Year: 2006

By

Closing Time

The rumors are true. One of Santa Barbara’s most beloved eating and drinking establishments is calling it quits at the end of next month. July 29 will mark the last call for alcohol and egg rolls at Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens on East Canon Perdido Street. A staple in the local community since it opened in 1947, Jimmy’s has been a favorite of downtown workers, the theater community, and anyone just looking for a good drink and a welcoming place with arguably the best jazz soundtrack this side of the Mississippi.

Uncategorized By Indy Staff

Quote of the Week

‘I have no idea.’

– Several regulars at Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens, on where they will go now that Jimmy’s is closing.

Business By Michael Cervin

Michael Towbes

“Stick with what you know,” Michael Towbes admonished me over a weekday lunch at Ca’ Dario. A simple statement, one that reflected not only his considerable business dealings, but his lunch choices as well. True to his own advice, Towbes stuck with what he knows, and he knows Ca’ Dario well. The staff knows him well, too, greeting him sincerely. He ordered one of his standard dishes, the LattuÂ-ghette con Gorgonzola e Noci, which is a fancy way of saying a mixed green salad with apple, walnut, raisin, and crumbled blue cheese. I went with Michael’s recommendation of the rigatoni.

By Indy Staff

RAINY DAY HOUSING:

Operating on the theory that downtown real estate is only getting more expensive, the Santa Barbara City Council voted to spend $2 million to buy two Eastside properties to use for affordable housing at some later date. No specific plan exists for either property the old Haggen Printing building at 416 East Cota and another around the corner at 517 Olive Street so they will be “land banked” until one is hatched.

By Virginia Hayes

Herb Delight

Basil Season Begins

“The smell of basil is good for the heart – it taketh away sorrowfulness which cometh of melancholy and maketh a man merry and glad.” That’s according to the 17th century herbalist, John Gerard. Most of us would totally agree. And the season for basil is just getting going. From now until the end of summer, if you plan and plant successive crops, either from seed or young plants, you can have a continuous harvest of this fragrant herb for your kitchen. Basil is best consumed fresh, so growing your own will ensure that you always have some on hand for your culinary undertakings.

Uncategorized By

Rebirth of the Milpas Mecca

Introducing Legends Bar and Lounge

The off-State Street bar can be a wonderful thing, with neighborly crowds, familiar bartenders, strong drinks, a mellow vibe, and music that plays at a level where conversations can actually occur. It can, however, also be an unsavory place, where fights erupt over the next jukebox song, shifty characters occupy dark corners at all hours, and the bulge in the pocket of the guy on the next stool is more likely a shank than a cell phone. For Legends Bar and Lounge – located at 512 North Milpas Street near Haley – both of these descriptions ring a bell: The Eastside drinkery’s past life as The Mecca was shadowed by shady regulars and knife-y notoriety while its present and future as a neighborhood watering hole/live music hub is already the stuff of, well, off-State Street legends.

By Felicia M. Tomasko

Samantha Scher & Alixandra Macmillan-Fiedel

Putting on the Voice

Samantha Scher believes everyone can become part of something bigger than oneself; that everyone can make a difference, even if he/she is only one person, and even if he/she is only 17. Samantha began her current quest to make a difference more than a year ago when she cofounded with Alixandra Macmillan-Fiedel a club at Laguna Blanca to raise awareness of and money for the Scleroderma Research Foundation. Although scleroderma is not as well known as diseases like multiple sclerosis, it affects a significant number of people yearly: 300,000 in the U.S. alone. Scleroderma’s effects are systemic and devastating, causing the body’s connective tissue to harden.

By Gerald Carpenter

Piano Men

Pianofest, presented by Music Academy of the West

At Abravanel Hall, Saturday, June 17.
Pianofest opened bombastically with eight extraordinarily talented hands banging out Ernest Guiraud’s arrangement of Saint-Sa»ns’s Danse Macabre. Despite marvelously deft performances by Orion Weiss, the next two pieces – some Mozart “Variations” on a theme from a Paisiello opera, and a bauble called “Sparks” by Moritz Moszkowski – did little to improve my expectations.

Uncategorized By Gerald Carpenter

America the Beautiful

“Immigrant Nation,” presented by Santa Barbara Chamber Music

At First Congregationalist Church, Friday, June 16 and Sunday, June 18.
The opening concert of the three-day chamber music festival had no shortage of music, although there were fewer instruments playing this year. As violinist Kathleen Lenski and pianist Edith Orloff struck up Aaron Copland’s “Waltz & Celebration,” from his ballet Billy the Kid, it was lovely to note how those two instruments filled the church with music. The two went on to play the “Hoe Down,” from Copland’s Rodeo, and put an ineradicable, Ken Burns-y Americana spin on the evening and festival that followed.

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