Tamale Window Opens on Cota Street

Richard Lambert, company owner, and Stephanie Armstrong, with the Chamber of Commerce, courtesy photo.

Richard Lambert, company owner, and Stephanie Armstrong, with the Chamber of Commerce, courtesy photo.

Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go are becoming even more available this week. That’s right, now you won’t have to wait until the year-end holidays for bagful of fresh tamales on the spot because Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go is opening a tamale window downtown at 20 E. Cota St. on the east side of Nectar Eatery & Lounge (previously the Blue Agave).

The grand opening, hosted by the Chamber of the Santa Barbara Region, will be Friday, November 20, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

After holding two successful pop-ups at the Santa Barbara Public Market this summer, Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go owner, Richard Lambert, says he was inspired with the idea of a window.

Courtesy Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go.

Courtesy Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go.

 “More than half of the folks who came to our pop-ups wanted tamales to take home. With our new window, they can come get fresh tamales straight from the steamer and packaged to go.”

The company offers six traditional tamales; chicken, pork, beef, chile and cheese, spicy black bean, and farmers’ market (vegetable). According to Lambert, their tamales are gluten and lard-free, and are made fresh daily in Santa Barbara. The tamale window will be open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Please call ahead (805/965-2321) for orders of three dozen or more.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on November 18, 2015.

Pacific Pride Foundation’s Royal Ball

(L-R): Linda Wallem-Etheridge, Jane Lynch, Jason Collins, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Don Roos, Dan Bucatinsky, and Joanna Kerns, photo by JP Montalvo.

(L-R): Linda Wallem-Etheridge, Jane Lynch, Jason Collins, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Don Roos, Dan Bucatinsky, and Joanna Kerns, photo by JP Montalvo.

Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) hosted its Fourth Annual Royal Ball fundraiser last month at the Bacara Resort & Spa. The sold out event attracted 500 guests and a host of local Hollywood celebrities. Among the stars out that night: Jane Lynch of Glee fame was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) presented Pacific Pride Foundation’s first ever Advocacy Award to Award Winning Director/Screenwriter Don Roos and Emmy award winning actor Dan Bucatinsky.

Danny Franzese, co-star of Mean Girls and the HBO series Looking; Marisa Tomei, actress and producer; Mary McCormack, actress, writer, and producer; Michael Morris, television director and producer; Linda Wallem, actress, writer producer; Jeff Perry, actor; Linda Lowy, casting director; Jason Collins, NBA Basketball star and Brunson Green, film producer and president of Harbinger Pictures, also attended the event.

(L-R) (back row): Pacific PrideFoundation Board of Directors: Marco Silva, Ralph Barbosa, Lamar Pugh, honoree Dan Bucatinsky, MicheleHock, honoree DonRoos, Solomon N’dungu, Alan Rose, Jessa Tucker Riley and  Auralee Bunch. (front row): Go-go dancers from The Abbey in West Hollywood, photo by Joel Conroy.

(L-R) (back row): Pacific PrideFoundation Board of Directors: Marco Silva, Ralph Barbosa, Lamar Pugh, honoree Dan Bucatinsky, MicheleHock, honoree DonRoos, Solomon N’dungu, Alan Rose, Jessa Tucker Riley and Auralee Bunch. (front row): Go-go dancers from The Abbey in West Hollywood, photo by Joel Conroy.

Each year, Pacific Pride Foundation hosts the Royal Ball to bring together gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) people and straight allies to share a memorable evening of fun and celebration of our diverse community, all in support of Pacific Pride Foundation’s vital programs and services for the LGBTQ and HIV communities.

The mission of Pacific Pride Foundation is to advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community; care for people living with HIV; and prevent the transmission of HIV. For more information, please visit www.pacificpridefoundation.org/.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, photo by Joel Conroy.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, photo by Joel Conroy.

Costumed greeters welcomed guests to the Pacific Pride Foundation's 4th Annual Royal Ball. Photo by Isaac Hernandez.

Costumed greeters welcomed guests to the Pacific Pride Foundation’s 4th Annual Royal Ball. Photo by Isaac Hernandez.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on May 13, 2015.

Artist Julie B. Montgomery at MichaelKate

Painting by Julie B. Montgomery

Painting by Julie B. Montgomery

She’s had her paintings featured on Mad Men, Glee and Scandal, and throughout the U.S. and Europe—now artist Julie B. Montgomery brings her work to MichaelKate Interiors & Art Gallery in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone.

Painting by Julie B. Montgomery

Painting by Julie B. Montgomery

Born in Germany and now making her home locally, Montgomery’s paintings are described as “like poetry,” by gallerist Donna Seager. “Her subtle, warm palette of layers added and removed from the canvas, have a power that is felt long before any literal information is taken in. They bring to mind something Jorge Luis Borges said about poetry, ‘I know for a fact that we FEEL the beauty of a poem long before we even begin to think of a meaning.’ These paintings unveil themselves slowly, akin to the work of JMW Turner where the eyes have to adjust before all the subtle detail can be taken in.” 

“Encountering Montgomery’s paintings is like staring out across the fog-covered Pacific and seeing the Channel Islands revealed as the ocean mist lifts on a sunny Santa Barbara day. Gazing westward, we know the islands are there, even when they are obscured by haze. Contemplating Montgomery’s art, we know the poetry is there, but the elegant erasures and ellipses force us to look further, to look deeper, to look within, in order to perceive the shifting strata of meaning,” wrote art critic Betty Ann Brown.

Painting by Julie B. Montgomery

Painting by Julie B. Montgomery

See the work for yourself. It’s on view at MichaelKate, 132 Santa Barbara St., from July 11 to August 30, with an opening reception on Friday, July 11, from 5-7 p.m. Arts writer Charles Donelan will moderate a discussion that evening with the artist.

The Funk Zone 2nd Saturdays Art Walk is Saturday, July 12 from 1-5 p.m., with art exhibits, live performances and special events all around the Funk Zone. For more information click here.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on July 9, 2014.