Santa Barbara Should Be Primed for Rare Society 

Poets have the old line that the sonnet is a form that only allows for perfection. In the restaurant biz, the same might be true for the steakhouse. It’s a tight and classic genre expressed in not just impeccably seared steaks but also in all the accouterments: alpine-cold martinis, busting with butter and tarragon Béarnaise, and as much cream — that is, all the cream — you can get into every vegetable side.

Rare Society comes to Funk Zone–adjacent State Street ready to show Santa Barbara what San Diego already knows: Chef Brad Wise has a burgeoning beef empire on his hands. Wise and his team appreciate all the steakhouse “rules,” while pushing at the lines just enough to deliver a spectacular experience of muchness, at a slightly less than equally extravagant price point. 

The lavish, Vegas-style glitzy remake of the former Corazón Cocina/The Project space certainly sets a dramatic scene, what with the front room devoted to a horseshoe bar facing the open kitchen and its open flames and the back room of booths and what they refer to as a train car down the center (once you see it, it makes total sense), only for dining. And, of course, drinking with dining, including a Central Coast–focused wine list.