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Sorry, I just can’t do the Top 10 list thing that most of my colleagues are diligently filing for the Santa Barbara Independent’s usual end-of-year review.
Instead, from the more than 120 stories that I penned for these pages in 2025, I am boiling them down to about 40. But I run through them in a chatty way, so hopefully you’ll find some stories you remember fondly or, better yet, articles that you missed entirely the first time around.
Going Long
If my work life wasn’t burdened with so many other responsibilities, I’d love to file a longer form feature every week. These are the stories that allow you to dig into a topic while exploring greater issues and themes beyond the acute focus of the piece.
This year’s examples include this look at why a pig farmer shifted to subsistence crops; how vintner James Ontiveros just might be the most important man in West Coast wine; whether there are new discoveries to be learned from the old Santa Barbara earthquake of 1925; how Santa Barbara is leading California’s the agave movement; what the scene is like for robots; and a dinner with legendary food writer Betty Fussell.
Eating Out
A primary part of my job at the paper is covering restaurants. Some of my favorite articles in that genre from 2025 are: the long-awaited opening of The Ellwood; the Filipino cuisine of Capuno’s in Santa Maria; the coming of Clark’s Oyster Bar to Coast Village Road; the Buellton-based Little King Coffee’s expansion to Montecito; the very exciting landing of Dom’s Taverna on East Victoria Street; and the quirky ride of Pyramid Burgers at Trixy inside of Revolver on the Westside.
Wine Countrying
Combined with my Wine Enthusiast job, wine takes up most of my professional attention. This year’s list of wineries that caught my attention and led to a proper article include, in no particular order: the old vines and new blood at Koehler; the Hines Family / The Set Wines; Kira Malone’s Pars Fortuna project; Ampelos becoming Groundstar Vineyard; a cab retrospective at Brander Vineyard; Wynne and Cody Sargeant’s Matilija Wines; biodynamic roots at Demetria Estate; the emerging goals at 10 Ninths in the Sta. Rita Hills; and how race cars meet wine at St. Avalo.
As far as wine news goes, the passage of a wine improvement district back in February was pretty major. And the move toward regenerative continues to be trendy, but will Santa Barbara growers embrace it broadly?
And on the booze front, I wrote about Rock 12 Distillery in the heart of wine country.
Hitting Roads
Long ago, I realized that journalism could provide an avenue to travel far and wide under the guise of work, and I flex that muscle as much as possible. In addition to trips wearing my Wine Enthusiast hat to Bolivia and France, this year’s highlights include a great spring break with the family in Mexico’s Costa Careyes; another family trip to the Big Island of Hawaii and Maui; a memory-stoking roll through the Santa Cruz Mountains; and a high school reunion-related weekend in the Bay Area.
Full Belly Fun
Every Friday, my Full Belly Files newsletter shines a light on the inner workings of my life as a food & drink journalist. My favorites of the year include this report on the party we threw to taste all of the Periodista wines that I made over the years; the gathering I helped organize of California’s Rhône wine legends; and the day that I drove wine journalist Jancis Robinson around Santa Barbara County. There was also the one where I introduced the short film called “The Fifth S” that’s about my wine writing career, and, in what generated the most responses of all, the story of how I lost and found a notebook.
Miscellany
I don’t only write about restaurants and wineries. Filled in the “other” category this year were these stories on: Santa Barbara’s two new golf simulators; a delicious lion’s mane mushroom–based jerky by Riviera Mushrooms; handcut puzzlemaking by Paul Hughes of Loubud Wines; Goleta schoolkids’ embrace of Etto Pasta; the butchery of Motley Crew Marketplace; and the second Book of Santa Barbara by Macduff Everton and Mary Heebner.
Goodbyes
We lost some good ones this year. On the wine front, there was Funk Zone pioneer Christian Garvin, which I covered here and here. Then came the sudden passing of Central Coast bubble master Christian Roguenant.
On a more personal front, my good friends Tyler and Rosalyn Tomblin faced the worst nightmare of any parents when their 17-year-old son Tayden died following a skateboarding accident. I covered that here and here. There will be more to come on that.
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