Sly'sBlog

Craft Cocktails in the News

As you know, Mandy & Chris (and the rest of the bar crew) at Sly's are justifiably proud of the cocktails they serve. Heck, Mandy's trophy for "Best Santa Barbara Bartender" sits proudly at our bar.

Our first manager, Michael Bott, had the clever idea to concentrate on old-school cocktails in our bar.  So we did-and boy do people like it. The classic cocktails are listed on the Sly's menu in chronological order, from the 1806's "Whiskey Cocktail" to 1953's Ian Fleming (James Bond) created "Vesper" (fyi, the Vesper is 2 parts gin, 1 part vodka, and a touch of Lillet Blanc, served "up" in a cocktail glasss, and named after the bittersweet Vesper Linde in Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale). 

Like everything we do at Sly's, we care an awful lot about our cocktails. We make our own house bitters, our own quinine syrup to make tonic water, falernum syrup for our Tiki-cupped Zombies (limit 2 to a customer just like Trader Vic's), oregat with almonds from the Farmer's Market for for our Mai Tais, (which should be limited, but aren't for some reason), gomme syrup, and limoncello. We even brew our own root beer.

So that's why we were so interested to see this article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday about craft cocktails. It talks about the scene, and all the bars that are jumping on the bandwagon. 

Welcome aboard all of you, from Sly's. (We just had our fourth anniversary last week, so we've been at this a while.) - if you're curious about craft cocktails, Mandy, Chris, Arianne and Dean have a huge depth of information, and love sharing it. And by the way, they all make damn fine cocktails. Enjoy!

Well, we're doing it again. The 2012 Santa Barbara Bouillabaisse Festival

The champs, back in 1990, of the Classic Division of the Santa Barbara Bouillabaisse Festival. James and Annie Sly, represented the El Encanto Hotel in taking this victory. This year, James, Chef Fredy Orduña, and Annie will be cooking to represent Sly's in Carpinteria.

As you may know, Sly's serves a terrific local bouillabaisse every Friday, as part of our "Blue Plate Specials" - plats du jour, for the francophiles in our midst. What you may not know is the chef/owner James Sly, and Chef de Cuisine Fredy Orduña are pretty good at bouillabaisse - in fact they're champions a few times over. While working for the El Encanto Hotel back in 1990, they won first place in the Classic Division in the inaugural Santa Barbara Bouillabaisse festival, hosted by Fred Brander at Brander Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley. As I remember it, as the reigning champs, the next year they weren't allowed to compete - but the crowds saw fit to vote them champs in People's Choice. Next year, alas, they asked James to judge instead of compete, to give someone else a chance. Many years have gone by, and the Brander Vineyard in Los Olivos will again host its popular Bouillabaisse Festival. This year, its to benefit Hospice of Santa Barbara.

Sly's still uses the exact same award winning classic recipe to make their bouillabaisse every Friday as they did to win the contest - and we're going to be entering exactly what we serve in the restaurant in this year's upcoming contest. 

Last held in 2006, the absence of this beloved event left “foodies” all over California sobbing into their Sauvignon Blanc yearning for the return of this incomparable afternoon of sunshine, wine, music and fabulous bouillabaisse. Bouillabaisse, a delectable seafood soup, is described as the French equivalent of cioppino- Variations on the recipe take center stage at this friendly competition featuring some of the Central Coast’s finest chefs. The event, long associated with Fred Brander and his beautiful winery and vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley, is once again being revived as a fundraiser for Hospice of Santa Barbara.

Date:               Sunday, August 26, 2012

Time:              1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Location:        The Brander Vineyard, 2401 North Refugio Road, Los Olivos

Cost:               $90

All proceeds benefit Hospice of Santa Barbara. 

