••• An earlier report about the opening of Coast Range‘s dining room was premature. The Solvang restaurant is now shooting for this Friday, September 24. From the release: “The Coast Range dining room adds another 1,000 square feet of seating for up to 60 guests in a moody yet glamorous, East Coast–reminiscent setting accented with custom stained glass panels above a row of intimate, private booths, which are also adorned with hand-leafed gold detail. Commissioned glass sconces and chandeliers, crafted in Italy, line the wall of booths, and dangle from the gilded, pressed tin ceilings above curved, leather banquettes.” The above photo is by Jeremy Ball; the dinner menu is below. Meanwhile, the complex’s café component hopes to open in late fall.
••• My husband and I made the trip to Los Olivos for dinner at Bar Le Côte, and if the restaurant were in Santa Barbara, I’d eat there on the regular. The room is pretty and stylish; the service was top-notch, impressive for so young a restaurant; and nearly everything we ordered—and we ordered a lot—was excellent. Standouts included the whole sea bream with romesco, the clams with chorizo, the saffron rolls, the fries (like the ones at Bell’s but dusted with a lemony spice blend), and the chocolate pot de crème. (And uni lovers will swoon over the $25 pile from the raw bar.) While part of me wanted Bar Le Côte to feel as sui generis as Bell’s, I think that’s impossible—the latter benefits greatly from the juxtaposition of food that good in a no-frills, Podunk setting. (P.S. The lighting made us look nice but my food photos bad, so the rolls are all you get. BLC’s Instagram often reposts shots by diners who had better luck.)
••• A. noticed that Naya’s Tacos has set up shop next to Carrillo Market & Deli at 622 W. Carrillo. The sign promises homemade tortillas.
••• Itsuki Japanese Restaurant at 7127 Hollister Avenue in Goleta has closed, and Restaurant Guy thinks an IHOP might take the space.
••• Dune Coffee Roasters appears to be opening at “5915 Calle Real Ste. A in the former home of Pizza Hut which is across the parking lot from Zodo’s Bowling.” This would be a second Goleta location for Dune, which also has one near the Target store. —Restaurant Guy
••• “Pinyon is under construction at 423 E. Ojai Ave. Suite 101, the Fitzgerald Plaza address occupied for the past 15 years by Jersey Mike’s. The new spot will specialize in wood-fired pizzas, local-farms-to-table dishes and ‘unspecified naturally leavened bread products and minimally intervened grape juices.” —805 Foodie
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