Contributing Writer

Nestled behind a hedgerow of greenery in Los Olivos lies a little garden retreat known as The Bakery Farmstand where, one morning a week, those in the know can enjoy a little bit of sweet culinary heaven.

Passing drivers would barely notice it was there, except for a quaint little sign on the side of the road informing passersby when the farm stand is open.

Tracy Fleming and her husband, Glenn Landon, pose at the Bakery Farmstand in Los Olivos.

Owners Tracy Fleming and Glenn Landon, a husband and wife team, opened the Bakery Farmstand in July 2013, offering an assortment of baked goods for sale such as muffins, scones, cakes, breads, quiche, homemade pop tarts, Bundt cakes, pies and tartlets, a variety of cookies, and their famous homemade marshmallows.

“We started with a little chalk board on the side of the road, which someone stole, and a little table with an umbrella in the driveway,” said Fleming. “Now we can accommodate larger groups of people to enjoy our garden and our baked goods, but by appointment only. We mainly do private parties, but we are open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, serving baked goods in our garden. ”

Fleming has been a part of the food industry from childhood. Her mother was a food stylist in the television industry and she had the opportunity to learn first-hand how to create unique and tasty occasions.

The Bakery Farmstand is a spot for outdoor dining, a place where people can relax and enjoy themselves and savor excellent food.

“My mother worked as a food stylist (previously known as a home economist, back in the day) for the Dinah Shore Show. I remember as a young teenager helping my mother cut vegetables while Burt Reynolds, who was dating Dinah Shore at the time, sat in a chair watching us prepare the food,” she recalled.

“I think my ability to look at the big picture came from my mother,” said Fleming. “She was very organized and I learned how to prepare meals for large groups of people.”

While living in Los Angeles, Fleming owned her own catering business called Serves You Right, eventually selling it to her partner. “We did a lot of really fun and imaginative parties for the music industry,” Fleming recalled.

“I decided to sell my business because I wanted to spend more time with my son. The catering business consumes a lot of weekends,” she said. “I needed a normal Monday-through-Friday job, so I went to work at the Nestle Test Kitchen in Glendale, where I remained for five years. My mother also worked there, but we were in different departments.

Glenn Landon transformed the back yard into an area where people can play, eat and enjoy each other’s company.

“I was looking to have my son attend Santa Barbara Junior High School, as it was a good time in our lives for a change of scenery,” she said. “I started a little cookie company, along with my mother, called ‘Ocean View Sweets,’ which featured marshmallow squares, truffle cookies and shortbread. The company exploded when an article about us was featured in Saveur Magazine, ranking us third out of 100 on their ‘Best List’ for 2000. We were selling our baked goods all over the country. Almost as fast as that happened, my mother was diagnosed with cancer.”

“After junior high, my son wanted to attend Dunn School, so we decided to move to Los Olivos,” said Fleming. “For years my husband and I had the idea of opening a bakery. But when negotiations for the purchase of one fell through, I went to work at UCSB as an executive chef for two different sororities, where I worked for almost five years.”

Tracy Fleming loves to bake, and she shares her expertise every Saturday morning with the public in her garden.

Fleming recalled the day her accountant mentioned something about the “California (Homemade) Food Act” that Governor Brown signed into law in 2012.

“Cooking and baking in a home for outside sales was illegal at the time. The Cottage Food Law allows people, within certain parameters, to cook food from their own home kitchen and sell it to stores and to the public. It also allows people to build a clientele before entering into a brick and mortar store. Most new restaurants and bakeries fail within the first year. But the Cottage Food Law offered me the opportunity to do my own baking, in my own kitchen, and sell it to the public. So we opened the Bakery Farmstand.”

Landon, who is a builder, created the little outpost in the garden, constructing the bakery stand, the tables and the pergolas, transforming the garden into a perfect spot for outdoor dining, a place where people can relax and enjoy themselves and savor excellent food.

