The historic and opulent El Encanto hotel, nestled amid trees on Santa Barbara’s Riviera, outlasted the pandemic and state shutdowns by focusing on guest services and safety.
With a return to a sense of “normalcy” this spring, all staff members — from the management to the executive chef to valet staff — have made guests their daily priority. During a mid-March visit to interview Chef Bruno Lopez, I was treated like royalty.
Lopez started at El Encanto in November 2020 after the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage closed its doors. He’d been that site’s executive chef since 2015, he said.
Lopez started his culinary success at the Ferrandi School in Paris, and apprenticed at L’Espadon at Hotel Ritz in that city.
He moved to San Francisco and joined the Le Meridien Hotel as chef de cuisine at Pierre Restaurant. From there, Lopez moved to the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, as executive sous chef.
Lopez worked for the Ritz-Carlton for 10 years, first as executive chef in Marina de Rey, Dubai and Half Moon Bay. Later, in Los Angeles, he worked as chef de cuisine in The Restaurant at Hotel Bel-Air, and as executive chef at Raffles L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, and at the Regent Beverly Wilshire.
In a statement released by El Encanto shortly after his arrival last year, Lopez stated: “In this role, I plan to continue to champion local vendors to share the region’s freshest ingredients, from seafood to produce, while weaving in new and creative approaches that will showcase the best of the Central Coast.”
Examples could be the menu’s London-style fish and chips, ramen offerings, and plates that showcase a fusion of flavors, such as the spicy tortilla soup I sampled.
The restaurant, Lopez said, has a renewed focus on sustainable food grown from local producers. “We like vendors who are eco-friendly and sustainable.”
He wants to continue promoting the hotel to the Santa Barbara community, Lopez told me. “We’re continuing to train our staff to qualify meals as an important point of the day,” adding that the wait staff encourages guests to “eat to enjoy.”
Over lunch on the terrace that day in March, Julia Solomon, Belmond El Encanto’s marketing and communications manager, told me that the hotel’s expansive terrace — overlooking the ocean and Channel Islands — made it “well positioned” to reopen with tables spaced apart and diners protected from the elements with a huge tent. “We tried to capitalize on that,” she said.
Historically, the El Encanto (“The Enchanted”) has catered to a range of guests, from couples to Hollywood’s elite to public figures. The seven-acre property includes 92 bungalows and suites showcasing early Santa Barbara architecture — California Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival.
Parent company Belmond has led luxury travel for more than 45 years in some of the world’s most inspiring destinations, according to a news release.
Since its acquisition of Venice’s Hotel Cipriani in 1976, Belmond offers discerning travelers journeys to 46 properties that include the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train and Italian hideaways such as Splendido in Portofino.
Trains, river barges, safari lodges and hotels. Belmond is part of the luxury group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
In Santa Barbara, El Encanto is offering a collection of excursions and special events so that guests can enjoy the full luxury of the property while learning something new. Among the choices:
» Coastal Coffee Collection Excursion: The hotel has partnered with Coastal Coffee Collective to offer guests access to Santa Barbara’s only coffee farm, Valley Heart Ranch. Coffee makers will lead guests through coffee trees to meet and interact with farm animals and partake of a private coffee cupping and roasting program. The tour will be followed by a coffee-inspired picnic basket curated by Lopez.
» Private Garden Lunch at Lotusland: Ganna Walska Lotusland, the 37-acre horticultural estate with 25 themed gardens, has partnered with El Encanto to host lunch for two, again curated by Lopez.
» Gourmet Picnic Hike: Hotel staff will offer a guided hike on iconic Central Coast trails and include a gourmet picnic lunch and sommelier-curated wine pairing once guests reach the peak. Guests may choose from several trails that range in level of difficulty. Each hike takes approximately three hours and will offer ocean views.
» Wellness Week: From June 7-10, the hotel will bring the best of Santa Barbara wellness practioners to the hotel to lead a multi-day journey.
» Taste of El Encanto, Volcán Experience: From June 27-30, El Encanto will host this event with Volcán De Mi Tierra Tequila. With this package, guests will enjoy elevated dinners with Volcán poptails, live music, a ceviche and tortilla cooking demonstration with Volcán pairings, cocktail-making workshop, a Mexican Fiesta dinner with signature margaritas and more. The fee for two people, at a three-night minimum, starts at $1,253 per room, per night (plus tax).
— Laurie Jervis tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.