••• Developer Rick Caruso can’t seem to resist slowly turning the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort into one of his malls. According to the November 4 agenda for the Montecito Board of Architectural Review, the hotel is converting “five existing guest rooms in bungalow building #1 into three to five new resort retail spaces totaling 2,709 square feet.” That’s along with the four five boutiques—Goop, the Webster, Brunello Cucinelli, James Perse, and the hotel’s own shop—in the main building. More of interest, at least to me, the Miramar is also adding a third restaurant (fourth, if you count the ice cream shop only open to guests): “a remodel of two of the existing guest rooms in bungalow building #3 into a new resort food-and-beverage restaurant space within the existing building encompassing 1,604 square feet of existing building space and a 288-square-foot patio enclosure.” A staffer said that the buildings in question are the ones below. (Update 11/4: ES Corchero reminded me about the James Perse shop.)
••• Secret Bao will be taking a break from October 31 to November 16.
••• The Montecito Journal profiled the new Rinkside Cafe at Ice in Paradise in Goleta.
••• Becky asked whether there’s hope that Better Burrito—makers of excellent breakfast burritos once sold online and at a few cafés—will return from its hiatus. The answer is not likely, unless you’re interested in placing an order of around 40 burritos for an event.
••• Tap Thai‘s Goleta location has opened. —Restaurant Guy
••• Pacific Health Foods in Carpinteria has “added 20 feet of open produce cases to allow for more produce to be brought in from local organic farmers.” —Coastal View News
••• I used to take corks to BevMo for recycling, but they don’t accept them anymore. (The company that recycled them just stopped coming one day.) But Renegade Wines will take them, at least for a while, for the shop windows and a forthcoming art project. Just in case anyone out there saves them, too…. UPDATE 11/3: “Grassini Family Vineyards participates in a cork recycling program too!” says Katie Grassini. “You can drop off your corks at our downtown tasting room in the El Paseo (open 12-6 daily.) When the box is full, our cork supplier picks it up and recycles the corks.”
••• To celebrate its third anniversary, Bettina gave diners the option of a delicious clam pie. (It’s an East Coast thing.) Here’s hoping it comes back more often.
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a GOOP store at the Miramar. Definitely will stay away. GP and her garbage.
My thoughts exactly Bettye.
Grassini Family Vineyards participates in a cork recycling program too! You can drop off your corks at our downtown tasting room in the El Paseo (open 12-6 daily.) When the box is full, our cork supplier picks it up and recycles the corks. Cheers!
Don’t forget the James Perse store at the entrance too. (Yep, it is a mall.) I think Dior pop-up store did okay too (oddly) this summer. As you said, I fully expect Caruso to go full-tilt LVMH with this weird idea that ‘luxury’ is more about labels and a Disney-esque whitewash served with champagne. And I do think he’s done his research, as a certain crowd likes the familiar ‘brand’ approach. But I live here for exactly the opposite reason — and as much as I want to like the Miramar for an outdoor cocktail or food, I find it all a little not what our community is truly about.