On a recent glorious So Cal day, a close friend from Santa Barbara suggested we spend an afternoon touring Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone with Eat This, Shoot That!, a food and photography tour. Eat This, Shoot That! is the brainchild of Tara Jones, a college photography teacher and local foodie, who decided to blend her two passions, offering the choice of two tours through the Funk Zone and the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail. Our three hour tour of the Funk Zone started at Mony’s Mexican Food for street tacos and followed a leisurely pace down Anacapa St. to Stearns Wharf, stopping at various local eateries, wineries and bars sampling some of the best that Santa Barbara and its thriving food scene has to offer.
After Mony’s we walked to Figueroa Mountain Brewery to sample one of the 14 craft brews on tap. Around the corner at The Lucky Penny pizzeria, we ordered an Open-Faced Mexican Burrito, a pizza celebrating Santa Barbara’s Mexican heritage that is covered with tomatillo sauce, fingerling potatoes, Oaxaca cheese, chorizo, cilantro, and topped with a fried egg. I think the idea was to fill us up before we hit the Riverbench tasting room for American Sparkling Wine and toffee from Koval Confections. The bubbles just barely hit our stomach before we entered Cutler’s Artisan Spirits to sip artisanal vodka, gin, and bourbon whisky. While I understand this may change soon, the tour currently ends on Stearns Wharf at The Santa Barbara Shellfish Company for Channel Island Rock Shrimp Ceviche and wine tasting at Deep Sea Winery. Along the way, our tour guide, Graham, a Brooks Institute college graduate, offered tidbits of Santa Barbara history as well as tips for food photography. It is a lovely way to spend the afternoon for tourists and locals alike.
Hope you are finding inspiration this weekend! xoM
PS All photos by me and most are from my Instagram account…just click below to follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
4 comments
Sounds like so much fun! Wish we were there… 🙂
I wish you were here too!
My dear friend Sindy Thompson gave me your blog. Doing a girlfriends trip in June. Can you recommend who to contact for the wine tour you did in Funky Town.? Also one of my favorite wines is Meiomi. Been trying to find a tour there. Appreciate any info you have about Santa Barbara
Hi Connie,
You can find Eat This Shoot That at http://www.eatthisshootthat.com or calling them at 805-364-0564. Their tours are a really fun way to experience Santa Barbara and the Funk Zone. You can also just explore on your own. There are many tasting rooms in the Funk Zone, as well as along State Street in the more “historic” part of Santa Barbara. It is a nice option if you don’t have the time to drive to Los Olivos for the day, which is where the majority of the tasting rooms are located. From what I understand and could find online, Meiomi has a wine from Santa Barbara County but the address for the winery is in Acampo, just outside Lodi in Northern California. So I am guessing they source their grapes from Santa Barbara County and other coastal areas but make the wine in Northern California. I will also copy this message and send it to your yahoo address provided. Feel free to email me back with any questions about Santa Barbara and I will answer them to the best of my ability! Thank you!
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