The partners behind Little Dom’s recently expanded their Santa Barbara County footprint in October with newcomer Bar Lou in Montecito. For the past 16 years, Warner Ebbink and chef Brandon Boudet have put their full effort into Little Dom’s in Los Feliz, later expanding to Little Dom’s Seafood in Carpinteria in 2020. With Bar Lou, they’ve taken a thoughtful detour from their mostly casual Italian menu into a full-on coastal approach, with a menu that reads like a restaurant in the south of France.
Boudet and Ebbink had no intentions of opening another restaurant, but the opportunity came in when the previous tenant, Oliver’s , closed in April 2024. The duo is already preparing to be a part of the ambitious Ojai hotel project, the El Roblar, which should open in 2025. But the chance to flip a key space in Montecito seemed worth it, taking four months to rework the space.
“We knew that if we ever got the opportunity to open something in Montecito, we would definitely consider it,” says Ebbink. “It’s arguably the best location on Coast Village Road with the nicest patio. It really reminds us of Dominick’s,” referring to their shuttered West Hollywood restaurant Dominick’s, which they opened in 2003 before closing it in 2015.
(It’s since become Amour .) Throughout the years, Boudet and Ebbink established relationships with local purveyors and farmers, including Wild Local Seafood Co. and Santa Barbara bread staple Oat Bakery .
They’ve incorporated thos.