 

 

Dinner at Hearst Castle

The annual Hearst Castle Dinner was held the 12th of July. The dinner is part of the Central Coast Wine Classic and is in its 28th year. This year, under the watchful eyes of Archie McClaren, the driving force behind the event, more than $826,000 was raised for Central Coast charities. The Wine Classic is considered one of the Wine Spectator’s “Top Ten” Charity Auctions in America. Others have blogged about this year's event before me - Chef Michael Hutchings, for example.

For the last 17 years, Sly's chef/owner James Sly has been the coordinating chef for the Hearst Castle event. Yep, that's me. It's a big job, and frankly, it's a relief for me when the event is over. Bob Dickey documents the event for us, and prepared a slide show of the behind the scenes, the event, and of course, the people and food that make it so wonderful. 

Technical stuff: 

•  Clicking on the link should bring you to Skydrive.live.com, where a “folder” will be shown.

•  Click on the folder and the whole album will be shown.

•  Click on the first image (the castles in different colors) and it will show that image, with the other images on a strip at the bottom.

•  Click on “view slideshow” on the right and a slideshow will begin.

We start with a bare concrete apron behind the Casa Grande, move in and set up a pin-spot lit dining room, walk-in refrigerators, build a kitchen, polish thousands of wine glasses and knives, forks and spoons and serve the lucky guests. Then, at the end of the night, it is all torn down, disappearing into the mist like Brigadoon. The rentals, and the complicated job of handling the event set up are done extraordinarily well by the San Luis based Got You Covered, who also handle the auction portion of the event at Avila Beach. Believe, me with the distance and time contraints, this is not simple, but they make it look simple. Very professional. Santa Barbara based Ambient Event Design handled the lighting and electrical requirements - a complex task given the requirements of building an operational kitchen on bare concrete, and creating a beautifully lit dining room out of, well, thin air.

This year, the evening began with 210 guests enjoying a private tour of the Hearst Castle, followed by a reception around the sparkling blue waters and white marble columns of the Neptune Pool. Dinner follows on the north terrace, with diners able to look up at the Guest House, and the Casa Grande on one side, the sunset & "Maxfield Parrish blue" skies over the Neptune pool on another, and the rolling hills of the Hearst Ranch stretching inland towards Paso Robles.

Keeping things local, the 2012 Central Coast Wine Castel Hearst Castle dinner featured six of the Central Coast's finest chefs. Many have contributed to the success of the Central Coast Wine Event over the nearly thirty years the Hearst Castle Dinner has been featured. The lineup: Michael Hutchings from Michael's Catering in Santa Barbara,  James Sly from Sly's in Carpinteria,  Kurt Grasing from Grasing's in Carmel, Ian McPhee of McPhee's Grill in Templeton, Frank Ostini from The Hitching Post in Buellton and Laurent Grangien of Bistro Laurent in Paso Robles, coordinated by Chef James Sly's Team, six courses, each with two wines matched and carefully poured by the "who's who" of Central Coast Sommeliers.

 

The Menu:

Hearst Castle Dinner Menu

Thursday July 12 2012

 

Passed Hors d’Oeuvres by the Event Chefs 

The Menu

Course 1 Chef Chef Michael Hutchings, Michael's Catering, Santa Barbara

Sauteéd Santa Barbara Abalone

Butter emulsion sauce, enoki daki mushrooms, dill

 

Course 2  Kurt Grasings, Grasings, Carmel

Monterey Bay Salmon with Mayishta Farm Heirloom Tomatoes, Fennel & Red Wine

 

Course 3 Chef James Sly, Sly's Carpinteria:

Southern Hospitality

Fried Chicken, wilted Iceberg and Cress,  chilled Beylik Farms Ratatouille

 

Course 4  Chef Ian McPhee, McPhee's Grill, Templeton

Oak Grilled Pork Belly, honey ale glaze

roasted sweet potato salad, red pepper vinaigrette 

fennel red cabbage slaw

 

