Wine Cask

I made reservations here for Valentine’s Dinner for the other evening. We arrived late but we were shown to our table right away. My first impression was that the restaurant is beautiful and classic. The service was nice and almost everything came out promptly. It was a prix fixe menu for $ 75 pp. I ordered the foie gras with pistachios, filet mignon and the chocolate molten lava cake. The appetizer was okay but I’ve had way better abroad. The filet mignon was pretty good but again I personally have had better at places like BOA and STK in LA. I should have ordered wine but I opted for the El Salud which was their tequila haberno cocktail. This came out a tad late but we were busy chatting. I loved it but I think looking back I should have opted for a red wine with my chosen meal because the wine my friend ordered was really good. That probably would have made more sense too. The dessert was rich and decadent! The way you want your molten lava cake to be! Overall, everything was good but missing a wow factor somehow to give it five stars.

It should have been a warning that the tasting menu was not published. The chef seemed to use it as a way to «serve’ dishes that were not selling. Wine pairings were the same; a way to finish off open bottles. The first course consisted of a peptobismol-​hued blood orange gelee with oysters and baby arugula floating on top. The gelee was cloyingly sweet. Although Oysters were nice and briny, it was difficult to get past the gelee. Fried leeks which were promised «to add texture» were missing from the dish but would not have saved it. (A local Chenin Blanc helped to cut the sweetness of the gelee.) Next course was called «Fois Gras», however, the torchon was stringy and flavorless and incased in overly salted duck rilletes. (Joke was on us; that’s what we get for ordering fois!) Wine pairing was a sparkling wine (never had sparkling after Chenin Blanc) that we enjoyed despite it not pairing well with the fois. The saving grace was a small frisee salad with a light vinaigrette. Next course was smoked trout which could have used some of the salt from the rillettes. The Chestnut purée was smooth and creamy. Wine pairing consisted of Pinot Noir and another local white. Apparently there was only enough Pinot for one glass. (We felt it to be presumptive that two women would be expected to share one glass…) The fourth course was the most successful — pork belly with maple reduction and turnip purée it was paired with a local chateauneuf-​du-​pape-​esque wine. Two purees back to back seemed a bit much; however, they provide a nice, smooth purée at The Wine Cask. Worst course by far was dessert. A thick, syrupy ice wine was poured that was undrinkable followed by tarte tatin and apple (?) sorbet (?). The tatin was tough and chewy and the tart sorbet did not pair well at any level. (Dulce de leche or salted caramel ice cream would have been a huge improvement.) The other dessert was chocolate lava cake and chocolate ice cream– good; not great. (Yes, we both ordred the tasting menu and were served different desserts.) Neither paired well with the ice wine. Because the final dessert course was such a fail, our bill was discounted approximately 3% ($ 8.00). Why bother? Wine pours were very light (they were finishing bottles…), service adequate although far from attentive (never noticed leeks were missing from course one; chocolate lava cake was finished before the waiter noticed the ice wine and tarte tatin were being ignored) but room was beautiful. With so many choice in Santa Barbara…

There is absolutely no way my wife and I would have experienced one of the greatest (if not the greatest) day of our lives without Jennifer. I have never witness someone so organized, effecient, and on point as I did with her! Great service and food!
Jennifer, you are a super star plus 1,000! Thank you for making our wedding day… PERFECT! Our guest continue to ask about WineCask and we will highly recoomend you to everyone we know! WineCask is truly the BEST!!!

4.5 stars. We came here for Christmas Eve dinner and had a really nice time.
Good:
— prompt service. We arrived a few minutes late for our 7pm reservation and were seated immediately right beside the Christmas tree, which was nice. Service was friendly from both servers and front staff.
— prix fixe of $ 75 was very reasonable as was the rest of the menu
— solid quality food and generous enough
— good SB wine list
–easy and free parking in the lot

An absolutely lovely place to dine in Santa Barbara. We stopped in for a business lunch and immediately liked the elegant vibe of this place. The lunch menu is quite extensive and full of variety, but we started with calamari and sweet potato fries appetizers to share (couldn’t hold back on the fries). For mains, there’s chicken, steaks, salads and flat breads galore but we chose to chow down on the Presidio Burger full of blue cheese, fresh arugula and shallot jam. Incredibly moist, yummy and dangerously gets you sleepy after lunch due to feeling so satisfied. I really look forward to returning for dinner, as their menu looks fabulous and includes chef tasting menus. And with the lovely ambiance of Wine Cask, you’re in for a nice romantic evening.

