OPENING
MORE FOOD
FUNK ZONE
SEE P. 73
GLOBAL GARDENS CAFÉ OPENS IN LOS ALAMOS
RESIDENT ALIENS: Owner Martin Brown (right) and manager Chad Nassif keep curious wines flowing at Area 5.1.
Local Food Scores an Olive-Oil-Led Menu by George Yatchisin
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’m trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up,” jokes Theo Stephan, who has just opened Global Gardens’ Caliterranean Café in Los Alamos. She started her olive-oil and gourmetfood business in 1998, opened a storefront in Los Olivos in 2006, and says of her latest venture, “I always told the kids I’d never open a restaurant, so I’m calling this a culinary and tasting experience. It’s my excuse to get the commercial kitchen and the baker’s oven I always wanted.” Seriously, the spot is adding to Los Alamos’s ever-growing foodie cred, with Stephan developing a different menu each week to CALITERRANEAN: Soak up some delicious, olive serve lunch and dinner, Thursdayoil–starring fare at Global Gardens Café, the latest Sunday. “We post the menu on culinary addition to Los Alamos’ Bell Street. Facebook as our new website is under construction,” she explains. “Whenever we did tastings, people would say And if you eat outside at the new location, to us, ‘I want to come to your house for dinyou might be dining right where your food ner,’ and now they can.” came from — there are Montecito Urban The menus feature Stephan’s signature Farms Tower Gardens, planters along the food style Caliterranean — that’s a portwalls, and even plants growing in the buildmanteau of Californian and Mediterranean, ing’s gutters.“They are not just for show, oh awash in the fine olive oil she produces.“Cali- my gosh, no,” Stephan insists.“We did at least terranean eating is a more plant-based diet, a dozen salads from our own gardens last 85 percent vegetarian, but we also serve meat weekend, and that’s just going to increase. and cheese,” says Stephan, who is especially We’re also planting a much larger garden in fond of serving DeyDey’s Best Beef Ever,“the the back.” most perfectly marStephan is sharing bled grass-fed beef her spot with the Casa Delight in the deliI’ve worked with.” Dumetz tasting room, ciously local at Global A typical weekly recently expanded and Gardens’ Caliterranean Café (380 Bell menu features five moved down the Bell St., Los Alamos). Call 344-2222 or visit or six well-priced Street block. “It’s been globalgardensonline.com. mains and three desfantastic,” Stephan says. serts. The mains will “Sonja [Magdevski, include a daily dip and a protein power plate, owner and winemaker at Casa Dumetz] and but those change with the seasons — recent I have so much in common — her parents are offerings included either a curry or Kalafrom the same region in Macedonia that my mata-olive yogurt dip with veggies, a ciabatta father is from. We’re not business partners, roll and focaccia square, and a protein plate of but our core business philosophy is the same. roasted almonds, Holey Cow “Swiss” cheese, And we hope this spot is a place to pull up a chèvre cheese balls, and olives. “If people eat barstool to eat or taste and chat. We have a here, they’re going to taste something really great sisterhood, and I think it’s going to get fresh that tastes really good,” Stephan asserts. stronger and stronger.” “I’m big on creating intense and memorable It’s Stephan’s daughter Ani who is the drivflavors.” ing force behind the ice creams, as she’s loved She also wants you to be able to replicate them since she was very young: As Stephan the meals at home, claiming, “We have an area says,“Her sister would take money for good in the store called ‘Now Playing’ that shows grades; she’d take ice cream.” Of course at what products are in each week’s menu.” So if Global Gardens, the ice cream is olive-oil you like your meal, you can buy that Califorbased, which means “it has a different creaminia Estate Mission Blood Orange Extra Virness” that leads Stephan to claim,“We really gin Olive Oil or Mexican Chipotle Mustard want to take the ice cream somewhere.” For — perhaps even the Olive Oil and Vinegar now, you just have to take yourself to Los for Life cookbook — and get Caliterranean in Alamos to enjoy it. There will be a pumpkin your own home kitchen. flavor all through the fall. ■
