Firing Up the Grill at Montecito’s Old Firehouse

RH Montecito Brings the Village Vibe to New Restaurant and Design Studio

The exterior of the old firehouse now home to RH Montecito, The Gallery at The Old Firehouse | Photo: Courtesy

With a vibe that’s a cross between the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu and an upscale home in the Mediterranean — where the only trace of sand you’ll see is the opulent, earth-toned decor — RH Montecito, The Gallery at The Old Firehouse fits right in to its new location at 1486 East Valley Road.

The long-awaited new tenant in the 9,000-square-foot historic building features an interior design atelier, a wine and barista bar, and The RH Firehouse Grill, an indoor and outside courtyard restaurant with fireplaces and fountains and many of the same road-tested upscale menu items found in the RH dining experiences across the country in cities like Napa Valley’s Yountville, the Meatpacking District in New York, and the tony part of Raleigh, North Carolina. There’s even an RH restaurant on a landmark estate in the Cotswolds in England. They all share a luxurious but livable feeling and a taste for elevated classics like a whole grilled branzino, fried chicken sandwich (they call it a “sando”), and the shaved ribeye dip.

[Click to enlrage] Left: One of the many side rooms inside RH Montecito, The Gallery at The Old Firehouse. Right: The outdoor patio. | Photo: Leslie Dinaberg; Courtesy

After gliding our way into the historic building, first constructed in 1931 by the award-winning architect Alexander Bertrand Harmer and then serving as the Montecito Firehouse for more than half a century, we entered the great room, featuring a stunning 14-foot ceiling with reclaimed oak beams; large, arched windows providing lots of natural light and views of the mountains; and a collection of art, antiques, and artifacts from across the globe.

Inside RH Montecito, The Gallery at The Old Firehouse | Photo: Leslie Dinaberg

The feel of walking through someone’s home (albeit one that’s extremely high-end with a strictly orchestrated color palette that has even the coffee table books adhering to a strict black, brown, and beige-toned vision board) runs throughout the various rooms within the design studio and restaurant, which also features an exposed oak-beam ceiling, as well as natural limestone tabletops, and unusual handwoven basketweave pendant lights. (RH Interior Design, which I did not tour, is located upstairs and reportedly has a private presentation room with state-of-the-art technology.)

The feeling of hospitality was enforced even further as guests made themselves at home in the various seating areas resembling dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, libraries, and offices, with coffees, wine, and champagne from the large Wine & Barista Bar in the Great Room. The wine list skews primarily local, with offerings from Brander, Hitching Post, Talley, Clementine Carter, The Feminist Party, Stanford, Tyler, Foxen, and Piedrasassi featured along with a few selections from Napa and Europe.

The wine bar at RH Firehouse Gill | Photo: Courtesy

Crispy Artichokes, served with potatoes, rosemary, and lemon aioli | Photo: Leslie Dinaberg

The Roadside Lobster Roll at RH Firehouse Grill | Photo: Leslie Dinaberg

Surrounded by heritage olive trees, birds of paradise, and tastefully casual diners, we enjoyed lunch on the patio and tried a number of dishes, all of which were solid. Starting with the crispy artichokes, served with potatoes, rosemary, and lemon aioli, the artichokes had a nice light char, and the well-seasoned taters were so plentiful that the name of the starter should really have “potato” in it. We also had the grilled shrimp, which is made with lemon, butter, garlic, and Calabrian chili (hard to go wrong with those flavors) and available as both an appetizer and as an entree.

The Chinese chicken salad was not as good as everything else we tried, but the salted caramel gelato was creamy and delicious, with a few chocolate chips thrown in there for a nice surprise. The Roadside Lobster Roll was my personal favorite of the dishes we tried. Light, clean-tasting, with a perfectly toasted roll and just the right amount of butter that let the lobster be the star, it was definitely a dish I’ll come back for. The lunch and dinner offerings are the same, and they range from $18 for a salad to $58 for a ribeye, with sandwiches and other mains falling in between. They also have a weekend brunch available and a small daily breakfast menu that includes scrambled eggs and lox and bagels, as well as intriguing-sounding whole smashed avocado.

Gwyneth Paltrow at the opening of RH Montecito | Photo: Steve Lucero, BFA

The other thing about the patio is that not only is it beautiful, but the acoustics are well-modulated and, unlike many outdoor restaurants where one person is toasty and warmed by a tower heater while the other person is shivering, the outdoor heating is done to perfection at this place, where every creature comfort seems to be considered. Another case in point is the large parking lot in the back and a back patio entrance that also features inviting outdoor furniture and plants. The front entrance also has comfy seating on the courtyard with a decomposed granite walking path, Japanese boxwood hedging, and a progression of silver date palm trees along the perimeter.

There’s certainly been no expense spared and no detail overlooked in this new addition to Montecito’s upper village, whose opening night party had Gwyneth Paltrow in attendance and was a benefit for the Montecito Firefighters’ Charitable Foundation.

RH Montecito, The Gallery at The Old Firehouse, 1486 East Valley Road, (805) 560-8747, RH.com.