Lion’s Tale Opens Tonight on Coast Village Road

“We spend a lot of time in hotel bars when we travel,” says Misty Orman, which is why she and her husband, Brandon Ristaino, were thrilled about the opportunity to channel that experience into Lion’s Tale, their new bar at the Montecito Inn. It comes ten years after they first opened The Good Lion; when Jaguar Moon debuts in Ventura next month, their stable of establishments expands to seven.

Orman and Ristaino were actually in the running to take over the smaller space in the Montecito Inn years ago; the wait paid off, because now they have the former Coast & Olive, which is significantly larger. It seats around 55, including 11 at the glamorous bar that runs along the back wall. MN Studio Interiors helped bring their vision—”an elevated, loungey Good Lion”—to life. Even in daylight, it has swanky sex appeal, and come nightfall, escalation is inevitable. On Wednesdays, starting October 30, a jazz trio will take the mood up yet another notch.

While Lion’s Tale is more of a bar than a restaurant, there is food, and enough of to make a dinner of. Ryan Simorangkir and Tyler Peek of Sama Sama (who have had a very busy month) are looking toward France for the menu. The one below is an abbreviated version of what we can expect after the grand opening this Friday.

For the time being, the hours are 3 p.m. to midnight, with a weekday happy hour from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Reservations are not accepted, although they’re likely to make an exception for parties of six or more. And if you didn’t already have enough reasons to want to go: Lion’s Tale offers free valet parking.

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