A Night of Wine, Food, and Art

On a recent Thursday evening, I ran a red light — the result of a botched right turn onto what turned out to be a one-way street.

Mortified, I arrived at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum and immediately found my friend Ellie, unloaded the story and beat myself up. She, helpfully, reminded me that the full moon was scheduled for the following morning. Let’s roll with that, I decided.

With my mistake neatly handed off to the moon, Ellie and I headed to check-in for this year’s LIVE Art & Wine Tour. Outside, we were handed inaugural wine glasses and plastic trays for our food. After my earlier mishap, I was especially ready for a night of wine, food, and, of course, live art.

With six stops, we wanted to make the most of our time and promptly started at Silver Wines in the El Paseo Courtyard, where The Copper served bites, and Silver Wines poured, alongside live sculpting by Eric Saint Georges.

Next, we headed to Jessica Risko Smith Interior Design Studio, number six on our handy map, where we were met with Elubia’s Kitchen’s bean-and-cheese pupusas and potato taquitos. CrossHatch Winery served an amazing chilled red wine, and painter John Baran worked on an elephant portrait in real time.

Reluctant to leave Risko’s beautiful space, we made our way to our next stop, Supermoss, where Hibachi Steak House and Sushi Bar served up fried rice and chicken, and a dream sushi spread, complete with California and spicy tuna rolls galore. Next was Thrifty Beaches, which served Poke House poke bowls, while Alma Rosa Winery offered tastings alongside live pottery. 

As we shuffled from one place to the next, wine glasses in tow, we agreed we were seeing and experiencing many sides of downtown that, up until this point, had eluded us.

As we stepped into Drift Hotel’s Ocaso Event Space, we were greeted with work by artists Derek Harrison and Kate Maddaloni, who were both present and live painting a Western saddle that sat at the center. In the outdoor space, we tasted wines from Buttonwood Vineyards. 

Last, but certainly not least on our roster, was Jeff Shelton Architects, where guests were invited into a brief escape inside the colorful, idiosyncratic mind of Shelton. As this was our final stop, we missed bites from Mony’s Tacos and pours from Barbieri & Kempe Wines; nonetheless, we perused Shelton’s studio, including recent sketches left on his drawing board.

As the sun set and the almost-full moon revealed itself, we made our way back to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, where more art, food, and wine awaited us. That night, we discovered our love of grenache and went around requesting pours from each winery. 

We then spotted the Typewriter Poets, who serve up poetry on the spot. After asking about myself, the woman began typing my poem on a paint swatch card I chose in the hue of Pink Elephant. It took her just two minutes to finish a poem that somehow encapsulated everything I shared with her. 

After a long break from wine tasting, I hopped in my car and headed home, letting the moon’s light guide me and avoiding one-way streets at all costs.