It’s rare when an ocean-view restaurant can back up the beautiful setting with tasty food. Thankfully, The Oyster Bar, which opened in May on Stearns Wharf, lives up to the name and complements the gorgeous views of the Pacific with delectable seafood. As part of Moby Dick Restaurant, a key fixture in Stearns Wharf history, The Oyster Bar is leading the way in a reimagining of the restaurant.
The newly designed bar, which features a 270-degree view of the city, the harbor, and the Santa Barbara Channel; fresh and sustainable seafood; craft cocktails; and beers from local favorites such as Draughtsmen Aleworks, is just the refresh the wharf needed.
“We are really seeing ourselves as a seafood restaurant now,” said Karl Hutterer, President & CEO of The Stearns Wharf Company. Hutterer, who is also a former boardmember of the Community Environmental Council (CEC), is a key player in the revamp of this institution and its movement toward sustainability. Moby Dick is owned by a group of investors who created the restaurant in the 1980s. One of these investors was Jim Gildea, an environmentalist and one of the earliest supporters of the CEC. When he passed away, he left his shares in Moby Dick to the CEC, and the Central Coast nonprofit group became a part-owner of the restaurant.