Drama is a central ingredient at Angel Oak, which the Bacara opened as its fine-dining restaurant in June. The sprawling coastal resort at the western end of Goleta was without an upscale dining option for the 18 months since the closure of Miró, which debuted in 2000 as the property’s original restaurant. The space’s extensive remodeling and renovated vibe make it almost unrecognizable to those who’d known it before.
Upon escaping the resort’s red-tile-roof motif, you enter a breezeway lined with stark columns and punctuated, at the end, by the floor-to-ceiling mosaic of a downward-looking female face. Once inside, the angular modern design is offset by many gnarled bonsai trees, and softened further by the abundant seaside scene outside, for the restaurant is set, almost precariously, atop the windswept bluffs that soar westward into the Gaviota Coast.
Once seated in front of the setting sun — perhaps after a craft cocktail at the bar, like the St. George Citrus Vodka–based California Lookout that my wife and I enjoyed — you’re given impressively large, almost imposing menus, familiar to anyone who’s visited a proper big-city steakhouse. And that’s the theme Chef Vincent Lesage is going for.
