Revamped and Rejuvenated Harbor Restaurant in Santa Barbara Aims to Elevate Even More

Walking into the recently revamped, reconsidered, rejuvenated Harbor Restaurant, it sort of feels like you’ve entered the dining room of a Viking cruise ship. Perched on Stearns Wharf, you are as much on the water as any building can be. The wide expanse of windows offers you a full view of the marina, the slope of the Mesa, and, as the evening extends, a sunset view, given which way west points on our edge of the Pacific. Each table, now, has its share of the view in a room of wood, white walls, and booths with a charming, mid-century modern swirl of green and brown. It’s clean and niftily Nordic.

And it’s all according to the plan of the new ownership group: couples John Thyne and Olesya Thyne, and Gene Sanchez and Carolina Jimenez. “Our focus has been to bring the Harbor Restaurant back into the hands of the locals,” Sanchez says. “Talking to people, it’s been 20 years since some have come to the pier to this quote-unquote ‘tourist trap.’ We want to change that.”

The historic location has definitely seen its high and lows. Back in 1926, it was the original Santa Barbara Yacht Club, and through the decades, it had been owned by Hollywood’s Ronald Colman, then the Castagnola clan, until a fire on the wharf destroyed the building in 1973. After eventually being rebuilt, from 1981 to 2022 it was owned first by the Williams family and then by John Scott (also owner of Harry’s Plaza Café, among other iconic spots). 

“In 1995, it cleared $26 million in sales,” Thyne says, “but that was no longer the case, especially after COVID.”

While getting everything up to code, modernizing, and lightening the mood — Olesya Thyne, who led the interior revamps, says the goal was “to avoid the old, dark, steakhouse feel it had” — upping the food was even more important. Enter new Executive Chef Gonzalo Del Pino. Having trained around the world with the likes of Martín Berasategui at the Paradisus Palma Real in the Dominican Republic, and Gordon Ramsay at Pétrus in London, the Chilean-born Del Pino is a perfect match for the “international coastal cuisine” of the new menu.“Our hope is to make the dishes from everywhere with the best local ingredients from here,” is how Del Pino puts it. “Every single day, we work on new dishes and techniques. Currently I’m working on fermentations, which are Nordic, but then I’ll put that on a ceviche — it’s a fusion.” Given his South American roots, it’s little surprise the menu offers a ceviche redolent with green leche de tigre and also a yellowfin tiradito that is a Peruvian take on sashimi with a coconut green curry sauce and chili oil kick.

The tidy menu — Del Pino makes clear that it’s not big so that it’s easier for the kitchen to nail each and every dish — does have some range, from steakhouse staples like prime rib, steak tartare, and a seafood tower, to a lobster-cake Caesar, arroz socarrat with octopus, a chilpachole broth, and clams. (Socarrat is the crunchy rice part of paella; chilpachole is a zippy Mexican stew.)

To add further to the variety, the property still sports Longboard’s Grill on its open-air second floor. With the peanuts-for-shelling gone forever, the space has been cleaned up, too, but remains a casual, above-ocean perch. “You can get a five-star dinner with an amazing chef at the Harbor,” Thyne says, “or go upstairs and watch a game, have some beers, and eat lots of lobster rolls.” Sanchez is quick to point out there’s the lounge area, too, for “bites with a drink.” The cocktail list, available throughout the first floor, is seriously considered, with delights like a Stearns Wharf (cachaca, mezcal, house honey syrup, strawberry purée, house ginger syrup) and the Alameda Padre Serra (rye, blood orange, basil, house honey syrup, peppercorn, maraschino cherry).

As for the future, the team hopes to make the Harbor the spot for people’s special events, from anniversaries and birthdays to holiday dinner deals on Thanksgiving, the Parade of Lights, and Christmas. They’ve even started a Sunday brunch. Also in the works are a coffee shop and a grab-and-go for yet more convenience and to lure in strolling tourists.

That said, the group surely has grand ideas for the beloved, yet clearly needing their love, spot. “It’s one of the few restaurants in Santa Barbara that’s more upscale,” Olesya Thyne said. “It’s a place where you can bring a first date to impress them. And you can feel more like you’re in Los Angeles or New York or St. Tropez.”

John Thyne, perhaps leaning on his legal skills, delivered this rousing summation: “Times when the Harbor was not just one of the greatest restaurants in Santa Barbara, not just in California, but in the world. We want to get back to that and exceed it.”

The Harbor Restaurant, 210 Stearns Wharf; (805) 963-3311; harborsb.com