Course 5 Chef Frank Ostini, The Hitching Post II, Buelton 

Oak Grilled Prime Filet Mignon, Cherry Peppercorn Sauce

Grilled Market Vegetable Sandwich, Creamy Polenta

 

Course 6 Chef Laurent Grangien, Bistro Laurent, Paso Robles

Chilled white peach and strawberries

Basil emulsion and basil chantilly

 

Fixed Price Menu at Sly's: Rte 7 Nationale "La Route des Vacances"

The Summer Fixed Price Menu at Sly's

There's always a fixed price French menu 
for just $35. at Sly's - $55 with a glass 
of bubbly and French wines. This summer, 
we're celebrating the food of several 
regions of France, joined by the thread of Route 7, 
one of France's first Nationales or national 
highways. As always, any of the French wine 
selections on Sly's award winning wine list 
are 10% off when dining on  the fixed price menu.

National Route 7 runs from Paris to Lyon to Nice 
and Provence in the South. Nicknamed 
“The Road to Vacations” or Route des Vacances” , 
Route 7 was for years the way that the French 
in the Paris and Lyon in the north 
made their way in the summer to the beaches 
of the Riviera, the Côte d’Azure.

The French take vacations seriously- 
typically, everyone takes a full month 
in either July or August. Route 7 winds 
through some of the best culinary regions 
of France on the way to the sparkling 
Mediterranean. At Sly's we can save you 
the trouble of the flight, and all that driving
 - come try some of the specialties 
on our fixed price French menu.

Sly's Vacation Menu - 
France's Route 7 Nationale from Lyon to Nice

Fixed Price First Courses
Cuisses de Grenouilles “en persillade” 
Lyonnaise
• That most French of dishes, frog’s legs. 
Three frog’s legs, sautéed meunière, 
finished with white wine and our garlic butter, 
green with parsley. Typical of the city of Lyon 
in the north of Rte. Nationale 7.

Fenouille braisé aux Tomates - 
Provençal braised Farmer’s Market Fennel

• Braised Farmer’s Market fennel, with tomatoes
 in the style of Nice. Served one of two ways, 
warm, the way we normally serve our 
braised fennel at Sly's, or chilled, as a salad 
with lemon - a delicious and refreshing way 
to have fennel on warm summer evening.

Moules Marinère “Antiboise” 
in white wine with shallots
This takes us to the Riviera, and the chic 
port of Antibes, home of super yachts, crowded 
beaches, and a wonderful Picasso Museum in the
historic Chateau Grimaldi.

• One-half pound of our small, succulent fresh 
small black mussels, fragrantly steamed in 
white wine with shallots - I've enjoyed them 
in the cafés in Antibes, under the plane trees 
on the post office square. Fond memories!

Fixed Price Main courses

Filet de Porc “Charcutiére"  
“In the style of the Pork Butcher"
For main courses, we start with a pork tenderloin, 
marinated with shallots and fresh thyme, grilled, 
served medium unless specified otherwise, 
and served with a rich jus with mustard and 
a julienne of tart cornichon pickles -just the way
a pork butcher might serve it. A Lyonnaise dish.

Fillet of Trout “Meuniere”
A boneless fillet of trout, prepared meunière, 
sautéed gently in butter, and served with parsley 
and lemon. Typical of the lakes and rivers along 
the way as Route 7 wends its way south 
from Paris. A most traditional preparation.

Duck Breast “aux Olives”

Here, we prepare this traditional dish with
the duck breast -medium to medium rare
duck breastt, served in thin slices 
with a sauce of ripe tomatoes, green
olives, and rich stock. Heading south
again with this one, typical of the 
olive-rich cusine of Provence. 

Great Vegetable Accompaniments
 - of course, it's Sly's

Sly's is the restaurant where we take as much care 
with our vegetables and sides as we do with 
our aged USDA Prime beef. All of the above 
are served with an aromatic pilaf rice, 
and “the true ratatouille”. (Yes, there was a 
"Ratatouille" long before the cartoon rat.)

