••• Noozhawk profiled Alessia Patisserie & Cafe in advance of its July 1 opening. The paper is off the windows, so you can get a peek inside next time you’re on E. Canon Perdido—and the menus are posted, too. As you can see below, they look quite promising (as do the many pastries that Alessia has been teasing us with on Instagram). That’s the croque madame pictured above; the crisped cheese on the bottom is called a “cheese skirt”—a delicious bit of jargon that was new to me. UPDATE 6/29: I got invited over for a sneak peek—the place looks great—and a server told me that the plan is to open 7-8 a.m. for pastries and coffee, and then 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for breakfast and lunch. Dinner service will follow at a later date. And if you go the first few days, be patient. Opening a restaurant is not easy.
••• Finally, a sign of life at the Corazón Cocina outpost in the Project: it’s hoping to reopen this summer, according to an Instagram post from a couple of weeks ago.
••• “Carlos Maldonado of Something’s Fishy [in Woodland Hills] has acquired the Hibachi Steak House & Sushi Bar at 502 State St. [at the corner of Haley], and he plans to reopen in mid-July,” reports Noozhawk. I’m sure the restaurant—a “Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar” will be a worthwhile addition to the block, but can we agree that the name is a head-scratcher? The word “fishy” has negative connotations even when it’s applied to fish. P.S. Here’s hoping the building gets painted a new color. UPDATE: “I’m pretty sure Hibachi was fka Something’s Fishy, might have predated your SB arrival,” explains Heather. “So looks like it is going back to what it was.”
••• The Independent’s Full Belly Files newsletter checks in with chef Justin West, formerly of Julienne and Wildwood Kitchen: “West’s career in the kitchen was thrown for a loop by the pandemic, but he took it in stride, launching The Market Forager, which delivered all sorts of goods right to your front door. As time went on, that evolved into a meat and seafood delivery business, connecting the suppliers that used to stock his restaurants with those of us who love cooking at home.”
••• Romanti-Ezer, the restaurant at the corner of Chapala and Ortega, has closed. (The farewell note is below, and the food truck is still operational.) Sorry to see it go, of course, but imagine the possibilities for such a fantastic space…. UPDATE: Um, Megan points out that Romanti-Ezer closed last June, as you can see in the photo. I figured it was just closed for Covid and this was an official notice that it wouldn’t reopen…. Anyway, my point holds that the space is a ripe one.
••• I decided to buy Sweet Wheel Farms‘s tortilla chips at the Saturday farmers’ market before I knew how much they cost, and I almost lost my nerve when I was told $8. But they were genuinely delicious and my husband and I hoovered them all down within an hour of getting them home.
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I’m pretty sure Hibachi was fka Something’s Fishy, might have predated your SB arrival :)
So looks like it is going back to what it was
It was.
I remember when Something’s Fishy was in Santa Barbara’s Piccadilly Square! #FeelingOld
THANK YOU SITELINE SB!
When you are lucky enough to get our chips and tortillas, you are eating a chip or tortilla that is actually has health benefits and made of non gmo corn. Here is why our Sweet Wheel Farms corn is incredibly expensive to produce:
When you farm without pesticides, you have to weed by hand and small machine. And, something unusual, we pay our farm workers a working wage! We mentor our Sweet Wheel cart educators about farming. EVERYONE does a day of hard labor in our fields so that there is understanding and empathy for the hard work that others accomplish. Our beautiful corn is selling for $55.00 a pound on the internet by other California companies. We just had over an acre of it go “missing” in north county, so you can gather how sought after this corn is. We use organic rice oil (over $20/ gallon) for our chips and pure mineral lime in our all of our tortillas. Want to take a class on nixtamalization? Contact us at [email protected]
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