Subscribe to RSSNewly 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.
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- www.bluetavern.com
By Bonnie Carroll, www.lifebitesnews.com
