Santa Barbara Public Market - Santa Barbara, CA

I am so lucky to have met my dear friend, Dana, not only is she a wonderful person but she is a total foodie just like me! We love a good lunch/food adventure so we loaded up and high tailed it to Santa Barbara to check out the Public Market. We both heard it is lovely so we gave it a try!  

As you walk inside you are immediately welcomed by a gourmet grocery store. The items are familiar to those you would find at Whole Foods and other smaller boutique groceries.

The cheese monger is just a few stall down ready to answer any question you might have when wanting to pair with wines or to make the most ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. 

You will make your way to the next stall that is complete with all things balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The prices are extremely reasonable for what you are getting. I could have spent all day sampling but my cheeks were getting drawn up from all the tart goodness so i headed out. My favorite was the Ancho Vinegar - I had some kick!

Across the stall is the fresh pasta booth. How convenient would it be to pop in and grab a selection of hand made ravioli for dinner!? 

The meat selection comes up next and it was a beauty to look at all the selection of beef, pork and lamb. Everything looked so perfect!

 It was neat to see the butcher in action!

There is even a space that has an industrial kitchen for rent. It would be fun to take a cooking class featured by a local chef. I guess it would even be fun to have your friends over and make a whole bunch of enchiladas too - freezers and and freezers of enchiladas! The possibilities are endless! 

They have a stall of prepared food like these salad and sandwich combos. 

I though these tartines were cute!

 I really wanted to try a cupcake from the dessert stall but the worker ignored me so I took a photo of the precious little gems and moved on.

Our last stop was the seafood monger because we knew we had to do a little recon work before we left...

OYSTER SAMPLING!

I thought I was always a number one fan of kusshi oysters. I swore they were the best of the best. However, after trying Carlsbad Luna's I now know those are my absolute favorites. Totally briny, clean and absolutely stunning. These are the bomb.com!

It was a fun experience wandering stall to stall at the market. I just wish we had brought maybe a iced cooler to be able to bring some of these treats back to Ojai. The hour long car ride would be an absolute spoil for some of these precious ingredients. I will be back.

Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro - Santa Barbara, CA

Today was a really beautiful day in Santa Barbara, almost to the point of being too warm. Dana and I tried to shop but felt that the heat was really wiping us out so we decided to break for lunch sooner than later. I had never been to Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro so when she suggested it I was game on. The seat outside was worth the price of admission, the people watching was totally entertaining.

I am sure something was amusing me at this point... 

Like I said above I was hungry, a little lunch salad was not going to quite cut the mustard for me. I settled on the Roasted Beet and Farro Salad complete with arugula and goat cheese and the addition of Salmon. It was plenty and did the job right. I left feeling satisfied but not too full. This would for sure be something I would like again. 

Dana went for the Cobb Salad and I am not going to lie it was something that caught my eye. Chocked full of chicken, bacon, tomato, avocado, egg and olive it certainly ate like a meal. I knew it looked good but I was happy to have my salmon.

What a pretty place to sit and have a meal with a wonderful friend. I have walked passed it a bunch of times and was glad to have had the opportunity to have dined there today. It gets a "yes" from me.

Mac's Fish & Chip Shop - Santa Barbara, CA

I watch re-runs and re-runs of Diners Drive Ins and Dives when I cannot sleep at night. The other night during one of those occasions I came across the episode that featured Mac's Chip Shop in Santa Barbara. I had an upcoming car repair appointment in the area and decided this was my chance to experience it for myself.

It is a walk up, order and pay joint. I immediately liked the casualness of the joint. The menu is pretty straight forward if you were there for the fish and chips like I was. I went with the "Regular" + Chips Combo. It included an 8 ounce fillet and thick wedge potatoes. 

After a few minutes bathing in the fryer my meal was served. The texture of the batter is not crisp but soft. It did not offend me but if you are looking for a tempura like batter, this is not it. I devoured the fish pretty quickly and it shocked me. I may have to order the "Whale" next time which featured over a pound of fish. The chips were not totally my thing, I prefer thin and crispy.

I left feeling proud of myself for checking off one of my restaurant must try's. It was good fun and it inspires me to keep up on my to-do list. I must say I was a little intrigued by their dessert menu that included a variety of candy bars that were deep fried. I was tempted, very tempted but left before I gave in to the sinful treat.

