BizHawk is published weekly, and includes items of interest to the business community. Share your business news, including employee announcements and personnel moves, by emailing news@noozhawk.com.
The owner and general manager of Los Agaves has opened Flor de Maíz, a Mexican restaurant on Santa Barbara’s waterfront.
“It’s a new concept, a new menu,” said Carlos Luna, the restaurant’s owner. “We’re lucky to be in this area, with the water and the ocean.”
The food is inspired by the cuisine in Oaxaca, a state in Mexico.
“Oaxacan cuisine is known all over the world as the best cuisine from Mexico,” said Hector Arellano, the restaurant’s general manager.
The menu is focused on molés, and different from Los Agaves. They still have tacos and enchiladas and traditional Mexican food, but with a “Oaxacan touch.”
“We have a big variety of molés,” Arellano said. “Every one of our dishes starts with molés, molé with chicken, molé with fish. It’s a completely different menu.”
Arellano said the food is 100 percent “fresh.” They also make unique cocktails, including the Oaxaco, which has a molé taste.
The restaurant, at 29 East Cabrillo Boulevard, opened a week ago and is next to OKU, owned by Tina Takaya, which launched in November. Both restaurants are in the spot once occupied by El Torito Mexican restaurant.
“We think it is an amazing spot,” Arellano said. “It is in one of the best areas of Santa Barbara.”
The restaurant features indoor and outdoor seating.
Fairbanks Earns National Accolade
Family law attorney Renee M. Fairbanks has been accepted into the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
“I’m proud, thrilled and extremely gratified to have earned this distinguished affiliation,” said Fairbanks, an attorney and certified family law specialist, with family law offices in Santa Barbara and Los Olivos. “It took some real time and effort, and it was absolutely worth it. The AAML is the gold standard in my area of law.”
Founded in 1962, the AAML is composed of the nation’s “most dedicated and professional family lawyers, recognized and respected by the bench and bar as the leaders in the field,” according to a news release.
Fairbanks has represented a broad base of clients in divorce, legal separation, support, parentage and custody proceedings for more than a decade in Santa Barbara County and along the
Central Coast.
She is a past president of the County Bar Foundation; a former board member of Santa Barbara Women Lawyers; and an adjunct professor of law at the Santa Barbara College of Law, teaching community property.
She is a supporter of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County, the Fund for Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation and the local Animal Shelter Assistance Program. She is also the past board member of Old Spanish Days Inc., and is a graduate of UCSB and the Santa Barbara College of Law.
Love Compound For Sale
The former home of the co-founder of The Beach Boys is on the market.
The property, at 101 Mesa Lane, which overlooks the ocean, is made up of five buildings with 13 bedrooms over 2.5 acres. It was once owned by Mike Love, the lead singer of the group. When he owned it, the property was known as “The Love Compound,” according to the listing.
Listed by the Zia Group, three purchase options exist, including purchasing all of the buildings, four of them, or one of them.
“The Love Compound,” as it’s affectionately referred to around town, served as a sanctuary for creativity and rejuvenation,” the listing states. “One of the cottages was originally built as a recording studio for The Beach Boys. Initially, the property was used as a Girl Scout camp, hosted by ‘Aunt Sally’ Leadbetter, which Julia Child visited during her childhood, enjoying pancake breakfasts on the bluff.”
— 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.