Restaurant review: Gala, Santa Barbara

Breezy Santa Barbara charm meets big-city sophistication at Gala, which offers dinner and cocktails with European flair. Opened in 2023, the restaurant is owned by the married duo of Tara Penke, a third-generation Santa Barbaran, and Chile-born chef Jaime Riesco.

The hospitality veterans’ culinary journey included stints in New York, with Riesco at the Michelin-starred Public (now closed) and Penke at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s JoJo. The couple later returned to Spain, where they met, and opened their still-thriving restaurant Picnic in Barcelona before making Penke’s homecoming dream come true.

An eclectic menu of tapas and entrées combines global and California influences, and changes often according to what’s best at the farmers market. Sharing works well with the tapas, where you’re likely to find fresh oysters served chilled with mignonette or hot with Parmesan and herbs; chicken croquettes alongside aioli; and tempura zucchini flowers stuffed with Haloumi cheese served atop a circle of romesco.

From Barcelona’s Picnic menu, crispy cubes of quinoa and potato hash browns are like next-level latkes. They come with a dollop of herbed crème fraîche; bump them up a notch by adding the house-cured salmon gravlax or an ounce of caviar. Reflecting Riesco’s European and Chilean background, a crudo of boat-direct local fish is bathed in leche de tigre (a citrus-based marinade) punched up with ají amarillo pepper.