sabrina huang's photo blog

Santa Barbara Restaurants

Bouchon – The last time we had a dinner at Bouchon was three years ago.  The experience was so memorable we decided our fist dinner of this trip would be to hit Bouchon right away.  The look from the outside, the décor on the inside all stayed the same as I remembered, the service is still fantastic, but the food was disappointing.  That night we ordered the Fresh fig salad, Fresh Pacific Ahi Tuna and Bourbon & Maple-Glazed California Duck Breast.  From the side dishes that go with each main dish, to the plating presentation and even the taste of the main dish these were just not up to what we expected. 

We talked to our local friends about it and they were not surprised (but I was).  They had different guesses about the reason why the quality has been going down (slow season, the chef opened another new restaurant) but I think any good high-end restaurant should not have any excuse for not keeping their quality consistently good.  I won’t be back to Bouchon next time I am in town because there are so many other great restaurants to choose from in Santa Barbara.

Bouchon   
9 W Victoria St, Santa Barbara  805-730-1160

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Trattoria Grappolo – When we went to Los Olivos area and downtown Grand Ave for wine tasting and heard some people recommend Trattoria Grappolo restaurant (including the B&B owner we were stayed) so we decided to give it a try.  Its located at an Old Town Plaza that makes you wonder what kind of restaurant this would be in this kind of place as we drove up.  I am glad we didn’t let the first impression stopping us!  The menu is simple, the price is reasonable, the service is good, and the food is wonderful.  What more can you ask for?  If you want a simple lunch between your wine tastings, this is the place.  I just realized after I came home that my favorite Chef, Giada, had mentioned this place in her show. 

Trattoria Grappolo
3687 Sagunto St, Santa Yuez  805-688-6899

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The Hungry Cat – This is a new restaurant (to me) because it has only been open for about a year and a half.  It is locate on a corner, the inside space is not big but yet it is comfortable.  The menu focuses on seafood and raw bar, and it has more cocktails than wine.  We had Lobster and squash soup -- coconut milk, jalapeños, cilantro and lime; Seared local yellowtail -- bok choy, grilled scallions, pickled french beans, citrus soy vinaigrette; and Cured hamachi loin -- satsumas, shaved fennel, radish and daikon sprout.  The food was ok but the ratio between food portion and price left me feeling it is on the expensive side.  Plus the overall experience just ok, not very impressed, so I think once is enough.

The Hungry Cat
1134 Chapala St  805-884-4701

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Boathouse – It used to be called The Brown Pelican, this summer it changed hands and had an intensive remodel.  It is located right on the beach and you can see the beautiful sunset when the weather is good, or you can even walk on the sand if you want to.  The restaurant is round shaped with large windows and the seating faces the beach.  The outdoor seating and the open bar area are also very nice unless it is raining I guess.  The menu focuses on seafood and white wine of course but what I like about it is that they have a good selection of Small Bites that help to fix one of our big problems – ambitions heart but small stomach.  We decided to order a Claim Chowder, Calamari, Grilled Prawns, and Broiled Black Cod, which were all fantastic on plating, portion/price, and taste.  Compared to what we had in the last few nights I absolutely like Boathouse the best for the food, the service, the décor, and the view. We were the happiest customers, who would of known?!

Boathouse
2981 Cliff Dr  805-898-2628

For more photos, please go to My Flickr – Santa Barbara Restaurants.

Las Vegas

My husband and I attended the International Real Estate Conference in Vegas last week.  The last time I was there was five years ago when we got married in The Venetian Hotel.  I felt it has changed a lot.  We stayed in the Paris Hotel this time because all the rooms in the Venetian hotel were booked.  Since we spent all day in the conference, dinner is the only time we had to enjoy a good meal and talk about the excitement of the show.  I didn’t do a lot of research before I left home, so this is a trial-and-error experience.

Our first dinner was at the Valetino in the Venetian Hotel.  It is located downstairs, near Delmonico.  It was not a pleasant dinning experience, neither the environment, nor the service or the food.  They had a big group that night, and our seats were right next to it with a metal curtain in between us and the party.  It was so loud that we couldn’t hear each other nor could the waiter hear us.  We waited so long for our waiter to come to our table.  He first asked my husband about the drink order (instead of asking the woman first), and when I told him what I want, he wouldn’t even bend his body to hear me so he says he can’t hear me.  I wanted him to ask the bartender to make a twist on the cosmo for me, but the waiter seemed not very up for it.

The food was not that great, compared to the price we paid.  We started with a crab salad with apple and potatoes.  I think the dressing doesn’t go with the salad, neither with the crab nor apple flavors.  If the apple was sliced would be better than being cut into strips.  The Gnocchi with meat sauce was good but not noteworthy.  I ordered the Halibut Steak with pan fried tomato and baked mini-potatoes.  The fish was good but not special, and I think if it was served with carrots or sweet potatoes or some greens it would be much better than baked mini-potatoes.

The second dinner was at Ah Sin in the Paris Hotel.  It serves Pacific rim food, which basically means a mix of Asian-style food.  The dinning environment and the service were nice but the food was not special.  As soon as I looked at the menu I knew we were not going to have something special because a good ‘real’ Chinese/Korean/Thai/Malaysian restaurant would have something better. 

The last dinner was at Enoteca San Marco in the Venetian Hotel.  It is located in the piazza and it is Mario Batali’s new restaurant, open for just six months.  This is the best meal we had in this trip, with a great dinning environment and good service.  We sat “outside”, at one of the marble-counter seats.  We could watch the appetizer chef preparing cheeses, prosciutto, olives, etc and could have a small talk with him.  We saw a tall hexagon shaped tank with clear glass windows standing in front of us.  We asked the appetizer chef about the contents and he told us they are curing their own meats such as salami and pancetta onsite by themselves in that hexagon-shaped tank. 