The time I spent in the south of France 
and Monte Carlo, my general attitude 
towards “doing things right” - and a 
number of friends from the south of 
France - all conspire to make me feel 
strongly about doing ratatouille right. 

In this case, that means Farmer’s Market 
zucchini, peppers, & eggplant, with onions
& garlic, are browned in a wonderful 
California olive oil and simmered with 
tomatoes, garlic, and thyme in a rich 
vegetable stew. Ratatouille is a wonderful 
accompaniment to this delicious dinner. 

Desserts are included, too!

Mousse au Chocolat
• A true French classic - we use 
Julia Child's recipe. Our bittersweet chocolate 
mousse is rich and light at the same time. 
With 76% bitter-sweet organic chocolate from our 
friends at the Santa Barbara Chocolate Company. 

-- Valrhona is the huge chocolate conglomerate
based outside of Lyon, and a company 
that's made Lyon the chocolate capital of France, 
and the chocolates of Lyon famous - with good reason. 

Fraises au Chantilly
• Our beautiful, ripe strawberries, with vanilla-scented 
Chantilly cream. Simple, refreshing. Want a light dessert?
No cream needed.




Warm Chèvre au Miel d'Acacia  
fresh Goat Cheese with Acacia Honey

• Warm fresh goat cheese, served with light, 
flavorful acacia honey. Toasted bread. 
Typical of the southern part of the Route 7, 
where there are far more goats 
than cows or sheep. The acacia honey, 
a favorite in the south of France, where the 
mimosas are called "acacia", and where 
what we call acacia is called... mimosa, of course.

Soufflé au Citron
Our soufflé choice on this menu, with a $5 
supplement, is an aromatic, refreshing lemon. 
It takes about twenty minutes prep time, 
of course, so it’s better to order a soufflé ahead. 
Lemons are a specialty of Menton, almost at the 
Italian border on the French Riviera, which is why
we chose this dessert

.

Enjoy a trip down the Route des Vacances without
leaving the American Riviera at Sly's. 

 

Bring on the Fizz!

The Boothby Affair, "Summer Session" begins this month at Sly's. 
Mandy & Chris' much talked about Classic Cocktail Class is scheduled for the 3rd Saturday of each month this suumer. The first class will be June 16, and features a couple of summery fizzes - perfect drinks for a brunch at Sly's, for example. The Boothby Affair always features one of the classic cocktails from the Sly's menu, and one from the 1891 book, Cocktail Boothby's American Bar-Tender. This month? The Ramos Fizz and the Morning Glory Fizz.

The cost for the Boothby Affair class is $30, plus tax. “Tuition” includes the two featured cocktails, recipes and tips for recreating them at home, some lovely, appropriate snacks from Chef Sly. Summer Session classes will start at 2 pm, and are limited to 20 attendees. 

Reservations can be made by emailing Mandy at [email protected] or Chris at [email protected] 
Please include the number of people in your group when emailing for a reservation. We look forward to seeing you at Sly's for another fun and educational class! 

The Boothby Affair is an ongoing series of classes at Sly’s in Carpinteria, with Summer Session happening on the third Saturday of every month. The Affair explores recipes from the 1891 book, Cocktail Boothby's American Bar-Tender, re-published through the good works of Fritz Maytag and the California Historical Society. Your guides and teachers through the pages of this landmark book are Mandy and Chris Chinn, whose classic cocktails are featured at Sly’s, and whose stewardship of the bar at Sly’s have made it a go-to spot for cocktail tradition and excellence. 

Mandy may be too modest to tell you , but in addition to being the manager at Sly’s, she is an award-winning bartender in a number of competitions. In fact, the trophy over the bar lists Mandy as the winner of the award, “The Best Bartender in Santa Barbara County”. We think they’re both pretty damn good.

