Santa Barbara Getaway aka What I Ate on Summer Vacation

In honor of our 17th wedding anniversary, Bob and I headed to Santa Barbara for a weekend getaway.  We pulled into town around lunchtime and were surprised to discover the City was celebrating Old Spanish Fiesta Days!  This event is in it's 87th year and is a celebration of community and cultural diversity.  Featuring dancing, Mariachis, feats of strength as well as a rodeo, the colorful Viva La Fiesta! parade had the streets surrounding our hotel closed off so we ditched the car and headed toward the beach in search of our first meal.

Dungeness Crab Cocktail

Our first stop was Moby Dick's.  Located on the famous Stearn's Warf, Moby Dick's features fresh seafood and oyster bar set in an apropo nautical theme.  We managed to snag a table by the plate glass window and watched as pelicans divebombed the water for their lunch.  Since dinner was hours away, we decided to forgo a full meal and ordered appetizers and soup.  The crab cocktail was made with one of my favorite things in the world: Dungeness crab! 

Oyster's Rockefeller

We also ate cups of clam chowder and inhaled these Oyster's Rockefeller.  If you aren't familiar with this type of oyster, they're made with spinach and a rich hollandaise sauce.  The oysters are hidden underneath this creamy mixture...like little pillows under a spinach blanket. :)  Moby Dick's version also had bacon pieces in it which always makes everything taste better.

 Our Inn was within walking distance of a cluster of local wine rooms located in what's known as the Industrial part of downtown, also called Funk Zone by the locals.  We visited Santa Barbara Winery's production and tasting room which had a delicious Nebbiolo.  Oreana, which used to be an old tire shop but now doubles as a wine tasting room and art gallery, had a crisp Sauvingnon Blanc that Bob and I absolutely loved, it was clean and drier than what I expected.  The Cotton Wood tasting room specialized in Pinot Noir and we sampled a few including their estate version which tasted like Port...sweet, cinnamon-y and a little like raisins!  All and all we sampled over twenty different wines and had to take a pedicab back to the hotel! ;) 

For dinner we picked the Harbor Restaurant, known for the freshest seafood in the bay.  Hubby and I split a mouthwatering ten ounce lobster tail. The lobster was fluffy, decadent and disappeared in about 60 seconds!  The evening was spectacular, we overlooked the ocean while seals played, then watched as the sun set behind the Santa Ynez mountains. Beautiful.

Morning Tightener

Lobster Roll

Fried Ipswitch Clams

After a leisurely morning walk down the beach taking in the Arts & Craft show it was time for lunch again!  We decided on The Arch Rock Fish Company.  Tagged as the newest "neighborhood joint," Arch Rock is owned by Celebrity Chef Scott Leibfried...better known as Chef Ramsay's sous chef on Hell's Kitchen. His point of view takes regional and international seafood dishes and gives them more of a beach vibe.  Considering that the lobster roll and fried clams we ordered were the creme de la creme of these New England style favorites I think Chef Scott's definitely on to something!  The herbaceous Green Goddess dressing served with the field greens was especially notable.

Bacon Wrapped Prawns

Our last stop was Holdren's, a classic steak place with the dark clubby atmosphere I like in a chop house.  If I'm going to eat lamb I prefer to do so in the dark! ;) We looked at the menu back at our B&B and had already decided to order the bacon wrapped prawns as our appetizer.  The shrimps were stuffed with feta cheese and fresh jalapeno then encircled with rashers of applewood smoked bacon. Served with a hothouse cucumber/ginger salad and a sweet chili sauce, they were melty, spicy, smokey perfection on a plate!  For our entree, we shared the mesquite grilled lamb chops served with an ancho chile gravy.  My favorite thing about ordering lamb is watching my hubby nibble away on the bones, he has to get the last of that salty fat and it cracks me up, even after 23 years.  Everything here was finger licking good, the photos don't do this food justice...like I said it was dark in there!

Having to head home is always the worst part about vacation but getting to relive our getaway in words and pictures for this blog was really special.  Thanks for reading, I'll be back next week. :)