Incredibly Satisfying Sushi

Oh Arigato...you make my tummy so happy. I have blogged about this Japanese restaurant before, but I just adore it so much! Dining there is very satisfying. Pictured above Hankimo Hotate - Monkfish liver on thinly sliced scallop served up sushi style. The foie gras of the sea! The fattiness of the liver with the sweetness of the scallop truly create a fantastic flavor combination for the taste buds.

Uni from Santa Barbara is shipped all over the world. We are so lucky to be right smack dab in the world's source of Uni (along with San Diego). Sea urchin roe over rice wrapped in seaweed. Divine and tastes of the ocean.

Arigato Sushi - 1225 State Street, open nightly, no reservations

Dinner in Montecito

This past week, my mother and I revisited a restaurant my family and I used to dine at years ago. It's been around for a long time, as long as I can remember. I have a very vivid memory, from when I was quite little, of sitting out on their patio on a sunny day being sung Happy Birthday to in Italian by the waitstaff. (Note: I finally have the new iPhone 4S and the camera on this baby is awesome...no more blurry, poorly lit photos! Hurray!)

Pane e Vino feels like a local's Italian joint. The inside space is quite small and though there are tablecloths and fabric napkins, there is quite a causal feeling to the place. The outside patio is wonderful in Spring and Summer, but they do have heat lamps if you should feel like dining al fresco.

For our first courses, my mother and I shared the Bresaola con Rucola and the Vitello Tonnato, which always sounds crazy since it's thinly sliced veal with a creamy tuna sauce...but believe you me it sure tastes wonderful.

My mother made the best choice for her entree - Dorade Royale in this insanely fennel-y sauce. Check out those roasted tomatoes.

Ironically, this Dorade from across the nation looked and tasted more fresh than the local halibut I chose as my main. Though my entree choice tasted good, it was nothing to go out to dinner for....it was my fault for choosing poorly though...always listen to your mom!

We shared a little dish of strawberries with sabayon sauce for dessert.

Pane e Vino is a Montecito staple and is a great spot for dining with the locals and enjoying classic Italian dishes. The prices are normal for Santa Barbara, but depending on what you order you might feel the value is either spot on or totally off. One thing that really struck us as interesting were the wine glasses...they are thicker glass, taverna style glasses which would be just fine in a taverna, but in a fine dining situation it takes away from that special out-to-dinner feeling one yearns for...

Pane e Vino - 1482 East Valley Road # 5, Montecito, Open daily lunch and dinner, no lunch on Sunday

Santa Barbara Museum Cafe

Table for two in wonderful outdoor setting with museum building as backdrop please? Done! I am loving that the Museum Cafe - World Bistro is serving food out in front of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The patio area is open and a bit higher than the street which means you don't get car exhaust in your food, but you still benefit from great people watching and that European feeling of eating outside on bustling streets.

On top of it, Chef Brenda Simon (there since 2008), has really created quite the menu with unique dishes as well as classics like a baguette ham and butter sandwich. My mother and I had a tough time choosing what we wanted as everything looked enticing. I enjoyed the Cafe Salad with olives, walnuts, and sun dried tomatoes with some shrimp on top. A lemon pistachio (I know!) dressing alongside, which was nicely lemony and actually pistachio-y, and it was a party of flavors!

My mother gobbled up the Salmon Salad Nicoise and said it was just right. *Please note that they cannot serve wine up on the patio, much to my mother's dismay, but luckily she didn't mind in the end as it was so wonderful sitting in the open air and in a truly Santa Barbara location.

Unfortunately, we had no room for dessert, but check out what we missed out on! I love the playfulness of the menu. I did enjoy a few cups of coffee from my very own French Press. Miles, our young server, was a pleasure and very kind even after going back and forth from the normal cafe, which is inside through the Museum gift store.

 While I waited for my mother I took a few shots of the museum...pretty picturesque indeed!

Museum Cafe - 1130 State Street, Tuesday-Sunday 11:00 till no more lunch eaters.

Ink Sack in Los Angeles

On a quick visit to LA recently, my friend and I stopped to grab a bite at Top Chef winner, Michael Voltaggio's, new sandwich place called Ink Sack, on Melrose Avenue. Ink Sack creates delicious, unique sandwiches for the locals who work there or walk by. There are no chairs, just a few tall tables to stand at and eat. We ordered our sandwiches TO-GO and actually, don't faint, found a park within walking distance to eat at! There had been a marathon that weekend and the streets were empty. Melrose did not have one car on it. Quite apocalyptic really. At our new found park, we sat on a bench listening to the sounds of the mini waterfall beside us. The sandwiches are quite small, so we had ordered 3 to share - each at around $6.

We enjoyed the Cold Fried Chicken with house-made ranch dressing and spicy pepper sauce sandwich first. The buns on all the sandwiches are super fresh and flavorful. The fried chicken was surprisingly crunchy and the chicken moist. The house-made ingredients really make a difference!

We then tried out the Spicy Tuna with miso-cured albacore tuna and sriracha mayo. It was like a super fancy tuna sandwich, but packed with flavor and a lovely amount of heat. House-made pickles too!

The third one, Maple Turkey Melt, was my personal favorite. Roasted turkey with sliced camembert, mostarda, and arugula. Yum.

After our lovely picnic, we ventured over on foot to Urth Caffe where I enjoyed this almond milk latte. Isn't it neat? Happy Halloween everyone!

New Look

Hello! I've been playing around with the new template options Blogspot has created. Thoughts? I'd love to hear what you think...

And just for some eye-candy, here is a pic from this glorious weekend in Santa Barbara:

New Breakfast Spot in Santa Barbara

On this beautiful Sunday morning, Jeff and I decided to experience one of Santa Barbara's new restaurants, Scarlett Begonia. They are located in Victoria Court and have many tables inside their space, as well as courtyard space, and a few tables up on a terrace, seen below. The menu has an Italian flare and interesting baked goods like roasted beet chocolate cake. The cappuccino seen above did not disappoint. They also offer complimentary still or sparkling water.

Below is a bread pudding amuse bouche brought to us for our enjoyment. I'm not much of a bread pudding person, but this was quite light and flavorful without being overly sweet...plus it's a nice touch!

 Look! You can see the Granada from the table!

The sticky bun below was delectable. Once again, not too sweet with perfect amounts of spices, nuts, and stickiness.

Look! A view of the Arlington from a different seat at our table.

And now, the main dish. Mascarpone polenta with two poached eggs, fried artichokes, cipollini onions, and prosciutto. Mmmmmm. The quality of the ingredients is impressive. Check out that prosciutto! Those little round onions were beautifully acidic, especially great contrast for the rich yolks and salty meat. Only one complaint, I think it needs 1/4 less the amount of polenta. This combo is wonderful.

With the bill, little chocolate toffee bits...another unique touch.

Overall, this was a great breakfast and though the service was real slow (probably because we were upstairs out of sight), we didn't mind since the ambiance was so lovely. I can't wait to check it out for lunch!

More Radish!

Fairview Gardens in Goleta...beautiful!