Dear Restaurants: Can you please stop seating me without a wine-list. This is wine-country. THIS IS RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING AND HIGHEST-ACCLAIMED WINE AREAS IN THE WORLD. From where I’m sitting in your restaurant, I could hit 10 wineries with a 5-wood. Hundreds of thousands of dollars…
Tag: Restaurant Blog
THE TACO LIST
Roughly North-to-South from Salinas to Santa Barbara–with heavier population Paso to Santa Maria. Please note this is not a “Best Mexican Food” list. It is STRICTLY taquerias, and I only order ONE thing. Scroll to the bottom of this list for a rough outline of my parameters for “Tacos”. ◊◊ No No ◊ No ♦…
5 Towns 5 Burgers
Every menu on the Central Coast has a burger on it. It is something I have learned to accept in dining along the coast. Burgers are popular, no doubt, and a welcome menu item and ubiquitous with American dining culture. There are probably 300 burgers within 10 miles of where I stand and yes, I…
Resty Gossip v.12.3
OLD SAN LUIS BBQ is opening a new location in Marigold Center by Tuesday Morning. Yay! TWO locations for their dry meat, powdered Parmesan and flavorless beans for people who have never had real food–all served gloriously in clamshell with plastic forks. I can’t wait. Speaking of Marigold, popped into SHALIMAR‘s new location there to…
Restaurant Gossip 9.25
SAIGON CUISINE in Orcutt is open. Probably will hit that up SOON. Heard another rumor of another Viet place up in Santa Maria proper, maybe even Town Center West. Finally got into LA ESQUINA TAQUERIA on San Luis Obispo. This is, of course, from the CIOPINOT people. Calling it a taqueria is kinda stretching it,…
Taco Updates 7.7
Keep finding new places to taco, and I’ve been bad about updating THE TAQUERIA LIST. EL RINCON OAXAQUENO Santa Maria (S) lands on the list at ♦♦ It’s alright. TACO MAFIA San Miguel I ate at probably almost a year ago and somehow never included it. It’s *ok* they’re just really big and fairly boring….
locall resty gossip 11.8.17
Giuseppe’s Pismo will be opening after Thanksgiving. The bakery in the breezeway between Uptown Espresso and Buona Tavola? You know the only thing to actually hold down that spot longer than a year in the past decade? It has gotten too big and is moving out and in its place is going Restorative Cafe. Mattei’s…
Picky Eater
The term *Picky Eater* gets tossed around a bit. I hear it frequently–often directed at me, typically for being critical of a dish or establishment. Let’s do a little refresher-course: A person who doesn’t like stupid waiters, bad wine-lists, crying babies, TV’s everywhere, tourist food, wet tables, uninspired presentations, confused service, freezing dining rooms and…
How to Own a Stress-Free Restaurant
OK so here’s the deal. I have been a avid observer of the resty business for decades. I am in absolute AWE of the dedication required for cheflife, having seen all of its upsides and downsides, the super-super high notes and the absolute bottoms of this profession. I’ve seen the hours and the total impossibility…
SIX TEST KITCHEN
Six Test Kitchen is Arroyo Grande’s flash-in-the-pan new eating establishment heavy on preparation and light on substance. The basis of this resty is not new–single-seating per night, pricy prix fixe accomodations, an allegedly whiz-bang young gun with an alleged stellar resume who is–by reduction–basically a local kid cooking in his parent’s–BEAUTIFUL WALL-TO-WALL STAINLESS STEEL–garage. Everything is ridiculously…
eatdrink101 