Great article Polly. A few nights ago, we had some guests over and decided to go to Blue Water Grill. It was good (as I explained to our guests) but not half a good as my childhood favorite, Castagnola’s Lobster House Restaurant. I explained how the restaurant was set up, with cafeteria style service, complete with Turtle soup and the steam pot out front for fresh shellfish! I went on to explain the Funk Zone used to be skid row and was to be avoided!
Thanks so much for this refreshing palate cleanser, Polly. Locals investing in local activities for local betterment. The world is not ending after all. This community is so worth these direct, immediate and individual efforts. May magnanimity continue to replace the lingering MAGA revulsion. Thornton Wilder said it best, this is OUR TOWN.
Thank you Polly. What a wonderful local business. And congrats on first place and for introducing me to the term “The Trinity” for that combo in cajun cooking!
Pol Pol, wonderful article, and I love the Get Hooked website - I can almost smell the ocean like it smells out at sea. Beautiful job, and Vic and Kim really have their act together. Always nice to see professionals at work!
My grandfather had a famous seafood restaurant on Monterey’s Fishermans Wharf and perfected various Abalone recipes. Pop Ernest -'The Abalone King'. People came from all over. I was just a kid and had to work at the restaurant after school.
I’m gonna go thru my family stuff and see if I can dig up something for an entry into the recipe contest. Maybe I can win a first prize too!
Polly, A+ on both the recipe and the background of Getting Hooked.! As always, though, it's fun to read about the threads of your interesting past and it's also a nice respite to read a good uplifting story that we can all appreciate. Thank you!
When dealing with irrational actors in politics who only want what they want and forget the last ten years of failure, can be and at times are exhausting. The "political" resupply chopters are on their way.
No I did not … was super busy and young .. my bff was Irving Penn’s photographer assistant so on the list every night ish for Area Club and loved Pyramid Club Ave A n B
Was clubbing and working (cooking) a lot .. doing catering for random shoots as well ..
I was a saucier for Mr. B’s Bistro on Royal street.., (Brennen family restaurant) and was head chef at Lucy’s ( California Mexican cuisine) on Tchoupitoulas Street for 5 years also chef at banks street bar and grill .. flipped burgers and tended bar at Check Point Charlie’s a bar grill and laundromat lol
I'm impressed! If you ever come to my house for lunch I ain't doin' Southern for you! I'm just one of those “ish” home cooks, like Indian-ish, Moroccan-ish, Provence-ish, Malaysian-ish.
Cheers! And hears to the people of Santa Barbara waking up and understanding the political realities of a New World. The recipe sounds great, but I’m going to stick with my jambalaya!
I fell in love with Santa Barbara back in the mid '70s not just for natural and man made beauty - but for the wonderful spirit of volunteer-ism! Not just the classic church and service clubs doing their traditional fund raising- good as that was, but diverse groups forming to come together and in a mutually respectful manner really work to understand new challlending issues, define agree upon goals and then craft strategic and tactical plans.. Why volunteer your time and energy? For the greater good of everyone and everything. Now that's inclusion (heck we even brought in government employees.... least the open minded ones like Dave Davis,). I find myself dreaming that perhaps there can be a resurgence.
Enjoyed your article. Polly, you can talk food all day long. Your seafood dish is very appealing! My personal favorite of all times is the Hillstone/Houston's Evil Jungle Thai Steak (or Chicken) Noodle Salad. If you so happen to have your version of this, I'd like to read it. It's been "replicated" thousands of times on the Internet. But I would like to see what you can do with this gem. There's a Hillstone in Santa Monica. Years ago, they would get it right about three out of five times making it. I see they are now calling this salad the Pan-Asian Noodle Salad with BBQ Pork, Chicken or Veggie version. I guess steak is too expensive now to serve. They did use strips of filet mignon. The Dem inflation destroyed the meals at finer restaurants.
Remember Charlotte's restaurant located in downtown SB many years ago? That was a favorite of Ann and me. Many fine restaurants at one time ... including the Wine Cask (the one of many years ago).
Charlotte's and then The Chase were the real pioneers in SB downtown dining back then. I believe Charlotte was a high school foreign exchange student to France and brought back new culinary options to share? Did she have the singing tenor husband who opened Pino's pizza place in Goleta? Then came Head of the Wolf in Old Town and Les Bellle Miches in that new Victoria Square place. TeddyBear's Picnic in Picadillly.
When I came in the mid 1970's, there was really just Josie's (?) prime rib in La Arcada for a couple of dollars, or going upscale Tallk of the Town or that other one with the Spanish name (not Mexican) on Chapala with its coveted Red Room.
Olive Mill Bistro did the best they could with some canned ingredients and packaged sauces. But they were still the special occasion spot, since most evening dining was done at the country clubs in those days. Fun memories watching the local culinary scene unfold. But with McConnells on State and Mission, who really needed anything else.
