“When you think it has enough flavor, double it.” That’s the motto of Jeff Olsson, and the words ring oh-so-true as I taste his cauliflower with vadouvan, cashews, and raisins inside his bustling Buellton restaurant Industrial Eats.
I’m quite surprised by the impressive amount of vegetarian options on the menu, especially since there is a butcher shop within the restaurant. “Sometimes the addition of bacon is great,” Jeff clarifies with a knowing smile. “But if the ingredients stand on their own, why mess with them?”
Jeff and his wife, Janet, bought New West Catering in 1999, and started dreaming of opening a restaurant adjacent to their catering business nearly a decade ago. “It all came around very organically,” explained Jeff, who attributes his success to the fact that the food they provide is “very much driven by what we want to make, as supposed to what people want.”