Santa Barbara Has a New Saint in the Hood

Even a June-gloomy marine layer doesn’t dull the charm of the poolside location of Saint Remy, the newish (debuted on Boxing Day 2022) restaurant at the heart of State Street’s Courtyard by Marriott. (Old-timers will know the spot, beyond its expansion and extensive spiffing-up, as La Quinta or El Prado.) Looking a bit like a David Hockney painting sprung to life with its midcentury modern design, the location hopes to lure locals as well as hotel guests.

The spot is also a boon for “an enormous contingent of Marriott fans” who now get a hotel in downtown Santa Barbara. At least that’s how Tim Billing, vice president of operations for the AZUL Hospitality Group, explains it to me. AZUL operates this hotel for StonePark Capital, the hospitality development company led by Andrew “The Bachelor” Firestone and Jess Parker. StonePark and AZUL hope to become bigger players on the Central Coast, for along with this location there are two in-transition projects: Hotel Cerro, about to become an Autograph Collection with Marriott in S.L.O., and the Waterman, formerly the hostel Wayfarer, about to become a Moxy with Marriott. And yes, Billing made sure to clarify that it’s “M-O-X-Y, not M-O-X-I,” given its Funk Zone proximity to the museum of exploration and innovation.

Care to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.

Re:Find Finds New Home

Once you start looking for ways to repurpose things, you can find opportunities everywhere. Take Alex and Monica Villicana, owners of Villicana Winery in Paso Robles. In 2011 Alex came up with the clever idea to take the bleed-off grapes early in the wine process — the saignée, which is often used to make rosé, or worse, just dumped — as the base for distilling spirits. And why not? Eastern Europe uses the potato because it’s cheap and plentiful, not for any intrinsic reasons.

Want to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.

California Wine: Piggin Out

I'm trying not to think about the tender and scrumptious whole roast pig not too far from the undeniably adorable piggie petting zoo, and somehow that's possible as there are so many things from the barrel -- wine, spirits, beer -- to dull my thoughts, plus I'm insatiable when it comes to porky goodness. That's what life is like at Bacon & Barrels, a fundraiser for the Santa Ynez Valley Visitors Association held at Saarloos & Sons Field in Los Olivos on July 20th. Under the summer sun it's toasty, so one piece of advice might be to hold this shindig next year in the fall, when wine will sound even better than beer, although it's easier to make a bacon-y porter, like Stone did, than a bacon-esque wine no matter the weather. Still, there's plenty of delicious vinous goodness to be had, from favorites I've already blogged about here like Tercero and Press Gang, to others ...

Want to read the rest then do so at the KCET blog.