Santa Barbara’s Best-Kept Secret Lunch Spot?

Imagine a place where the executive chef, Andrew Gibson, formerly of Bacara’s Spa Café, comes to you to discuss the menu, a dietician works around your preferences to structure a nutritionally perfect meal especially for you… and, you can eat it in your pajamas!

How do you get a reservation? Easy… you just need your doctor to recommend you for in-patient rehabilitation and then you can set it up with the nice people over at Mission Terrace. This will give you an all-access pass for three squares a day courtesy of Chef Gibson and his talented team… in your pajamas in your room or elegantly dressed in the beautiful sky-lit dining room.

Located down the street from Cottage Hospital in the heart of Santa Barbara, Mission Terrace is Southern California’s premier skilled nursing facility and the first choice of specialists in cardiology, neurology, pulmonology, internal medicine, and general practitioners alike. The physician-led interdisciplinary rehabilitation team and skilled nursing staff work closely with residents and their families to provide top quality care to optimize the recovery period.

What makes Mission Terrace stand out from other rehabilitation or skilled nursing facilities? Well, aside from being five-star rated, having the only in-house physician in Santa Barbara, gorgeous gardens and elegant décor, they serve gourmet cuisine customized for each of their residents every day.

Executive Chef Andrew Gibson was the chef at Bacara’s Spa Café for eleven years. Originally from Massachusetts, he graduated from the Harvard of culinary schools, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). From there, he went on to work at the World Trade Center in Boston followed by a stint in Napa Valley at CIA’s Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant where he was lured away to work at the Bacara in Santa Barbara.

Now at Mission Terrace, Chef Gibson’s cuisine ranges from traditional American to French, from Asian to Latin, to refined comfort food and beyond. The guiding principle though is “what is fresh and seasonally appropriate.” Gibson adds, “I enjoy walking the farmers market and I get a weekly report from our purveyor on what is best that week. I wouldn’t limit it just to one cuisine. It’s a really big variety so we can hit everyone’s wants and needs.”

When a new resident arrives at Mission Terrace, one of the chefs meets with him or her to discuss food preferences that get recorded on a special card. Don’t like asparagus? What about broccoli? Prefer shrimp to chicken? No problem. This card is the kitchen’s reference for every meal prepared for each resident.

“I think it’s a really unique environment. You don’t find that level of personal attention at most places,” observes Chef Gibson. In fact, they receive fresh food deliveries seven days a week and everything is prepared from scratch. Chef Gibson explains, “The food that we’re serving that day is the food we’re getting in the door that morning. It comes down to making sure you’re serving a nutritional meal. The longer something stays out of the ground, the more nutrients it loses.” The residents are at Mission Terrace after all to heal and get better and go home.

Said to resemble more of a luxury resort than a convalescent hospital, Mission Terrace takes pride in providing an elegant atmosphere with graceful furnishings, lovely grounds and fine cuisine and was designed to encourage family and friends to spend time with their loved ones.