Exquisite setting in the heart of Santa Barbara, this restaurant offered some great ambience with okay food. Perhaps it was the Christmas night as they had fixed menu with limited options for a preferred vegetarian. Although the first course featured some amazing vegetarian options and got me excited about the rest of the evening.
I had the root farms mixed greens salad to start of the evening with Syrah straight line. The mains were followed by burgundy and spinach mushroom risotto. My friends tried the scallops, lamb shank, lobster soup and crispy chicken but unfortunately nothing was as exciting as the price tag.
If I am spending over $ 150 per person I would expect a five star service and food. The ambience bagged top marks on the Christmas evening.
Thanks for accommodating a party of 12 at the last minute but I wish the food was creative too.

Stopped by for their Christmas Eve prix fix meal at 9pm. we were told our table wasn’t ready but was warmly invited to their bar to wait. We ordered our wine and looked over their menu while we waited. Then we were seated 20 mins after our original reservation time which was fine as we were in no rush. The service was so so so great — the waiter even folded my friends napkin when she went to the washroom. The food was mind blowing and portions were massive. Highly recommend the foie gras and rib eye. Warning — their medium rare is more rare than usual (fully red throughout) so make sure to at least order medium if you’re used to ordering medium rare. We came out of the meal super satisfied and stuffed. Will likely not need to eat again for a few more days.

About 6 or 7 years ago I used to love dining at Wine Cask. The food was on point as well as the service. A few years ago they made some changes and neither the food or services was acceptable. There is no excuse for waiting over an hour for entrées, especially since no appetizers were order. I swore I would never go back.
BUT I was invited to Wine Cask to celebrate a birthday the day before Thanksgiving. I am sooooo grateful for the invite because my perspective of Wine Cask dramatically changed. Woah. And nom nom nom. Foie gras returned to the menu, which was my favorite course, scallops were cooked perfectly, food came out timely… pretty much the inverse of my last few experiences. Whatever they did, the changes were made for the better. I’ll be back for another foie gras and foodie fix.

For my birthday my wife and I went to Wine Cask. I was trying to decide between the monkfish special or the pork chop. The waitress advised me that if I wanted something more substantial that I should go for the pork chop but I went for the monkfish since it was locally caught. Though it was cooked perfectly and had great flavor I ate it in 5 bites (I should have gone with the pork chop). My wife had the duck breast and she felt sorry for me and shared some of hers with me (it was very good). Overall we left the restaurant a little less than satisfied but that was mainly due to the portion size of both of our meals. We did not have a similar issue with any of the other restaurants we dined at during our 3 day stay. This restaurant was our least favorite of our trip and with all the great restaurants in Santa Barbara this is one that we doubt we will come back to.

GREAT SERVICE, such a cool room, which used to be some wealthy families living soooo cool!
But, let’s review the food as this place is a restaurant…
Ok it is average, if you want enchiladas with very large pieces of filet that they should of asked you how you wanted it cook, rare, medium or well… Really takes away from the taste
I ordered the taco truck and wish I had it from the taco truck I think it would have been better
BUT, the service was GREAT

This review is way overdue but so necessary. If you’re looking for a reception venue or even just a place to eat, this place is it. We had a small wedding of about 50 people. Jennifer was so easygoing and responded to emails well. The reception planning process was a breeze, which was nice because we were planning on our own. They took care of flowers and put up all our decorations that my family dropped off the morning of. They let us hook up our iPod to the sound system. The pre-​reception with appetizers was apparently amazing (husband and I missed it, taking pictures), and I especially heard a great deal about the cheese board. The food was delicious, though for some reason my husband and I couldn’t eat much (nerves, I guess). I thought it was super nice that I could update my guest list amount even the day before and only be charged for who was actually there. The whole reception was actually extremely fairly-​priced, especially for the location and season.
The staff was extremely friendly and we were more than happy to choose this venue for our reception.

****** Five stars for all my past lovely experiences at Wine Cask. *****
and
Tonight we will have a birthday dinner for 6 — 4 of the guests it will be their first time!

