The Ellwood Inches Toward Opening

Credit: Courtesy

Might we once again plop down on bar stools to enjoy cocktails — shrimp and otherwise — as the sun sets over Goleta Beach something this spring?

That dream, albeit quite deferred over the past two years, is finally sparkling again for the team behind The Ellwood, which will replace the beloved Beachside Bar-Café, which closed almost three years ago in January 2021. Alas, the restaurant’s co-owner and lead visionary Omar Khashen isn’t quite ready to give another estimated date for the opening.

“I haven’t been right once,” said Khashen, who initially predicted a spring 2022 opening upon winning the contract to operate the property from the Santa Barbara County Parks, then pushed to late summer of 2022 before deciding to just keep quiet. “I do know one good answer,” he smiled. “We will be open before the 101 is finished.”

Self-deprecating jokes aside, the current state of construction looks promising for a spring champagne toast — and they’ve got a June wedding booked, so there’s at least one hard deadline. The most recent unexpected delay was just resolved this week, when work on a major electrical line was finally completed. They were surprised to discover the original one — thought to date back maybe a century and responsible for powering the Goleta Pier — while finishing the outer walls of the property, where the ancient, forgotten line ran right along the beach, snaking beneath a palm tree.

Omar Khashen looks at the rebuilt but very familiar dining room inside The Ellwood. | Credit: Matt Kettmann

That had to be modernized, which involved the removal of the old snack shack and clearing of the former storage yard, which will become the concert venue and more casual outdoor eatery. That electrical work finished on December 11, and the adjacent public restroom, precariously hanging off the beach bluff, will be removed any day now. (New public restrooms will be located on the opposite side of the former yard, facing the parking lot.)

The original delay was more financial, when the massive amount of unexpected structural improvements required to turn the old building into a safe, 21st-century structure required much more funding than anticipated. That was followed by a sewer line replacement for the county-owned beach-park, which slowed the construction further. Then Khashen was hit by a lawsuit from his former employer, though that was recently dismissed and never caused any actual delays to the project.

The most damaging delay was caused by this past winter’s storms, which hammered the property and forced Khashen to focus on reconstructing the restaurant in a way that will last. “We had to figure out how to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” said Khashen, who raised some sunken floors, installed extensive perimeter walls, and made other storm-surge-minded improvements. “I think we’re in pretty good shape for withstanding future storms. This place is a fortress now.”

The former storage lot at Goleta Beach that will be a concert venue and casual outdoor restaurant | Credit: Matt Kettmann

This past Tuesday, a few days after I reached out to inquire what was happening, Khashen led me on a tour of the property along with his director of operations Chris Jow (who left the S.B. Shellfish group to join The Ellwood in March 2022) and recently hired GM David Fainberg (of Wine Cask and bouchon). We started by checking out the dirt lot that will house the outdoor dining and concert venue, which will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 people standing and about 325 or so seated.

“This whole side will have a more approachable menu,” said Khashen, who wants the more affordable menu to surround wood-fired foods like pizza and Santa Maria–style tri-tip. “It’s what the region is known for,” he said of the latter, “but you don’t see it that much, except for Cold Spring Tavern.” Khashen almost wishes that this side would open before the main restaurant because it will be popular with all ages and audiences, but it will probably take another three or four months to finish it after the main spot opens.

The beachside exterior of The Ellwood | Credit: Matt Kettmann

The restaurant itself, at least in its partially finished state, still looks very familiar, even though it’s been essentially rebuilt from the ground up. The front area will be fenced in, allowing cocktails to be enjoyed as you wait for a table, and then you enter through a large mahogany door, which will be flanked by historic Goleta photos. A raw bar still greets diners as they walk in — and will be home to the happy-hour eats as well — and the full bar still occupies the corner, with plans to bring in a piano and live music. The indoor dining room’s floor was lifted to be even with the rest of the space (in part to prevent future flooding), and a small private room sits off to the side, as it did before.

Outside, the patio looks very much the same, with an indoor/outdoor vibe. The biggest addition is a new bar space for the patio, with a large marble shelf overlooking the fireplace, which will certainly be a coveted stool. The patio extends around the corner before entering a larger outdoor space that can be rented out or just used for an expanded dining room.

The new outdoor patio bar at The Ellwood. | Credit: Matt Kettmann

The rebuilt kitchen is quite massive, albeit the same layout as it was before. “Whoever designed it back in the day made a smart kitchen for high volume and high quality,” said Khashen, whose personal twist was painting the ceilings and walls a bright shade of pink. “I’ve worked in kitchens all my life, and everyone is always so grumpy,” said Khashen, who hopes the color will bring some cheer, as should the kitchen’s window facing the sea. (It doubles as a pass-through for the secondary outdoor dining area.)

In addition to finding Fainberg, Khashen recently hired Craig Riker, a punk/metal rocker-turned-chef who’s worked at Oliver’s, Finch & Fork, and The Alisal. The current plan is for a lunch menu that should be familiar to Beachside fans, a small menu for happy hour to entertain the afternoon crowd, and then a more upscale experience at dinner. One of their investors also owns a farm near Buellton, and they’re now developing a vegetable, fruit, and herb farm there, especially for hard-to-track-down specialty items. They’ll also use the site for staff training and inspiration.

“We’ve spent about two years on this thing, but about 10 to 11 months of that were delays and doing nothing,” said Khashen, sounding slightly apologetic at this point, but ever the more optimistic of what’s to come.

Podcasting My Past

We just hosted the fourth in a series of Kettmann Cellar Raid dinners to benefit the Apples to Zucchini Cooking School on Wednesday, when I brought 17 wines (!!!) to share alongside a menu inspired by Italian Christmas prepared by Jeff King and Cris Garcia. We will probably do some more of them in 2024, so stay tuned. Suggestions welcome!

Due to this partnership, the school’s founder, Nancy Martz, asked me to be on her What Are You Hungry For? podcast. So a few weeks ago, I headed up to an old classroom in the former St. Anthony’s Seminary building to discuss quite a range of subjects. But I mostly remember talking about how I managed to make a career out of writing about food and drink. Listen in here.

From Our Table

Elderberries | Credit: White Buffalo Land Trust

Here are some food and drink stories you may have missed:

Are you attuned to the power of elderberry? I wrote this week’s cover story about a regional project to start farming the native plant. Check that out here.

Sean Magruder checked in with the food and drink scene at The Willows inside the Chumash Casino.

Leslie Dinaberg dined ’til she was purple on the Wonka Menu at IHOP and also got seasonal on latkes and vodka at CAYA in Goleta.

It’s probably sold out by the time you read this, but Rebecca Horrigan got me hungry for gospel music and brunch by writing this story about Miriam Dance’s annual affair at SOhO.