

What work of art or historic furnishing would you request to add to the collection?

We are very lucky that the family left just about everything in the estate; this is almost unheard of in historic house museums! Since our mission is to preserve Casa del Herrero as the Steedman Bass family left it, it is highly unlikely that we would acquire anything unrelated to the original collection of the family.

That being said, there is an important Art Deco statue titled The Flight of Europa by Paul Manship that I would love to find. The bronze is present in the photographs from the 1930s, but is absent from the records from when we became a museum in 1994.

If it is no longer with the descendants, then it would be a brilliant and rare opportunity for a sponsor to donate a replica. Last week I even discovered a foundry that still creates replicas of this masterpiece!

Will you be doing hands-on art restorations yourself?

I am a trained objects conservator, so I will be doing some in-house treatments on the types of objects that I have worked on before, such as gilded plaster, some metals, and outside stone. For everything else we will use conservators who are specialists in their areas of expertise.

What is the coolest element of your job?

Getting to touch (with clean hands and/or nitril gloves) works of art that are centuries old!

What pieces of art are in your office?

I love tiles, so every museum or historic home that I visit, I usually purchase replica tiles from their giftshops. I display these in my office and jokingly refer to them as my ‘museum of tile.’

Do you collect art for yourself?

Yes. I have an antique espresso and teacup collection, a small ancient coin collection, a leather-bound book collection, and I adore supporting small artists and illustrators I find on Instagram and Etsy. The crown jewels of my collections are: A Booths “Real Old Willow” teacup from 1906-1921 (the same that was used by Hearst at the Castle), a Marcus Aurelius silver coin, a leather-bound edition of Tolkien’s Silmarillion, and a mixed media work by Saskia Tabea.

The historic houses and museums you visit frequently?

For California, I would have to say Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, the Asian Art Museum and Legion of Honor in San Francisco, the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, and Vikingsholm in Lake Tahoe. Some of my bucket list historic homes to visit include: the Adamson House, Scotty’s Castle, and Bellosguardo.