The Funk Zone in Santa Barbara are a few blocks of restaurants, bats, coffee shops in downtown close to the beach. Most of the places there tend to be more focused on attracting a young crowd than really focusing on the quality of dishes. The one exception for us was The Lark https://www.thelarksb.com/ which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary and is a great example of a place which emphasizes interesting New American cooking with still a great, rustic ambiance and good service. It’s a place which encourages shared plates (which tend to be quite generous plated) and so we order a few examples from different parts of their menu and didn’t have any disappointments - and a well executed cocktail list adds positively to the place
Citrus marinated castelvetrano olives - calabrian chili, orange peel, garlic, mint
Crispy brussels sprouts - sesame, garum, dates, lime
Belgian endive & “frog hollow” pears - brown butter hazelnuts, caramelized shallot vinaigrette, pear vinegar, beemster aged gouda, scarlett frills
“Mary’s” duck liver mousse tartine - marcona almonds, duck fat grilled sourdough, pickled red flame grapes
Hand cut pappardelle pasta - roasted butternut squash, maitake mushrooms, black pepper breadcrumbs, soft poached egg, Comte, crispy sage
Grilled “Creekstone Farms” 8oz prime hanger steak - caramelized cauliflower, grilled scallions, shaved rainbow carrots, red wine sea salt, beef tallow jus
Baked fuyu persimmon crisp - almond & oat streusel, rori’s speculoos ice cream, nutmeg