La Paloma Café’s Snake River Farm Wagyu Tri-Tip is a menu mainstay at the restaurant at 702 Anacapa St. in downtown Santa Barbara.
La Paloma Café’s Snake River Farm Wagyu Tri-Tip is a menu mainstay at the restaurant at 702 Anacapa St. in downtown Santa Barbara. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo

An old favorite of ours has a brand new chef with a story to tell, and the early results are exciting and promising.

Say hello to chef John Parker of the newly reimagined La Paloma Café in downtown Santa Barbara.

Team Let’s Go Eat has been big fans of La Paloma Café since it opened, and before that, fans of the Paradise Café that preceded it.

In fact the building at 702 Anacapa St. has been a Santa Barbara restaurant staple — and landmark — since 1940 when it first opened as Jenny’s La Paloma Café.

We recently stopped by for dinner with some friends from Italy who know food and wine (duh), and we were interested to see — and more important, eat — some new menu items, like the Cornbread and the Swordfish.

Our Italian amici, who’d been in the United Staters for three weeks on their honeymoon, told us it was the best meal they’d had during their entire visit.

The chief architect of this culinary excitement is Parker, recently lured over from Bettina in Montecito.

“We’re looking at an all-day bistro concept, comforting food, very market-driven, very seasonally driven cuisine,” Parker told us, summarizing the concept as “California Coastal Seasonal.”

“The swordfish is a great example,” he explained. “Fresh, local fish plus snap peas from Milliken Farms, shallots, smoked almonds, scallions, and a green Tabasco and browned butter emulsion.”

No wonder the Italians got excited.

  • La Paloma Café chef John Parker has assembled what he calls a “California Coastal Seasonal” cuisine. “I want to tell a story, be as seasonally influenced as possible, and I like to use the local ingredients,” he says. “We have such great access to all these farms that everyone in L.A. wants to work with, and they’re just down the street from us. It’s pretty cool to have first pick.”
    La Paloma Café chef John Parker has assembled what he calls a “California Coastal Seasonal” cuisine. “I want to tell a story, be as seasonally influenced as possible, and I like to use the local ingredients,” he says. “We have such great access to all these farms that everyone in L.A. wants to work with, and they’re just down the street from us. It’s pretty cool to have first pick.” Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • La Paloma Café’s Snake River Farm Wagyu Tri-Tip is a menu mainstay at the restaurant at 702 Anacapa St. in downtown Santa Barbara.
    La Paloma Café’s Snake River Farm Wagyu Tri-Tip is a menu mainstay at the restaurant at 702 Anacapa St. in downtown Santa Barbara. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • La Paloma Café has been a local landmark since 1940, first as Jenny’s La Paloma Café and then as the popular Paradise Café.
    La Paloma Café has been a local landmark since 1940, first as Jenny’s La Paloma Café and then as the popular Paradise Café.
  • Bar Nuts are a major temptation.
    Bar Nuts are a major temptation. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • The Roasted Purple Cabbage Salad is a plate of deliciousness with chipotle cream, pickled onion, pepitas, beer battered crunchies, cilantro and lime.
    The Roasted Purple Cabbage Salad is a plate of deliciousness with chipotle cream, pickled onion, pepitas, beer battered crunchies, cilantro and lime. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • The Skillet Cornbread features honey butter and Aleppo salt.
    The Skillet Cornbread features honey butter and Aleppo salt. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • To create the Corn Bread Old Fashioned, La Paloma Café chief cocktail-designer Ben Congdon fat-washes the bourbon with the honey butter from the restaurant’s popular cornbread dish.
    To create the Corn Bread Old Fashioned, La Paloma Café chief cocktail-designer Ben Congdon fat-washes the bourbon with the honey butter from the restaurant’s popular cornbread dish. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • The Corn Bread Old Fashioned is straight-up liquid goal.
    The Corn Bread Old Fashioned is straight-up liquid goal. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
  • The Rice Pudding Cloud features mezcal golden raisins, toasted almonds and cocoa nibs.
    The Rice Pudding Cloud features mezcal golden raisins, toasted almonds and cocoa nibs.
  • Even on a chilly wintry night, La Paloma Café’s patio is a lively place.
    Even on a chilly wintry night, La Paloma Café’s patio is a lively place. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo

Parker grew up in Southern California and attended culinary school at the Art Institute in Santa Monica.

“One of the instructors there was friends with the chef at the Sherwood Country Club, and talked him into giving me a shot,” he recalled.

After that, Parker worked at a series of restaurants in the Los Angeles area, finally moving to Santa Barbara with his wife and family.

“We were worried it might be a little quiet here, but we had grandparents (for their kids) in Santa Barbara, which was a big part of the decision,” he said.

He started at Loquita, then moved to the executive chef spot at Bettina, before coming to La Paloma.

“I wanted a wider scope of cooking,” he confided.

Parker grew up cooking with his parents, and decided in college that a desk job wasn’t going to do it.

“I always liked cooking, and to make the human connection that cooking affords,” he said.

He readily shared his philosophy.

“I want to tell a story, be as seasonally influenced as possible, and I like to use the local ingredients,” Parker told us. “Going to the market is a big aspect of that, creating relationships with the farmers is huge for me.

“We have such great access to all these farms that everyone in L.A. wants to work with, and they’re just down the street from us,” he added. “It’s pretty cool to have first pick.”

Since La Paloma is part of the Acme Hospitality group of restaurants, “that network allows us access to some great suppliers at better pricing,” Parker said.

“Including Tutti Frutti Farms, Dillons Honey, Motley Crew and Casitas Valley Pastures.”

All the head chefs in the Acme group — which includes The Lark, Loquita and the Lucky Penny, among others — are friends, Parker said, and get together to talk food, sourcing, etc.

Speaking of sharing, Parker and La Paloma’s chief cocktail-designer, Ben Congdon, do a lot of sharing of ingredients as well.

For example, you’ll now find on the menu the Corn Bread Old Fashioned, which Congdon creates by fat-washing the bourbon with the honey butter from Parker’s cornbread dish.

Like … liquid cornbread, and very good indeed.

So the menu is in transition at La Paloma, moving away from the “Ranchero” concept. But, we asked, what about some of the longtime crowd favorites?

“The Tri-tip is definitely staying,” Parker said. “We’re doing American Wagyu with incredible fat-marbling, the texture and tenderness is off the charts.

“If you’re bringing guests from out of state (say, from Italy for example),” he added, “you have to order the Tri-tip.”

When, we inquired, can we expect the return of the Paradise Burger from days gone by?

Parker just smiled and said, “Keep an eye on us, lots of exciting things happening, and menu changes coming. We’re re-energizing this building.”

Locals Only

The menu will be changing often depending on the season, so go with the dishes that feature seasonal ingredients; right now it’s snap peas and chanterelle mushrooms.

“They’re much better here than any other place I’ve ever lived,” Parker said.

When You Go

La Paloma is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Dinner hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Happy hour is 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. The restaurant is closed Mondays.

Reservations are accepted at 805.966.7029.

Rob Raede switched to solid food at a young age and never looked back. He and his wife, both UC Santa Barbara grads, say their favorite form of entertainment is talking with the wait-staff, bartenders and owners at restaurants and bars. Rob’s also on a lifelong quest to find the perfect bolognese sauce. The opinions expressed are his own.