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Grandma’s old-style cooking has arrived in Santa Barbara. At least that’s what Rosemary Klein says about her new restaurant Basil’s at 608 Anacapa St.
Klein opened Basil’s, named after her father, to serve the locals, she said.
“It’s that old home-style Italian cooking, like something Grandma would cook,” Klein said. “We’re really excited to be here. We want everyone to enjoy our food.”
The site was formerly occupied by Arch Rock Fish, but has since been subdivided for Basil’s on one side and The Pacific Pride Foundation on the other.
Klein owns Fabrocini’s in Tarzana and decided to start a store in Santa Barbara because her son lives here.
She had the idea to start an Italian restaurant about a year ago.
Her chefs make their own bread, pizza dough, gnocchi, ravioli and dressings. Klein said that Santa Barbara is in need of a home-style Italian restaurant after the loss of Bucatini and Aldo’s.
The restaurant has been open for about three weeks and she said she’s already had repeat customers.
“There’s no better joy than having people walk out of a restaurant with a great smile,” Klein said.
The restaurant owner said she didn’t look around long to find a place. She didn’t necessarily want to be on State Street.
“Everybody wants to be on State Street because of the visibility but the overhead is too much,” she said. “It chokes out the business.”
Klein brought Joe Fabrocini, the former owner of Fabrocini’s in Tarzana, with her to be lead chef and to get the restaurant going in Santa Barbara.
“It’s really cool for me,” Fabrocini said. “It’s kind of resurrecting my father’s recipes. I haven’t cooked this food in 17 years, but it came back to me like nothing. It’s classic Italian home-style cooking.”
Klein said she’s excited about her endeavor and believes that she will be successful — even though Arch Rock Fish was not — because the new space is subdivided. The restaurant occupies about 3,500 feet, rather than 5,000 square feet that Arch Rock was in.
“This is my joy,” she said.
Starbucks building sold
800 State Street, the home of Starbucks, has sold for $8.6 million.
Greg Bartholomew, Kristopher Roth, and Francois DeJohn of Hayes Commercial Group represented all parties in the transaction.
The two-story building, built in 1926, is across the street from the Paseo Nuevo mall on the corner of State and De La Guerra streets. Starbucks has leased the corner-facing storefront since 1994.
The remainder of the first floor is leased to local retailers: Just Play Music (with a storefront on State) and Lovebird Boutique (which faces De La Guerra Street).
The second floor of the 8,000-square-foot building is office space leased to Ice Energy.
“With a credit tenant like Starbucks, the ownership has the income security to lease the other spaces to local businesses – in this case a record store and a clothing boutique – that contribute to the unique character of State Street,” DeJohn said.
Renaud’s and Empty Bowl
The renovation of Coast Village Plaza at 1187 Coast Village Road in Santa Barbara is nearing completion, according to Hayes Commercial Group. The plaza plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 27.
Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro and Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar are the two newest commercial tenants to the plaza and are scheduled to open early next year.
“Renaud’s and Empty Bowl are great additions to this ‘lifestyle center’ and to Coast Village Road,” commercial broker Francois DeJohn said. “These are local businesses that operate at a very high level, and are sure to be welcomed and enjoyed by the Montecito community.”
The new Coast Village Plaza is poised to be one of Montecito’s premier locations, according to the Hayes Group.
“The work is just about done, and the owners’ vision is approaching reality,” Steve Hayes said in statement. “In a relatively short period of time, this center has been transformed into one of the area’s finest commercial properties.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
