Full Belly Files: Where I Will Be Santa Barbara Culinary Experience-ing

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As we tout on this week’s cover story of the Independent, the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience (SBCE) returns for a weeklong celebration of food & drink enjoyment and education across the entire county. 

There are about 80 individual events running from May 11 to 17, from classes for kids and hands-on workshops for adults to chef dinners, fancy fundraisers, and a wine-focused festival. Many are already sold-out, but plenty still have tickets, so see sbce.events for the latest list.

The overall mission is to recognize and promote the ridiculous culinary riches that exist here in a way that’s accessible and interesting to as many people as possible. And the underlying goal is to do so in the spirit of Julia Child, who chose to spend her final years in Santa Barbara, for SBCE is the West Coast offshoot of the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. 

I’ve become very much invested in the mission myself, and have volunteered my time, insight, and, most of all, my connections to the cause since 2019. That’s that year I joined the SBCE advisory board, a powerhouse team of restaurateurs, winemakers, hospitality pros, and marketing experts. Together, we plotted a very grand inaugural affair in mid-March 2020 — including the wine panels of my dreams — and then COVID dashed our collective dreams. (A minor casualty, it turned out.)

Like everything else, SBCE emerged from the pandemic cautiously, evolving strategically over the past five years to become primarily a marketing/fundraising umbrella for the dozens of independently hosted events. In basic terms, SBCE invites partners to plan events, then helps to promote/sell tickets to those events, and then gets a small cut of the proceeds. With those monies, SBCE issues grants to other nonprofits — in 2025, for instance, $30,000 was given to five different organizations. Read those details here.

Aside from attending board meetings, sending out dozens of related emails, and taking a few phone calls throughout the year, I’m also involved in many of the actual events themselves, sometimes as a moderator, sometimes as just a hopefully well-dressed attendee. So if you want to see me in action next week, here’s where I’ll be.  

Sunday, May 10: Mother’s Day: I’ll be cooking up frittatas for my wife, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and assorted offspring in my backyard on Sunday. Sorry, you’re not invited, and happy Mother’s Day to my mom (who usually reads this)! And if you’re looking for a mom-influenced Santa Barbara wine to toast, check out this roundup.

Monday, May 11: Cheese the Day!: As my colleague Leslie Dinaberg explained in her Cheese the Day! article this week,this actually started as a private event envisioned by Michael Delgado at the Cheese Shop Santa Barbara two years ago, and we then expanded it into a two-night affair last year. This year, it’s a one-night cheese-and-wine pairing event, where I’ll be moderating a panel that features cheesemonger Kathryn Graham and the winemakers and wines of Future Perfect, Solminer, Clementine Carter, Alma Rosa, and Dreamcôte. If that wasn’t enticing enough, it’s happening on the rooftop of the Canary Hotel on what promises to be a beautiful afternoon. There are a few tickets left, so buy them here. 

Tuesday, May 12: My Wife’s 50th Birthday: I’m using my wife’s 50th birthday for a day-off during SBCE. We’ll be celebrating with friends in an iconic though undisclosed location. You aren’t invited to this one either. 

Wednesday, May 13: Hill House Fundraiser: In the same spirit of last year’s event hosted at the Bellosguardo estate, this powerful fundraiser for SBCE is happening at the Hill House and featuring the creation of renowned out-of-town chefs Evan Funke (Funke, Los Angeles), Ben Spungin (Cella, Monterey), and Meave McAuliffe (Rory’s, Ojai) as well as Montecito chefs Massimo Falsini (Caruso’s), Diego Moya (Little Mountain), and Daniel Kim (Monte’s). Tickets are $2,500, so I’ll be going as a guest of SBCE cofounder and chair Eric Spivey. Thanks Eric! Inquire about availability here.   

Thursday, May 14: Julia Child Award Announcement: As I wrote about in the introduction to the cover story this week, last year’s Julia Child Award honoree Bobby Stuckey is coming from his Frasca headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, to the SBCE to announce next year’s recipient in a private press event at Godmothers in Summerland. But after that, he’ll be talking about his life and career at a public event, so get your seats here. 

Friday, May 15: Wine & Health at Rincon Hill Farm: Stuckey is sticking around for one more night to join his wine director, Carlin Karr, and myself in a conversation about wine and health at Rincon Hill Farm. We’ll also be talking about how to bring a healthier balance to the entire restaurant industry, where burnout is rampant and wellness remains a challenge. We’ll be pouring a sparkling sangiovese by Amevive as well as some high-altitude Tregole chianti from the mountains of Italy. The evening event includes a tour of the farm and some light bites. Details and tickets here.

Saturday, May 16: Grand Tasting: This is SBCE’s large public event, featuring wines and food from more than 40 producers, all served on the historic grounds of El Presidio State Historic Park in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. As I have done for the past four years, I will be hosting a couple of panels inside the chapel as the event goes on outside for those who want to learn a little more and get wine poured right in their glasses while they sit down to watch. This year’s chats are about fresh faces, meaning newer winemakers to the scene, and then a conversation about pinot noir vs. chardonnay in the Sta. Rita Hills, featuring veterans of the appellation. Get tickets here. 

See you out there!