Fall’s Don’t-Miss Dish
You might not guess it, but one of the best places to eat local fish is the cozy, modern Danish restaurant inside the renovated Landsby hotel in Solvang: Mad & Vin. Both the ceviche and the Herb-Crusted Fish of the Day come from our local waters.
The supplier is Buellton native Travis Meyer, who’s been fishing here his whole life. When he recently began selling his local wild halibut and other white fish to Industrial Eats (or select spots in the Santa Ynez Valley), newly promoted Head Chef Beto Huizar quickly jumped on board.
Meyer’s local catch is the inspiration for the Herb-Crusted Fish, paired with local fall vegetables, crispy red quinoa (a house original) and a sauce from their house-made orange shrub (a traditional technique for preserving fruit). Huizar was raised on a farm in Mexico, where everything was fresh and his grandmother cooked from scratch. After arriving here in the Valley at 18, he worked in various kitchens, always keeping his eye on local ingredients.
To make this dish, Huizar dries fresh thyme, oregano and sage in the oven, then mixes in salt, sesame seeds and sumac. He salts the fish, presses the herb mix on the nonskin side, then sautés it in oil over medium heat for just 2 minutes on each side. He deep-fries the quinoa in small batches for about a minute. The vegetables are roasted, the chard is blanched and then sautéed with sliced garlic. He finishes the fish in the oven and then tops the vegetables and quinoa with the fish and adds his reduced orange shrub sauce and some edible flowers. Beautiful!
