Food From the Weekend - Santa Barbara Trip
How was your holiday weekend? Adam and I went on our 2nd annual tradition of a January / February quick getaway to the wonderful little town of Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is great because it is close enough to go for the weekend but feels so far away. We bring our bikes and abandon the car for the weekend. I love being able to ride around the city and take in the beautiful views. It also doesn't hurt that on a bike you don't have to worry about parking and are free to have a few beers or do a couple wine tastings. Thanks to the holiday this weekend, we got to spend two nights in this quaint little beachside town and we had so much fun shopping at the art fair, relaxing, enjoying each other's company, and eating quite a lot!
Here's a little tour of our trip around town eating and drinking:
First stop was The Brewhouse, a locals only type of place off the beaten and touristy path of State Street. I say locals only because while the service was good and the atmosphere friendly, the waiter opted not to warn us that the Habanero Pilsner is SPICY HOT HOT and is often only served in 4oz pours not pints. It was quite an experience to drink a beer that tasted exactly like a habanero pepper. I had a few sips and was amazed and interested... until I was consumed with trying to get my mouth to stop feeling like it was on fire. Adam powered through the whole thing while I leisurely sipped my chocolate tasting bock.
{Habanero Pilsner and Bock of Chocolates}
The next morning we woke up early, having skipped dinner in favor of going to bed at 7:45pm (not my idea), and got to enjoy the peaceful quietness of biking up State Street before the crowds hit the shops, bars, and restaurants.
{Adam biking}
We had breakfast at the Cajun Kitchen Cafe and ordered the beignets in preparation for our upcoming trip to New Orleans. I've never had a beignet before, but it's basically a fried piece of dough dusted with powdered sugar, much like a doughnut. Heaven. We figured we should have at least one beignet experience prior to our New Orleans trip so we can compare it to the famous Café du Monde beignets.
{Beignets with Syrup}
The food was quite plentiful, and I only was able to make a tiny dent in my fluffy biscuit with apple butter, but I did manage to get halfway through the omelet and of course ate all my hash browns.
{Breakfast}
The big breakfast didn't stop us from making the trip to Cold Spring Tavern a few hours later to devour a delicious Tri-Tip sandwich! We abandoned our bikes and hopped in the car for the 15 minute trip up the 154 to an old stagecoach stop turned biker bar / restaurant.
{Ticket and Waiting in Line for Tri-Tip}
On weekends Cold Spring Tavern barbecues up some killer Tri-Tip sandwiches and bands play outside under the cool shade of the trees. After waiting in line to get the goods, people sit satisfied at communal picnic tables with a beer in one hand and a dripping BBQ sauce and salsa filled sandwich in the other.
{Tri-Tip Sandwich with Salsa}
Next we headed back downtown and back on the bikes for a stop at Oreana Winery's tasting room and a game of checkers.
{Adam - he just lost at checkers}
{Me - the winner!}
After our nice little detour from beer we decide to get back on track and headed to Santa Barbara Brewing Company. Their beers were generic in selection, but good. And we split a rather tasty pizza.
{Santa Barbara pizza with bacon, basil, and sundried tomatoes}
The next day we headed out of town and back home, but not before we stopped at Romanti-Ezer - a hole in the wall taco shop known amongst yelpers for their mole. And Holy Mole was it good! I'm not even that big of a fan of mole, but Adam had to remind me that it's not socially acceptable to lick your plate.
{Ole Mole Burrito}
So, basically, we ate and drank our way through Santa Barbara and enjoyed every minute of it. And can you can believe there is even more eating and drinking than what is not shown here? Well, there is. Not pictured is the treat basket Adam's mom sent with us filled with peanut butter cookies and See's candy, a seafood dinner at Brophy Bros, and a stop at Union Ale, which had Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and Sam Adam's Cherry Chocolate Bock, which tasted like an alcoholic cherry coke by the way, on tap.
Successful trip if I do say so myself.
Peace, love, Santa Barbara, and happiness!