“I only do small affairs, like pre-wedding dinners, or small get-togethers, by appointment only,” said Fleming. “We are open to the public on Saturday mornings. Glenn tends to be the face and Saturday morning leader, because I am often so busy in the kitchen replenishing the stand with our baked goods for the girls to sell to customers. I am eternally grateful to our employees for their kindness and great service to our customers. Glenn is a huge asset to the success of each Saturday morning that we are open. All I want to do is bake.”

“I do a lot of private parties and I also teach people how to prepare meals,” she continued. “For example I go to a person’s home who is having an intimate dinner for 6 people, let’s say. I demonstrate how the food is prepared and then I place the food on the table and quietly leave. I also teach both culinary and baking classes to small groups of people in my kitchen or privately. I also do a themed dinner in July and one in October.”

“Food is a universal language. You can go anywhere in the world and cook with people with no words necessary. Everyone needs to eat. A familial atmosphere is what is important to me. Our little business has grown so organically and beautifully over the past 6 years. It amazes me that I can do what I am doing at this point in my life. I have been cooking and baking for more than 40 years. I enjoy what I’m doing now even more than I loved working at all the wonderful positions I’ve held during my career,” Fleming said. “I now have a funky little stand in my garden and I love it.”

The Bakery Farmstand is on Santa Barbara Avenue near the corner of Olivet Avenue in Los Olivos. Look for the little wooden sign out front.

For more information, call 805-252-9866 or follow them on Instagram, @thebakeryfarmstand. People who sign up for their newsletter receive a weekly email with their menu, which changes weekly.

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SYV Star Intern

Owner and chef Joy Reinhardt has opened a new restaurant in downtown Santa Ynez as a tribute to her mother.

Ellie’s Tap and Vine serves a wide variety of foods and drinks. The chef curates a unique menu every weekend featuring locally grown ingredients.

“Everything here is done with a purpose,” Reinhardt said. “The wine list is eclectic but affordable, and only features wines from places I’ve visited around the world.”

“The menu every night is just whatever I feel like cooking,” she said.

Ellie’s Tap and Vine was founded in memory of Ellie, Reinhardt’s mother, who spent years in the hospitality business before dying from cancer in May 2018.

Reinhardt, 51, said she learned how to cook from her mother and that her passing was very difficult.

“Nothing prepares you for the loss of your mom,” said Reinhardt. “This restaurant is a tribute to her. This has been a long time coming, and her passing gave me the momentum to move forward with this.”

Reinhardt honors her mother in several ways throughout the restaurant. The china cups and saucers are from her mother’s collections, and the chef coats, along with other details, are green, which was Ellie’s favorite color. At the serving station, what Reinhardt calls the “DJ booth,” she has pinned up a card from her mother that says, “I love you. — Mom.”

Ellie’s Tap and Vine combines feminine and rustic to create a welcoming atmosphere for everyone, complete with crystal chandeliers and metal-finished details. Reinhardt wanted the restaurant to embody her mother’s feminine style but fit the rustic tone of the Santa Ynez Valley.

“No matter how hold you are, it hurts like to hell to lose your mom, but every time I walk in this place, it feels cathartic because it’s just like my mom,” Reinhardt said.

She hopes her restaurant will become a hang-out spot for locals.

“I think the locals are already starting to embrace me, and I want it to be a local place,” she said.

Ellie’s Tap & Vine, at 3640 Sagunto Street in Santa Ynez, is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and for dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Sunday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

For more information, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page or follow it on Instagram at @elliestapandvine.

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SYV Star Intern

A new store that sells everything from hand-made potpourri bags to crystal hangings has opened in Solvang.

Nancy Schulte launched the new business called Fairy and Frog in early May. The whimsical store sells “enchanting delights” ranging from fairy-themed décor to chocolates and teas.

Schulte owned a similar business in Santa Barbara before, but it closed nearly 10 years ago. She had been looking for an opportunity to open another store ever since.

“I saw a listing for a place in Solvang and I had never thought about opening up a store here, but the timing was right, so I went for it,” she said.

Some of the merchandise in the store is made by Schulte. There is a work space set up in the shop where she can design wreaths and other arrangements to sell.

