Santa Barbara: Foodie events and hotel specials for epicure.sb in October

Get your palates primed for October in Santa Barbara, set to become taste-bud heaven when epicure.sb rolls in. The monthlong series of over 90 events throughout the region will feature food-and-wine-related festivals, cooking classes, special dinners, art exhibits and more.

Here are samples to note from the smorgasbord: the California Avocado Festival (Oct. 2-4) and the Harbor & Seafood Festival (Oct. 10). The Santa Barbara Beer Festival is scheduled for Oct. 17, and, happening on the same day are a Global Gardens festival in Los Olivos and a Lemon Festival in a Santa Barbara park.

On Tuesdays throughout the month, top dining establishments will take turns hosting the Santa Barbara Chefs & Winemakers Dinner Series. From Oct. 24-25, wineries in downtown Santa Barbara invite you to an Urban Wine Trail Weekend. And insatiable bookworms might be interested in the Book Den’s “Santa Barbara Writes About Food” evenings. See the Santa Barbara tourism bureau’s calendar of events for more details on these and other events.

If a day trip isn’t enough to quell your hunger, hotels have created incentives to keep hold of you for a night or more, with some mouthwatering packages. Following is what Hotel Santa Barbara, situated a half-mile from the waterfront, is offering.

Hotel deal: For a two-night stay, the “wine-pairing dinner package” at Hotel Santa Barbara includes a stay in a king room; Continental breakfast (always included anyway); two tickets for the 90-minute, hop-on-hop-off Santa Barbara Trolley Tours (normally $19 per adult), and one three-course wine-pairing dinner for two at Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro ($100 value, not including gratuity). The restaurant is across the street from the hotel.

When/Cost: Available throughout October, stays Sunday through Thursday start at $249 for the first night and $149 for each additional night. Weekend rates start at $299 for the first night, $199 for each additional night. Rates cited here are pretax.

Tested: Right now, there is plenty of availability in October, save for a few nights. You can book online, or over the phone, but I recommend doing the latter and asking specifically for the sales department. This is a brand-new package, and the director of sales whom I spoke with mentioned possible flexibility (e.g., if king rooms are booked out for the date you want, she may be able to get you another type of room).

Contact: Hotel Santa Barbara (805) 957-9300

Photo: Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro is one venue participating in epicure.sb events. Credit: J. Sinclair

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 10:57 am by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Deals, Fall, Gourmet, Hotels, Santa Barbara. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.