If the Santa Ynez Valley had a Culinary Community Center, it would serve great comfort food, with great local wines, all in a warm relaxed environment.

In short, it would be Full of Life Flatbread, at 225 Bell St. in Los Alamos.

Run by the husband and wife team of Clark Staub and Jill Davie, Full of Life checks all those boxes, attracting locals and visitors alike.

“People sometimes assume we’re a pizza place, but here it’s flatbread, not pizza,” Staub told Team Let’s Go Eat, laughing.

“We don’t want anyone’s Italian grandmother coming in to tell us we’re doing it wrong.”

Besides, how many Italian nonnas have an oven that has been literally blessed. More on that in a moment.

Staub founded Full of Life just over 20 years ago, and Davie joined (matrimonially and otherwise) during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

They’re a good team in and out of the kitchen.

“We inspire each other,” Davie said.

And together they inspire the local community.

“Neighbors bring produce by all the time,” Staub shared. “And we’re always texting local farmers, asking what do you have that’s good this week.”

Since the beginning, Full of Life has had a big influence on the food and wine movement in the Santa Ynez Valley.

“It’s gratifying,” Staub said, “to see all the people who’ve worked with us and for us over the years go off to start other places, like Bell’s and Bob’s Well Bread.”

And Staub proudly points to several employees who have worked with him the entire 20-plus years they’ve been open.

Staub got his own start as a hobbyist baker while working a day gig at Capitol Records in Los Angeles.

“For years, I’d take my vacations up here in the valley, bake a bunch of bread and bring it to serve at wine festivals,” he said.

At age 41 Staub left the music business and opened his own bakery in Claremont.

“It was a pretty immediate hit,” he recalled. “Lines around the block.”

It was there he started experimenting with flatbreads.

After a short detour back into the corporate world, Staub wanted to return to food. While driving south into the valley one day, he stopped for gas in Los Alamos.

“I saw this building, just a half-built structure with a chain link fence around it and a for-lease sign,” he said. “So I hopped the fence to check things out.”

Days later he had a signed lease and got to work.

First project: building a 20-ton pizza oven, made of local rock and clay, in the middle of the dining room.

“There was a Chumash artist working down the street,” Staub said. “He’d come by and check our progress from time to time.

“After the oven was finished and cured, we lit the first small fire in it, and the artist smelled the smoke.”

A short while later the artist came by with three Chumash elders in full regalia.

“We were dumbfounded,” Staub said, “One of the elders stuck his head in the oven, then walked over and blew smoke on me.

“The others started chanting a blessing. Which is why we’ve always had Shaman’s Bread on our menu.”

Davie, who is classically trained, has worked at some of the best restaurants in America (Josie in Santa Monica, Röckenwagner Bakery in Los Angeles, Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago), is a TV celebrity chef with the Food Network (Date Plate, Next Iron Chef, Shopping with Chefs and many others), and has owned her own restaurant.

“Jill and I met at a celebrity chef event (Jill being one), and I told her I was stressed out because I was catering an important party the next day,” Staub said. “She said she’d come help out.”

She did more than that.

“I cooked the tomahawks,” Davie said, this apparently being the fast lane to Staub’s heart.

Davie, in turn, was taken with not only Staub, but Full of Life as well.

“This is one of the most unique restaurants I’ve ever stepped foot in,” she explained.

“There’s a communal comfortable feeling, with that magical oven. This place has great warmth.”

Which is one of the things that attracted Team Let’s Go Eat. The food being another.

Our usual move is to order and eat all the starters (yes, literally) and one flatbread (the pepperoni is terrific). We suggest you arrive hungry or bring friends if you’re going to try this.

The menu has tradition as well.

“In 1987, I brought home some organic Pinot noir grapes from Bien Nacido, and used those to create our original bread starter,” Staub said.

“The pizza dough and all our breads come from that original starter,” he added.

Adding to the great vibe of the place is the wine list, which is comprised solely of local names — Santa Barbara County with a splash of Paso Robles.

“Carrying local wines nurtures friendships,” Davie said. “And it gives guests not from around here a chance to try different local wines.”

“For numerous wineries, we’ve been their first commercial customer,” Staub added.

We asked the couple what they’d like people to know.

“I’m really proud of the food and the vibe we offer,” Staub replied, “and Jill is patient enough to see my focus on remaining relevant and delicious.”

Relevant and delicious: what community center could ask for more?

Locals Only

Not on the menu and a badly kept secret is Full of Life Flatbread’s special dessert, “The Beast,” a dark, rich brownie topped with toasted marshmallow and ice cream on the side. It apparently outsells even the pepperoni pizzas.