“I always wanted to have my very own little store and share the things I love,” she said. “If you get to surround yourself with the things you love like this, you’re pretty lucky.”

Schulte had a grand opening the weekend of June 29 that included a 20 percent off sale. She plans to host similar events in the future, including holiday sales and other seasonal celebrations.

Fairy and Frog is at 1607 Mission Drive, No. 109, in Solvang. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com

Helmut Holzheu will soon celebrate a milestone birthday and he wants to share it with the community he loves so much, so his family is throwing a ‘Founding Father’s Day’ birthday party for him at El Rancho Market on Saturday, June 15.

“My father Helmut is and has always been a force of nature and a positive role model for 90 years. He never gives up and is relentlessly positive. As a result, he saw nothing but opportunity and felt that in any way he could help his community, he would be helping himself and his family,” said his son, Alfred Holzheu.

When the Holzheus first leased the abandoned store, it faced Highway 246. They expanded in 1975 into the store that still operates today.

The self-made businessman started as an apprentice at a butcher shop in Germany. He and his wife Doris were newlyweds with very little money when they accepted an invitation to move to Santa Barbara from Germany in 1954. They have known each other since they were 3 years old, his wife noted.

“We married in February of 1954 and moved to America in November the same year. I was pregnant with our first child and we barely knew any English,” Doris said in her German accent.

They eventually moved to Shell Beach and on a drive for their anniversary in 1966, they came to the Santa Ynez Valley and drove by a closed store with a ‘For Lease’ sign in the window.

Two weeks later they signed a lease and more than 50 years later, El Rancho is a staple in the valley.

They pride themselves on having products that are fresh from local farmers and other producers.

The Holzheus have been involved in the Santa Ynez Elks Lodge, the Lions Club and Viking Charities. They made and cooked sausage at Danish Days for many years, and they also cooked the corned beef and cabbage for Mission Santa Ines’ St. Patrick’s Day celebrations for 30 years.

Helmut has been chairman of the Mission Fiesta, and Doris delivered Meals on Wheels for many years. She is a member of the Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital Auxiliary and the choir at Mission Santa Ines.

“He was a proud citizen of his adopted country, even traveling to Washington, D.C., to acquire a flag that had been flown over the White House. To this day we fly a flag at El Rancho every day on the huge flag pole he set up in the parking lot in 1975,” Alfred added.

Throughout the years Helmut and Doris have also been board members of the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society, Solvang Friendship House, and San Lorenzo Seminary.

The Holzheus bought land near their store in case they needed to relocate, but instead they donated that land as the site for the Stuart C. Gildred Family YMCA in Santa Ynez. They also helped raise the funds to build it.

They often go to their store and get lunch to take on picnics or meat to take home for dinner. Helmut loves the Mississippi Caviar, which has become a store staple.

“I could not be more proud of my father, and I am blessed that we will be able to celebrate his 90^th surrounded by family and friends in his beloved El Rancho Market,” Alfred said.

Follow El Rancho Market on Facebook to learn more about the celebration.

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The five members of Los Olivos Makers will host their inaugural event May 25.

Staff Report

A group of five creative businesses has formed Los Olivos Makers, which will host its first “Meet the Makers” event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 25, at each member’s store.

Those participating are invited to peruse the work of practitioners in art, clay, jewelry, leather, paper and more as the business owners walk them through their unique creative processes, some with live demonstrations.

The event is free of charge.

“Our brick and mortar store has provided an intimate and direct connection with customers that we couldn’t otherwise get … There’s nothing more satisfying than sharing stories of my work with folks who walk into our gallery,” said Diane Dorsey, jeweler and owner of R&D los olivos.

Members of the group and locations for the event are:

• Michelle Castle, designer, Honey Paper, 2933 Grand Ave., Suite E, honey-paper.com
• Kristen Cramer, ceramicist, Global Eye Art Collective, 2935 Grand Ave., geartco.com
• Diane Dorsey, jeweler, R&D los olivos, 2446 Alamo Pintado, randdlosolivos.com
• Vicky Valdes, leather artist, Artisans Gallery, 2432 Alamo Pintado, artisansgallerylosolivos.com
• Christina LoCascio, painter, Los Olivos General Store, 2900 Grand Ave., losolivosgeneralstore.com

Los Olivos Makers’ objective is to promote the work of Los Olivos designers and crafts people who also own retail stores to sell their work

For more information, visit www.geartco.com/LOmakers.html.