You can pick up Cocktail Boothby's book at Amazon: 

http://www.amazon.com/Cocktail-Boothbys-American-Bartender-Distilling/dp/0982247338/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1338515284&sr=8-4

Bitte ein Bit!

by Mandy Chinn
When I first started tending bar about twelve years ago, the first bar I worked at had outdoor patio seating with yellow umbrellas that had “Bitte ein Bit” printed on them.  I asked the bar manager what it meant, and he said, “I dunno; those were left over from the previous owner.  I   think it’s some kinda German beer.”  I have since found out that “ein Bit” is bar slang for “one Bitburger”, and “bitte” means “please” in German. 

It is indeed “some kinda German beer”; in fact, it’s one of the premium German pilsners available in the American market as well as being the official beer of Germany’s Nurburgring, one of the most amazing racing sites in the world.  

The Nurburgring, nicknamed die grüne Hölle  - The Green Hell - is 20 kilometers of twisting and turning through the dark green forests of Germany.  It looks like something out a fairy tale, except whizzing by at 190 miles per hour -if you’ve got the nerve.  As Germany has quite a bit fewer attorneys that we do, you can actually pull out your credit card and take a high-speed lap yourself there - and relax with a Bitburger afterwards.

Bitburger is so tied to the racing world that its non-alcoholic brew (which we also carry here at Sly’s) is called Bitburger Drive.  It is one of the best non-alcoholic brews we’ve ever tasted. These folks take their beer -  as they do their driving-  seriously.  

Bitburger Pils is brewed according to the original Rheinheitsgebot - a law originated in the city of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria on 23 April 1516 - yep, that’s a long time ago. The Reinheitsgebot said that all you can make a beer with was water, barley and hops. German Purity laws, which govern all brewing in Germany, have become a little more relaxed, but not so much Bitburger - it stays true to the old style. I suspect that many more modern brews would have trouble passing muster with this law... 

The brewery was founded in 1817 and continues as the third-highest grossing brewery in all of Germany.  The Pils is their best seller, and it’s selling here at Sly’s, too.  We brought it on tap about 2 months ago, and as the weather warms, it just keeps selling better.  It’s light and crisp and refreshing, but still has amazing flavor and character.  It is the anti-C**rs, if you will.  It is relatively low in alcohol as well, clocking 4.8%, which makes it an ideal “session beer” for a lazy afternoon.  This may have led to Chef James’ favorite Bitburger slogan from when he worked in Germany “Abends Bit, Morgans Fit!”. It means, drink Bitburger at night, and you’ll be in great shape in the morning!” We can’t guarantee that, but what a great slogan.

Bitburger pairs beautifully with some of our lovely fried bites at Sly’s: the famous skinny onion rings leaping first to mind, but also fried calamari and potato skins.  It has none of the “skunkiness” which is sometimes associated with German beers-just a pleasant mildly floral aroma and a crisp finish.  So if you haven’t yet, come on down to Sly’s and try one.  Feel free to order it in the traditional way: “Bitte ein Bit”.  It’ll certainly earn you a knowing smile from the bartender.  Prost!

 

They're talking about Sly's Again

We're pleased to say that 805 Living, a beautiful lifestyle magazine covering the Central Coast, included Sly's in a lively article about great breakfasts written by Angela Pettera with exquisite photos by Gary Moss. Sad to say, there are no photos of Sly's, but we think that once you try us for a weekend breakfast, you'll see that you don't really need the photos to enjoy the breakfast.

Here's a brief quote from the article (You can view the whole thing at 805 Living at http://www.805living.com/archive.cfm ):

"Sly’s (slysonline.com) in Carpinteria serves brunch Saturdays and Sundays until 2:30 p.m. The full bar pumps out everything from cappuccinos to mimosas to the New Orleans favorite, Ramos fizz. 

