Local Photographer’s Santa Barbara Food Tour

October 22, 2014 | Updated: October 31, 2014 | By Elizabeth | Reply More

Tara Jones became enamored of Santa Barbara’s food scene while attending Brooks Institute of Photography.

This Santa Barbara food tour trip report is brought to you by Jessica Roy who – as you’ll read below – had a great time sampling local culinary specialties as a guest of Eat This, Shoot That! Her guide and ETST owner Tara Jones is an expert foodie and a crash hot photographer. Tara attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and developed a love of local gastropubs during her college years.

On Saturday afternoon my husband, Matthew, and I had the pleasure of doing an Eat This, Shoot That! walking tour through the Funk Zone and Santa Barbara waterfront. As someone who loves food and photography, this was right up my alley. And as a Southern California resident, it was fun and surprising to discover new gems located just down the highway. We had a great time, loved all the good food, and hearing handy photo tips and tricks from our fabulous guide Tara Jones.

Deep Sea Wines is on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara food tour: Deep Sea Wines is on Stearns Wharf with beautiful ocean views.

We visited Deep Sea Wines on the historic Stearns Wharf first. The view from their tasting room is otherworldly with a picturesque view of the classic Santa Barbara skyline. And it was a great start to the mini photo lessons, where Tara told us how to think like a travel photographer and how to maximize our cell phone cameras.

Santa Barbara Shellfish Company was our next stop where we tasted fresh rock shrimp ceviche with a fresh and spicy pico de gallo. Of course, before we could dive into that delicious dish, we were taught how to properly light all our food dishes so that we could achieve the same look as those fancy magazine photos. I may just be trading in my day job soon for a sweet gig like shooting and eating food. Yum!

Eat This, Shoot That! guests always enjoy the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company.

After a stroll down the harbor and a little history lesson on the beginnings of Santa Barbara, we made our way to the famed Funk Zone. We learned about the humble beginnings of the early residents, the Chumash Indians, and about the tumultuous days of the roaring teens and twenties. Did you know that Santa Barbara was the original moviemaking town before Hollywood?

On this Santa Barbara food tour, several stops are made at hip eateries in the Funk Zone.

More Santa Barbara food tour and photo tips

As our Santa Barbara food tour moved along, we began to fall in step with the others in the group and happily chatted our way to the next stop, Mason Street with its graffiti art walls. We paused for a moment in front of the city’s only sanctioned graffiti art that was painted by local artists and learned our final photo lesson of how to take better photos of ourselves. Let me just say, I will never again have raccoon eyes in my photos thanks to that little tip!

As we wound our way further into the Funk Zone, Tara shared little tips of history about the different landmarks and buildings before we reached our next food stop, Lucky Penny. I had never had a flatbread quite like that before! It was the chef’s homage to a breakfast burrito - flavorful, unique, and so tasty.

Our next few stops were next door to each other and as lively as could be! While we had the option to stop in at Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co, the place was a mad house and clearly a popular spot for the locals. So, we decided to skip it and go straight for the good stuff next door. (Next time we’ll go there for sure!)

Another popular stop on the Eat This, Shoot That! Santa Barbara food tour: Cutler’s Artisan Spirits.

Cutler’s Artisan Spirits, Santa Barbara’s first distillery since Prohibition, was our next stop with samplings of top shelf liquors. Next door was Riverbench for sparkling wines paired with Koval Confections’ salted caramels. There’s not much to say here that won’t sound like overselling. So, instead I’ll just say that this candy is a must try!

At Seven Bar, on this Santa Barbara food tour, waffles are served with “heavenly” maple syrup.

Our final destination was just around the corner at Seven Bar + Kitchen for a taste of chicken and waffles with a strawberry and jalapeno infused maple syrup. I was a little hesitant at first to mash together so much sweet and savory into one bite, but as with all the other food tries, I was not disappointed. While we happily munched on hot waffles and crispy chicken slathered in heavenly maple syrup, Tara shared with us her favorite (and free) smartphone apps for putting finishing touches on our photos.

With every tasting perfectly timed and each stop offering a diverse menu, this Santa Barbara food tour is THE tour to do when you are in town. Even if you’re a beginner photographer with only a smartphone in hand, like some of the others in our group, you are sure to learn a lot and leave stuffed in just a quick 2.5 hours.

Note from Elizabeth: If you’re heading to Santa Barbara, be sure to read 6 Santa Barbara Secrets – a guest post from another SB insider. If you love the view from Stearns Wharf, check out some of California’s other atmospheric – and historic- piers.