Was it the Equiporium (sp?) that also had a chocolate souffle you had to order at the beginning of a meal because it took time to make fresh? Another nice place with private sitting areas.
Epicurean? Scott Hogue's fabulous garden restaurant. Yes, you ordered the chocolate souffle ahead. Scott did the flowers for my wedding here in 1989 (still married). He had quite a temper.
In my opinion the greatest restaurants were the ones Norbert and Birgitte did. Nice to see their daughter in the biz.
Also, Michael Hutchings was an amazing caterer. Also a wonderful guy with an equally wonderful wife. I was so sorry to see them leave but they are so happy in South Carolina.
J are you talking about the Spanish restaurant Casa de Sevilla? My grandmother would always call it Pete's. In the 70s/80s whenever I was here visiting my mom we'd go to Charlotte's for those incredible desserts or we'd go to one of Norbert's places.
Bingo, it was the desserts at Charlotte's I liked the most. I don't remember anything else, but the desserts. There was also a golf course we went to where Fess Parker went for the prime rib (located near upper state area). The prime rib was good, but seeing Davy Crockett was even better.
Would that be what is now Mulligan's at the SB Muni Golf Course - Las Positas and State area? That is a bit of a sleeper, along with Crocodile - great views and a decent casual restaurant with fair prices .
Yes, that is the area. Ann and I are both early eaters, often at a restaurant when it opens. The times we saw both Fess Parker and his wife, we were the only two couples there, outdoor seating and nothing fancy. But the place was known for its prime rib. Parker's wife sure looked over my wife, sort of like saying, "Hands off!" The Davy Crockett TV show aired in 1954-55, and I was nine or ten at the time and living in MA. Loved Davy Crockett <g>. I didn't make it look like I was an enthusiastic viewer from the past, let them alone to enjoy their meal. When I worked at Litton Data Systems in Van Nuys starting in the latter part of the 1960's, the company management club saw Fess Parker one night talk about his life/businesses. All I heard from the managers was how boring Fess Parker was and all I could think of was, "How can you say that he's Davy Crockett <g>!" Apparently, Parker wasn't an enthusiastic speaker.
Yes, it was it - Casa de Sevilla on Chapala. But again most of those restaurants back then were in the solid meat, chops, fish and potatoes league of dining, just better quality meat and potatoes at Casa de Sevilla.
Took a while for food to become more "continental and creative" in this town - the best I found was the short-lived Julienne. Down the street from the "creative" Sojourner, where volume mattered more than refinement, but was always a welcoming port in the storm when seeking later night dining.
Movement away from Mom's Italian Restaurant and Arnold's on the Westside (Arnold's was a Fess Parker favorite) into "northern Italian" was probably the first departure from solid Italo-American cooking.
Somehow I am remembering a lobster bisque also at Charlotte's?
Yes, my mom and I loved the lobster bisque at Charlotte's. As a teenager I went on dates to Mom's. Although calling them dates is giving them too much elegance.
No doubt my wife had the lobster bisque at Charlotte's, her favorite food. When Ann and I discovered a good restaurant, we tended to frequent it and not try a lot of others. There were many good eating places back in the "golden" days of SB, the days with private owner, thriving businesses.
I recall talking to the owners when Chase first opened - a dentist from SF and a partner, as I recall when it was more of a coffee pastry Euro style cafe. Not yet the Italian fare, as it remains today.
Sonia Adams who was quite a presence in Santa Barbara owned Chase at sone point, not sure what years, but she passed away about ten years ago. I put a link to the obit about her written by a step sister of mine, Sherry Spear. Sonia was from a wealthy gypsy family, ran the fortune telling spots around town. https://tinyurl.com/5924x8nm
Polly, an interesting change of content that lightens the discourse in this forum. Your recipe sounds delicious. Congratulations.
This should be a regular topic by Polly ... everyone likes to eat. At least nobody is talking about the best Taco Bell or McDonald's in town <g>.
Great article Polly. A few nights ago, we had some guests over and decided to go to Blue Water Grill. It was good (as I explained to our guests) but not half a good as my childhood favorite, Castagnola’s Lobster House Restaurant. I explained how the restaurant was set up, with cafeteria style service, complete with Turtle soup and the steam pot out front for fresh shellfish! I went on to explain the Funk Zone used to be skid row and was to be avoided!
I used to love the Castagnola Lobster House. Ginny Castagnola rode horses at the same stable I did. She was much older than me. Very lovely woman.
Great article, Polly and congrats on your winning dish. Wonderful to return the love back to the wonderful program.
V Cool Polly, keep cooking up those winning ideas!
Thanks so much for this refreshing palate cleanser, Polly. Locals investing in local activities for local betterment. The world is not ending after all. This community is so worth these direct, immediate and individual efforts. May magnanimity continue to replace the lingering MAGA revulsion. Thornton Wilder said it best, this is OUR TOWN.
