So as promised in my "So Cal Girl Goes to Santa Barbara" post, here is a full and detailed account of the "Eat This, Shoot That" Food Tour. It's a very fun and casual 2.5 hour tour around Santa Barbara's "Funk Zone", and you get to taste a variety of Santa Barbara's famous specialties, ranging from breakfast pizzas and fresh ceviche to sparkling wines and local "crack". Our tour guides were full of fun facts about Santa Barbara's history and development and gave us tons of cool tips about how to properly photograph food.
We met our awesome tour guides at the Dolphin Fountain right on the beach at 2:00 pm, and as soon as we all signed waivers, we began heading over to the pier for our very first stop,
The first stop on the "Eat This, Shoot That" tour was the Deep Sea Winery, a local, family-owned winery specializing in unique wines grown in coastal regions. We were each told to select two wines from their list to taste, and after much perusal and indecision and recommendations from the experts, I went with the 2009 Deep Sea Viognier, Coquina Vineyard and the 2013 Deep Sea Grenache Blanc, Central Coast.
In case you couldn't tell, I'm a huge fan of white wine and dislike red. I can't stand the smell of a heavy red wine and like the taste even less. I enjoyed both of my selections very much, particularly the Viognier. We sipped our wine on the deck outside, and had the most spectacular view of the beach. It was such a lovely experience, and I'll definitely have to visit Deep Sea Winery again, maybe taking M along once she turns 21.
Our next stop on the tour was the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company, an award winning restaurant with delicious ridgeback shrimp. We tried the Fresh Shrimp Ceviche, served with lemon, lime, freshly diced tomatoes and tortilla chips, and learned about the cooking techniques behind ceviche. For the non-seafood lovers and vegetarians, ceviche is a very popular dish consisting of fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, typically lemon or lime juice. As it involves no heat whatsoever, it must always be prepared fresh and eaten immediately. Ours was incredibly delicious, and we enjoyed it right on the dock, mere feet away from the sparkling blue ocean.
Next stop on the tour was Lucky Penny, an artistically decorated locals' favorite for flat-bread pizza. The entire front side of the restaurant was covered head-to-toe in pennies, giving it a unique and eclectic look. We tasted the Milpas Wood-Fire Pizza and it was toe-curlingly delicious. Quite possibly one of the most amazing flat-bread pizzas I've ever tasted. The pizza consisted of an interesting combination of fingerling potatoes, Mexican chorizo, spicy tomatillo marinara, cotija, and cilantro, all topped off with a sunny side up egg. It was spicy, fierce and insanely yummy! One of my favoritest eats on the tour.
Right around the corner was our next stop, the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. Here we were each told to select a beer off the menu to taste. After serious contemplation by all the boys and extreme indifference by the girls, we ordered our drinks and went outside to enjoy them. I had a sip of the pumpkin ale and was not a fan, but then again I'm not the greatest person to judge beer.
Next up was Cutler's Artisan Spirits, Santa Barbara's first distillery since Prohibition. They featured top of the shelf vodka, gin, bourbon whiskey, and apple pie liqueur. Each of us was given the option of trying all four, trying just a select few, or trying none, it was up to us. A number of pinched faces, exaggerated choking/spluttering noises, and grimaces later, the consensus elected the apple pie liqueur as the favorite.
By the time we began walking over to our next stop, Riverbench Winery, those of us that had tasted all four of the hard liquors were definitely starting to feel the effects while those of us that has stuck to Apple Pie were just dandy. Riverbench Winery was packed when we wandered in (rather odd considering it was around 4:00 pm) and so we all gathered in a corner, where we were each handed a flute of sparkling wine. As we hung out in our little corner, sipping our sparkling wine, our tour guides came back with little bags full of delicious treats from Koval Confections. We had the most delicious dark chocolate almond toffee (affectionately known as "crack" to the locals), a lovely complement to the sparkling wine.
Our last stop on the tour was Seven Bar + Kitchen, where we were treated to chicken and bacon waffles with whiskey infused maple syrup. The gastropub was very uniquely decorated with its heavy wood furniture, barrels, and working piano in the bathroom. The chicken and waffles were delicious, offering a myriad of textures and flavors, and the boys, who were most looking forward to this, particularly enjoyed it.
We immensely enjoyed the "Eat This, Shoot That" tour and were impressed by the selection of food and spirits. Our tour guides were awesome, giving us plenty of interesting facts and tips, but simultaneously giving us plenty of space to enjoy the scenery, the food, and each others' company. Our trip to Santa Barbara was amazing, and this tour definitely played a big part in it. I would highly recommend this trip to medium-large sized groups that love food. It's a great opportunity to try a bunch of highly recommended places in a short amount of time.
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