This place stole my heart the first time I saw it! My fiancé originally wanted to take here for our engagement dinner, but there was a wedding going on so we had a snack at the Intermezzo bar (just as delicious). The best part was seeing a wedding set up and I immediately thought, THIS IS THE PLACE!
We went back in December to have the tasting menu with wine and we were just blown away that they would offer this type of food for a wedding. The staff was so attentive and Brandon was so knowledgeable about the wine and had a few laughs with him. We booked the Gold room for 60 guests and the manager Jennifer was such a pleasure to work with.
My day of coordinator showed up at 10 am the day of the wedding and set everything up with the help of the staff. When I showed up the day of my wedding, it was everything I’d hoped for! The set up was exactly how I wanted it, the food was delicious, service was prompt and courteous, and the day of (manager?) Sarah was there at all times making sure everything was going smoothly and that I had everything I needed.
I had my own centerpieces and candles but Wine Cask defiantly added more flowers and candles to make it seem like a romantic dinner party. I used their couches to create a relaxed atmosphere for people to go hang out over there and sort of be a dance floor. The wine was perfect and was flowing non stop!
They even did my cake, which was beyond gorgeous and so yummy! I went along with the gold theme and kept my décor minor. The space is just so beautiful and classy on it’s own. I can’t wait to visit for my anniversary!

We reserved the Riviera Room for our wedding reception dinner this past April, and I was overwhelmingly pleased with our experience. For one, they offered (for free!) to print our menus in this glamorous gold high quality paper as requested, and provided free custom flowers as centerpieces.
Throughout the planning process, the manager responded to every email and question in a timely and courteous manner. She was very gracious in handling all my special requests, and her involvement was crucial to the event’s overall success.
The whole event turned out absolutely beautiful, and the waiting staff and management at the Wine Cask made all that possible. I would recommend ANYONE looking for a good dinner or special event venue to check out the Wine Cask. All our guests shared the same opinion that this restaurant produced an exceptional experience fit to end a joyous day.
P. S. — Almost forgot to mention that the food and wine were SO GOOD. So, so good…

We reserved the Margerum Tasting Room for our wedding reception dinner this past March, and our experience was wonderful!
First, the presentation: I made my own centerpieces, favor boxes, name cards… basically, there was a whole lot of DIY with a whole lot of directions, all dropped off around 9 pm the night before the wedding. When Derek and I showed up to our reception, everything looked FLAWLESS! It was better than I ever could have imagined. We were greeted by a cocktail party of sorts; we did not request this, but it ended up being a nice addition to the evening and kept the guests entertained for an hour or so.
Finally, the food: Our guests could literally NOT STOP raving about the wonderful meals they had at our wedding! Seventeen people — including Derek and I — ordered the New York strip from the limited menu… it was universally decided: to. die. for. Derek’s father called a few weeks afterward to inquire about the red wine served at dinner — Margerum M5 — because he loved it so much, and my mother (who ordered the wild mushroom risotto) said it was probably the best wedding food she’d ever had. We also had our wedding cake made at the restaurant bakery, and it was equally delicious and popular: vanilla cake with white chocolate mousse, buttercream frosting, and shaved coconut. They even threw in a beautiful pink sugar rose that was just too beautiful to eat (though my flower girl did take a few nibbles! haha).
Overall, we had a great experience. If I had to complain about one thing, it would be that the servers were just a tad too free-​flowing with the wine refills… however, we had such a great time at our wedding reception and the food was so delicious that it was not a huge upset. We had never eaten at the Wine Cask prior to our wedding… now, we can’t wait to go back!

So many good things to say about Wine Cask, so little time.
Had a private business dinner here and everything was just sublime. The restaurant is beautiful, and we were very well looked after by our server (I can’t for the life of me remember his name — good-​looking guy, though, and awesome at his job. Sorry I can’t give him a specific shout-​out!). He recommended a most delicious ale. But the food… oh my lanta, the food. Impeccable. The menu was a prie fixe, so I can only speak for what I ordered.
STARTER:
Mushroom soup — This was the only dish I was a little disappointed by. For a starter, it’s kind of dull and lacks seasoning. I envied my colleagues’ cauliflower starters, especially once I tried it myself. Now, you may be saying to yourself, «Hold on, I thought she just said it was impeccable?» Well, hold onto yer butts, kids, because here comes the…
MAIN COURSE:
New York strip steak — This was an easy choice for me because it’s my very favorite cut of steak. And it did not disappoint even remotely. Served with a wine reduction, the steak itself was perfectly cooked (medium rare, best temp!), flavorful, and oh-​so-​tender. Definitely the star of the whole meal, and absolutely the best steak I have ever had in my life. I don’t say this lightly. I’m an Iowa native, and I know my meats. This blew all other steak experiences out of the water.
DESSERT:
Cookie pie — Chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. What more could you ask for? Especially once the coffee had been brought out, which was a lovely way to wrap up one heck of a meal.
We all had such an amazing evening. Thank you, Wine Cask, for helping to make this experience special for all of us.