Our dinner started with Carne (sliced cured meats), so we had Prosciutto di Parma and Formaggi (cheeses) where we decided to have Pecorino Stagionato, Fontina Valle d’Aosta, and Robiola Bosina with house made bread and three different palate cleansers (black truffle honey, apricot with red pepper flakes, and cherry jam).  My favorite cheese was Pecorino Stagionato, a sheep’s milk that was aged 5-6 months from Toscana that was sharp and firm.  Our main courses were simple, a tomato, basil, bufala mozzarella thin crust pizza, and veal and ricotta meatballs on a bed of polenta.  They were delicious!

Weekend in Napa

My husband and I went to Napa for a weekend getaway with friends.  We stayed in The Chateau Hotel – the room is quite spacious, all the towels are white and soft, there is no fridge or microwave in the room but they do have free Wi-Fi internet and continental breakfast each day, outdoor sitting area and a convenient location.  The Starbucks, Target, and Trader Joe’s are just 1 mile away, and many restaurants are within walking distance to a 10-15 minutes drive.

We like to go where the locals go for meals, so we ask people who work at wineries where they go for dinner or lunches as our referrals.  And here I would like to share with you the places we went:

Bistro Don Giovanni (Napa)

The first night we went to Bistro Don Giovanni, about 10 minutes from the hotel.  It is very private looking from the street, with lighting on the ground next to bushes to guide you into the parking lot.  You pass through the outdoor patio where people are enjoying the al fresco dining to get into the entryway.  The main room is big with a high ceiling that makes it look even bigger.  We were there around 6:30pm (and it was already packed) without a reservation (not recommend) and were lucky to get a small table at the corner after waiting just a few minutes.   

We started with our drink – a glass of house Cabernet and Ciroc Vodka Champagne Cosmo which was cranberry juice with prosecco and ciroc vodka.  The pink color looks great and the taste is wonderful but I wish it was just a little bit sweeter.

Then we started with the Bistro Back Door Salad and I loved it.  It was Apple, Candied Walnuts, Shropshire Blue Cheese with Moscatel Vinaigrette.  The sweet from apples mixed with the bitter taste of Vinaigrette and saltiness from the cheese with fresh mixed green, it tasted so refreshing.  We were fighting over it and it only took a second for us to clean the plate.

Next, my husband had Risotto ai Funghi which was braised creekstone short ribs with melted leeks and black truffle pecorino, and I had Pan Roasted Petrale Sole which was lemon caper with butter and haricot verts.  We both loved what we ordered.  I like seafood with fresh and light taste, and he likes ribs, beef or lamb with heavy dark sauces.

To finish we had the Meyer Lemon Souffle Pudding Cake to sweeten our date for the night.  I personally think the size of the cake is a little bit too big and way too lemony.  I only had a few bites and that was enough for me.

Overall, we had a good time in this place.  The server was very friendly and quick even when the whole restaurant was full of people, the dishes were delicious, and the environment was comfortable.  Highly recommended!

Taylor’s Automatic Refresher (St. Helena)

Yesterday when we drove by an outdoor diner, the line was wrapped around the diner out to the street.  I was wondering what does this place serve to be this popular?  So after a local friend strongly recommend us to give it try, we had our lunch here the second day.  The diner is in the middle where left and right are parking lots, and they have a small front and a big backyard for outdoor sitting.  When the order is ready, they call you by name, not a number, which is very nice.

They have several selections of beer, wine by the glass, and milk shakes.  They have many choices of burgers – from a Texas burger to a Wisconsin burger, and the most interesting is the Ahi Burger.  People who don’t want burgers still have other choices such as fish and chips, chicken club, veggie burger, hot dogs, soup and salad, garlic fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings.  The food is good – I had the Ahi Burger with sweet potato fries and a chocolate shake, and my husband had the fish and chips with ice tea lemonade, but I felt it was a little bit pricey.

They have one in SF but I think the feeling would be different but hopefully the food is the same.

Bistro Jeanty (Yountville)

The second night we went to Bistro Jeanty, about 20 minutes from the hotel.  This place was packed at 6:30pm and again we didn’t have a reservation.  We waited about 30 minutes to get two seats at the bar.  We love to sit at the bar because it is cozy and we get to see all the action.  We had a lunch here with friends a long time ago and I had a good experience and memories.  However, the dinner tonight was a little bit disappointing.  The food was great, if you like the style.

We had Coq au Vin for me which was chicken, mushrooms, bacon red wine stew, and Daube de Boeuf for my husband which was beef stew, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.  When the food came, I regret right away about my order – the dark brown looking sauce just killed my appetite.  I had two bites and send it back to pack it to go.  My husband was enjoying his meal, and ate my chicken the next day for dinner.  So I guess that it all depends on personal taste and what you order.

Bistro Fume

This one was recommend by my friends and it is walking distance from the hotel.  They said it was a good choice, so I post here for you to try.

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The Chateau Hotel    707-253-9300  4195 Solano Ave, Napa
Bistro Don Giovanni 707-224-3300  4110 Howard Lane, Napa (formerly Hwy 29)
Taylor’s Automatic Refresher 707-963-3486  933 Main St, St. Helena
Bistro Jeanty 707-944-0103  6510 Washington St, Yountville
Bistro Fume  707-257-1999  4050 Byway East, Napa

- more photos on my flickr