4·1·1
Bizarre Bottlings
in a Bunker
You Are Now Entering
T
by Matt Kettmann
Area 5.1 Winery
he newest wine face in the exponing this project on his own but with wines nentially buzzing Funk Zone draws made by his brother and lots of help from its interior design cues from the manager Chad Nassif — takes that notion of midcentury bomb shelter palette, anti-formal into a whole new, well, dimension, but the biggest explosion seems to have even throwing up flat-screen TVs that have already happened inside the walls, where become popular with the Saturday college the traditional tasting-room experience has football crowd. It’s certainly not for purists, been blown to but for the growing smithereens. crowds — dare we say “This is the it: millennials! — who funky, groovy, enjoy interesting Equinox (2012): This fruity blend of rich post–Cold War wines in unpretenwhite Rhône varietals viognier, roussanne, bunker that is Area tious ways, Area . marsanne, and grenache blanc gets extra .,” said Martin might as well be called pickup and zest from the addition of the Brown, surrounded Ground Zero. Spanish grape albariño. “Spain’s not that far by graffiti-esque The inspiration from the Rhône,” said Martin Brown. $24 spray paintings of itself came from when • aliens, folders full the Brown brothers Majestic 12 (2012): An ode to the clandesof tasting notes got their green cards tine crew of scientists, generals, and bureaustamped “Top a few years back and crats who were tasked to ponder human life Secret,” and a miliheard the official say after alien contact, this blend of sangiovese, tary chalkboard that they were now barbera, and nebbiolo “are not the Italian varietals that typically go hand-in-hand,” featuring a grid of “resident aliens.” Jokes said Brown. “There’s a little Piedmont, a little Air Force fighter about Area ensued, Tuscany, and a little Po River.” $28 squadrons. And to until Martin realized • match the curious it would be a good décor of the new name for a winery. Collusion (2012): Heavily leaning on syrah from three blocks of one Happy Canyon Area . Winery Fast-forward to the vineyard with a nice chunk of mourvèdre and on East Yanonali redevelopment of the a tiny bit grenache, “this is a GSM with not Street, Brown Bay Café property much G,” said Brown, who also has a habit of is offering wine into the Anacapa calling the mourvèdre “mataró” as they do in blends that are Project, and Area . his native Australia. $32 equally wacky, such — slightly revamped as the White Light for fears of possible , featuring sautrademark infringevignon blanc mixed with chenin blanc mixed ment — finally found a home, originally slated with sémillon to deliver both citrusy crispto be in the building where The Lark is but ness and tropical character.“I feel that unique eventually settling into the long building styles of wine are catching a lot of attention,” along Yanonali. he explained.“So we are working on really Though Area . is less than two months unique blends that we treat like secrets, where old, Brown is already pleased with his crowds, no one knows exactly what’s in them.” thanks in large part to the healthy cross-proOriginally hailing from Adelaide, Austramotion going on with all of the tasting rooms, lia, Brown and his brother Mike — an early restaurants, and other businesses in the Funk adopter of Santa Barbara wine country, havZone.“There is a nice relationship amongst ing worked at Santa Ynez Winery in the early everyone down here,” he said of the neighbor1980s before stops at Mosby and Buttonwood hood.“This is now a destination on its own.” — have spent the past decade building Kalyra Winery into a “relaxed and approachable” Area 5.1 Winery is located place to learn to love wine, both at the valon East Yanonali Street but ley winery on Refugio Road and the tasting technically at 137 Anacapa Street, Unit B. room down the street in the Funk Zone. Call 770-7251 or see a51wine.com. With Area ., Martin — who’s officially run-
Wacky Wines We Like
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october 24, 2013
THE INDEPENDENt
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PAUL WELLMAN
living | Food & Drink CONT’D