buellton

Love the movie Sideways?  Who could forget the misadventures in the Santa Barbara wine country of Miles and Jack?  Well, interestingly enough, much of the movie was shot on location at the now famous Hitching Post 2 steakhouse in Buellton, CA.  We sit down with the owner and chef  AND winemaker, Mr. Frank Ostini about how all of that Hollywood hi jinx came to be.  It is a pretty cool story.

We also talk about how Frank came from a restaurant family background.   To enhance the experience of your visit to wine country and his restaurant, he makes wines specifically for his steakhouse menu.  We find out how he and his partner, Gray Hartly, decided to become wine makers (another great story) and how he fell in love with making delicious  food friendly wines.

So join us as we learn some tips of the trade of making a great steak better and how great wine enhances that experience...without going completely sideways.

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Robbie Kaye is the consummate artist: photographer, painter, musician, vocalist, and documentarian. Her photographs of three beautiful oak trees captured my attention on Instagram, but her support of female owned businesses gained my respect and admiration.  

Week after week, Ladies of the Valley features inspiring women who are bosses at what they do.  It gives these women a platform to showcase their businesses and reveal and their unique origin story.

In our conversation, we discuss trees, art, finding inspiration and your artistic voice, and of course, women supporting women. 

More information about Robbie’s work can be found at robbiekaye.com. Robbie’s photographs are on display at Crawford Family Wine tasting room in Solvang.  Her resin work is on display at Helen’s Hair Studio in The Salon in Santa Ynez.  And to get a dose of daily inspiration from the women of this amazing community, check out Instagram.com/ladiesofthevalley.

Also mentioned in this episode are Crawford Family Wines, Gypsy Studios, Maverick Saloon, The Salon in Santa Ynez, Helen’s Hair Salon, Brittany Davis Gallery, Valley Wellness Collective, Kelly Fiore, and Deb Davis.

Global Gardens is featured in Small Business Spotlight.

When my friend Abigail mentioned that her father-in-law, real estate broker William Etling, wrote a book about the Valley, I quickly downloaded a copy for my own research. Published in 2005, Sideways in Neverland is a collection from over 300 bi-weekly columns Etling wrote for the Santa Barbara News Press.

Loosely grouped by topic, his columns cover everything from the best surf spots, to the history of the Mission, to jaunts at Neverland Ranch, and his adventures serving as an extra for three days on the set of the movie Sideways. As I immersed myself in these brief vignettes, I discovered Mr. Etling’s deep love for the Valley, its people, and topography, which shines through in his beautifully written prose.  He also has an irreverent fondness for some of the characters that make up our community and details their adventures and misadventures alike with flair.

In our conversation, we discuss Mr. Etling’s childhood as a transplant from North Carolina, his experience writing columns for the Santa Barbara News Press, his adventures in Neverland and Sideways, his business as a real estate agent with Los Olivos Real Estate Co., and his love for the Santa Ynez Valley and its endless natural beauty.

Mr. Etling’s book, Sideways in Neverland, may be downloaded or purchased here or here.

Solvang Children’s Shop, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in business, is featured in Small Business Spotlight. 

Most parents who’ve been lucky enough to have their children taught by Mrs. Carlson will agree that she’s magical.  The children fancy her the Tooth Fairy, and they’re not wrong.  Mrs. Carlson has pulled dozens if not hundreds of wiggly teeth over the years, and she appears in full Tooth Fairy costume each Halloween for the Ballard Halloween parade.  

From leprechaun traps, to runaway gingerbread men, to cities made of blocks and papier mâché animal wonderlands, Mrs. Carlson has done her very best to make kindergarten a magical time for hundreds of children over her nearly 40 years of teaching.

The children also learn responsibility, problem solving, and independence in their brief time with her, skills they will carry with them throughout their lives.  

As this year marks her very last at Ballard Elementary, I sat down with Linda Carlson inside the historic Little Red School house, where she has taught for the last 27 years, to reflect on her career and her deep love, respect, and endless fascination for our littlest scholars.  

Also included in this episode are a few surprise special guests.

Finally, the Giving Ink in Solvang is the first local business featured in Small Business Spotlight.

When we moved here I sought out a deeper connection with my community, and that feeling progressed into exploring a deeper connection with faith.  While grappling with the question about the role faith should play in my life and that of my family, a while back a friend recommended that I go see Pastor Chris Brown.

Rather than run to church, a place I’ve never felt comfortable, I decided to go with the safer route of friending and following him on Facebook.  Several months later, however, I finally took the plunge and checked out his worship service at Bethania.  When I walked through the door he greeted me by name, never having met me before.  As I listened to his sermon, what became clear is that Chris deeply cares about his congregation, this community, and anybody who is exploring tough questions about God and faith. 

His approach is a little unorthodox: he encourages you to challenge any dogma or assumption you may have learned before about Christianity, and to place these assumptions, dogmas, and tenets in their historical context.  He also welcomes people of all faiths and no faith with equal fervor.  

In our conversation we discuss how he became a pastor, his role in the church and our community, and his views on how Christianity can remain relevant in our lives.