Cafe Luck Finally Opens

Beneath Cota Street’s blue arches, Cafe Luck (18 E. Cota, St., 962-5393) officially opened its doors on September 8. The French restaurant is the newest neighbor to Blue Agave, The Palace, and Square One and will surely bring even more attention to the just-off-State Street restaurant destination. Owner Gene Montesano is renowned for co-creating vintage-inspired Lucky Brand Jeans in 1990, but his dent on the Santa Barbara restaurant scene includes Lucky’s, Tre Lune, D’Angelo’s, Bucatini, and Joe’s, which he purchased in 2003. The spacious new restaurant is full of mahogany tones, woven wicker chairs, and boasts a raw bar where patrons can enjoy the freshest oysters, clams, prawns, and sea urchins available on the market. Fruits de mer, soups et salads, hors d’oeuvres, plats principaux, and plats du jour decorate the lengthy menu, which reads in French with an English translation. Main dishes include grilled whole Mediterranean sea bass ($29), mussels with anise liqueur and crispy thin fries ($20), roasted leg of lamb ($26), and stuffed veal shoulder ($22). Daily specials are listed at the bottom of the menu and include crispy slow cooked duck on Sundays and Mediterranean fish stew on Fridays.