The Black Sheep Santa Barbara Brasserie Raises the Baa
Ruben Perez’s Restaurant Celebrates 10 Years with Special Tasting Menu
While the Black Sheep SB Brasserie is generally dark on Tuesday evenings, it will be open this April 30 to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Observant eaters will note the restaurant has only been at its 18 E. Cota Street location since December 2022, but owner and GM Ruben Perez is counting from the opening of the original Black Sheep on Ortega, which was April 30, 2014.
To honor the day, Black Sheep will roll back the cost on its four-course, nine-dish tasting menu to 2014 prices — a mere $45. “Can’t believe it went by this fast,” Perez posted in a Facebook announcement for the event. “So grateful for the chance to become part of this amazing community and for the amazing friendships we have made. Here’s to another 10 years filled with food, love, and laughter.”
Since the restaurant builds its menu seasonally, Perez can’t offer details yet, as he and his partner Chef Jake Reimer will let the Farmers Market help them decide. (You still have to hope their delish dish of hand rolled ricotta cavatelli with mushrooms, nettle pistou, and a white port sauce makes the cut in some form.)
In addition to praising his staff, Perez singles out Reimer as the one to convince him to keep at it after the original Black Sheep, where Ruben ran the front of house while his father Robert was chef, closed in September 2022. “I had COVID burnout after 23 years in this biz,” Ruben admits. “Chef Jake inspired me to get out of the burnout and believe in the process. So glad that I listened.” As one way to honor his parents on the anniversary, Ruben is inviting both as guests — they don’t have to work one bit.
“This location has opened up more doors for us,” Perez says of the restaurant’s move to Cota and a more bistro French meets Santa Barbara menu. “The location and what my wife Kelly Jo did with the ambiance has people gravitating here. It’s nice to get some recognition for the hard work and I’m excited to see where else that will take us.”
And while he also teases, “I’m also looking forward to opening some other concepts that might fill a void in the Santa Barbara area,” he clams up when asked for details. He says, “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
In the meantime we get to celebrate the welcoming, scrumptious Black Sheep. It’s not surprising Perez, the perfect host, claims, “I love that what has been created over the years has become a safe place for people to just be. It makes me happier than people will ever know.”
To make a reservation for the Black Sheep 10th anniversary on Tuesday, April 30, call Ruben Perez directly at 805-319-2498. blacksheepsb.com