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If I was starting over I would have opened my own law practice long before I did, at the end of 2013.  Deciding to become self-employed was the best employment decision I ever made.  I love making decisions about my business and the best way for clients to achieve their goals regarding estate, probate and trust matters.

How do you stay motivated?

My personality type is strongly influenced by being a “type A” person and I always seem to be motivated to stay on top of projects and steps to reach goals.  I do use detailed checklists to make sure that all actions are achieved before due.

What is unique about the service you provide?

I am one of 16 estate and trust specialist attorneys in Santa Barbara County who have received the specialty designation by the State Bar.  The other 15 attorneys are in Santa Barbara, so I am the only attorney in northern Santa Barbara County with this designation.  Because people seek a specialist to make sure their documents are up to date and created with the goal to identify and solve problems in advance, I am in a unique position to offer this specialty expertise.

How did mentors influence your life?

I was supported and encouraged by other attorneys in Santa Barbara to pursue specialty certification in estate and trust work.  They answered questions and helped with motivation to take another full-day bar exam on the specialty subjects, and I have acted as mentor to other attorneys who have the desire to achieve this as well.

The post Women in Business – Lana Clark, attorney appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

Coast Plumbing Solutions was started over two years ago, Coast General Contractors is seven years old, and Coast Welding was just started in January 2019.

 How do you stay motivated?

I have two little girls watching me. I want to show them that their mom can do whatever she puts her mind to, and they can choose any career path that interests them. Girls can help run a plumbing company! I also love what I do (oversee operations, financials, customer service, etc.), so I think that’s key to staying motivated in any line of work.

 What is unique about the service you provide?

We have always prided ourselves in providing quality work with the utmost in professionalism. For example, our plumbers wear booties in our customers’ homes and bring their own mats to set their tools on to keep their work space clean and be respectful of customer’s homes.

As a busy mom, it’s those simple things that make the most difference to me when I’ve invited someone inside to work within our home, and we want to offer the same to our customers. Our employees are all background-checked, wear uniforms and held to a high standard with their appearance, work and training, and it shows.

 How did mentors influence your life?

My parents, Bill and Kathi Hames, were and continue to be mentors in my life. They have worked hard, have always taken care of their employees and provide great service to their customers. They have long-time customers whose working relationships span several years. Also my husband — he is very encouraging in supporting women in business and is consistently researching, reading and developing new business techniques. He inspires and supports me.

The post Women in Business – Katie Hames-Wright appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

One year.

How do you stay motivated?

Goals and task lists top my lists as motivators. These tools help me in the short term and long term. I envision where, professionally, I’d like to be at the end of the week.  For example, my week goals include what projects I want to complete, calls I need to make, and people I’d like to connect with.

For the long term, I plan my year-long goals and five-year goals. Having task lists keeps me on track to reach my goals. I get great joy from crossing items off my list and inventorying my progress as well as what areas need more attention. 

What is unique about the service you provide?

My practice is focused on family law, estate planning and estate administration. These areas of the law are highly personal and emotional. My service is unique because I provide highly personalized attention when my clients need it most. 

How did mentors influence your life? 

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from my mentors is that to gain success, you need to ignore the mindless chatter, forge ahead, and do your best work the way you do it best.

The post Women in Business – Erin Louria Zivic, attorney appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

Contributing Writer

Hidden away in the eastern end of Santa Ynez is a delightful eatery, The Lucky Hen Larder. It serves artisan sandwiches that can be paired with a salad and offers patrons a large variety of fancy cheeses and deli meats along with a variety of unique house-made items.

Cynthia Miranda and Alicia Valencia are co-owners of the business, which was established in February 2016. It is located in the Santa Ynez Mercantile Building at Sagunto Street and Meadowvale Road.

