Full Belly Files | Plants & Pours at the Botanic Garden Beer Garden

The 2026 Botanic Garden Beer Garden advisory committee included, from left, Melissa Ha-Navarro, Jonathan DiBenedetto, Matt Kettmann, Dawn Seymour, Sarah Gower, Sophia Taylor (with baby Francis), Katie Gerpheide, Liz Raffensperger, and Jesse Smith. | Credit: Shannon Jayne Photography

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“I’m waiting for Ron to come back — he’s looking for his favorite flower.”

This is not what you usually overhear while wandering around a beer festival, but it’s exactly the sort of eavesdropping expected at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Beer Garden. The annual event is the largest fundraiser for this Mission Canyon institution, which was the first such garden in the country dedicated to native plants when it was founded in 1926.

And yes, your math is correct: 2026 marks the Botanic Garden’s centennial celebration, meaning this year’s Beer Garden was more meaningful than ever.

What makes this beer fest stand out from the pack is the forma. The invite list for participating breweries and restaurants is highly curated by the organizing committee — of which I’ve been co-chair the past two years — and then each brewer and chef must use native plants plucked from the garden in their recipes.

It’s been that way since the Beer Garden began in 2014, and the formula is so popular that tickets sell out in about five minutes each year. Attendance is limited due to the Garden’s wildfire-related permit restrictions, and while that does directly constrict the event’s fundraising capacity, it also means that there are never long lines or crowded corners that plague so many other food and drink festivals.

Team S.B. ‘Indy’: Joanna and Matt Kettmann with publisher Brandi Rivera and sportswriter Victor Bryant

Indeed, the true charm is walking a mile or so throughout the afternoon to hit each booth, from the redwood forest to the desert-scapes, admiring and taking plenty of photos of your favorite flora along the way. (You may recall my past musings about the event in 2023v1, 2023v2, 2024, and 2025.)

This year, the flowers turned on just in time, with poppies popping in the meadow right in tune with the “100” sign designed by Terra Basche of Lush Elements. My favorite “flower” of the day had to be the Cedros Island Agave, a broccoli-meets-troll doll explosion of yellow atop its poky green base.

From left: Finch & Fork’s John Vasquez; Pastrami pozole by Validation Ale

The beer and bite highlights were far too numerous to run down entirely. Suffice to say: There are no duds.

But to give you a basic idea, there were redwood tips in black rye IPA (The Brewhouse); black sage pork larb on crisp rice puffs (Sama Sama); bay laurel in helles lager (Draughtsmen); pork shoulder sausages with bay and juniper (Marisella); dry cider with prickly pear, guava, and hummingbird sage (High Seas); chicken-fontina croquettes with wood mint labneh (Convivo); and altbier aged on manzanita wood (Validation Ale).

People really loved the thinly sliced tri-tip from Barbareño, and I was myself enamored with the chicken katsu fried up on the spot by the team at Monte’s, which is opening this week on Coast Village Road in the former Bar Lou/Oliver’s space.

From left: A green tea latte by Room Service Coffee; Austin Corrigan of High Seas Mead

And for those sponsors who attended the even more intimate VIP Grand Cru session that kicks off the day, Dom’s Taverna served uber fresh Grassy Bar oysters, smoked mussel croquettes, and mushroom toasts; Helena Avenue Bakery made profiteroles, tiny Danishes, and a birthday cake; Room Service Coffee provides teas and lattes; and Good Lion collaborated with Validation Ale on beer cocktails.

If you’d like to see more of my highlights, check out my Instagram reel from the day here.

Third Window x Botanic Garden Centennial Ale

The Third Window x Botanic Garden collab centennial ale | Credit: David Harvey, Third Window Brewing.

This year, in an ongoing collaboration to keep the Botanic Garden Beer Garden spirit and fundraising alive longer than just one day, Third Window is making a four-part series of seasonal Botanic Garden Centennial Ales throughout 2026.

The first release is the Saison Printemps 2026, which debuted at the Beer Garden even as the official beer of the centennial celebration. The ale uses hummingbird sage from the Botanic Garden and lemon thyme of FP Farms, which are added to tart, funky base beers that were brewed with wheat and malt grown on the FP Farm.

It’s quite spritzy due to a high carbonation, which lifts those citrusy, herbal notes. You can try it at Third Window’s taprooms at The Mill on East Haley Street and at Carpinteria’s Linden Square. There will also be some bottles to buy when they’re ready. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Read more about it here and check out some Instagram posts about the collaboration here and here.

Gainey’s Mushroom Education Feast

From left: Morel toast; Black trumpet arancini

Black trumpets, morels, chanterelles, and candy caps were all on the menu at this year’s mushroom education feast at Gainey Vineyard on March 7.

This is the annual affair when fungi expert extraordinaire Bob Cummings regales the crowd in mushroom knowledge as we slurp wines and savor in the specially crafted dishes developed by Jake Francis of Les Fetes Events (you know his name from Valley Piggery).

I was invited as a guest this year, although upon arrival, winemaker Jeff LeBard stuck me with a speaking role, like I’d done last year. I was happy to oblige, and helped Cummings navigate the Q&A session of the day, while peppering him with some questions of my own.

The menu featured a chanterelle soup with toasted hazelnut and yuzu kosho (paired with Gainey sauvignon gris and chardonnay); black trumpet arancini with goat cheese and beet puree, with a Woolf Family Farms pickled lion’s man vinaigrette (with Evan’s Ranch chardonnay and syrah); morels on toasted ciabatta with chive and Kiani Preserve olive oil (with Gainey rosé and Evan’s pinot noir from magnum); and candy cap pot de creme for dessert, with a 2006 late harvest viognier.

Even though the event doubled in size from last year, it still sold out quickly. So be on the watch for tickets to the 2027 event, which is usually announced in the fall.

Wine Nights @ Clark’s Oyster Bar

More than a year since it opened, Clark’s Oyster Bar on Coast Village Road is still quite the Montecito scene. I’ve been a handful of times now, and whether it’s after a round of golf or for lunch or dinner, the energy is an inviting mixture of beachy and posh, with fresh, flavorful seafood empowering the scene.

I was most recently invited a couple Wednesdays ago for one of their wine nights, which started earlier in the year with Whitcraft Winery. (At least that’s what Drake Whitcraft told me the night I stopped by — that dude seems to be there all the time!) The afternoon format involves a tasting with apps at the small beach shack across the driveway, and then special pricing on the featured wines through dinner service, as the winemakers themselves wander the room to pour and chat.

My evening featured Scribe Winery, one of Sonoma County’s superstar brands of the moment. Selling Scribe wine is also the primary job for Clark’s consulting sommelier Matt Ahern, who I first hung out with a year ago while golfing at Sandpiper with Drake and my son.

I actually have my own Scribe connection, completely outside of wine. The brand is owned by brothers Andrew and Adam Mariani, and my uncle Mark Kettmann’s best friend is their uncle Mark Mariani. The Marks went to Santa Clara University together, and have worked together ever since, for the dried fruit arm of the Mariani family’s agricultural empire.

From left: Oysters at Clark’s Oyster Bar; Fries, scallops, and shrimp toast at Clark’s on wine night

I’d never met the younger Marianis, but Andrew was at Clark’s that night, so we were able to connect over sips of his rosé, chardonnay, and two pinots. Matt also shared some of the wine he makes, which is known as The Wonderland Project.

On the food front, we went with oysters, the crudo plate, scallops, shrimp toast (my fave), and Clark’s super-slender French fries. Stay tuned for a schedule of future wine nights.