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It’s all about authenticity for Ron Thai.
The long-time Carpinteria resident recently opened Phoevermore at 1017 Casitas Pass Road in the city, a restaurant that was in the works for five years.
“It’s a very traditional style,” he said. “We do everything from scratch.”
At the moment, Phoevermore serves only three traditional dishes: beef-noodle soup (the “pho” — pronounced “fuh” — in “Phoevermore”); vermicelli, a rice-noodle salad with meat; and broken rice, typically paired with chicken or pork chops.
“The reason we only offer three things is we want to do them well,” Thai said. “And later on, we’re going to add special items of the day or of the weekend.”
And it’s not just authentic food he’s after, but an authentic atmosphere.
“I want to try to take you back to Vietnam — with a street alley and all of the chaos, all the details,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to capture, with all the windows and the power-pole lines.”
Phoevermore is in its soft-opening stage, with plans for a grand opening later this month.
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and is closed on Sunday.
Employees work so much, Thai said, that he wanted to give a consistent day off each week for them to spend with their families.
Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go ringing in holiday season with homemade deliveries
Richard Lambert is returning from Mexico City and a book-writing project just in time for the holiday season.
The proprietor of Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go is reviving his holiday tamale drive, where locals can order the Mexican dish in advance of the holidays online.
They’re delivered for free from Goleta to Carpinteria on select days between Dec. 10 and 23.
Lambert has been in Mexico City writing a book, A Visitor’s Guide to Mexico City Street Food, and helping his daughter with a restaurant she runs in the Mexican capital.
“Eating tamales during the year-end holidays is a tradition which has come to us from Mexico,” he told Noozhawk in an email. “In fact, tamaleria (tamale making) parties are a very popular way for families and friends throughout Mexico (and now here) to celebrate the season.”
Lambert said he prepares the 7,500 tamales in a commercial kitchen he rents in Goleta, and will return to Mexico after Christmas to work on another book.
“Looking forward, we plan to offer our tamales again in Santa Barbara during the lead-up to Fiesta next year,” he said.
Santa Barbara’s De La Vina Street Ralphs closing
The Ralphs grocery store tucked away at 2840 De La Vina St. in Santa Barbara is closing for good Friday.
According to a Ralph’s employee, the company could not reach a new commercial lease agreement with the new property owner.
Ralphs’ corporate offices did not return calls seeking comment.
Granite Peak Partners moves into a new location
Santa Barbara-based real estate advisory company Granite Peak Partners is moving from 133 W. De La Guerra St. to 301 E. Carrillo St., Suite B.
The move to the larger space, effective Monday, will address the firm’s business and staffing growth, the company said in a statement.
Granite Peak Partners advises foundations, trusts, high-net-worth families and agriculture entities across the country on 1031 exchanges, dispositions, acquisitions, financing, asset management, portfolio management, project management and development.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.