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••• Dudley Michael and Grace Austin of The Shop, Wingman Rodeo and the Rodeo Room have taken over the harborfront Breakwater Restaurant and will “soon give Santa Barbara the waterfront dining experience it deserves,” they said in the announcement. “Please bear with us as we get to know our new business, its team members and our new waterfront neighborhood – we will not close during this transition period. We will make some changes and improvements over the next few months, but a major transformation will occur in early 2025. For now, we will be testing and trying out new ideas, so come by and enjoy the creative process with us.”
••• I am rarely tempted to buy something new from From Pavilions, but while I was in the so-called ethnic food section, I happened upon Fly by Jing’s Sichuan Gold. (Ingredients: soybean oil, Sichuan canola oil, chili, Sichuan pepper, ginger, garlic, rock sugar, star anise, cassia bark, scallions, chili oil extract.) I’ve put it on everything. The website says it’s nine times hotter than the company’s classic chili oil, but I don’t find it all that hot – and I’m a wimp when it comes to heat. But I only use a few drops at a time.
••• A profile of Pang Zi Noodle Shop. —Independent
••• Cuso’s Creamery is opening at 620 State Street (Cota/Ortega), the former site of Rockin’ Yogurt. I stopped by Cuso’s Bikes across the street, assuming the two ventures were connected. That’s actually the case, said patriarch Domenic Mancuso, who runs the bike shop with one son and will run the ice cream shop with all three children (one of whom is Jack Mancuso, founder of Cuso Cuts, maker of barbecue seasonings and the like; some of his products will find their way into the ice cream made in-house). Cuso’s Creamery is expected to open soon, possibly by the end of the month. With McConnell’s and Tondi Gelato just a block away, this part of downtown becomes a true gelato hub.
••• The Indochine nightclub at 434 State Street (Gutierrez/Haley) has closed and a notice is posted in the window announcing the change of ownership. I contacted Chris Dixon, one of the applicants for the liquor license, who said:
We only got the keys yesterday and will be doing a thorough clean up before we reopen (still as Indochine) on Friday, August 16. Our plan is to open Friday to Sunday evenings at 8:30pm until the students return, and then we will also open on Thursday evenings.
We expect to maintain the Indochine concept until the end of 2024, then revamp (and rebrand) it. Our vision is to expand to 6-7 days per week from 3pm-2am next year, offering light food, an upscale beverage program, and a premium music platform primarily driven by electronic music and DJs, with occasional bands and daytime events.
••• After being warned that Mother Dough’s bagels sell out quickly, I pulled myself together and ordered first thing at noon last Tuesday (for pickup on Saturday)—waiting for the thrift bags and refreshing the website page took me back to pandemic times. But I was so scared I’d get passed up that I went straight to the checkout when I had three bagels with everything in my cart. Thankfully, founder Jennifer Gonzalez-Neely recognized my name and gifted me three more flavors (sesame, salt, and furikake) and three spreads (garlic herb cream cheese, gochujang cream cheese, and whipped honey butter). My husband and I devoured two bagels with everything—half with the garlic herb spread and the other half with the gochujang spread—as soon as we returned home. Delicious! I’ll be back for more. PS Read more about Mother Dough in American Riviera Media’s profile.
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