First off: Happy New Year!

We hope everyone is enjoying the beginnings of 2026. As you probably heard, we took a few days off after the 1st, deciding to head up to Santa Ynez and visit a few of our favorite places. Here's a brief tour:

After some wicked rain on the backside of San Marcos Pass (not our intended route but the 101 was closed), we arrived at our first stop:

Bar Le Cote

First off, the wine list is wonderful with tons of options including a wonderful Txakolina, dry Riesling, local Albarino, and a selection of top-notch Champagnes; perfect wines for their seafood-centric menu. We settled on one of our favorite Champagnes from Nicolas Maillart; an extra brut that paired perfectly with the crudo plate and also with Branzino and its exceptionally perfect crispy skin; a feat hard to master.

We eventually checked in to The Genevieve Hotel and found ourselves in a true lovely room. Fireplace with sitting area, oversized bathroom with large tub and seperate shower, large bed, dramatic ceilings and a balcony with views of the Santa Ynez mountains off in the distance.

With dinner reservations quickly approaching we left the hotel, walked around the corner and entered one of our favorite spots: SY Kitchen.

One look at the menu and you realize it's going to be difficult making decisions. So we started with an easy one: Agrapart Champagne. While sipping we perused the menu finally arriving at a few lovely options.

Our first plate was a Yellow Beet Salad that our dear friend continues to call, "UNSTOPPABLE!".

It truly is a magical thing. The dish consists of shaved beetroot (nearly see-through), hazelnuts, goat cheese, pickled plum spice, fresh lemon, and thyme. Perfectly seasoned, well balanced, with just the right amount of texture.

Before moving along we had our server decant a bottle of 2016 Cavallotto Barolo Riserva Bricco Boschis Vigna San Giuseppe (we had removed the cork hours before, but it still had some waking up to do).

Our pasta course was a Kabocha Squash Tortelli with brown butter, sage, and toasted hazelnuts. Turns out this was perfect to share with the table and with a small to-go container. Lovely richness, perfectly crafted pasta; all in all a homerun.

First sips of the Barolo were fairly mind blowing. Elegance, class, energetic. It was an all-star pairing with the special of the day and our main course: heirloom bone-in pork chop seasoned to perfection topped with roasted black trumpet mushrooms (pretty sure here), and surrounded with roasted potatoes. Huge portion, savory, delightful, really difficult to stop eating. Last sips of the Barolo showed us that wow, is this one going to shine in a few more years.

The next morning, on advice from the owners of Alcazar on the Mesa here in SB, we went for cappuccinos.

But not just any place, and not for just any cappuccino. We took a short stroll through Santa Ynez, crossed a creek happily flowing, and arrived at Queen Cup Coffee. Great vibe here, expertly pulled espresso shots, and a daringly great cappuccino. Perfectly textured foam, deeply layered flavors, and a bright savory finish. We had two...each.

Fast forward to the car ride home in -finally- brilliant sunshine, and we stopped (how could we not) at NaNa Thai in Buelton, home of Bangkok Street Food.

Once again we began with Champagne; actually a bottle of our best selling holiday Champagne from importer Kermit Lynch: J. Lassalle Brut Reserve Cachet Or.

We got down to business quickly as hungry was turning to hangry.
We said yes to the crudo plate of the day after hearing the word Yellowtail; not sure what the rest of the description was but it was one of the highlights of the entire journey.

Pur Dang or crab chips with sweet chili sauce arrived next. Never had a crab chip? These are thoroughly addicting.

A steaming bowl of green curry arrived next along with an order of cashew chicken. To be honest cashew chicken has never been a highlight of, well, anything when we've ordered it in years passed. This was the first dish finished with chopsticks fighting over the last few bits.
As for the curry the flavors were deep, spiced, and perfect.

Nana Thai has a seasonal fried rice dish of the day and as luck was on our side it turned out to be Duck Confit fried rice. We ordered that too. Huge portion of fried rice with a large confited duck leg dressing the top. Wow!

We finally had to call it as another bite would have induced food comas.

A discussion about lunch on the drive back to Santa Barbara revealed two thoughts about NaNa Thai: The food was as good as Slanted Door in its older days when it catered to a small crowd and attention to detail was insane.

And the wine list at Nana Thai is one of the best around. Where else are you going to find a bottle of Tissot Cremant du Jura or a Peter Lauer Riesling. As for red, come on, Mee Godard? We would have stayed for dinner just to order that wine with their Pad Gra Pao.

Renegade is back to work and looking forward to the new year. We are here 11-6pm the rest of the week. Saturday from Noon until 6pm.

We'll leave you with a final photo. Renae's Bouquet supplied Renegade with flower arrangements for over 20 years before she moved her business up to the valley. It's great to see they're still around.

Happy New Year!