Miranda has been in the restaurant business her whole life. Her family owned a restaurant and she subsequently earned a degree in hotel management from Northern Arizona University with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. She has been in the business for 25 years and has owned several restaurants, including at one time the Succulent Café in Solvang. 

“I lived in Santa Barbara but I was ready for a move,” said Miranda. “A previous colleague was opening a restaurant in the valley so I took the opportunity to move up to the Santa Ynez Valley in 2010.”

Alicia Valencia (left) and Cynthia Miranda are the owners of The Lucky Hen Larder in Santa Ynez.

“Alicia was introduced to me by a local rancher. She was looking for work at the Succulent Café and I said, ‘Come on in and we’ll find a spot for you’, and she blossomed,” said Miranda. “Alicia was fairly raw when she first started working at the café but she has such an amazing palate and a passion for creating unique and delicious food.”

“I had been thinking about opening a sandwich shop in Santa Ynez when I heard that the Santa Ynez Cheese Company was up for sale and the spot it was in was available, I snapped it up,” Miranda said. “It took only two weeks to finalize everything.”

The owners make their own focaccia bread for their sandwiches and make all the pastries. They offer fresh baguettes daily from Baker’s Table. They serve Good Seed coffee, from a local company that roasts their own coffee beans locally. Valencia also does the canning and bottling of house-made mustard, pickles, jams and chili-peach compote.

“She does it as a labor of love and we can’t keep them on the shelves,” said Miranda.

“We are excited to say that we have just completed an expansion of the eatery, which will add more indoor dining. We have a new expresso machine, and the larger space will allow us to offer more home-made pastries as well as the addition to the menu of grilled cheese sandwiches and home-made soups,” said Miranda. “We also plan on offering wine and beer in the near future and will be extending our hours.”

“Everyone is excited to have us as part of the community,” she said. “They have been helping out with the expansion. It was previously a barber shop which was owned by Janis Bitney, who recently retired.”

The Lucky Hen Larder also does catering and lunch delivery for groups.

“One of our specialties is creating cheese and charcuterie displays. We carry 100 different cheeses in our display case in the store, which we go through fairly quickly,” she explained. “The charcuterie is gaining support from locals and visitors alike. We also serve a number of wineries that purchase our charcuterie and we customize for each of them, catering to their needs.”

“We use the finest quality non-GMO products in our kitchen, which we source weekly from the Farmer’s Market. We also work in direct contact with local farmers. I’ve always believed that you start with a great product and end with a great product,” said Miranda.

Staff members are Nick Collins and Alicia Valencia who work in the kitchen; Holly Griswald, Scott Flores and Ana Ruiz working in the front with customer service; and Stef Keenan assisting in the office with Miranda and filling in where needed. They also have a shop dog named Jackson, an American bulldog, “who is loved by all.”

 “We are so happy to have Cynthia doing business in our building because she is adding her own creative touch to the area. She is a very high-energy person and her little team puts it out there with quality,” said Brian Asselstine, the building’s owner.

 “I have been in this business my whole life,” Miranda said. “To me this iteration has been the most fluid. It has come together so serendipitously, it seems like the culmination of everything that I have done up to this point. It came together organically. So many people have come in to help, and it feels like a true expression of myself.”

The Lucky Hen Larder at 1095 Meadowvale Road is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  For more information, call 805-691-9448 or visit www.theluckyhenlarder.com.

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Contributing Writer

Laura Roach is a young entrepreneur with a passion for winemaking. She is the owner and winemaker of Loubud Wines, which specializes in Methode Champagnoise sparking and rosé of pinot noir wines.

“My grandmother read an article in her local newspaper about women in the wine industry. She noticed the article was about a winemaker whose ideas aligned with mine at the time. I’d just accepted an application to attend UC Davis, so I elected to take an introductory course in winemaking. It’s been an interest of mine since I was 19,” Roach said.

“My professor was Hildegard Heyman from South Africa, and she really inspired me. The energy she exuded about the industry excited me, and I wanted to delve into it more,” she continued.

