Nurturing nostalgic nosh while cultivating the hand-crafted cuisine that’s widely craved today. Modernizing buildings that haven’t been used in decades while retaining their rustic, rural spirit. Carving new corners for celebrations while ensuring each offers a distinct experience and feel. And doing it all under the shadow of a global pandemic.
These are just slices of a big pie being quickly but carefully baked at Zaca Creek, the three-acre property located just north of Buellton on the west side of 101 that was home to Jim Buell’s beloved steakhouse and raucous saloon from 1969 to 2001. After multiple owners failed to fire up the grills over the past 20 years, an extended Santa Ynez Valley family is now at the helm, and their combined backgrounds in food, drink, contracting, permitting, and event venue management are enabling an ambitious, multipronged plan to take root.
“We all have a long lineage in the valley,” said Stephen Villa, a Lompoc native and former assistant winemaker at Fiddlehead Cellars who co-owns the property with his wife, Santa Ynez High grad Chelsea Rushing. “We’re all from here.”