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| The $20.20 3-course menu at Solvang's First & Oak includes a chocolate mousse dessert w/dulce de leche &crisp honeycomb (credit: Tenley Fohl Photography) |
The one I’m
really excited about is the one happening throughout the Santa Ynez Valley
right now. It’s Restaurant Weeks, actually – plural – since its run from this
past Sunday through January 31st will have offered hungry travelers
almost two full weeks of tasty savings. The promotion screams “staycation,” by
the way, with several hotels offering discounts and free upgrades during the
Weeks’ run.
Santa Ynez
Valley Restaurant Weeks launched in 2010 and has successfully spotlighted the
remarkable dining that the zone’s six towns – Buellton, Solvang, Ballard, Los
Olivos, Santa Ynez and Los Alamos – have to offer. To be sure, though, it’s a
dining scene that’s an offshoot of the viticulture that’s been flourishing there
for decades.
“We’ve had
incredible wine crafted in the Santa Ynez Valley for over 50 years, but our
burgeoning culinary scene is relatively new,” says Shelby Sim, President and
CEO of Visit the Santa Ynez Valley. “Restaurant Weeks is a great time to sample
all that we have to offer at an unbeatable price: at $20.20 for a three-course
meal, you can visit several restaurants over the two weeks without breaking the
bank!”
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| The $20.20 3-course menu at Los Alamos' Cisko Kid includes a Smoked Lamb Pozole Verde w/Santa Ynez Valley heirloom corn (credit: Visit Santa Ynez Valley) |
First &
Oak in Solvang, which nabbed special recognition in Michelin’s California guide
last year, has a trio of courses that includes a wild mushroom risotto main and
chocolate mousse for dessert; they’re also doing a four-course menu for $40.20
and a five-course meal for $58.20. And at the Los Olivos Café in the historic
haven of Los Olivos, the $20.20 prix-fixe main options include sage fettuccini,
buttermilk fried chicken and rock shrimp risotto.
“Chef Conrad
Gonzalez at Cisko Kid [in Los Alamos] will use locally sourced heirloom corn to
take his dishes to the next farm-to-table level,” Sim told me, “while Luca
Crestanelli and his team at S.Y. Kitchen [in Santa Ynez] will offer dishes not
part of the regular menu, like Zuppa Celestina, which features a clear beef
broth with thinly sliced crepes.”
In Buellton,
Jeff and Janet Olson of Industrial Eats continue their annual charitable push
with a culturally-inspired menu which, this year, features recipes from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and whose proceeds benefit
humanitarian causes in that Central African nation. Down the street, at the
Hitching Post II, beef buffs get to choose from a top sirloin steak, a New York
steak or sirloin-and-quail combo, along with chicken, pork chops and fish
dishes; there’s bittersweet chocolate tart with whipped cream for dessert and,
as a bonus, special pricing on their popular Hometown pinot noir.
In fact,
wineries and tasting rooms are taking part in Restaurant Weeks, too. At their
new wine tasting room right next door, the Hitching Post team is offering a
special $20.20 pricing on bottles of their outstanding Santa Maria Valley
pinot, along with an exclusive lunch-with-wine menu. At nearby Alma Rosa
Winery, the pet project by wine pioneer Richard Sanford, a special $20.20
tasting fee adds their delicious bubbly to the regular lineup, and guests enjoy
artisan cheeses. At their Gaviota tasting spot off Highway 101, Folded Hills is
offering a charcuterie board accompanies the wine tasting. And at sprawling
Pence Vineyards off Highway 246, on the way toward the coast, $20.20 is the
price for wine sipping with cheese and charcuterie, as well as a vineyard tour.
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| In Buellton, the Hitching Post Wines team -- Frank Ostini & Gray Hartley -- are offering special pricing on lunch &wine during Santa Ynez Valley's Restaurant Weeks |
Here’s the
bottom line: some of the best eating in California exists in the Santa Ynez
Valley. If a promo like Restaurant Weeks succeeds in filling seats during low
season with lovers of food and wine who would have otherwise missed out, then
it’s a win-win to be sure. Check out the menus and plan your visit at DineSYV.com.
Cheers!
