It’s food month! The Sustainable, Organic, Local (SOL) Food Festival recently saw 7,000 residents descend on Vera Cruz Park, kicking off a month of food-themed activities including the Eat Local Challenge and Epicure.SB. Appropriately, after 17 years of offering Santa Barbara live music, dining and entertainment, SOhO Restaurant & Music Club has announced the unveiling of a new menu focused on locally grown, organic and sustainable products.

“We’re now committing ourselves to working with local farmers, ranchers and fishermen,” SOhO owner Gail Hansen said. “We feel this is in the best interest of our local economy, our environment, our health and our community.”

Now serving seasonal, sustainably grown products as often and as close to home as possible, SOhO has teamed up with Farmer Direct Produce, Rancho San Julian and the Santa Barbara Fish Market to procure its ingredients. New menu items include the wildly popular organic coastal kale salad, rib-eye steak with white beans, organic veggie bowl with organic peanut sauce and brown rice, and the daily catch, lightly blackened on couscous and vegetables.

While SOhO has been working to incorporate locally grown ingredients for the past year, it was only recently that Hansen and her husband, Bob, decided to commit significant time and effort into making a dramatic menu change. Many of the new recipes are Bob’s own, and you will now find him in the SOhO kitchen preparing them for customers.

“It’s what we eat at home, it’s what we believe in, and it’s what we’re now bringing to SOhO,” he said. “Reviews from our customers and even our staff have been extremely positive. It’s all very exciting.”

Patrons can enjoy the new menu inside the restaurant or on the patio. SOhO is open for dinner from 6 to 10 p.m., plus a late-night menu on Fridays and Saturdays. Reservations can be made by calling 805.962.7776. A new happy hour will be announced soon.

— Gail Hansen is the owner of SOhO Restaurant & Music Club.