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at The Santa Barbara Inn December is here and with it cold nights, crisp evenings, and every excuse to stay inside and enjoy some world class cuisine. It didn’t take long for David, CT, and I to decide where we could find this perfect mixture. One of our favorite spots in Santa Barbara is Santa Barbara Inn’s Citronelle Restaurant. Beyond the incredible views and great service, there is the culinary genius of Chef Patrick Becquet to appease your appetite and excite your palette. The restaurant offers sweeping views of East Beach and Stearn’s Wharf along with an elegant dining area and Provence style decor. Citronelle specializes in California-French cuisine combining Chef Patrick’s French upbringing and culinary training with a distinct Santa Barbara flair. David happens to be good friends with Chef Patrick and we were offered a 7-course tasting menu prepared especially for our trio. Of course we said yes and got ready for some truly amazing dishes. We started off the evening with a cocktail and with our first course moved on to a bottle of Carina Cellars 2004 Clairvoyant. For those of you who have tried this Rhone blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache you know how well it starts off an evening. The smooth berry flavors and long chocolate finish were a perfect match for our first few courses. For our second bottle of wine we opened our 2003 Iconoclast, which is the newest release in the tasting room. We finished off our dinner with a half-bottle of Champagne, which any wine drinker will tell you is the perfect way to end a night. Although this is a restaurant review the exact details of our dinner are blurry since there was no written menu. I remember having tuna tartare, portabella mushrooms, halibut, foie gras, veal chop and ice cream covered in a chocolate shell. I would advise my readers to check out Citronelle’s website for a sample menu. I will tell you that everything was amazing and I highly recommend a romantic evening at this fabulous restaurant. |
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