CENTRAL CALIFORNIA | WEEKEND GETAWAYS
Exploring Santa Barbara's locally-grown food
Get a taste of the best gourmet and artisanal culinary treats that Santa Barbara has to offer.
MARKET FORAYS WITH LAURENCE HAUBEN
Saturday market shopping and cooking expeditions that began in spring 2007; the cost is $125 per person and includes a multi-course meal, local wines and recipe booklet so you can create the dishes at home. The forays are a good choice for a single traveler, couple or small group of friends. No previous cooking experience is required. Hauben also hosts weekday market feasts in conjunction with a local restaurant; in spring and summer she does fruit-picking and canning forays. "What I want to stress is that you don't need a $500,000 kitchen, you don't need to go to culinary school for four years, and you don't need to wear a tall hat to cook good food for your family," she says.
Info: (805) 259-7229, www.marketforays.com.
FISHERMAN'S MARKET
A small dockside market at the Santa Barbara Harbor at Harbor Way. The market opens at 7:30 a.m. Saturdays, and its size depends on ocean conditions; offerings vary and may include live crab, a variety of rockfish, halibut; and spiny lobster during fall and winter months. The market closes when the the seafood is sold.
SANTA BARBARA CERTIFIED FARMERS MARKET
Open 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays at Santa Barbara and Cota streets downtown. The city also hosts smaller farmers markets during the week, including a Tuesday market in the 500 and 600 blocks of State Street (summer hours: 4 to 7:30 p.m.; winter hours: 3 to 6:30 p.m.). Along with fresh foods and flowers, visitors will find locally harvested lavender, olives, olive oil, pistachios, walnuts and honey. Info: (805) 962-5354, www.sbfarmersmarket.org.
C'EST CHEESE
Small, gourmet shop downtown with an excellent selection of cheeses.
Info: 825 Santa Barbara St; (805) 965-0318, www.cestcheese.com.
SLOW FOOD SANTA BARBARA
A group of cooks, farmers, restaurant owners, environmentalists and others that promotes locally produced food that reflects the region and hosts farm visits, school gardens and cooking demonstrations. Info: www.slowfoodsantabarbara.org.
GREEN SANTA BARBARA
Take a walk on the city's eco-friendly side; www.greensantabarbara.com.
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