Local Lowdown: The Sun Rises on Somerset

Photo courtesy Somerset

An elegant addition to the downtown Santa Barbara restaurant scene, Somerset is an old world European style grand café created by Steve Hermann Hotels and Restaurants of Palm Springs’ acclaimed L’Horizon Resort and Spa fame. The impressive décor features deep chesterfield sofas, polished zinc tabletops, and 50’s modern vintage chairs and lighting, a swanky combination of mid century and art deco influences.  And then there’s the gorgeous courtyard patio with a canopy of 100-year-old olive trees planted in rubble stone planters designed to create the mood of an old courtyard in Tuscany.

Photo courtesy Somerset.

Photo courtesy Somerset.

Chef Lauren Herman (formerly of the James Beard Award-winning A.O.C. and Lucques in Los Angeles) has created a menu that takes advantage of the bounty of the Santa Barbara coast by sourcing all produce within a 100-mile radius and utilizing daily deliveries by local fish mongers and livestock humanely raised on ranches in the hills above America’s Rivera. A visit to Somerset promises an evening of sure-to-be-memorable farm-driven California cuisine with light French and Italian influences. At press time it was dinner only, but plans to add lunch and brunch to the menu are in the works.  

Somerset, 7 E. Anapamu St., 805/845-7112, somersetsb.com.

Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in the Spring 2017 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.