Azul Elevates Modern Mexican Cuisine in Downtown Santa Barbara

Given the time it took for Azul Cocina Artesanal & Cantina to launch — it was first announced in November 2022 and didn’t open until a full year later, November 24, 2023 — you might imagine the operations team could be feeling a bit, uh, blue. But when I talked to co-owners Edgar and Maria Estrada, and Executive Chef Manny Diaz and his wife and restaurant GM, Veronica Tovalin-Diaz, nary a negative word was expressed.

“It’s been a learning experience for us,” Edgar Estrada said. “All the community has been so supportive, calling us to see how we’re doing. It’s amazing.” Azul serves modern Mexican cuisine. Read that as all the full flavors you would expect, but crafted from farm-to-table ingredients and prepared with elevated kitchen techniques. That means that at Azul, the mole is served over pan-roasted duck breast, not chicken, and that the chamorro de puerco en chile verde stars Kurobuta braised pork shanks, not some inexpensive Boston butt.

Despite the delays in opening, Azul will not even begin to consider the idea that their Anapamu Street location — the longtime home of Arts & Letters Café, but then a rapid succession of here-and-gone spots: Somerset, Smithy, La Cocina — is somehow cursed. “I think it’s totally the opposite — people love it,” Veronica Tovalin-Diaz insists. “There are days the back patio is full, even if it looks like the front is wide open. It’s been lovely weather for us.” (Note: The interview was conducted in December.) The team says regulars have already been streaming in for repeat visits.

Azul is the latest step on a long culinary journey for Chef Manny. He emigrated from Mexico to the United States at 16, rising from dishwasher through the kitchen crew. His career has taken him from Singapore to Los Angeles’ San Antonio Winery and numerous stops in between. But he says of his new job, “It’s just a passion, a vocation. For me to come to Azul is a new challenge and a good challenge.”

Edgar Estrada comes to Santa Barbara having built a mini-empire of Mexican eateries in Orange County and L.A. as a founder of Sol Agave. After researching the Santa Barbara dining scene, the team opted to go for elevated Mexican fare. “Nobody is doing this type of Mexican food in Santa Barbara,” Estrada said. Chef Manny offers the trucha ahumada dip appetizer as just one example. Of that house-smoked trout, he says, “You don’t see that. We take that to another level.”

Azul also strives for its beverage program to be on an inventive par with the food. One of the attractions to Santa Barbara was more access to the area’s wine country. The Estradas have a friend/consultant in Fidencio Flores from Esfuerzo Wines in Buellton. Flores’s family has been farming in the Santa Ynez Valley for generations, so that connection has also helped for access to produce, too. Edgar Estrada adds, “Chef’s always looking for local ingredients.”

[Click to enlarge] Azul’s dining room interior, tree-filled patio, and bar area. | Photo: Anthony Cabrera, Lucha Media LLC

And while much of the seafood on the pescetarian-friendly menu comes from the nearby Pacific — including Hope Ranch mussels and local halibut — Azul is also willing to extend its range for the best purveyors. That wine list, for instance, also highlights bottles from Mexico’s trendy Valle de Guadalupe. There are also a host of cocktails, including a margarita flight that features mango, lime, tamarind, and prickly pear variations. Starting in March, Azul hopes to offer wine and mezcal pairing dinners as well.

If you were wondering, the team didn’t realize that the similarly named La Playa Azul has been serving up Mexican food in town since 1976. “We had the name and logo and menu for a Santa Monica property we thought we were opening, so decided to use it here,” Edgar Estrada explains. “Then a month or two later, we learned about La Playa Azul.”

Speaking of neighbors, they are overjoyed to be so close to the County Courthouse. “People are getting married every day in Santa Barbara,” Chef Manny says. “We’re hoping many of them will want to have their receptions here.”

Azul Cocina Artesanal & Cantina is located at 7 East Anapamu Street. See azulcocinasb.com.