When you are in Santa Barbara, there are expectations: you expect beautiful restaurant, exemplary culinary skills and near perfect service. The good news for Wine Cask is that it (nearly) meets all three… occasionally I noticed hiccups in service… but hey who’s perfect, right?
If I lived in Santa Barbara, Wine Cask will be an extension of my kitchen, because I will be eating there everyday. As for the food, they source a lot from the local farmers (or at least I was told) and everything is good… I hate it when I sound so cliché, but really, everything is good! Try sitting in the courtyard next time you visit.

Two Words: Special Occasion
I went here and I felt like it was Valentine’s day. The ambiance of Wine Cask is certainly romantic. There have a beautiful and intimate layout.
For starters, we ordered the gnudi which came with figs, brown butter, and toasted pistachios. It was creamy and I couldn’t stop saying «mmmmm!»
For entrée, I had to go with their popular rack of lamb. The meat was impeccably tender and juicy. Excellent entrée!
For dessert, we had to go with the butterscotch pudding. The extra sprinkle of salt enhanced the flavors of the dessert.
The menu is fairly small, but I liked it that way because service went a lot quicker. Their service delivers and we only waited 15 minutes for our entrée.
They also have a wine and cheese list. Next time, I will have to go in for some wine and cheese tasting.
I recommend this place for an intimate celebration.

Something is very wrong at the Wine Cask these days, but i think they know it. Let me explain…
This was a business dinner intending to impress some clients… wow am I embarrassed. On the surface, things seem very nice. Service is friendly and many of the employees have been with the Wine Cask or one of its owners’ affiliates for several years, if not decades. The décor, seating, plating and cutlery are all upscale as expected for the price point (entrees are 30++ per plate).
A 11OCT2014 7pm seating, 715pm ordering and 830pm serving. An exorbitantly long time to wait. Of the party of 5, we ordered similarly and so I have comments on just two entrees. First is the Local Halibut. This was overcooked by probably 5 minutes. No moisture whatsoever inside and surprisingly under-​seasoned. The duo of beef was the most surprising disappointment. Although it was advertised as a ribeye… if you had me look, smell and taste this cut of meat I would never guess ribeye. The portion was extremely untrimmed of gratuitous fat/​tendon and each bite had me nervously wondering if I would have to spit it out in my napkin. This was a very poorly seasoned piece of meat as well. The braised short rib was underwhelming, stewy and dry. After a couple bites, our party collectively agreed this was probably the worst meal we’ve eaten at a restaurant in recent memory.
With 90% of our food left on the plate, I talked to our waiter about the meal. I was asked to fill out a comment card. Initially, I was a bit irked and felt brushed off… but then the classiest thing that has ever happened at a restaurant happened. The meal was completely free, including the sparkling and flat bottles of water and the bottle of perfectly good Margerum M5.
So thank you, Wine Cask, for giving me a bad meal and not making me pay for it. Please read my comment card and try to find out what the problem is. I can’t, in good conscience, return for a meal nor recommend anyone either.

Very romantic, very dark, amazing and decorative ceiling, professional service (shout out to Justin), and no customers on a Saturday night. How will this place survive if no one goes?
Why come here?
— Very extensive wine list: Pages and pages of bottles, from $ 45 on up
— Fine service
— Beautiful presented food
— Classy
What did I have?
— Pistachio-​encrusted Seared Ahi ($ 29): Nicely presented, sliced into small pieces, fanned, and served over asparagus and quinoa. Really good, but pistachio-​encrusted was indistinguishable.
— Forbidden Rice: black rice, plain, absolutely nothing special.
— Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce ($ 9) — very buttery, sinful, plenty for 2 – 3 to share because it is so rich.
— Stags Leap Cabernet ($ 70) — wonderful.
Why is no one here?
— Pricy
— Small and limited menu: 1 of each chicken, lamb, beef, and fish.
— On Anacapa, not State Street
Would I go back?
— Yes