••• Back in August, it was reported that San Roque’s SB Sunshine Cafe is opening a second location at 5711 Calle Real in Goleta. But the restaurant is actually moving there, and the San Roque outpost is closed. No word yet on what, if anything, is taking the spot.
••• In classic Santa Barbara bureaucratic fashion, city officials informed many restaurants yesterday that they have two weeks—holidays be damned—to remove their parklets. Aren’t we supposed to have a mayor who understands business? Are the city councilmembers who represent downtown and Coast Village Road unwilling to intercede?
••• This Saturday, December 23, the Kaarem boutique at Victoria Court will host a Vietnamese coffee pop-up (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) with Reyna Duong of Sandwich Hag/Chimlanh in Dallas. There will also be baked goods from Your Choice.
••• RH‘s Montecito outpost is aiming to open in the second half of 2024. And if you’re still unclear on the company’s trajectory into every facet of luxury lifestyle, the third-quarter shareholder letter is a fascinating read.
••• Mister Softee has soft-opened—appropriately enough—at 935 State Street (Carrillo), former home of Creamistry. A grand opening is planned for January. The photos below were taken in the morning, before it opened.
••• Tickets go on sale January 4 for the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s popular Beer Garden event on March 16.
••• Noozhawk profiled the Cheese Shop Santa Barbara. Which reminds me: we’ve been loving the cheeses (Harbison, Willoughby) from Jasper Hill Farm.
••• In July, Foxtail Kitchen & Bar on E. Cota Street announced its intention to rebrand as Wadi Rum Kitchen. I was beginning to worry, but owner Falah Maayah says remodeling is underway—as I saw when I walked by and the door was open—and it just takes forever. When the restaurant does reopen, the name will be Petra Cafe.
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Last month someone at Tre Lune told me their parklet had to come down by Dec 31, so they must have known about this for awhile. I never have problems finding parking on coast village road so I’m not sure why this had to happen.
It is time for those parklets to go. They are so incredibly ugly and I think our town is one of the only ones that still has them. When I use the term ‘parklets’ with people who don’t live in Santa Barbara area, they have no idea what I’m talking about
I agree. They look trashy and temporary and there is no justification for their existence anymore. A discussion about permanently expanded or redesigned outdoor dining areas can be had separately, but the parklets should go. Even the name grosses me out.
They aren’t all ugly. You sound snooty.
They are all ugly and useless- want to eat outdoors? We have many, many outdoor venues
I like them. They are beautiful and enhance any dining experience.
No excuse other than they are fun and people enjoy them. Are people really that worried that they might have to walk an extra block or two. Save outdoor dining!
Where to start with that delusional fever dream of a letter from Gary Friedman… Countdown to implosion and insolvency. I give it 10 years. Far from being arbiters of style, they seem to have simply figured out how to capture hearty margins on large-format contract-grade furniture that takes its design cues (or rips them off if we’re being honest) from influencer aesthetics of 10 years ago. The current iteration of RH’s look is straight off of beige girl Instagram from 2017. Many of their pieces of furniture are also near plagiarisms of mid-centuria sold to people who don’t know they could just buy the real thing because they don’t know what the real thing is. There will always be wealthy people who lack any personality of their own and need to furnish a home overnight. RH is perfect for them. The company was handed the opportunity for international expansion simply by way of fortune – not by their own doing. The great leveling of aesthetics via social media and the internet from regional or culturally specific looks to one bland global style has benefitted RH, but they just got lucky with that. I wonder if Friedman actually gets that and just can’t say it out loud (in which case I’d then say he’s a good businessman) or if he actually drank his own champagne-flavored kool aid. Hard to say. Building a real estate portfolio isn’t a bad idea. It could be all that’s left in the end. I’m writing this from my tub surrounded by an RH Belgian linen shower curtain and looking up at an RH medicine cabinet though, so maybe Friedman will have the last laugh after all. I remain skeptical empire is built on shower curtains but I could be wrong.
This whole comment is solid gold.
Cafe Petra looks dreamy. So many good restaurants have come and gone on that block of Cota, hope it works out for them.
All the parklets look trashy it’s like we are in Lompoc or Oxnard and not Santa Barbara.
Ouch! You can make your point without castigating others.
Totally disagree. I think they look European / Bohemian and I love them.
I usually attribute City actions to either incompetence or ignorance, but after the Daisy got a notice over Thanksgiving and the Haley Street notices issued over Christmas it’s starting to look malicious.
The ERETO ordinance, which temporarily allowed parklets in certain locations, including CVR, was extended multiple times over 3 years. The termination date of 12/31/2023 had been in place for over a year. Council voted to extract State Streets parklets to their a standalone ordinance, and extended leaving the others to expire 12/31. Was not an overnight decision. Daisy also knew they had to move, bit the date was never set in advance
Here’s a comment that Lab Social posted on Instagram when someone made a similar point to yours: “There was a city council meeting on 10/10 (which we attended) where the vote to extend the use of Parklets into the new year pending a city issued pre-application process (which now other Parklet owners have). We received notice our parklets would not be allowed to apply through the notice on our Parklet 12/18. Apparently there were subsequent city council meetings where guidelines were established. (We were not aware of these). No announcements or notices were given to us until 12/18. All we ask is for ample time.”
Considering our Mayor is a restauranteur who has a consistent history of opposing new forms of outdoor dining, the malice is starting to seem obvious. From banning food trucks, to his constant war on state street promenade and parkets (even ones in private parking lots), he’s hell bent on restricting where we can eat outdoors and which restaurants can benefit from outdoor dining in this lovely city. It’s very very strange how obsessed he is with this, and how disconnected his position is with the public’s enjoyment of food trucks, the promenade, etc