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I asked my friends for the best drive in southern California: they unanimously told me to take the 101 to Santa Barbara. I spent the weekend there and was immediately attracted to the indoor-outdoor living.
I was born in Russia, but I love sunshine and have always gravitated towards environments where you can barbecue for 10 months of the year. I kept returning, spending increasingly longer amounts of time in the area. Then my fiancé at the time, Jorge Jimenez Neubauer Tores, whom I fell in love with a small cottage near Montecito. Santa Barbara County is a good contrast to life in LA, where much of my work is, and there’s a great community. It felt natural for us to buy a home here.
What I love about Santa Barbara are all the little pockets: Ojai is a small city to the east, while Santa Ynez is about 30 minutes north-west. On our way to Santa Ynez we’ll stop off at Cold Spring Tavern for a drink. There are always lots of motorcycles parked outside and live music playing. It’s rough and rustic, but that’s the vibe – it sets the tone of a road trip.
Another place worth stopping is Summerland, a community about six miles from the city. The strip of design and antique shops is perfect for finding old and new pieces. Recently I was renovating the garden and found some nice pots and tables at The Well.
“I’m at my happiest when I can roam about in nature“
There are many beautiful vineyards in the area, and we’ve come to love The Hilt in Lompoc. They recently built a gorgeous tasting room, where they serve their own wines as well as from their sister winery Jonata. Over the holidays we took some family on a vineyard tour and I bought a few bottles of Hilt’s delicious rosé. They brought back some lovely memories when we opened them.
There are also several bars in the Funk Zone, an up-and-coming neighbourhood near the city’s waterfront. Pickle Room Bar feels like you’ve been transported to another world. They have red booths and it’s a really fun environment. For a date night nearby, Jorge and I head to Aperitivo, a super-small Italian restaurant with eight tables. The menu – two pastas and one salad – is written on a board and changes every few days. They also do a really good lemon sorbet, served Italian-style in a scooped-out lemon.
Even European family and friends say Santa Barbara’s Farmers Market is one of the best they’ve ever been to. I buy pink oyster mushrooms when my mom is in town because I find cleaning them such a vigorous process. I’m always afraid I won’t do it properly, so we do it together. And if strawberries are in season, I’ll go to Harry’s Berries stall – they’re not cheap, but they’re tasty. Then it’s around the corner to Danish-inspired Oat Bakery, which sells amazing focaccia bread with olives and rosemary. If we have people over, I’ll go on to the Cheese Shop.
I rarely go to the gym when I’m in Santa Barbara, but sometimes I’ll put on a weighted vest and work out near the water. As a family we like walking around the strand at Carpinteria Beach, ending up at Little Dom’s, where I indulge in its squid-ink pappardelle with shrimp and uni-butter scampi and mollica.