Sip This: Big Dave's Egg Nog

The Hungry Cat’s “Big Dave’s" Egg Nog: Forget about growlers for beer; Hungry Cat (all locations, including 1134 Chapala St.) is selling growlers (and glasses) of egg nog through New Year’s. It’s seasonal, it’s environmental correct, and it’s a delicious, crème-anglaise-based drink so wonderfully rich and deep.

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Evan Kleiman Brings "Good Food" North

“The food geek preceded the chef or the cookbook author,” said Evan Kleiman about her life and role as the happy host of KCRW’s weekly radio program Good Food for 17 years. That’s longer than she ever imagined. “I tend not to look very much ahead, which could be a problem,” she said with her bubbly laugh, then quickly admitted, “I hope I never have to stop doing it.”

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Hungry Cat Goes Crazy for Crabs

After nearly a decade of hosting Maryland-style Crabfests at its Hollywood location, the Hungry Cat is finally bringing the fest to Santa Barbara on August 24. “What David [Lentz, the Maryland-born Hungry Cat chef] wanted to emulate was the Maryland blue crab party,” said general manager Bob van der Veer, “a laid-back vibe with the steamed crabs spread on newspaper on the table.”

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The Evening SB Dining Got Goin

It hurts even more now, that Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne’s restaurant project rumored to be coming to Montecito isn’t. That’s because Goin and Styne brought their acclaimed Los Angeles hotspot a.o.c. to Santa Barbara for an evening on December 2 and that dinner was a total delight. Of her many going concerns now, from Lucques to the Tavern to the Larder, a.o.c. is where she helped birth the small plates revolution. I like to think of Goin as an ascetic sensualist with enough talent to make that seeming contradiction not just work, but illuminate, refreshing a diner’s jaded mind and palate. There’s never an ingredient wasted on a plate, but what is there adds up to a whole beyond her always market-driven ingredients.

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