Food 4 Thought: Restaurant Review - Four Seasons Afternoon Tea

Four Seasons Biltmore

1260 Channel Dr., Montecito

565-8237

Hours: Friday and Saturday, 2 to 4 p.m.

Afternoon Tea has a tradition dating back to the 1840s in England - though the origins of tea drinking stem from China. Allegedly Anna, 7^th Duchess of Bedford, was feeling a bit peckish in between the usual two mealtimes in England, breakfast and dinner, so the Duchess decided a pot of tea and a light snack would suffice. One thing lead to another and everyone copied her – meaning that afternoon tea became a socially accepted practice, thus resulting in tea parties. Ah, England. Though we hearty Americans won the war of Independence, the civility and properness of British afternoon tea can still be experienced at the most non-British of places, the Four Seasons Biltmore here in Santa Barbara, which has been offering tea since 1987. Is it a more formal experience? Yes. Should you go? Yes, at least once if you’ve never experienced it, and you needn’t wear wacky hats, but I do suggest it.

Wacky British Tea Hats!

The Full Afternoon Tea ($33) includes two courses; a first course of finger sandwiches and a second course of pastries, scones and other hedonistic snacks. There are a dozen teas to choose from: standard offerings like Earl Grey (rather proper, eh Giles?) to peppermint herbal, and Japanese sencha. You can upgrade to the Montecito Tea ($36), which adds a glass of Sherry, or the Royal Tea ($39), which adds a glass of Champagne or Kir Royale.

The finger sandwiches arrive first and these will change seasonally. My visit included a cranberry-turkey salad sandwich with spinach on sourdough with delightful savory note; a smoked salmon with watercress greens on pumpernickel topped with beets which is piquant but slightly overpowered by the bread; and a cucumber, Point Reyes blue cheese, arugula, mix on raisin walnut bread topped with sliced poached pears. The poaching of the pears however removes the citric notes, which would actually enhance the flavors.

The smoked salmon, watercress and pumpernickel

The desserts on the second course will rotate every week or so therefore some of these items will change. The three-tiered tray is loaded with strawberries dipped in chocolate all juicy and ripe with a thin, not a clunky thick, coating of chocolate on them. The coconut cookie is a tad dry but definitely has a preponderance of coconut. The small current scone is served warm and is best topped with the lemon curd.

I’ve never understood crumpets, a loose battered griddlecake, but they are terribly British. Even with a topping on them these traditional discus dough cakes do nothing for me. The coffee macaroon was soft and mild almost like a mini coffee break. The bite of cheesecake is supremely decadent and frankly way too small for something this good. It’s smooth as silk with a mild graham cracker crust and the strawberry topping makes this a perfect bite of food. The tartlet is made with blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry in a small square filled with custard. There’s a pleasing burst of fresh berry fruit balanced against the creamy custard and crisp pastry shell. Save the chocolate tart for last. This has a crisp cookie crust topped with a small gold decorative leaf and a stunning creamy dark chocolate-caramel center, all ideally balanced and the exclamation point of a great time. Of course there is the addition of small dishes of lemon curd a citric tart smooth wonderful curd; strawberry jam which is viscous and sweet; and Devonshire clotted cream which is surprisingly buttery yet mild for you to slather on whatever (or whomever) you want.

Food:          ★★★★

Service:       ★★★★

Ambience:   ★★★★

Afternoon Tea - British style

(NOTE: Ratings are ranked 1-5. Each restaurant is visited multiple times in accordance with guidelines of the Association of Food Journalists. Michael Cervin is the Santa Barbara region restaurant reviewer for Gayot.com, and was the restaurant critic for the Santa Barbara News Press for eight years. He judges at professional and charity food and wine events.)

Breakfast + Lunch = ....

The dessert station at the Bacara

Brunch. It’s what’s for dinner, or technically it’s what is between when you wake up and dinner. There are all manner of brunches in Santa Barbara from the Four Seasons Biltmore in Montecito (traditional station brunch on Sunday, $72 and $35 for kids; Saturday À la carte brunch $15 to $28), to scaled back versions like the Canary Hotel near mid State Street (brunch is Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., À la carte, $10 - $20) and Stella Mares (Sunday brunch À la carte menu, $12 to $23) located at the Andree Clark Bird Refugee. But for those days like Mother’s Day (the mother of all brunch days) you want to pull out the stops. The brunch at the Bacara Resort and Spa will fit that bill, and fill you up, all overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Located inside the terrific restaurant Miro, the Sunday Brunch is a blowout.

