Full Belly Files | Which Restaurants Get the Ink?

Raul Alarcon, owner of La Tequila in Buellton

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There’s a hierarchy to which businesses get covered in the media, and that typically comes down to money — as in, who has the funds to pay for professionals to advocate on behalf of their company at such a steady, persistent clip that an article eventually results.

Landing one article every year in a publication used to be considered a success in most books, at least in the food and drink industry. But today, the press releases and exclusive invites come at a much more frequent clip, so much so that some restaurants are able to score coverage far more than once a year — sometimes they’re landing closer to a mention or full-on story every month.

I work with PR professionals all the time, and I say more power to them. They’re usually great at helping clients develop interesting content that writers want to cover and events that readers want to attend, and they should be doing all that they can to get that attention. After all, these interesting experiences — often above and beyond what others are programming — deserve to be shown off.

From left: Churros at La Tequila in Buellton, with filmmaker Niko Hronopoulos; Mole enchiladas at La Tequila in Buellton

The downside is that journalists — at least those of us so underwater with deadlines that we’re ever on the lookout for easy breaths — can get so busy juggling these pitches that we don’t spend enough time hitting the pavement to find different stories. This steady and spoonfed inundation of flacks hounding hacks to publish something about the last thing while inviting us to the next thing means that the stories about less monied and under-marketed places have trouble finding us.

I’ve always tried to be mindful of this as a writer, and I had to be even more diligent about it as an editor at the paper when I was in charge of entire sections, not just my own articles. And I know that being conscious of spreading our publication’s love around as fairly as realistically possible remains a high priority.

But we can always do better.

So when I got a direct email via our website from Raul Alarcon, inviting me to come check out La Tequila, the Mexican restaurant he just bought up in Buellton, I made it a priority to add him to my ever-expanding list of articles. Many of those articles have been on my docket for months now, and the stress of that list can keep me up at night. Indeed, the handful of stories that I reported but never wrote over my 25-plus years in this job still haunts me. (Thankfully, it really is only a handful, not dozens, as far as I recall.)

But just asking is only step one in getting a journalist to visit, as there are other hurdles to leap when you’re running your own restaurant without a PR firm to handle the outreach. In this case, it took a couple months, and two reschedules, for me to make it to La Tequila. Had a PR person been handling that, I almost certainly would have made it up there sooner.

That can be due to their persistence, or perhaps they represent more than one client up in the Santa Ynez Valley, so I could double up appointments to make the trip more efficient. Generally speaking, none of my mileage or expenses are covered by anyone, so longer drives require me to stack up visits.

Once I made it to La Tequila — I added it to the day that I went to Brander Vineyard for this story — all was great. Alarcon served me his most interesting and favorite dishes and explained a bit of his career and goals. The only other aspect where having a PR pro can help is in developing even more talking points beyond the usual chit-chat; they’ll even help you polish your thoughts and bio into flashier nuggets of information, perfect for quoting in articles.

Does that make it more true, or better? That’s a case-by-case call, but Alarcon and La Tequila did great. Read my profile about them here.

I look forward to telling more stories of restaurants that aren’t fortunate enough to have a PR budget. I can’t promise I’ll get to them all, and I certainly won’t guarantee that anything will happen quickly. But let me know if you have any secret gems or under-the-radar chefs to check out. They’ll at least go on my list, and that’s step one for everyone.

Wine Fun for Your Calendar

There’s a number of wine events coming up quick, including:

Rhone Rangers @ Rideau Vineyard: Act fast if you want to attend tonight’s the Rhone Rangers “Twilight Tasting” at Rideau Vineyard. More than two dozen top producers from around the state will be on hand to pour their best Rhône grapes, from grenache and syrah to roussanne. Counoise, and picpoul. The event runs 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Rideau Vineyard, 1562 Alamo Pintado Rd., Solvang. Click here for tickets.
Koehler Winery’s Al Fresco Summer Dinner: Koehler Winery is hosting an al fresco summer dinner, with food prepared by Chef Melissa Scrymgeour of Clean Slate Wine Bar in Solvang. The menu features a range of appetizers followed by a family style dinner of lamb, orzo with shrimp, and much more. Six wines will be featured. The dinner is on August 9, with flight tastings starting at 5 p.m. Click here for tickets.
Wine & Fire in the Sta. Rita Hills: This always engagingly planned long weekend showcasing our best known sub-appellation goes down from Thursday, August 14, through Sunday, August 17, Highlights include the opening night barn dinner, Friday’s Le Paulée Dinner honoring Norm Yost of Flying Goat, and Saturday’s speed tasting in the morning and grand tasting at night. See staritahills.com/events.
Taste the Trail in Foxen Canyon: More than one dozen wineries located along the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail are gathering for a tasting on August 23 at Rancho Sisquoc, With live music and food by 805 Charcuterie, the winery participants include Andrew Murray; Bien Nacido; Cambria; Cottonwood Canyon; Dovecote; Fess Parker; Foxen; Koehler; Paul Lato; Rancho Sisquoc; Riverbench; So Far Out; and Zaca Mesa Winery. For tickets, click here.
Bien Nacido Dinner: It’s hard to believe, but the Bien Nacido Estate is hosting its first ever winemaker dinner on September 19 at The Gatehouse in the historic heart of the Santa Maria Valley. Winemaker Anthony Avila will pour wines to accompany Nalla’s Indian Cuisine. Click here for tickets and details.