Competition can lead people to do delicious things. Take the Green Flash, a 47-foot catamaran that’s hosted customized culinary charters out of the Santa Barbara Harbor since January. Owners Sherri (the chef, a Santa Barbara native) and Captain Arthur McNary first ran the business for six seasons in the Virgin Islands, where they moved after raising their three kids here.
“There’s a lot of competition among charters, so the expectations for food on cruises is really high,” explained Sherri. “So it’s been a big focus of ours from the beginning.” Plus, as Arthur added with a laugh, “Doing California coastal cuisine had a lot of resonance there — no one has ever had good Mexican food down in the Caribbean.”
The move back to Santa Barbara makes it even easier for the Green Flash — which has no relation to the popular San Diego brewery — to feature dishes like breakfast tostadas with Spanish chorizo, jalapeños, queso fresco, avocado, and salsa or dinners of mahimahi grilled with pineapple, mango salsa, and jasmine coconut rice. “I can get every ingredient here — there’s all this access to organic and fresh items,” said Sherri. “Down there, I was pretty limited as to what I could get.”