The coastal setting, small-town charm, enthusiasm for wine, and arts appreciation are just a few of the reasons Santa Barbara is frequently referred to as the American Riviera. Merci Montecito, Elizabeth Colling’s lovely new café in the Montecito Country Mart, further adds to this European kinship.
Colling attended culinary school at the Ritz Escoffier School in Paris and moved back to California to lend her baking prowess to Bastide and Spago in Los Angeles. Subsequently, she landed her dream job in New York City as a food editor at Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Wedding magazines, developing recipes and styling the finished product.
When her husband, sommelier Stephane Colling, got a job at San Ysidro Ranch eight years ago, this food and wine power couple found themselves in the perfect place to cultivate their epicurean passions. Gushed Colling, “It’s such a dream to live here.”