ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

We'll chat about China Pavilion, an upscale Chinese restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. In an article for Gabe’s magazine, Wine and Dine Santa Barbara, I detailed the story behind the restaurant and highlighted some of their wonderful dishes including my favorite, the Spicy Ginger Basil Beef.

We’ll also talk about my recent trip with my husband to New York City, which was nothing short of fantastic – what a terrific city. We had a memorable dinner at Mario Batali’s restaurant, Esca, where we enjoyed Italian Piedmont wines by the "quartini." I'll also talk about another hot spot we ended up in, the Sugar Bar, owned by Ashford and Simpson (remember the 80’s hit, Solid as a Rock?), and I had my first introduction to canned champagne. I was caught very off-guard by this, but apparently it’s the hip new thing and Sofia Coppola is behind the cute little red can.

And lastly I’ll plug my new movie (yes, movie), which I produced, wrote and directed, and locals Austen Collins and Michael Anderson of Extra Mile Productions provided the cinematography and editing. It’s a documentary about the challenges faced by Santa Barbara’s critical workforce as they grapple with not being able to afford to live in the community they serve. The Price of Paradise was accepted by the Oxnard Independent Film Festival, so come on down and catch the premier on Saturday afternoon, September 16. Michael, Austen and I will be there for audience Q&A afterwards. Ask us how we got the aerial footage.

So tune in for the show, which airs tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., but if you miss it, catch the rebroadcast Thursday at 9:00 p.m. and Saturday at noon.