Thank you Polly. What a wonderful local business. And congrats on first place and for introducing me to the term “The Trinity” for that combo in cajun cooking!
Love this. How refreshing!!
Pol Pol, wonderful article, and I love the Get Hooked website - I can almost smell the ocean like it smells out at sea. Beautiful job, and Vic and Kim really have their act together. Always nice to see professionals at work!
My grandfather had a famous seafood restaurant on Monterey’s Fishermans Wharf and perfected various Abalone recipes. Pop Ernest -'The Abalone King'. People came from all over. I was just a kid and had to work at the restaurant after school.
I’m gonna go thru my family stuff and see if I can dig up something for an entry into the recipe contest. Maybe I can win a first prize too!
Wow, that was quite a spot to have a restaurant! I love abalone. Pop Ernest must have taught you a lot.
From Earl Doelter Brown :)
https://chatgpt.com/c/673e6544-69dc-8012-9904-3a25cc4fa8c3
I love old restaurateurs like Ernest Doelter.
There's a book written about him.
Polly, A+ on both the recipe and the background of Getting Hooked.! As always, though, it's fun to read about the threads of your interesting past and it's also a nice respite to read a good uplifting story that we can all appreciate. Thank you!
Polly, Great perspective. Thanks for sharing.
It take a deep breath time.
Next week is Thanksgiving. Enjoy
When dealing with irrational actors in politics who only want what they want and forget the last ten years of failure, can be and at times are exhausting. The "political" resupply chopters are on their way.
Nice break.
Thanks Polly for a community centric article that’s not politically motivated.
We now need to love each other no matter how anyone voted.
Congrats on first place !!
Nice article Polly
O and btw I lived on Cornelia Street in the 80’ 83-85 when I was a chef at Garvins and the Essex House ..
just sayin lol
Love the west village in the 80’s
Did you know Robin Hirsch who owned and ran Cornelia Street Cafe? That guy did so much for Greenwich Village.
No I did not … was super busy and young .. my bff was Irving Penn’s photographer assistant so on the list every night ish for Area Club and loved Pyramid Club Ave A n B
Was clubbing and working (cooking) a lot .. doing catering for random shoots as well ..
youth 💕
Oh wow - that must have been amazing!
It was soooo great.. NYC has changed so much now :: what years were you living there?
I also was chef for 10 yrs cooking in New Orleans.. so congrats again on the Jambalaya recipe..! 🔥🍾
You were a chef in New Orleans? I'm really impressed. I lived in the NYU neighborhood from 1989 to 2015. Loved it.
I was a saucier for Mr. B’s Bistro on Royal street.., (Brennen family restaurant) and was head chef at Lucy’s ( California Mexican cuisine) on Tchoupitoulas Street for 5 years also chef at banks street bar and grill .. flipped burgers and tended bar at Check Point Charlie’s a bar grill and laundromat lol
Not that impressive lol
I'm impressed! If you ever come to my house for lunch I ain't doin' Southern for you! I'm just one of those “ish” home cooks, like Indian-ish, Moroccan-ish, Provence-ish, Malaysian-ish.
Gee Polly would love to have lunch but not to worry that was a long time ago … 🌸💕
Cheers! And hears to the people of Santa Barbara waking up and understanding the political realities of a New World. The recipe sounds great, but I’m going to stick with my jambalaya!
I fell in love with Santa Barbara back in the mid '70s not just for natural and man made beauty - but for the wonderful spirit of volunteer-ism! Not just the classic church and service clubs doing their traditional fund raising- good as that was, but diverse groups forming to come together and in a mutually respectful manner really work to understand new challlending issues, define agree upon goals and then craft strategic and tactical plans.. Why volunteer your time and energy? For the greater good of everyone and everything. Now that's inclusion (heck we even brought in government employees.... least the open minded ones like Dave Davis,). I find myself dreaming that perhaps there can be a resurgence.
Enjoyed your article. Polly, you can talk food all day long. Your seafood dish is very appealing! My personal favorite of all times is the Hillstone/Houston's Evil Jungle Thai Steak (or Chicken) Noodle Salad. If you so happen to have your version of this, I'd like to read it. It's been "replicated" thousands of times on the Internet. But I would like to see what you can do with this gem. There's a Hillstone in Santa Monica. Years ago, they would get it right about three out of five times making it. I see they are now calling this salad the Pan-Asian Noodle Salad with BBQ Pork, Chicken or Veggie version. I guess steak is too expensive now to serve. They did use strips of filet mignon. The Dem inflation destroyed the meals at finer restaurants.
Remember Charlotte's restaurant located in downtown SB many years ago? That was a favorite of Ann and me. Many fine restaurants at one time ... including the Wine Cask (the one of many years ago).
