You Montecito Cafe, Me Jane

Despite the headline, Jane (1311 State St., 962-1311), the just-opened sister restaurant to the Montecito Cafe, isn’t named after Tarzan’s beloved. Or Jane Fonda, Pratt, Austen, Eyre, or Goodall. Turns out Jane is the mother of restaurant owner Maragret Huston, and it’s fitting to name such a homey spot after family. It’s still big and airy, as in its days as Gisella’s Mediteraneo, but the front window is more open, the steps to the front balcony are to the right and not left, and there’s a long shared table mid-restaurant to encourage convivial chat. The menu will look comfortably recognizable to anyone familiar with the Montecito Cafe; the goat cheese pancakes, gravlax, and caviar are there; so is the chicken breast and Anaheim chiles. But for appetizers there’s also a tasty new duo of spreads-a piquant, salty olive tapenade and a not-quite baba ganoush eggplant dip. The burgers only available in Montecito for lunch see fit to make it to the dinner table in Santa Barbara. And for dessert, there’s always soft serve ice cream, but done right with real fruit. So now you can get a fresh, tasty meal for a good price, and not even leave S.B. proper.