Food + Beverage

Right at Home

Ospi finds its place in Montecito Article by Matt DeMarcus | Photography by Max Milla Ospi had been trying to get into Montecito for a while. The team started looking in 2020, but finding the right space was harder than expected. Some opportunities went to other groups. Others just did not feel right. Then the Runyon Group reached out. “Everything aligned perfectly,” chef Jackson Kalb says. “It was better than we could have dreamed.” The location gave Ospi something that is not always easy...

Food + Beverage

An Anchor Here

A restaurant built around simplicity, memory, and return. Article by Matt DeMarcus | Photography by Nick Shamblott “I wanted Ancora to feel comfortable, established, almost like it had always been here,” Luca Crestanelli says. That feeling matters to him. Ancora is polished, but not formal. The bar feels easy to settle into, the tables feel close enough to give the room some life, and nothing about the space asks for too much attention. Crestanelli wants people to notice how they feel there...

Arts + Culture

The Bea Side

Vintage fabric, sharp instincts, and Santa Barbara’s creative edge. Article by Grace Galloway | Photography by Lena Ibarra Santa Barbara style is often described in soft language: white walls, ocean light, Spanish lines, linen, oak, restraint. And all of that is true. But there is another current running through the Central Coast, one with more grit, color, humor, and nerve. Joanna "Bea" Shultz lives comfortably in that current. Her pieces have polish, but they also have attitude, the sense...

Arts + Culture

Chairman of the Board

Hand-shaping boards with purpose and soul. Article by Sara DeMarcus | Photography by Lena Ibarra A surfboard begins as a blank. Foam, dust, measurement, instinct. Before the resin cures and before color enters the picture, there is only a form waiting to be found. In Ryan Lovelace's hands, that form becomes something more personal than a product: a board built for a specific person, a specific wave, a specific feeling he's trying to get right. Sometimes that feeling is as simple as catching...

Arts + Culture

The Art of Noticing

Kelly Clause paints the coast like it still has secrets. Article by Matt DeMarcus | Photography by Provided Mother Nature has a way of humbling us. Up and down the Central Coast, there's no shortage of wonders to chase — mountains, canyons, hidden trails — but none of them quite match the ocean's gravity. It's why tide pooling feels grounding instead of trivial, and why an afternoon at the beach can quiet a mind the way nothing else seems to touch. Kelly Clause has spent a lifetime paying...

Arts + Culture

Legendary Local: Sal Rodriguez

The man behind one of Goleta’s great youth basketball traditions Article by Matt DeMarcus | Photography by Provided Every community has people whose impact is difficult to measure. They are not always the loudest names in the room, but they are the ones who show up, year after year, helping a place feel more connected and more like home. Our new Legendary Local feature is dedicated to those people. For our first installment, it only feels right to begin with Sal Rodriguez. For more than 50...

Education

Is Your Child...

The signs are there. Most parents just don't know it. Article by Grace Galloway | Photography by Provided Your child snores. They wake up exhausted. They can't sit still in class, and no one has been able to tell you why. You've asked. You've been told it's a phase. You're starting to wonder if you're the only one who thinks something isn't right. You're not. And you're not overthinking it. Mouth breathing, snoring, chronic fatigue, bed-wetting, teeth grinding, dark circles, difficulty...

Life + Culture

Where Every Dog Has Its Day

A day in the life of Santa Barbara's happiest dogs. Article by Matt DeMarcus | Photography by Provided Most dog owners have played the game. The tail starts wagging so fast someone inevitably asks: "What do you think is going through his head right now?" The answers are usually some version of: Treats. Squirrels. The beach. A ball. But on certain mornings, for a particular group of Santa Barbara dogs, the answer might be something else entirely. Is that the van? It is. It has to be...

Arts + Culture

Known Here

Four Santa Barbara families. Four different paths. One thing they all found. Article by Grace Galloway | Photography by Provided Ethan Morales was the only student in his graduating 8th-grade class. He was quiet and creative and had never set foot in a traditional high school. He didn't know a single person who would be at Bishop García Diego. When he walked onto campus for his tour, students who weren't even assigned to him fell into step beside him. His mother, Gigi, still remembers what he...

Life + Culture

Four Legs, Full Hearts

Pets, families, and the love that needs no explanation. Article by Lena Ibarra | Photography by Lena Britt Photography Some bonds don't need an introduction. They simply exist, and they exist unconditionally. In the way a dog curls at the feet of a sleeping newborn, in the way a child reaches up without looking to find a familiar paw, in the way a whole family leans together for a photo, and someone in the frame has four legs and absolutely no idea they're stealing the shot. I've spent more...