"Santa Barbara is one of California's most popular getaways, and it's easy to see why. Whether traversing State Street, the posh lanes of Montecito, the Santa Barbara Waterfront, or meandering around the Santa Ynez Mountains, there is always somewhere to linger and find an exceptional meal. This year has been a busy one for Santa Barbara's dining scene, as the region sees a flurry of new openings from longtime chefs and newcomers."
"Aegean, which began as a pop-up from Turkish-born chef Efe Onoglu, has found a permanent home in Downtown Santa Barbara. At the restaurant, Onoglu, who previously worked as a biomedical engineer and at restaurants like José Andrés' Zaytinya and Bavel in Los Angeles, serves a menu that blends his Mediterranean roots with Santa Barbara ingredients. Aegean offers spreads and vegetable mezze like fluffy falafel with lemon tahini or hummus with zhoug."
Santa Barbara offers abundant dining across State Street, Montecito, the Waterfront, and the Santa Ynez Mountains. The region is experiencing a surge of new restaurant openings from both longtime chefs and newcomers. Seafood chef Dom Crisp opened the Basque restaurant Dom's Taverna, and coastal Italian Marisella debuted at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Goleta. Aegean, from Turkish-born chef Efe Onoglu, will open a permanent Downtown location in September 2025 with Mediterranean-rooted spreads, mezze, and mains such as chicken kebab, wagyu and lamb meatballs, and hamachi crudo. Chef David Rosner opened Rozzi Pizza in May 2025 as a simple neighborhood pizza joint drawing on Long Island roots.
Read at Eater LA
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