Painted Cabernet & Cielito's - Santa Barbara, CA

So Lindsay wanted to go to the Painted Cabernet for her birthday and I was so excited to join in. I love to paint! The State Street location in Santa Barbara put us in close proximity to food, drinks and dancing - more on that later...

I took my seat and started staring at previous works of art by past students, I was getting a little nervous.

With our instructor at the front of the class I started to feel like I was back in school. A fun school of course, but still school.

With the $40 entry fee to the class you also get a complimentary glass of wine. I guess it makes it makes you more artistic... Or care less if the painting doesn't come out "just so".

The birthday girl, Lindsay did a great job! This is her Japanese wave. Each session is a new subject so you can determine when you want to go based on what they are painting. Their monthly schedule is posted on their website.

My Japanese Wave.

What a great experience. I recommend for any girl's night out, date night or just by yourself. It is fun to accomplish something and then hang it in your laundry room. That is where all my paintings live. Some are really ugly but I feel a sense of pride looking at them.

Next up dinner! Janelle and Nichole scouted out the restaurant earlier in the week and gave it a thumbs up. Cielito's tucked in an alcove on State Street proved to be just the place to prepare us for a night of dancing - wait, what?! Dancing?! More on that later...

The margaritas were potent and doing their job. Almost too well. We needed food stat!

Chips, salsa and guacamole. I think I could live on these three things alone. They were all good so I was coming back around to the land of the living. The crab cakes I had as an appetizer earlier in the day seemed like a long, long time ago.

I had the Seafood Enchiladas filled with crab, shrimp, jack and manchego cheese. The sauce was a creamy tomatillo sauce and they were very generous with it as you can see. No beans were on the plate just a nice serving of rice. It was just what I wanted, in fact I shared with Nichole and it was great.

We then wandered down to the Wildcat Lounge to burn off some calories...

We danced until they closed up shop. We danced every song, belted out lyrics and laughed our butts off. I have not had fun like that in a long, long time. Waking up the next morning I then realized why I have not had a night like that in a long, long time - well, because it is painful the next day. It was worth the time spent with good girlfriends and making happy memories!

The Biltmore - Santa Barbara, CA

My girlfriend's and I like any reason to have a good time but this reason was extra special, it was our friend Lindsay's Birthday! She wanted to the painting class at the Painted Cabernet so we decided to get a room and make a night of it. Janelle arranged a night at the Biltmore and I drove in the birthday girl... 

Linds and I were early so we decided to partake in a Blood Orange Sage Margarita. It was very tasty and totally festive! The spicy chili rub on the rim definitely had some kick to it!

We also had to try the Crab Cakes and they were an expensive fail. Try something else on the menu if you ever are here.

The girls met up with us and we began our walk to our room in the rain, as we adventured out during California's worst storm in 2014! We are brave like that. I know it actually looks perfectly sunny in this photo, don't let it fool you!

We came in the room to be welcomed by champagne and strawberries! 

Comfy beds and cool California Spanish decor equals my kind of space.

Our view of the pool, it looked so tropical as the rain fell down!

Getting ready for some Santa Barbara Fun! 

The birthday girl! 

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Janelle made to-go cups, don't mind the spelling ;) 

And, here we are the beauties ready to take on the art world!

Stay tuned for our painting adventures at the Painted Cabernet...

Harry's - Santa Barbara

Scott and I spent a lot of time in Santa Barbara last week due to the purchase of our new car and traveling to Paso Robles so we dined at one of Scott's old school favorites, Harry's.

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It was decorated in Christmas theme and it was packed! We waited first at the door, then at the bar and were finally seated...

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Scott ordered the Steak Bites as soon as we sat down because he is starving. They came to our table lickety split. They were juicy and the dipping sauces: mustard and bbq, fantastic!

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I had a lovely glass of Cabernet and cup of soup, it was warm and filling Minestrone. I have to admit, I mostly indulged in the broth and left the vegetables! Oops.

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Scott ordered of the Special Menu and got a plate of Cajun Chicken Pasta. It looked delicious at dinner, so much so I had the leftovers the next day for breakast. The sauce was spicy but it was cooled by the cream just enough to keep you coming back for more. A+ order.

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I of course had the Salmon and it was lovely. I was craving protein and attacked the fish before even setting my fork in the mashed potatoes. The salmon may have been a touch overdone but I did not mind a bit. I too must have been hungrier than I thought!