It’s made by shaking together orange- flower water, citrus juices, sugar, gin, egg whites, and soda water until a creamy and fizzy brunch-appropriate beverage emerges some 12 minutes later. Sly’s breakfast and lunch menus are both available during brunch. Seafood omelets are packed with shrimp, scallops, and crab, then topped with lobster sauce. The chili- cheese omelet is made with Sly’s signature filet-mignon chili."

Thanks, Angela!

I Drink, Therefore Iamb: Mandy's new cocktail in the Independent

In the Wednesday,  Santa Barbara Independent, skilled food & beverage scribe George Yatchisin - we do enjoy his writing - asked a few local bartenders to create a poetry inspired cocktail.  The article is called, 

"I Drink, Therefore Iamb" and can be found at the Independent's web site.

Here's the best part, we think:

Bars Serve Up Verse-Inspired Cocktails for Poetry Month

"Mandy Chinn, manager and head bartender at Sly’s, went for a bit more teenaged appeal: “I chose ‘Not Waving, but Drowning’ because it was one that I memorized for a dramatic reading assignment in high school and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s so melancholy and sort of melodramatic … which the 17-year-old me totally was.” Her drink is a riff on a Negroni, “but is like its more clinically depressed cousin,” with gin, Luxardo Amaro, dry sherry, and orange bitters. Then there’s the perfectly apropos drowned orange peel at glass’s bottom."

Mandy adds that the halcyon poem may have been depressing, but the cocktail is most definitely not! It's a great combination of flavors with a grilled steak, as the amaro plays off the flavors from the hot grill. Come in and try "Not Waving but Drowning" at Sly's -- and sample Mandy's dark side.

 

Poetic Justice: Not Waving but Drowning

From Sly's Manager, Mandy Chinn:
I was contacted recently by George Yatchisin, food and drinks writer extraordinnaire for the Santa Barbara Independent, regarding a new cocktail challenge.  

April is National Poetry Month, and George wanted me to choose a poem to base a cocktail on. He knows I love a challenge like this, so the dangling carrot of more media attention was secondary to the urge to create something new. The hard part was choosing a poem. Admittedly, it's been a while since I'd set out with the express purpose of reading poetry...as a mom and restaurant manager, I don't get to read as often as I'd like. I wound up selecting a poem that I remembered from a high school English class. I memorized it for class that year, and it had always kind of stuck with me. The poem was written by a woman named Stevie Smith, and is titled "Not Waving, But Drowning". It's a short poem... only a dozen lines or so, but very sort of spooky and melancholy. The mood of it stuck with me for a much longer time than the actual text. I guess it isn't too much of a stretch to imagine a seventeen-year-old girl liking poetry that lists decidedly to the melodramatic. The imagery of someone on a beach, thinking that a loved one was waving from the ocean while actually said loved one was drowning and crying for help...good grief!  

Need a drink after all that?
So for the "Not Waving But Drowning" cocktail, I took my inspiration from an old drink of the '20s called the Negroni. (Naturally, it's on our cocktail menu at Sly's) I chose to riff on the Negroni because it's bittersweet, like the poem itself. To look at a Negroni, with it's fiery red color and sunny orange garnish, is to imagine Tuscan sunsets and lingering over cocktails on a palazzo somewhere- not the mood I was looking for. I needed something that looked a bit ominous, almost brackish. A drink that would be delicious, but rather seriously so, and not frivolous.

I kept the base spirit of gin from the Negroni, but instead of bittering the drink with beautiful red Campari, I chose to use Amaro, another bitter Italian liqueur that is dark brown and has much deeper herbal notes than Campari. Everything bitter needs a note or two of sweet, and in the Negroni, sweet Italian vermouth is used. In the "NWBD", I chose to use a wonderful Amontillado sherry. I like the "winey" notes imparted in sherry, as well as the hints of caramel. For good measure, the drink is finished with a few dashes of orange bitters.

