Downeys
Address:
1305 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Phone:
(805) 966-5006
Hours:
- Tue: 12am-5:30pm
- Wed: 12am-5:30pm
- Thu: 12am-5:30pm
- Fri: 12am-5:30pm
- Sat: 12am-5:30pm
Payment:
Other Details:
John Downey knew that he wanted to become a chef at the age of 12 in his native England. By the time he was 16, John was attending cooking school and working in local restaurants. At 19 he was cooking for Britain's Queen Elizabeth aboard her namesake ocean liner QE2 while seeing the world. In 1972 John settled down in New York and learned the finer points of classic French cuisine while working at one of that city's best restaurants; Lafayette. An invitation to join the "New American" food movement put him working under the advisory of James Beard at the World Trade Center's "Market Dining Rooms". Freshness was key. It was very good food. A passion was ignited in New York and Chef Downey was compelled to travel to California where so much of that good food was produced. Arriving in Santa Barbara in 1978, John brought his years of experience; English, French Nouvelle, New American and commenced a seachange of fine dining in this town. About the same time, Alice Waters in San Francisco and Wolfgang Puck in L.A. were also changing the way Californians would dine out. It would be termed "California Cuisine" by the food press. In 1982 we opened Downey's in the very heart of the best farming region in the country.
Restaurants,
Organic
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