Side Street Cafe, Los Olivos, review

On a recent wine tasting weekend in the Santa Barbara area, the Side Street Cafe in Los Olivos was recommended to us by one of the wineries. We arrived for our reservation on time and were promptly seated. The woman who had made the reservation for us had evidentially mentioned that it was my friend's birthday, thus procuring us a prime table by the bar where we could have a good look at anyone coming or going. The atmosphere is nice, nothing fancy, but seemed warm and comfortable. We brought our own wine, which the server corked for us, and we offered the owner a glass, (we were told by the winery making our reservation that the owner liked the wine that we had planned to take to dinner) which he graciously accepted. He then sent over a free appetizer. It was a corn mush wrapped green pepper with cheese on it. It was huge! And rather bland. My friend, not having a lot of dining experience, was so enamored by the "free" appetizer, I'm not sure she cared what it tasted like.

When it came time to order, I ordered the halibut off the menu, my friend ordered the duck. I asked to have the halibut grilled, but the owner told me he didn't have a grill (huh...? we were told this was a great restaurant? I sort of think a grill is necessary to be a great restaurant these days). After we ordered, I noticed the owner wandering the room, talking to people, and focusing especially on a table with 2 cute women, who also happened to be visiting for the weekend. He sent over the same free app. that we had received, and the 2 women were also surprised at the size, and only ate about 1/4 of it. As we waited for our food, I noticed the owner continually flirting with these 2 women, who seemed flattered by the attention. When he wasn't flirting with them, he was chatting up me and my friend, who was excited to be "at the chef's table", as she assumed that must be why he was paying so much attention to us. (hey, we're cute girls, but we ain't models!)

My halibut came baked in a butter sauce. The sauce was good, if not innovative. The fish, however, was HUGE! and just about 2 seconds short of being overcooked. After skipping the bland app., I was starving, so I did consume more than 1/2 of it. My friend had the duck, which was presented as one side of a duck, scored and placed on the plate. Again, a gigantic portion, but she said it was very good (it didn't look great, the plating was lousy) and ate the entire thing (I don't eat meat, so I have to take her word for it).

The desserts were... not great, but it's hard to complain when the dessert's free, thanks to my friend's aging. A caramel pudding (not sure what it was supposed to be), which had the consistency of thick caramel sauce from the grocery store before it's heated up, and was way too sweet, topped by bananas. The temperature of the dessert was odd, too. The caramel was cool in the center, but the top was room temperature. Our other dessert was a chocolate pie, hard as a rock! As we were leaving, I noticed a lot of "locals" saying how much they enjoyed their meals and shaking the hand of the owner. I was surprised, maybe we just came on an off night, but I can't say I'd go back again. Perhaps if the owner had been checking in with the kitchen instead of spending the entire evening flirting and chatting, our food would have been better.