My husband (Sly's Bar Manager, Chris Chinn) says that bitters are to cocktails as salt is to food: a means of elevating flavors that are already there. I tend to agree. As a garnish, instead of that jaunty orange slice, I've chosen to cut a swath of orange peel and place it into the chilled cocktail glass before pouring the drink in, effectively "drowning" the orange peel. Sort of a cheap shot at bringing the poem back into the cocktail, but I think it's honest. The flavors work really well together, marrying bitter and sweet with the herbaceous nature of gin and an orange finish.  

Come try Not Waving But Drowning at Sly's if you're feeling melancholy. Think of it like Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album: It'll either improve your mood or just accessorize it!

New fixed price Menu at Sly's in Carpinteria: April in Paris

We're jumping for joy to announce a new fixed price menu at Sly's 

It's "April in Paris" menu time again at Sly's. This month marks the third year that we've been serving our three-course menus of French food at Sly's in Carpinteria to (literally) thousands of happy customers. Priced at $35 for three courses, or $55 for three courses with complimentary sparkling wine and two glasses of wine, the menu represents a great deal. We're even offering 10% off on any bottle of our French wine with the purchase of a fixed price menu. It's been a lot of fun for us to "change things up" and do something a little different.

This time, our dishes are selected from Paris circa 1976 - an exciting time in Paris. The erotic photography of Helmut Newton was the rage - and director Claude Leluch shot the classic high speed Ferrari run through Paris "C'etait un Rendezvous".

'76 was the year of the Judgment of Paris, where a blind wine tasting, with an overwhelmingly French jury, selected a pair of California wines as the victors. It was the year that fresh green peppercorns, a new and exotic flavor, were fashionable on everything from duck to strawberries. (Yes. It's true). And I was there! And frankly, I was pretty much a part of none of these exciting things - I was working split shift, six days a week at the Ritz in Paris after a six day a week stint in a wonderful Charcuterie.

We've chosen a few dishes that are certainly less exotic, but undoubtedly as exciting. Starters include a choice from a silky Lobster Bisque swirled with cream, Bistro-style "hors d'oeuvres variée" with mushrooms à la greque,carrot salad and hard boiled eggs with our homemade mayonnaise or scallops served in a scallop shell with a ruffle of Duchesse potatoes. For a limited time, we'll also have our homemade Country Pâté -Pâté de Compagne- as a choice. 

Mains include, by customer request, Blanquette de Veau, a creamy, white veal stew with mushrooms and pearl onions, a succulent and seemingly forgotten classic, Salmon fillet "à la nage", simmered in a vegetable broth called a "court bouillion", with Hollandaise, and the workaday Tournedo of Beef - here, USDA prime aged Sirloin, with Sauce Bèarnaise and our homemade French fried potatoes. 

What's a meal without dessert? Well, if you have the ripened Brie de Meaux to finish with, it's still a pretty good meal! (This cheese has been making its way to Paris from Normandy since the times of the Emperor Charlemagne.) Ours came to Sly's by way of Santa Barbara's C'est Cheese.

But if dessert's your thing, we feel that the Café Liegoise, strong iced coffee, vanilla ice cream and Chantilly cream with chocolate coffee beans from Chocolat du CaliBressan here in Carpinteria, the crisp-shelled "Tart au Citron" - lemon tart, or for a $5 supplement, the Chocolate Soufflé will leave you in a most happy mood.

I have fond memories of the French restaurants I've worked in, and especially of the time I worked in Paris, way back in those dark ages around 1976. I spent time with a wonderful charcutier, M. Schlauder, then at the Ritz in Paris, and finally at Regine's club and restaurant on the Champs Elysées run by Nouvelle Cuisine pioneer, Michel Guèrard . My experiences weren't quite as "dark" as George Orwell's "Down and Out In Paris"- I had the time of my life. And I love revisiting more traditional French food. 

As much as Paris - and our world - have changed in the decades that have passed, Paris will always be Paris. We hope you'll be able to find at least a little bit of it here at Sly's.