When we visit D’s parents or they come to visit us, where we are going to eat is always a big decision. The planning usually starts at least a few weeks before. We’ll suggest some places, D’s dad will make some suggestions, we’ll do some research, and come up with an itinerary.

For Friday lunch, D’s dad suggested Bottega. After watching Top Chef Masters, we were curious to see what Michael Chiarello could do. Even though he wasn’t the one actually preparing our food in the kitchen, of course, I was impressed. Loved the ambiance, (cute little covered outside lounge area) and the food was delicious!

I ordered the Ricotta Gnocchi, salsa di pomodoro della Nonna, pecorino. Little fluffy pillows that melt in your mouth. I haven’t eaten gnocchi many times, but this dish may spoil any future gnocchi I eat.

D and his dad ordered Fusilli Lucani with veal, pork & porcini mushroom Bolognese, Sweet 100 tomatoes, rosemary & parmigiano. k loved the fusilli, and ended up eating off of both of their plates. She also enjoyed the special lemonade flavored with strawberry puree and sparkling water that D ordered.

Bottega is part of a shopping area that seems to be owned by Chiarello, called NapaStyle. I didn’t really get it, but I saw his face everywhere in the store next to the restaurant.

k acting silly.

For dinner we went to BarBersQ, a place I had read about in Sunset magazine and Bon Appetit? It is located in a strip mall, but it was probably the chicest barbeque place I have ever been to.


We ordered A Taste of the Q for 2 and Baby Back Ribs & Chicken combo, a side of corn bread and creamed corn. It was plenty of food for all of us. I didn’t take a picture because we dug in so fast (the service was on the slow side, but friendly). D inquired about the cooking technique and it turns out they use a dry rub AND a light sauce. He liked the ribs and brisket the best, but everything was good with the extra bottles of sauce on the table.

All in all they were two solid picks.

After settling into our hotel, we walked to Stearns Wharf for an early dinner.


It was overcast during our entire trip.

There were huge pelicans swooping down on the pier, and a lot of people fishing.

We ate at Santa Barbara Shellfish Co.. I ordered the shrimp scampi because I thought k would like the rice, but there was waay too much butter sauce. The garlicky shrimp were good, though. D had the local Santa Barbara crab, which took a long time to eat since there was so much cracking to do. D was able to get a good amount of meat, and I had my share too.

The table next to us ordered the spider crab, and the waiter brought out a live one for show and tell.

The big mess that I referred to in an earlier post happened while we were waiting for our food. I was holding n when he had a MAJOR spit-up incident. It went all over my shirt and onto my pants…it was definitely one of the worst, if not the worst he has had. Unfortunately, it occurred on the one and only long sleeve shirt that I had packed. D generously offered me his fleece the rest of the weekend while he had to wear t-shirts in the cold. I learned my lesson to pack extra clothes for myself as well as for the kids!

You can tell I’m the photographer of the family because there are no pictures of me. D only took one the whole trip of me, and my eyes are half closed. We need to work on that.

We’re back from an overnighter to Santa Barbara. D extended his Memorial Day Weekend by one day so we just went from Mon.-Tues. On Monday we drove up in the morning, making a stop at the Camarillo outlets. D found some deals at Brooks Brothers while I found a couple of pairs of shoes at Nine West. It is usually very difficult for me to find shoes, so I was happy.

When we arrived in Santa Barbara, it was lunch time so our first stop was La Super Rica. This place became famous because of Julia Child’s recommendation. The atmosphere is pretty nondescript, but the prices are still very reasonable, so that’s nice. We ordered chicken and a “La Super Rica Especial”, which had pork and roasted chiles. Yes, there was too much cheese on the special for our taste, but I liked the smokiness of the chiles. We should have just ordered one of these plates and one order of tacos, because there was too much food and we couldn’t finish it. We also had a hibiscus agua fresca, which was pretty sweet. When we were half way done, D had the brilliant idea of adding water to dilute it. It tasted even better! Too bad that I put our now almost full cup in n’s stroller cup holder and forgot it was there while trying to navigate the stroller down the stair while holding the door open. The bright red juice splashed all over the door and on the stroller, but luckily not on n or myself. This wasn’t the last big mess of the trip, but you’ll have to stay tuned for that story!