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S AT U R DAY, J A N UA RY 2 3 , 2 0 21
Takeout galore
Restaurant Week under way in Santa Maria Valley
COVID-19 surge now stabilizing Local health officials say recent cases have peaked By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
COURTESY PHOTOS
Trattoria Uliveto is among the restaurants participating in the Santa Maria Valley’s Restaurant Week. The restaurant is hoping to make a comeback after a difficult end to 2020.
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Delectable dishes ranging from braised beef short ribs to family style chicken parmigiana are on the menu for this year’s Restaurant Week in the Santa Maria Valley, offering mouthwatering takeout options for residents through the end of January. COVID-19 restrictions may have shut down restaurant seating across the Santa Maria Valley, but chefs are still serving up their handcrafted dishes takeout style as part of the Valley’s annual event. This year, Restaurant Week features 17 restaurants, wineries and breweries across the Santa Maria Valley and Orcutt. During the week, a number of businesses are offering special promotions on orders from now until Jan. 31. 2020 was a tough year for a number of restaurants in the Santa Maria Valley. For Alfonso and Amy Curti, owners of Italian restaurant Trattoria Uliveto, the pandemic brought significant challenges. When the pandemic started in March 2020, Mr. Curti made the difficult decision to lay off most of his kitchen staff, leaving him and one sous-chef to manage every takeout order coming into the restaurant. He rehired a number of staff members once restaurants could reopen in the summer, but unfortunately, he was recently forced to lay off staff again after the announcement of November’s stay-athome order. “December was one of the worst months in the last 13 years that we’ve been open,” Mr. Curti told the News-Press. During Restaurant Week this year, Mr. Curti is offering the same special he has offered for many months during the pandemic. For $45, customers can order a meal that will feed a family of four, which includes salad, bread and the choice of a family style menu option. Throughout this difficult time, the Curtis are focused on providing their customers with comfort food at an “affordable value.” Though the couple misses serving their customer base Please see RESTAURANTS on A3
FOLLOW US ON
County calls for ‘more equitable’ allocation of COVID relief SB County receives no federal funds By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Above, Trattoria Uliveto is serving a family style takeout option during Restaurant Week that can serve a family of four. At left, Moxie Cafe’s coastal croissant, the cafe’s take on a classic club sandwich, is one of the eatery’s options that will be part of their Restaurant Week special this year.
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Large counties in California received nearly double the COVID-19 Relief Funds from the state per person than smaller counties did, including Santa Barbara County. And no federal money was given to this county or other smaller counties as part of the COVID-19 Relief Funds. According to a report published on Tuesday by California State Auditor Elaine Howle, 42 small counties (fewer than 500,000 residents) in California received “significantly less” money than 16 large counties (more than 500,000 residents). Residents of the larger counties, which include Los Angeles, Ventura, San Diego, Fresno and Santa Clara, received $174 from the federal government and $16 to $23 from the state, totaling $190 to $197 per person. Residents in the smaller counties, which include Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Kings counties, received no money from the federal government and $102 from the state, totaling $102 per
person. The state Department of Finance said it allocated more money to the larger counties because it believed the greater populations would logically have a higher spread of COVID-19. However, in her report, Ms. Howle wrote, “COVID-19 case data maintained by the California Department of Public Health does not support Finance’s assertion. Specifically, for April through June 2020, both large and small counties had greater than 500 total COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.” She compared four large counties to six small counties that had greater than 500 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents from April 2020 through June 2020. Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties all had more than 500 positive cases, but so did Imperial, Kings, Lassen, Marin, Santa Barbara and Tulare counties. In fact, Los Angeles County had the highest number of cases of the four large counties at 989, but Imperial County had 3,215 cases, even as a smaller county. Kings County also had more, with a total Please see RELIEF on A4
LOTTERY
ins id e Classified............... B4 Life..................... B1-2
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The light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel is getting a bit brighter. Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, Cottage Health infectious disease specialist, told the News-Press Friday that the nonprofit received a “reassuring signal in the last few days” according to its test positivity rate and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19. “The numbers seemed to have stopped accelerating and perhaps stabilizing, or perhaps downturning,” she said. “This tells us that the really accelerated surge related to Christmas and New Year’s may be stabilizing.” In the County Public Health Department’s news conference Friday, Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso confirmed that the county’s case rate and test positivity rate peaked Jan. 9 and have since decreased. “This is really encouraging news; however, I do want to share that we are not out of the woods yet,” Dr. Van Do-Reynoso said. She noted that over the past three weeks, nearly three times as many people have died compared to the peak weeks over last summer. She said that because of how steep the winter peak was, “it will probably take a lot longer for the widespread transmission to stop.”
Also at the news conference on Friday, County Health Officer Henning Ansorg said that in the county, he is aware of two allergic reactions that required medical care following the vaccine. But both patients recovered quickly with the appropriate treatment. Dr. Ansorg also announced that all 16 skilled nursing facilities in the county have been vaccinated as of Friday. Cottage Health, meanwhile, announced that the DriveUp COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital campus is now serving eligible health care workers and individuals ages 75 and older who live or work in Santa Barbara County. Appointments are required and must be made in advance, and Cottage Health also plans to continue offering the vaccine clinics two days a week based on staffing and vaccine availability. “I think it (the drive-up clinic) is a game changer,” Dr. Fitzgibbons said. “I think the volume and efficiency and marketing at Cottage that they created has been nothing short of amazing. Within just a couple of weeks, they put up a clinic that, in two days this week, is going to vaccinate over 1,500 of our community members.” Individuals ages 75 and older are invited to sign up at cottagehealth.org/covid19 for notifications when future Please see COVID on A4
Obituaries............. A4 Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 5-8-15-21-37 Meganumber: 27
Friday’s DAILY 4: 7-1-2-2
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 4-26-42-50-60 Meganumber: 24
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 7-10-11-19-23
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 06-03-04 Time: 1:48.49
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 40-53-60-68-69 Meganumber:
Friday’s DAILY 3: 5-0-7 / Sunday’s Midday 5-9-3
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