••• Validation Annex—Validation Ale‘s second outpost, in the Grocery Outlet shopping center on De La Vina—quietly opened over the weekend.
••• While the original Summerland location gets sorted, White Caps is opening yet another location—this time in a very interesting place. The folks at Teledyne FLIR, maker of thermal imaging cameras and sensors, asked White Caps founder Michael Haber to take over their cafeteria (6775 Hollister Avenue in Goleta) and turn it into a restaurant that’s open to the public. White Caps Bistro, as it’s being called, debuts tomorrow, with a menu along the lines of the ones at the other outposts; hours are 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays. Here’s hoping it inspires creative thinking—that whole area could use it.
••• Pressed Juicery has left the Montecito Country Mart. The Paseo Nuevo location appears to still be there.
••• The Nugget’s aspiration to take over Derf’s Cafe apparently didn’t pan out, as the space is for lease as a “Vanilla shell estimated to be completed by January 2025 […] Ever wish you could design your own Restaurant/Bar? This is your opportunity!” (Via Edible Santa Barbara.)
••• Considered is running a crowdfunding campaign for a second coffee-bar vehicle—a 1998 Ford School Bus. “The VW Bus will have a mostly permanent home at The Factory on the Haley corridor,” says founder Pia Beck. “No generator (hallelujah!), outdoor cafe seating (with wi-fi and umbrellas), and a rotating weekly menu of food partners.” Meanwhile, the new school bus will be mobile and available for private events, and its larger size allows for “indoor seating and work stations, grab-and-go fridge with both pre-packaged coffee and food items, ability to travel farther, and ability to serve larger groups more quickly.”
••• Pickles & Swiss‘s Paseo Nuevo restaurant has closed, as did the one in L.A. The company’s website maintains that a new Goleta location is opening next year, at an address yet to be announced.
••• Tyler x Lieu Dit has taken another step toward being as much of a restaurant as tasting room: in addition to burger night on Thursdays, and its regular menu of small plates, it’s now serving three entrées—steak frites, pan-roasted Channel Island rockfish, and confit mushroom toast (below)—after 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
••• Takashi Ramen in Goleta is delayed till December at the earliest.
••• Casa Agria Specialty Ales has opened its taproom in the Kim’s Service Department complex that’s also home to Broad Street Oyster Company and Shaker Mill.
••• Jaguar Moon, the Ventura collaboration between Good Lion Hospitality and Ramon Velazquez of Corazón Cocina, soft-opens tonight. One look at that mural and I have Mavis Staples stuck in my head….
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