Feb 8, 05:07 PM by Steve | I'm a lazy bum
Posted in Food & Site
Ok, so I have this blog and I’ve been totally negligent in updating it. As you can see aside from Kim’s Velodrama post, its been over a year since I’ve written something. That’s going to change. Today. I’ve been reading Marco’s blog pretty regularly and it has inspired me to get off my butt and update mine.
I’ve been dealing with some health issues which have slowed me down a bit of late (I’ll write something about that soon), but things have improving recently and generally I’ve been feeling pretty good.
One fun thing that I’ve been doing is exploring the local food scene and writing up what I’ve found for the John Dickson’s SantaBarbara.com Restaurant Guide and food forum. I had used this guide extensively last year while I made a game of riding all over town trying to ‘hit’ every food establishment, until my aforementioned health issues got in my way. Recently as my health has been improving I’ve been getting back into it and started correponding with John.
Smoothie Agent Steve: In his January 19th entry, he announced a new smoothie category for his guide and on the 25th put out a call for others to join my smoothie task force and email me if they spot a rogue blender seeking refuge in a restaurant or coffee shop near you. Well let me tell you, I am intimately familiar with the smoothie scene from Goleta to Ventura and I took this as a call to action, having sampled these frozen drinks from the gods in every nook and cranny I could find. I emailed him a giant list of places that serve smoothies, and in his entry for the next day he gave me “command” of the task force. And for what it’s worth, I think that Cafe Luna in Summerland makes the best smoothies, but you have to like surprises because you never know what you are going to get!
Those are the breaks: Last week I found myself at the Starbucks at the Camino Real marketplace while I was waiting for Roger at Bicycle Bob’s to fix my broken derailler cable (thanks for the emergency repair!), and saw they they had started serving breakfast sandwiches. According to the barrista, they had just started the previous day (1/30) and are available at all locations in town. 
The next day I was at the Fairview Starbucks and learned that they did not have the new breakfast sandwiches, and furthermore that the store would soon be closing for some time so that it could be gutted and remodeled. There is another Starbucks located in the Vons right next door, but I’m usually over there too late to get my fix; I may have to detour and ride over to Camino Real…
I need my Cinanmon Dolce: And in other Starbucks news, apparently you can buy bottles of any flavor syrup. I saw that they had bottles of Cinnamon Dolce for sale at the LaCumbre store and asked about the sugar free version, and was told that they can sell any of the flavors. This flavor is only going to be available until May and I plan to stockpile.
You say Panini, I say Panino: I rode by the future home of Panino Goleta Monday night and the door was open while they were working so I had a peek inside—it looked like they were almost done. 
I rode by again last night and it looked open; all the paper was off and the lights were on. I stopped there after my ride up Old San Macros & Painted Cave, and sure enough they were open for business (according to the nice girl at the counter they had just opened yesterday). The ambiance is very nice and the butcher block tables are a cute touch. I took pictures for the Santa Barbara.com restaurant guide, and one with me in it in case anyone wants to see what smoothie agent Steve looks like ;)
The shores of Pattaya: In Old Town Goleta, at the former location of Alex’s Cantina (next to Natural Cafe), there is a new sign up for “Pattaya bar & grill” and the building has a fresh coat of paint, but I don’t know anything else about it. However, it ocurred to me that it may be related to Appethai, which was located on Calle Real near Fairview, where Giovanni’s is now. When they lost their lease (because the owners of the building were going to put up office buildings, which never materialized…), I had heard they were going to relocate to Old Town but that never happened. Putting 2 and 2 together it seems likely but it is nothing but pure peculation on my part. John is much more connected into the local food gossip scene so I an hoping he knows more about it.
Food Forum Fest: Finally, I’m looking forward to the food forum fest; I’d be interested to meet John and other like-minded readers.
