Traditional with Some Tasty Tweaks

Consider that the year Santa Barbara’s Upham Hotel opened was 1871. Other big news that year: Stanley encountered Livingstone, Jesse James’s gang was robbing banks, and the Great Chicago Fire raged. So, the Upham is truly history.

Much more recently, the hotel’s restaurant space, with its inviting veranda on Sola Street, had been the home to Louie’s, a beloved institution. Fortunately, the weight of that history isn’t lost on the Bistro Amasa team that has just taken over the space. Executive Chef Julian Martinez and GM Jesse Gaddy certainly appreciate the roots of things, as anyone who has dined at their first restaurant — Barbareño — knows. After all, it’s named after a Chumash language, and one of its signature dishes, Eggamuffins, is a nod to Mickey D’s breakfast sandwich invented in our town.

Of course, you don’t get a cornmeal blini, whipped Seascape cheese, coppa from Alle-Pia Fine Cured Meats, and a cured egg yolk at the Golden Arches. That kind of upscaling, rethinking, and attention to detail found at Barbareño is also at work at Amasa. 

“Our goal is to start with something traditional and then deliver something above that standard,” Martinez said during a recent visit, as he kindly fed me many of the spot’s dishes. “We wanted to dive into American cuisine — quintessentially, food is nostalgic for lots of people, but we wanted to bring some surprise to that. We spent time trying to figure out how to take the Louie’s menu and bring it to 2025.”

If a Louie’s loyalist wandered into Amasa and spotted a meatloaf on the menu, he might feel quite comforted. Even when the dish arrived at the table, it would look like it had the classic ketchup-based slather of sauce atop. But now, that sauce is mole rojo, and the ground meat is spiced lamb and beef.

Just running through the Amasa appetizers makes it clear what the modus operandi of the kitchen is. The shrimp cocktail comes with just-cooked British Columbia crustaceans that taste like smaller cousins of Santa Barbara spot prawns, set in a spiced tomato coulis that’s less thick than a traditional cocktail sauce but somehow packs even more flavor. And yep, you’ll get the horseradish kick, from infused granita that melts in your mouth, of course. 

“Restaurant dishes traditionally are very heavy and heavy-handed,” Martinez asserts. “Our way to change that is to focus on freshness, acidity, not huge portions.” 

Consider Amasa’s reinvention of oysters Rockefeller. The bivalves, by way of Morro Bay, get a quick charcoal grill — you will get that pleasing sniff of smoke from them — and then get hit with tarragon, chive, nori breadcrumbs, a beurre blanc, and a splash of Pernod. The dish is under the “to share” section of the menu, but it’s hard not to devour them all yourself. Similarly, the steak tartare hides a clever trick. What appears to be the typical egg yolk on top is actually a sphere of pureed yellow bell pepper and mustard. Martinez explains he never understood why you needed extra richness on the already luxuriant beef (in this case, Snake River Farms Wagyu), and knew he wanted a contrasting acidity. “Plus, it’s fun,” he added. “People say, ‘I know what this is’ when it arrives, but then follow that with, ‘Hey, what did you do to me?’”

Martinez and Gaddy also like a bit of ambiguity in their projects to give themselves more room to play. That’s how the new spot’s name came to be. Turns out the Upham was built by a cousin of Honest Abe’s, Amasa Lincoln, who came to Santa Barbara after failing as a rancher. 

Note: It’s pronounced ah-MAY-sa, not ah-MAH-sa. 

“We were worried with the latter pronunciation, people might think it was a Japanese restaurant,” Gaddy said. “But then we also have the issue of people thinking it’s something to do with the Mesa.” 

As another fine detail, the bistro’s logo is a nod to the Upham’s founder — even the cocktails come with toothpicks with a broken horseshoe at one end, a symbol of Amasa Lincoln’s failed ranching plans.

Speaking of the cocktails, they are part and parcel of all the rethinking of traditional notions. The luscious gin fizz, a foamy, fun concoction with Chartreuse, lime, celery, and soda, plus the vivid bitter drops on the drink’s “head,” comes with one of those toothpicks mentioned above, suspending a triangle of Manchego cheese. What a delight to have something salty to nibble between your sweet sips.

Martinez also insisted there’d be a special negroni, as it’s his favorite tipple. Talk about messing with names; it’s on the menu as the Boring Negroni, but that’s a joke, as the bar menu is under the purview of Doug Boring. Martinez recalls he told Boring, “Let’s pay a lot of attention to that drink, as it represents what we’re trying to do.” Instead of the typical 1-1-1 recipe of gin-Campari-vermouth, this drink features multiple vermouths and bitters and an infused gin redolent of strawberry (mostly on the nose). It’s the platonic ideal of the classic.

The mains carry through all the ideas from the apps, such as the steak frites served with a chimichurri redolent of black garlic, so it looks like old-school steak sauce. Or the salmon dish inspired by bagels and lox. Really. The fish is hot-smoked in-house and shows up on top of a farro tossed in some everything-bagel cream, while around the grain is a flavor-rich, clearish tomato water. Crispy shallots do the onion part; dill-caper gremolata does the herbaceous and bitter. 

Of all things, the big menu hit since opening has been the roast chicken, which Martinez called “a chicken I would want to eat.” The meat has a good crisp on the outside but remains moist inside — even the breast — and then takes off into the flavor stratosphere with an exact, bright balance of vadouvan labneh, chili crunch, and a cooling cucumber in feathery strips with mint salad.

And while you might be as full as my word count, you must leave room for dessert, in particular s’mores that’s hockey-puck-plus-sized with the richest, creamiest avocado-cacao mousse, graham-cracker crust base, and koji marshmallow. One order will serve, and delight, four.

As for the future, Bistro Amasa hopes to become, as Gaddy puts it, “more of a sessionable spot where people can come in once a week.” Lunch service should be in place at the beginning of 2026, and eventually, there might even be a cocktail lounge on the Upham’s front porch (alas, the pocket bar doesn’t have room for seats, but it would be a charming, cozy hang). In the meantime, go to Bistro Amasa for the classics and stay for how they are better than you ever remembered.

Bistro Amasa is located in the Upham Hotel (1404 De la Vina St.). See bistroamasa.com.