Santa Barbara

After spending time relaxing in Monterey, we packed back up and headed down south…off to Santa Barbara!

I was driving so my personal hand model Kyle snapped this picture for me.

I thought we could forge ahead without any detours, but we hit some serious traffic so a stop in San Luis Obispo for lunch was very necessary.  As good as it is, Strawberry Serenity Kombucha does not a meal make.

What is Mondeo?  I’m still not quite sure…

As far as I could tell the restaurant had meal concepts (for lack of a better word) that could be made into either salads or wraps.  While none of the options were vegan, any of the meats could be substituted with sautéed tofu. 

I went with the Southwestern Ranch, with a few changes.

On a bed of romaine, there were black beans, grilled corn, tortilla chip confetti strips, and a scoop of guacamole…plus a few slabs of tofu and a side of balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  Not sure the dressing went with the southwestern theme, but I certainly wasn’t down with the ranch dressing! 

After refueling, we were back on the road…

We arrived in SB early in the evening – just in time to hit up my sister’s grad parties (that sounds way more creeper than it was).  Since the hosts were  parents not broke-ass college kids, there was a significant amount of quality booze.  I was wined and dined without any photo evidence 🙁

On Saturday, my baby sis graduated, and the whole family gathered to celebrate her success. 

And very quickly after, we made sure we found the nearest bar to watch as much of the US vs. England game.  Peabody’s had a bar and it was within walking distance of our lunch reservation, so it ended up being the perfect location.

I ordered a mimosa (and then another), since I’m a born again lush (and loving every minute of it).

Afterwards we all continued our partying ways over lunch at Cava, a Latin influenced restaurant in Montecito (with Spanish, Mexican, and South American flavors).

As you can see, we were rolling pretty deep. 

We got pitchers of margarita and sangria for the table.  Don’t mind if I do.

Chips and guac

Tortilla espanola (I miss you Barcelona!)

For those unfamiliar with the gloriousness that Spain has to offer, get yourself a este pais inmediatamente!  I gladly abandoned my eggless-eating-ways for a slice of tortilla espanola.  It’s kinda like a quiche (for lack of a better description) made with potato and egg (but way better).  I don’t my GI tract doesn’t really hate on eggs, so I have no prob being veganish every once in a while, as opposed to strictly and completely animal free.

My nephew agrees…

First of all, how adorable is he?!?  And secondly, how insane is it that he is already 14 months old and this is only the FIRST time I am meeting him?  Damn it’s good to be back in Cali.  He is following suit in his Auntie E’s footsteps – check out that plate of hippie eats!

Minus the ranch dressing, the kid has good taste!  Chickpeas, cukes, kidney beans, and peas, what’s not to like?!?  And he’s frickin’ adorable too.  Clearly he needs to become a regular on HHH (and he will if I have any say in the matter).

As for my lunch…

Salad beast much? 

The online menu (which I scoped out beforehand like a true foodie does) was different than the one they had.  No matter, I found a salad perfectly fit for my drunk face – the grilled vegetables in a tostada bowl.

 

I requested that they hold the queso por favor, but the dairy-free request was only half carried out since there was an unknown creamy substance (ew) drizzled atop my cheese-less salad.  Crafty girl that I am, I managed to dodge the suspect white sauce.  Also, you can’t see in the photos, but there was a warm corn tortilla and refried beans buried underneath all the veggies…tres yum.

The rest of the day was spent by the pool and regaining my sobriety.  Rough life.

For dinner we went to an Indian restaurant called Flavor of India.

Flavor of India has been voted best Indian restaurant in Santa Barbara for the last 13 years…and has been recognized time and time again for their outstanding cuisine.  The walls were covered with awards.  Can’t argue with those stats.

We started with a double order of vegetable samosas and two different types of naan (one plain, and one Peshwari). 

The Peshwari naan was stuffed with raisins and nuts and baked in the tandoori oven…it basically tasted like a PB&J naan (read: it was heavenly).

I really like naan, but I managed to practice a little self control and only had one piece of each because I was holding out for the main courses. 

Our entrees included:

Chana masala

Aloo Gobhi

Tandoori Chicken (not for moi)

Chicken Saag (also not for moi)

Garlic naan

And rice rice baby (this platter times 3)

This was my first helping…and let me just say, OMG, this was officially THE best chana masala I have ever tasted. 

I polished off the rest of it on my second plate.  The aloo gobhi was also delightful, and if I hadn’t been stuffed to the bone already, I would have finished that dish as well.  So good. 

Talk about a jam packed weekend.  To be continued…