••• “Jim Clendenen, ‘the mind behind’ Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara County as he took to describing himself, died in his sleep on Saturday night. […] ‘There were a lot of critics who didn’t understand my attitude, my lack of grooming and my big fricking mouth’, observed Clendenen […], ‘so I ended up butting heads with a lot of people. We’ve been waiting 30 years to be an overnight success.’ For many years Clendenen was more celebrated outside California than within it, but he admitted there was a turnaround in the attention his wines received in the wake of Raj Parr and Jasmine Hirsch’s In Pursuit of Balance movement. Today hundreds of California producers are following in Clendenen’s footsteps.” —Jancis Robinson (h/t Edible Santa Barbara)
••• Bree’osh‘s second outpost, on De La Vina (at Alamar Avenue), is now “open from 7am to noon everyday, with full menu + coffee.”
••• The Crushcakes folks are opening Crush Bar, serving beer and wine, in the Armada Wine & Beer Merchant space inside the San Marcos Courtyard (1129 State Street, between Anapamu and Figueroa). —Restaurant Guy
••• Persona Pizza on State Street (Carrillo/Canon Perdido) has been renamed Cali-Forno Pizzeria. Forno means oven in Italian, and one might wonder what the Californo company, maker of pizza ovens, will think about it. (H/T Downtown Santa Barbara.)
••• The Independent‘s article on Sunstone winery’s plan to grow cannabis says the company “is trying to open a Sunstone tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone,” which would seem to allude to the rooftop bar mentioned here. Also, Sunstone will be opening a Sunstone-branded cannabis shop on Hollister Avenue in Goleta.
••• “The California pandemic rule permitting restaurants and other establishments to allow alcohol pick-up and to-go sales may become permanent. The state Assembly will consider a bill this week to allow the provision, which was enacted to provide an additional revenue stream for beleaguered businesses. The state Senate passed the bill on Monday.” —Deadline (h/t Edible Santa Barbara)
••• Yesterday’s meeting of the city’s Architectural Board of Review included proposed changes to two vacant restaurant spaces 1187 Coast Village Road, the complex with the UPS Store and UCLA Health: “Project includes two new open trellis structures and lighting and overhead furnaces. Project also includes partial removal of existing wall and windows for a new folding door system.” Both spaces are on the lower level, including the one where Khao Kaeng was. I asked the listing agent whether either or both have been leased, but I didn’t get a response. (Neither is on the broker’s website anymore, but there’s no evidence of change happening inside.) The plans suggest that the space under the UPS Store will be a bar—complete with an octagonal bar that calls to mind the Honor Bar down the street. If I had to bet, I’d say one proprietor is opening both.
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