California
Healthy & Peruvian Spiced Blend at Blue Tavern
Newly
opened Blue Tavern, located at 121 State Street in Santa
Barbara, is the brain child of Chef Ricardo Zarate
and business partner Stephane Bombet of Chef
Zarate Restaurant Group. Zarate, a native Peruvian has skillfully
blended typical California fare, including pizza, pasta and grilled
meats with the favorite flavors of Peruvian cooking. The talented
restaurant group now have four dining venues that include Blue
Tavern, Mo-chica, Picca, and Paichewhich all feature
a relaxed ambiance where guests savor the inspirations of Zarate's
heritage.
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Peruvian-Style
Chicken, Potatoes, & Wedge Salad
"I
always try to blend inspiration from my past and present when
I create a menu," Zarate said in a statement. "To update
classic Californian dishes with ingredients from my country, along
with produce from local farmers markets, is a culmination of decades
of cooking, which I am looking forward to introducing to Santa
Barbara."
Steamed mussels and chorizo with aji Amarillo butter and lime
juice
Zarate,
a 2011 Food & Wine Best New Chef and two-time James Beard
Foundation Award semifinalist for Best Chef: West, has mastered
the merging of Californian techniques and Peruvian ingredients
throughout his menus. A delicious beet, tomato, and burrata salad
tossed in a huacatay-pesto dressing or steamed mussels and chorizo
with aji Amarillo butter and lime juice, along with Zarate's entire
menu represent Peruvian style perfectly blended with California
fresh. The modern space features a wood-burning oven, where the
culinary team produces delicious hand-tossed pizzas topped with
prosciutto, goat cheese, and burrata and finished with huacatay
pesto. A chocolate lava cake with ice cream is a sweet ending
at Blue Tavern.
The Chocolate Lava Cake with ice cream
Acclaimed
mixologist Deysi Alvarez offers original cocktails that are a
blend of cultures and her cocktail menu features drinks made with
unique tinctures. The Mojito de Martinique is made with Clement
Rum VSOP and clement cane syrup. The Margarita combines Espolon
tequila, orange reduction, lime juice, agave nectar and Gusano
salt for a refreshing change. Palma Fizz 12 puts a refreshing
Peruvian twist on a standard vodka style cocktail. The Blue Tavern's
wine list is focused on local vintners, and many of these wines
have tasting rooms in the Funk Zone, located a few blocks from
the restaurant.
The Blue Tavern's Palma Fizz
Blue
Tavern seats 60 inside and 30 on the patio, and is connected to
Hotel Indigo, which offers room service from the restaurant. Breakfast,
lunch and dinner are served daily from 7 a.m.
Blue
Tavern
121
State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
http://bluetavernsb.com/
By Bonnie Carroll
www.lifebitesnews.com