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Central Coast Town Keeps Its Restaurant, Winery Businesses Operating By Taking Them Down The 101

"Los Alamos Delivers" allows people in the Santa Barbara area to choose meals and wine from a variety of Los Alamos businesses

It’s a small town on the Central Coast with a big history.  It was a popular stagecoach stop in the 1800’s.  In recent times, the town of just under 2,000 people on Highway 101 is better known for its food, wineries, and antique stores.  

Now, a unique partnership involving some restaurants, wineries, and a surf business is helping to keep Los Alamos on the map during the coronavirus crisis with some of its fans.

Nearly two decades ago, Chef Clark Staub founded “Full of Life Flatbread” in the tiny town.  He says over the years, there were more startups, and Los Alamos developed a reputation as a destination spot for food and drink.

Then, the coronavirus crisis hit the town’s restaurant industry hard.  Enter the owner of a Santa Barbara County based surf school, who also found himself stranded on the beach, so to speak.  About a month ago, "isurf" owner Thomas Oretsky and the chef connected, and decided to use his idle vans for food deliveries in the Santa Barbara area.

Eventually, they decided the project shouldn't be just about Staub’s flatbread restaurant.  Instead, they would showcase Los Alamos' offerings. 

The result is Los Alamos Delivers.

The orders are taken online, with deliveries on Saturdays.  The van makes stops in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Montecito, where people pick up their meals.

Staub says they’ve tweaked menus to meet needs, including the addition of things like meal kits.

Los Alamos Delivers even has a Los Angeles run one day a week, with a Tuesday delivery in Venice.

Staub says even though its far from business as usual, it feels great to be working, and serving up familiar offerings to many of their regular customers during these difficult times.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.