The organic salads are made to order

But where did the idea of a half-breakfast, half-lunch idea originate? We do know that “brunch” was first mentioned in 1895 in a British magazine called Punch. More than likely it was a term used for post-drunk reveler food on Sunday morning after a blitzy Saturday night of hard drinking. Allegedly it was a slang term but it doesn’t mean that the first iteration of brunch was just a way to pack protein into your body to offset too much alcohol. But it certainly seems likely. There is no clear information as to the exact origins, only conjecture. Regardless, the idea of brunch has been with us for over a hundred years now and certainly the elements of brunch have become more refined. And these days brunch is something of a ritual: Easter, Mother’s Day, Christmas and even New Years are prime brunch days, or like many people, you have a brunch party at your house (as I have done for years). Brunches consist of two different experiences: a traditional sit down restaurant where you order off the menu; and the station brunch where there will be stations around the restaurant for dessert, a carving station, another for made to order eggs and omelets, and the like, and you can eat as much as you want (please don’t make the mistake however of thinking you need to eat everything – I promise, you won’t feel well later).

Plenty of seafood, well, plenty of everything!

With a focus on local, seasonal produce, the Bacara brunch showcases a culinary happy-land highlighting organic produce from local farms at their salad station. And there are made-to-order omelets and waffles, seafood displays of oysters, crab and huge shrimp, and sushi. And like with the best brunches, there is prime rib from their carving station, artisanal cheeses (I’m loving the Humboldt Fog), plenty of side potato-based dishes, fresh fruit and an entire bagel bar. All this and way more is set inside the spacious and colorful Miro environment. Oh, and you can have mimosas or Champagne.

The dessert station includes chocolate-covered lollipops with pistachio cheesecake inside, to chocolate and strawberry mousse, carrot cakes, whoopee pies, and pots de crème, all created from scratch by pastry chef Daniel Sampson, who learned some of the basics from him mother, grandmother and aunt growing up in Nova Scotia. Personally I love his meringue with fresh whipped cream, passion fruit, strawberry and kiwi. There are over 25 different desert items to sample. Brunch is $70 for adults, and $30 for the young ones and has more food than mentioned here, a virtual food bonanza with something to make everyone satisfied. It’s best to make reservations at all of these brunch spots, then enjoy and be happy that you are brunching here in Santa Barbara. 

www.bacararesort.com

www.fourseasons.com/santabarara

www.stellamares.com  www.canarysantabarbara.com

Flowers, Fauna & Fun: Lotusland - A Day in Montecito

Lotusland is 37 acres of the best manicured and lovingly tended to gardens you will probably ever see. Last privately owned by Madame Ganna Walska, a Polish opera singer in the 1920s, she routinely arranged her vast collection of plants into bold color schemes and unusual shapes. For over four decades she tinkered with her gardens, shaping, creating and recreating them to suit her wishes. But the estate was made for this. The first owner had a commercial nursery on the land in the 1880s. After Walska’s death in 1984 her estate, Lotusland, so named because of the lotus flowers on the property, became a non-profit. It is one thing to visit a botanical garden, but it is another to wander through a magnificent wonderland of plants, trees and gardens.

From the moonscape barrenness of the cactus gardens, to the topiary garden and their array of animals, to the serenity of the Japanese garden, to the olive allee and formal English-styled gardens, and across the great lawn, Lotusland is that rare stop where you feel you could stay forever. In fact, one of the staff gardeners has been there for over 30 years. It is truly an awe-inspiring place. It can get brisk as many parts are so heavily wooded that you can’t see the sun. The wide walking paths easily accommodate wheelchairs and there is no elevation gain. If you love botany, horticulture, or like me you don’t know much about either but you love plants, Lotusland is a treat. Bring your camera and comfortable shoes.

This is a public garden operating in a residential neighborhood, therefore reservations are mandatory. Lotusland is located at 695 Ashley Road in Montecito, 805/969-9990, http://www.lotusland.org/. Tours are offered at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday between mid-February and mid-November only. Admission is $25, adults; $10 children age 5 to 18 and the tours last two hours.

If you do the 10 a.m. tour, when you’re done it will be lunch time. Close by in Montecito, a five minute drive away, is what is known as the Upper Village, less crowded than Coast Village Road in the lower village and there are several eateries close by. For sandwiches and salads, sweets and such, the Pierre Lafond Montecito Market, (516 San Ysidro Rd., Montecito, 805/565-1504, open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.) gives you great options to eat there, or take away. The Prosciutto and Basil Flatbread is wonderful, and their Farm Cake is terrific. They also have a coffee bar, small produce area as well as cookbooks, olive oils, chocolates and even a few wines. Or head down to trendy Coast Village Road, where there is plenty of shopping and restaurants, and try the excellent (though pricy) turkey meatballs at Trattoria Mollie (1250 Coast Village Rd., Montecito, 805/565-9381, open for lunch and dinner, closed Mondays), made uber-famous when a local resident by the name of Oprah Winfrey, plastered the meatball recipe on her TV show. From there it’s a two minute drive to Butterfly Beach for a walk on the dog friendly sand.

As it’s probably nearing later afternoon, the Four Seasons Biltmore is right there for a glass of local wine, so you can sip while you stare out to the Channel Islands and watch the sun languidly sink into the Pacific. Not a bad way to spend the day.