Review: Taste of Santa Barbara

Fireside chat with the Julia Child Clan; Farm Visits; Julia and Paul Food Crawl; Documentary Screening; And More

WORDS Ninette Paloma

The culinary forecast this week in Santa Barbara County was sunny, with a chance of Julia thanks to the arrival of the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience's inaugural Taste of Santa Barbara. 

The festivities kicked off with an intimate fireside chat at the Hilton Santa Barbara, featuring the anecdotal wit of Julia Child's niece Phila Cousins and grand nephew Alex Prud'homme - who shared heartwarming tales of her time in Santa Barbara, and what it was like to live alongside a woman who savored the simple things in life with heart wide open. The resort's executive chef Yesica Arredondo created a whimsical dessert flight  for the evening which included a smoked chocolate panna cotta with honey powder and cacao nibs, followed by an activated charcoal donut  filled with raspberry jelly before concluding with a grilled tangerine crème brulée. A Fess Parker wine flight rounded out the festivities, with the 2019 "The Big Easy" red blend warming our bellies as the evening roared on.

Day two brought us a host of farm tours, and as we headed to Lompoc for a peek inside Piedrasassi's bread and wine production, we couldn't resist a stop at Eye On I, one of the restaurants featured in the festival's Dine Around Town with Julia map. Coquilles Saint Jacques were on the menu, alongside wood-fired pizzas and Technicolor salads that flaunted the season's freshest produce. When we arrived at the "Lompoc Wine Ghetto," the scent of baking bread led us to Melissa Sorongon and Sashi Moorman, the creative couple behind Piedrasassi- who churn out some of the Central Coast's most coveted breads and wines using an integrity-fueled methodology that celebrates nature's quiet cycles and labor-intensive gratification. After a barrel-tasting and heritage grain discussion, we settled into their tasting room for slices of loaves still warm from the oven and a Syrah flight that left us satiated and inspired.

In the evening, it was off to Santa Barbara City College for a screening of Betsy West and Julie Cohen's documentary JULIA, who were on hand afterward for a lively Q and A about the renaissance the woman known simply by her first name is experiencing. A post-screening "Paul's Cup" at Alcazar Bar on the Mesa (made with cucumber vodka, fresh mint, and elderflower liqueur) was the perfect tonic to send us peacefully into a Santa Barbara slumber.