••• The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern—a game-changer for Los Olivos—is accepting reservations as of June 1. Some time ago, I was told that the property will likely soft-open a couple of months before the official opening.
••• Things must be going peachily for Kismet, the lingerie-and-jewelry boutique that opened last month in Montecito’s Upper Village, because it’s opening an annex in the space across from the Montecito Village Grocery. It’s shooting for a February debut.
••• Andy has an interesting comment on the recent Butterfly Beach post: “That Ty Warner property with the sculptures has an interesting history. It was owned for a long time by Atlantic Richfield; they used it as some sort of executive retreat. As part of their art patronage, it had and maybe still has a tremendous collection of works by Herbert Bayer, the multidisciplinary artist from the Bauhaus school and who is most known here for the Chromatic Gate. Amazon has a listing for a pamphlet that describes the work as of some time in the 80s.”
••• Maune Contemporary‘s Santa Barbara gallery opens tomorrow with an exhibit titled Finally Home. (I took the second photo through the glass.) It’s at 1309 State Street, just south of the Arlington Theatre. That part of town is turning into a nice little area, what with this new gallery and a lot of new shops.
••• The Isla boutique inside the Hotel Californian has closed, and according to a staffer, the Foley Food & Wine Society tasting room is going to be there (and not in the Blackbird restaurant space further down State Street as was reported when news of Bill Foley buying the hotel was announced).
••• A book recommendation from A.: “I picked up a very interesting book about the history of almost every building in downtown Santa Barbara yesterday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. You have probably already heard about it”—nope!—”but I figured I would let you know about it just in case. It has fabulous old photos of the buildings and interesting tidbits about things I’ve always wondered about around town. For example, I just learned that the pink arches on the corner of Chapala and Sola are remnants from the garden wall of the old Arlington hotel.” I’ll check it out. And if you’ve never been to the museum’s gift shop, it’s worth a visit. Or you can buy the book from the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.
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