The TOSB Soirée

The TOSB Soirée

Friday, May 17, 6-9 p.m.,
Casa de la Guerra

By George Yatchisin | May 16, 2024

This is the first year that Taste of Santa Barbara is throwing this ambitious “signature event,” which is bringing together some of the best chefs in the region to prepare two dishes each, most of them inspired by Julia Child herself. 

In addition to the chefs profiled below, Massimo Falsini of Caruso’s in the Rosewood Miramar Beach will be serving what whimsically named “I Grew Up in Trastevere, You Should Try This Carbonara” as well as a Baja Kanpachi with spring legumes and ramps. Market Forager’s Justin West is making braised beef cheeks and a cream of chicken soup with vegetables inspired by a Julia Child recipe that was the first dish he ever cooked himself. “I was 13 years old and my parents were returning from a vacation and, under the supervision of my caretakers (Mom and Dad’s friends), I prepared this soup for their welcome-back dinner,” said West.

Live music will be performed by the Spanish guitar duo Calé, and Cutler’s Artisan Spirits will be crafting cocktails. Santa Barbara Vintners will be pouring top-shelf wines by Sandhi Wines, Star Lane Vineyard, Rusack Vineyards, Tyler Winery, Lieu Dit Winery, Marbeso Wine, Barden by Margerum, and Foxen. 

Use the promotional code SOIREE24 to get $50 off of the ticket price.

Return to the Taste of Santa Barbara 2024 cover story.

Sandra Adu Zelli

Those attending the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience Taste of Santa Barbara Soirée will be able to indulge in three desserts prepared by Chef Sandra Adu Zelli, owner of Gipsy Hill Bakery. One of them, the decadent chocolate cake known as Reine de Saba, Zelli has been baking for almost two decades. The funny thing is, when she started, she didn’t know it was famously associated with Julia Child.

Zelli was the pastry chef at a London restaurant, and the executive chef suggested the gâteau. “I kind of bristled,” she recalls, “feeling a bit sniffy at the simplicity of it, but was amazed at its deliciousness. This was a world pre-Internet, so I had to go look up Julia Child to find out who she was.”

Zelli grew up in the countryside outside of London and reminisces about foraging for blackberries and making crumbles with her mum. After time in kitchens with the likes of legends such as Yotam Ottolenghi and Marco Pierre White, she and her husband came to the U.S. when he got a job at the Biltmore in Santa Barbara. What was supposed to be a two-year stay became 16, with, as she puts it, “a green card, a couple of kids, and a career as a private chef.” In particular, she ran a sold-out business of pick-up orders through the pandemic.

She considers herself more a pâtisserie chef than a baker, but she loves challenges, quoting a mentor who told her, “If you’re not nervous, you’re not ready.” (The other two desserts she’ll create for the Soirée are more up her alley: a citrus tart featuring local fruit and a pavlova with of-the-season strawberries.) In addition to the Soirée, she’s often seen partnering around town with Chef Pascale Beale at events where they go by the name Two Baking Brits. 

Sergei Simonov 

A flair for the dramatic is simply part of Chef Sergei Simonov’s skill set, as anyone who saw him manipulate his way through Netflix’s Pressure Cooker series — Lord of the Flies meets TV cooking competition — knows. So it’s little surprise that, for the Santa Barbara Soirée, he will be live-cooking paella de mariscos, a signature dish during his run as Loquita’s executive chef. Guests can expect sizzle and fire in addition to grilled bay scallops, Prince Edward Island mussels, wild jumbo gulf prawns, black garlic sofrito, shiso, and saffron aioli.

Simonov — currently part of the Acme Hospitality team (which also owns Loquita) that will open the much-awaited La Vaquera in San Juan Capistrano’s River Street Marketplace in early summer — will return to Santa Barbara for the evening. He says, “Loquita will always have my heart, so coming back feels like coming home.” Under Simonov’s direction, Loquita was added to the Michelin Guide.

He never had the fortune to meet Julia Child, but his second dish for the Soirée, Provençal Tomatoes, “is inspired by the vibrant flavors of heirloom tomatoes, a staple of French cuisine and a nod to the Provence region, where Julia spent a significant amount of time mastering the local culinary traditions.” The flavorful, elegant dish features 12-year-old sherry vinaigrette, whipped Spanish goat cheese, and purple basil.

Although Simonov has worked in San Diego and is currently in Orange County, his education at the SBCC Culinary School, his years alongside mentor Chef Jason Paluska at The Lark, and his time at Loquita remain at his core as a chef. 

“Thank you, SBCE, for hosting a remarkable week of events that celebrate chefs, winemakers, restaurants, wineries, brewers, and the culinary excellence that Santa Barbara embodies,” he enthuses. “Your dedication to showcasing the vibrant culinary scene of the city is truly appreciated.” 

Alex Bollinger

Turns out you can go home again — twice — if you’re Executive Chef Alex Bollinger at El Encanto. The Santa Barbara native had a plan early on; he remembers writing in his 6th-grade yearbook that in 10 years, he would be in Europe training to be a professional chef. He ended up traveling the world, cooking under esteemed chefs from Charlie Palmer to Tyler Florence, only to return to be the opening chef at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara’s Angel Oak. From there, he ran F&B for the Alida Hotel resort in Savannah, Georgia, until El Encanto called him home a second time.

Bollinger is thrilled to be part of Santa Barbara Culinary Experience because it honors Julia Child. “My family and I would always see her on Sunday night at China Palace in Montecito when I was growing up,” he recalls. “I was always so starstruck, even though I had no idea my path would coincide with hers in so many ways.” 

At the Taste of Santa Barbara Soirée, Bollinger will prepare two Child-inspired and Mastering the Art of French Cooking–inspired dishes. The first will be a play on the creamy, cold potato classic vichyssoise, Child’s favorite soup. The second will be a take on a traditional escargot dish, with a local twist — abalone will sub for the snails. Bollinger says, “It’s called ‘Mermaid Style’ where we grill the abalone, from Cultured Abalone Farms, in its shell with lots of butter, garlic, and parsley.” (FYI, Cultured Abalone Farms will be offering tours for SBCE, too.)

Although Bollinger has never participated in an event at Casa de la Guerra before, he says, “I am super excited to honor the influence Julia had on all of us! What a great way to tell the story with such a historical backdrop.” 

Return to the Taste of Santa Barbara 2024 cover story.