In 2010, after graduating with a bachelor of science degree in viticulture and enology, she received a scholarship from the Confrerie des Chevaliers in Burgundy, France.

“They awarded me and another student at Davis with a scholarship to work at a domain in Burgundy, France. I felt very fortunate that my first internship after graduating was in Burgundy. I worked at Domaine de la Vougeraie in Nuits-Saint-Georges, which focuses on pinot noir,” said Roach. “I was there for four months. That’s where I got my training in cellar operations, like barrel cleaning, tank cleaning — all the necessary preparations for wine receival. In the vineyard they had us assist at pulling secondary shoots, and opening up the canopies.”

In order to expand her knowledge, Roach felt it necessary to work with different winemakers in different regions of the world with different grape varieties.

“I’d saved some of my scholarship money, so in 2011 I went to South Africa to work another harvest internship at Vrede en Lust in Paarl, South Africa. I wanted to test my limits and really decide what varieties of grapes I wanted to focus on professionally. During that period I also worked at several different wineries both in Napa and abroad, which afforded me the opportunity of working with many gifted winemakers in order to perfect my own winemaking skills,” continued Roach.

She decided to focus on pinot noir and chardonnay in a cool climate appellation, which led her to Sanford Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley.

“In the summer of 2012, in order to keep learning, I felt I needed to stay at one winery for an extended period of time, to work with the same vineyard year after year to learn how to make better wine,” she said. “I was hired as the enologist and assistant winemaker at Sanford, where I continue to work. My curiosity was piqued about making sparkling wine in Santa Barbara County.”

In 2013 Roach spearheaded Sanford’s sparkling wine program, which she said proved to be really successful and rewarding.

 “I wanted to continue to challenge myself as an individual, so I started Loubud Wines in 2015. I focused on the traditional method of making sparkling and rosé wines,” she said.

Roach says she chose the name Loubud Wines because it is a shortened version of the nickname her father gave her when she was born, short for Loubedillia. As she got older the nickname was shortened to Loubud and now she’s just Bud to her family, and only her family.

“The key person that allowed me to start making my own wine is Sandra Newman, the owner of Cebada Wine & Forbidden Fruit Orchards in Cebada Canyon in Lompoc. We met as members of the Santa Ynez Valley Bocce Ball League and we instantly bonded over the topic of sparkling wine-making. She inspired me as a female entrepreneur and opened up the opportunity for me to make wine in her location, which is ideal for making quality sparkling wines, and to purchase her beautiful pinot noir grapes,” she continued. “2015 was my first vintage.”

 “The reason I really like making wine in the Santa Ynez Valley is that I am working alongside many of the original wine makers in this region. It’s so cool that they are still making wine after all these years,” she exclaimed.

Roach was born and raised in Woodland. She attributes her appreciation and passion for working with the land to her maternal grandparents who owned several acres of farmland in Woodland, where they grew their own food and where she spent many happy weekends growing up. She now lives in Solvang with her boyfriend, Tyler Paris, who makes fermented honey wine called mead along with cider.

“The support that I received not only from being the assistant wine maker at Sanford but from all the people that I met here in the Santa Ynez Valley is amazing. They encouraged me to start making my own wine. The community made me realize I would always have a group to fall back on that supported me in my passion for great winemaking,” she said.

Roach sells her wines through her wine club and has a mailing list and a website where she can be found at www.loubudwines.com.  She issues two shipments a year – rosé in the spring and sparkling in the fall. This year she will be releasing 2018 rosé pinot noir from Cebada Vineyards and 2018 sparkling brut rose.

Loubud wines can also be purchased at Pico and Flatbread in Los Alamos; Scratch Kitchen in Lompoc; Community Craft in Los Olivos; Savoy Wines, Wine and Beer in the Public Market in Santa Barbara; and at French Laundry in Napa, among other locations. For a complete listing, visit www.loubudwines.com/contact.

For more information, email laura@loubudwines.com; call 530-401-7947; mail PO Box 855, Buellton, 93427; or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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