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living | Food & Drink + + + + + + + food@independent.com l TASTING ROOMS PAUL WELLMAN
/sbindyfood
@sbindyfood NUTRITION PAUL WELLMAN
SANFORD COMES DOWNTOWN D
Winery Opens Tasting Room in La Arcada espite being headquartered in a veritable winemaking palace out toward Lompoc on Santa Rosa Road, the team at Sanford Winery just opened a tasting room in Santa Barbara’s La Arcada Court, one of the most picturesque places in all of downtown. Last week, winemaker Steve Fennell, who lives on the Mesa, told me a little bit about why. HEALTHY & HAPPY: The Imlak’esh Organics team of (from left) Carrisa Hayes, Tucker Garrison, and Philip Richardson are importing South American foods and supporting “eco-social” causes.
where a lot of people who come up for the day aren’t interested in spending that whole day driving around the valley, so this offers an alternative. It’s very different, but the fact that there are some high-quality wineries with tasting facilities in Santa Barbara proper that are all close together is a choice that people can act on. This is a gateway, and we’re really encouraging people to go visit the winery. We’ll set up private tours and tastings and make that experience very special. It’s a gorgeous facility on Santa Rosa Road, but it’s also a little bit remote. tion, a beautiful part of town, and we like how close it is to the Museum of Art and music venues. The building itself is historic, and that fits very well with the winery’s architecture, and the owners are really terrific people. They keep it up impeccably and are actively interested in the health of their tenants’ businesses. There has never been a tasting room in the immediate area, but there are a couple art galleries and some restaurants, so we thought it was really a complementary fit. We’ve been really happy. How did you decide on La Arcada? It’s a great loca-
You’ve got a beautiful winery and tasting room in the Sta. Rita Hills, so why open another one in downtown Santa Barbara? We’re seeing a trend
URBAN ADDITION: Sanford Winery’s Steve Fennell and Jami McDowell are happy to be pouring in La Arcada.
INTRODUCING
high wine quality that we think is on par with the best in the area, and we’re very proud of the location and what we’ve done inside. We think it really works well with the casual elegance of the winery. And really just having above-and-beyond hospitality. We’ve got a very good manager in Jami McDowell, who is passionate about wine, incredibly warm and friendly with a good level of wine sophistication, but not pretentious in the least bit.
What sets your tasting room apart? We have very
IMLAK’ESH ORGANICS
— Matt Kettmann
W PATRICK REYNOLDS
Superfoods
now open daily, noon - 6 p.m. (Sun.Thu.) and noon - 7 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.), in La Arcada Court, 1114 State Street, Suite 26. See sanfordwinery .com or call 770-7873 for more info.
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Sanford Winery’s tasting room is
FARM TO BAR
hile many resolutions include eating healthier, Imlak’esh Organics’ line of artisan products promises a year-round resolution for transformative well-being. Bringing quality nutrition to the public while directly supporting indigenous farming communities, the company hopes to preserve a world for the future. “At our core, our mission is to facilitate and inspire an eco-social vision of food that’s place-based,” said founder Tucker Garrison,“the idea that your food comes from somewhere, that it has a story.” Starting small in an apartment in Isla Vista, the company was born of a vision that Garrison, Carissa Hayes, and Philip Richardson shared as students. In 2012, Garrison made his first trip to Peru, explaining,“I had this yearning in my heart for years to go to Peru. I threw on my backpack, had a one-way ticket, and went to South America. The suppliers I work with are the people I met along the journey.” The company now sells more than 10 products, all sourced directly from small farms and cooperatives. Last month, they raised more than $66,000 on Kickstarter, with hopes to build their own warehouse and production space. Dedicated to donating 5 percent of its annual profits to build more eco-social projects, Imlak’esh Organics is dedicated to ensuring that quality comes before inventory, living consciously with each product they sell. Here’s a sampling of the menu:
by Rachel Hommel
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ocktails known today as “shrubs” go back to colonial times, when farmers first started employing vinegar purely for preservation. A little vinegar goes a long way, especially when refrigeration was usually the coldest corner of your basement. What I did for my shrub, the Thai Phün, was combine rice wine vinegar with a cold-pressed syrup of ginger, lemongrass, cucumbers, Thai chiles, and jasmine flowers. Cold-pressed syrups are fun because the only moisture used to liquefy sugar is from the fruits and vegetables in the mix. Think about simple syrup; now imagine the one part water being purely from your base muddling component. What’s that equal? Flavor. Patrick Reynolds, Wildcat Lounge, and The Santa Barbara Independent are hosting a Farmers Market Craftsman Cocktail Competition featuring eight professional bartenders on January 21, 5-9 p.m., at Wildcat, 15 West Ortega Street. Call 962-7970 for information.
by Patrick Reynolds
Maca Powder: Cultivated above 12,500 feet in the Andes, this powerful adaptogenic plant contains high levels of calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium. Known to increase stamina and vigor, the powder is also a great hormone balancer, helping to reduce stress within the body.“If there’s one thing I can recommend to people, it would be to take maca every day,” said Garrison. “It’s a whole-body wellness tonic.” Sacha Inchi: This calorie-dense nut is composed of 33 percent protein and is an excellent source of omega-s. Grown in partnership with a group of family farmers fighting against oil drilling in the Amazon basin, purchases help aid their fight to reforest logged areas of rainforest.“This is a great vegetarian alternative to fish oil,” said Garrison,“and the more you eat, the more trees get planted!” Golden Berries: With one of the highest protein contents of any berry, this sweet and tart superfood, sourced in partnership with an association in the highlands of the Andes, is rich in antioxidants, and one handful is equivalent to more than 1,000 percent of your daily vitamin C.“It’s like nature’s Sour Patch Kids plus Emergen-C,” said Garrison.“They are delicious.” Imlak’esh Organics can be found at Isla Vista Co-op, Yoga Soup, Juice Ranch, Isabella Gourmet Foods, Backyard Bowls, or online at imlakeshorganics.com. january 16, 2014
When sugar is sprinkled over any fruit or vegetable, it extracts the moisture just like salt. It also liquefies itself, so all you’re left with is one part sugar to one part fruit water — a simple syrup that’s not so simple but 100 percent flavor. Add gin (I ’d use Hendrick’s because of its cucumber notes) and garnish with cilantro. Then sense memories of a sweet night in Bangkok without the cute man-lady.
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oz. Thai shrub (as described above) oz. Hendrick’s Gin leaves cilantro for garnish Serve in 2 martini glasses.
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