San Ysidro Ranch's "The Stonehouse Restaurant",
Montecito (near Santa Barbara), California, USA

In 2004, the restaurant closed for a couple of years, apparently until the major remodeling project for the Ranch has been complete sometime in the second half of 2006. As I wrinte in February of 2006, the cottages down hill from reception and the restaurant are jacked up high in the air and bullgozers are grinding and puffing. However, the cottages uphill from the reception are open and a light Continental breakfast is being served guests. But we are leaving this review up since it does set the style and quality of the probable cuisine to come. When we have a chance to test the new restaurant under its new chef and greatly expanded foot print, we will post the review here.

Set in what was the sandstone built citrus packing house way back when "The San Ysidro Ranch" was a working ranch, "The Stonehouse Restaurant" and its cousin "The Plow and the Angel" retain the ambiance of this long established restaurant location but blossoms under the capable and talented hand of Executive Chef Jamie West. The cuisine is sophisticated American, very modern but resistant to the mayhem of conflicting tastes on the plate so common from today's young chefs. Chef West injects elements of south of the border into some dishes with well balanced infusions of spices and peppers.

© 2001 photos Peter D'Aprix

With the year-round growing season the mild climate of this coastal region provides, Chef West offers the freshest of ingredients for his dishes from the lovely formal potager he maintains which is part of the lovely, lush garden system of this gold Relais et Châteaux hotel "The San Ysidro Ranch" located on the foothills of the Santa Ynez mountains just above the village of Montecito. The idyllic setting of the Ranch provides a perfect backdrop to enjoy Chef West's cuisine either in the country elegance of the twin dining rooms or al fresco on the covered terrace that used to have a magnificent view of the Pacific and the Channel Islands before the rapid growth of the Eucalyptus trees blocked it out.

The dishes are well thought out, visually pleasing to the eye, use the finest ingredients and achieve an excellent balance of tastes. The servings tend to the overly generous, but to most diners that is hardly a criticism! A rich bevy of desserts are offered from the capable hand of pastry chef Sarah Lovald.

Lunch and dinner, though offered from different menus share many of the same plates with the dinner menu providing a wider selection. While the food is marvelous, it is not always consistent. The serving staff are cheerful and welcoming if slightly less than polished professionals. This is America after all. Not all dishes arrived complete but for the most part we were able to start our meal in concert.

Much to our delight as patrons from back in the '80's, we found that the restaurant has maintained it's simple and charming atmosphere with white washed stone walls, open beamed ceilings and comfortable bamboo chairs with woven backs and bottoms. Small silver vases held fragrant rose blossoms from the garden. Home baked breads with cheddar and flecks of onion arrived promptly still hot from the oven. Chef West's garden produced the heirloom tomato salad of red and yellow tomatoes with shaved Fennel, Pecorino Cheese, basil and aged Balsamic vinegar. At least it was supposed to. The first evening, the cheese was conspicuously missing. The second day, voila!, the cheese was in place and saved the lovely dish from the banality of the night before.

The Swedish Gravlax starter was very tasty though the honey mustard dill sauce needed to be used sparingly. Unlike the majority of the other dishes, generosity in serving size was not in evidence. A nice touch was the thimble of iced Aquavit which complemented the gravlax well. At lunch the warm mushroom and toasted hazelnut salad with Arugula, roasted shallots, balsamic vinegar and Sonoma goat cheese was superb. The main courses did not seem to suffer from the minor afflictions of some of the starters. The lunch salad Niçoise was very good served with a generous rare tuna steak sliced on top. The tortilla crusted salmon over poblano spiced mashed potatoes with tomato corn salsa was equally excellent. The vegetarian polenta Napoleon with Buffalo Mozzarella with grilled eggplant, spinach, tomatoes and grilled portobella mushrooms was tasty but the thick slabs of polenta tended to overwhelm the dish. Generosity here tends to be counter productive to the overall effectiveness of the plate.

At dinner taken on the covered and heated terrace as night fell was enchanting. The grilled "prime" filet of beef was superb done as lovers of truly rare beef like it. The oven roasted salmon with mustard herb crust was vastly enjoyed by our dinner partner who likes his salmon slightly on the well cooked side. His pesto gnocchi potatoes were a delight much to his frustration as we all poked our forks in more than once. The Asian spiced Muscovy duck breast with vegetable stir fry, wasabi mashed potatoes and a port wine sauce indeed exhibited more than a hint of spice. The rosemary scented Colorado lamb rack was very good. Unfortunately mustard was smeared on rather too generously and killed the delicate taste of the rosemary and the lamb itself. But the meat was cooked rare to a perfection.

The Ranch's' bistro "The Plow and the Angel" is located under the main restaurant. Its' menu shares many of the dishes of the Stonehouse Restaurant at more modest prices and servings. The bistro has a charming garden terrace as well as tables inside along with a bar, a juke box and a grand piano for live performances.

Chef West is a calm, pleasant presence with an excellent and extensive background first as a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York with many stints in fine restaurants, honored by many organizations. He gives a lot back to his culinary world teaching classes, encouraging young chefs, donating his time to fundraisers and industry organization. He hosts a weekly culinary creations segment on KEYT, the Santa Barbara TV station. In February 2001, he was chosen by Julia Child to present a side-by-side cooking demonstration and lunch with her at the Annual Masters of Food and Wine at the Highlands Inn in Carmel, California.

He was named "Chef of the Year" for southern California in 2000 by the American Tasting Institute. The same year he represented the prestigious Relais et Châteaux group, of which the Ranch is a member, as featured Chef at the James Beard House in New York and also appeared on The Early Show on CBS with Bryant Gumble who loved his Santa Barbara Tri-Tip steak so much he ate it all.

With all of his talent, we know that Chef West who has been with the Stonehouse Restaurant two years, will continue to seek perfection in the manifestation of his excellent cuisine as it arrives on the table for his guests.