Charlotte's and then The Chase were the real pioneers in SB downtown dining back then. I believe Charlotte was a high school foreign exchange student to France and brought back new culinary options to share? Did she have the singing tenor husband who opened Pino's pizza place in Goleta? Then came Head of the Wolf in Old Town and Les Bellle Miches in that new Victoria Square place. TeddyBear's Picnic in Picadillly.
When I came in the mid 1970's, there was really just Josie's (?) prime rib in La Arcada for a couple of dollars, or going upscale Tallk of the Town or that other one with the Spanish name (not Mexican) on Chapala with its coveted Red Room.
Olive Mill Bistro did the best they could with some canned ingredients and packaged sauces. But they were still the special occasion spot, since most evening dining was done at the country clubs in those days. Fun memories watching the local culinary scene unfold. But with McConnells on State and Mission, who really needed anything else.
Talk of the Town, All of our Birthdays
Growing up here, I went to Talk of the Town for big occasions, too. I remember a chocolate souffle.
Was it the Equiporium (sp?) that also had a chocolate souffle you had to order at the beginning of a meal because it took time to make fresh? Another nice place with private sitting areas.
Epicurean? Scott Hogue's fabulous garden restaurant. Yes, you ordered the chocolate souffle ahead. Scott did the flowers for my wedding here in 1989 (still married). He had quite a temper.
In my opinion the greatest restaurants were the ones Norbert and Birgitte did. Nice to see their daughter in the biz.
Also, Michael Hutchings was an amazing caterer. Also a wonderful guy with an equally wonderful wife. I was so sorry to see them leave but they are so happy in South Carolina.
J are you talking about the Spanish restaurant Casa de Sevilla? My grandmother would always call it Pete's. In the 70s/80s whenever I was here visiting my mom we'd go to Charlotte's for those incredible desserts or we'd go to one of Norbert's places.
Bingo, it was the desserts at Charlotte's I liked the most. I don't remember anything else, but the desserts. There was also a golf course we went to where Fess Parker went for the prime rib (located near upper state area). The prime rib was good, but seeing Davy Crockett was even better.
Would that be what is now Mulligan's at the SB Muni Golf Course - Las Positas and State area? That is a bit of a sleeper, along with Crocodile - great views and a decent casual restaurant with fair prices .
Yes, that is the area. Ann and I are both early eaters, often at a restaurant when it opens. The times we saw both Fess Parker and his wife, we were the only two couples there, outdoor seating and nothing fancy. But the place was known for its prime rib. Parker's wife sure looked over my wife, sort of like saying, "Hands off!" The Davy Crockett TV show aired in 1954-55, and I was nine or ten at the time and living in MA. Loved Davy Crockett <g>. I didn't make it look like I was an enthusiastic viewer from the past, let them alone to enjoy their meal. When I worked at Litton Data Systems in Van Nuys starting in the latter part of the 1960's, the company management club saw Fess Parker one night talk about his life/businesses. All I heard from the managers was how boring Fess Parker was and all I could think of was, "How can you say that he's Davy Crockett <g>!" Apparently, Parker wasn't an enthusiastic speaker.
Yes, it was it - Casa de Sevilla on Chapala. But again most of those restaurants back then were in the solid meat, chops, fish and potatoes league of dining, just better quality meat and potatoes at Casa de Sevilla.
Took a while for food to become more "continental and creative" in this town - the best I found was the short-lived Julienne. Down the street from the "creative" Sojourner, where volume mattered more than refinement, but was always a welcoming port in the storm when seeking later night dining.
Movement away from Mom's Italian Restaurant and Arnold's on the Westside (Arnold's was a Fess Parker favorite) into "northern Italian" was probably the first departure from solid Italo-American cooking.
Somehow I am remembering a lobster bisque also at Charlotte's?
Yes, my mom and I loved the lobster bisque at Charlotte's. As a teenager I went on dates to Mom's. Although calling them dates is giving them too much elegance.
No doubt my wife had the lobster bisque at Charlotte's, her favorite food. When Ann and I discovered a good restaurant, we tended to frequent it and not try a lot of others. There were many good eating places back in the "golden" days of SB, the days with private owner, thriving businesses.
J did you know the Sonia Adams AKA Madame Rosinka who owned Chase restaurant?
I did!
I recall talking to the owners when Chase first opened - a dentist from SF and a partner, as I recall when it was more of a coffee pastry Euro style cafe. Not yet the Italian fare, as it remains today.
Sonia Adams who was quite a presence in Santa Barbara owned Chase at sone point, not sure what years, but she passed away about ten years ago. I put a link to the obit about her written by a step sister of mine, Sherry Spear. Sonia was from a wealthy gypsy family, ran the fortune telling spots around town. https://tinyurl.com/5924x8nm
Evil Jungle Thai Steak! I'm there! Going to look that up now.