Restaurants Archives - Two California Sisters

Sampling gourmet vegan food at Oliver’s in Montecito

vegan food Small plates Olivers Montecito CA — A few small plates to share

Reposting from June 2020: I’m heading to the Central Coast to see Kate and a few friends, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to repost one of Kate’s first updates. The vegan food really was delicious at Oliver’s!

Last night we ventured out for vegan food, our first dinner in a restaurant since COVID-19 arrived. My friend Lauren and her husband have rented a vacation house in Santa Barbara for the month of June to escape to the sun from Seattle. Lauren’s husband (who is also named Steve, like my husband) is a die hard vegan so we wanted to be good hosts and take him to the latest vegan food hotspot.

My husband and I very rarely eat even vegetarian meals, so we were a little skeptical going into it. I had heard rumors that the food was good (despite being vegan) from a few non-vegan friends. And when I looked at the Oliver’s site, I knew it was going to be a beautiful space. And it was time for us to broaden our vegan food horizons.

Anniversary prix fixe dinner at First and Oak in Solvang

We have lived in the Santa Ynez Valley for 6 months or so now and felt we had our arms around the restaurant scene until last week. We live close to the Danish town of Solvang and often walk our dog Lolly through the neighborhood. We stumbled open a restaurant called First and Oak last week. We decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary with a prix fixe dinner at First and Oak this past week. Wow! We found a good one.

Quick reviews of the coffee shops of Santa Ynez Valley

Kate and Steve recently relocated from Santa Barbara to the Santa Ynez Valley. I’ve only spent a day or two in the area, so when Kate gave me the chance to dogsit for 10 days, I jumped at it. And one of my main activities was trying out a variety of coffee shops in Santa Ynez Valley. Here are my quick reviews for the ones I tried out.

three dogs on leashes — It is surprisingly challenging to walk three dogs at the time. I earned my coffee each morning

More Sondheim! And lunch in North Beach

Part of being an empty-nester is being able to spend more time with your spouse. And for Dear Husband, that seems to involve seeing a Sondheim production whenever possible 🙂 This time, we ventured into San Francisco. And he lured me in with the promise of lunch in North Beach.

Wrapping up our Yountville trip with a few quick recommendations

I’ve already shared with you our fun dinner at the RH restaurant and lunch and mud baths in Calistoga. But we packed a lot into our Yountville trip, and I want to share a few final recommendations before wrapping this topic up. (for now!)

Perhaps the best part of a trip to Yountville? Spending time with people and pups that you love

Checking out the new Four Seasons in Calistoga

During our recent jaunt to Yountville over Sophie’s spring break, we stopped by the new Four Seasons in Calistoga. We walked around the property and had a terrific lunch at the poolside restaurant, Campo. It looks like it’s going to be an amazing long weekend spot once things warm up a bit.

Reliable classics at magical RH restaurant in Yountville

I have mixed feelings about Restoration Hardware (now RH) as a brand. I love their towels, their outdoor furniture- but everything is SO expensive. Even the outlet nearby is not a great source of deals. But I appreciate that they are trying to diversify- with hotels and restaurants. So when we were planning a family trip to Yountville, I made reservations for dinner at the RH restaurant one evening.

An anniversary hike and a delish lunch in Oakland

It has been raining A LOT in the Bay Area. But Dear Husband and I refused to let that stop us from hiking and having lunch in Oakland to celebrate the anniversary of our meeting. So we set out for the Skyline Trail in Oakland and started the 5 mile round trip hike.

Skyline Staging Gate Trail — Spooky trail!

Casual friendly lunch at Heroic Italian in Berkeley

It’s great fun to try new places around the Bay Area. Restaurants have had a tough time of it over the past few years. And so many places have gone out of business- perhaps forever? So when I find a cool place to try, I try to organize an outing asap. We need to do our best to keep experiences like lunch at Heroic Italian in business!

Happy birthday dinner at Montesacro in Walnut Creek

We celebrated Dear Husband’s birthday with a terrific dinner at Montesacro in Walnut Creek. And as a bonus, I found a great housewarming gift idea! 🙂