Tag Archives: santa ynez

S.Y. Kitchen Round 2

28 Jun

ArtichokeThis past week, we went back to S.Y. Kitchen with my parents. The meal was just as tasty as the first time we went. The table shared an order of the baked artichoke. This was beyond awesome. It was prepared with parmesan and fresh thyme. I also had their special avocado salad.

Avocado SaladThis was big enough that I wished I hadn’t ordered a main dish. But I did. For my entrée, I had the Oak Grilled Prime Natural Angus New York Steak.

Angus New York SteakThis was served with arugula, parmigiano and balsamic. It was very good but I ended up taking most of it home since I was pretty full at this point. That didn’t stop me from ordering dessert though. They have one gluten-free labeled item on their dessert menu. It is an almond chocolate cake.

Almond Chocolate CakeI liked that it wasn’t too chocolaty. This restaurant is becoming my favorite reason to take a drive to the wine country!

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S.Y. Kitchen

22 May

Tomato SaladLast night, we decided to head to Santa Ynez for a change in scenery. First, we stopped at one of my favorite boutiques, Ladybug, to check out their latest merchandise. Then we headed down the street to try the new restaurant in Santa Ynez, S.Y. Kitchen. I started with the special tomato salad which had tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and olives along with fresh goat cheese. The ingredients were very simple but it was very fresh and flavorful. For my main dish, I had gluten-free pasta with a duck ragu that had tomato, thyme and porcini mushrooms.

Duck Ragu PastaI usually avoid any and all dishes that have the word mushroom in the description. However, the people next to us were eating this dish and it looked amazing. The waiter assured me that they cook the gluten-free pasta in a separate pot and use a clean colander and utensils. This dish was so hearty that I found it difficult to finish. We also shared an order of the sauteed spinach.

Sauteed SpinachThe spinach was very good and was finished quite quickly. There was a gluten-free dessert on the menu that I was thinking about ordering. But the waiter didn’t come by for 25 minutes after dropping off the dessert menu, so by the time he did, I had decided against it. I really liked the feel of this restaurant. It had a rustic farmhouse vibe to it. I also love the drive along the 154, so I can definitely see us returning!

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Dos Carlitos

2 Mar

Dos Carlitos in Santa Ynez is owned by the same owner as Carlitos and Cava. For this reason, we thought it was very important to try it out to make sure that it was as tasty as its sister restaurants. We started with the nachos which were very good. I then had the grilled chicken salad which was served with avocado, grilled peppers, corn tomatoes, scallions and a vinaigrette.

There was so much chicken in this salad that I couldn’t come close to finishing it, but it made for great leftovers later on!

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Los Olivos Cafe and Mini Horses

27 Dec

I had the day off today so we drove into Los Olivos for lunch at the Los Olivos Cafe. I had a Caesar Salad without croutons and with grilled chicken. We also ordered the Roasted Local Vegetables which was supposed to include roasted garlic, fresh mozzarella and tapenade, but for some reason, ours didn’t have the mozzarella. This made us sad. After lunch, we went to Quicksilver Ranch in-between Solvang and Ballard. Miniature horses are quite funny looking. I highly recommend this place if you have kids or if you just want to laugh.

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