Major Changes on the Central Coast

[Bruce in SLO]

The owners of the FWT have announced that Rick Manson will become the Executive Chef at the FWT beginning July 15, 2011.
Rick's Orcutt restaurant will close on June 26th.

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Far Western Tavern
899 Guadalupe St, Guadalupe, CA

[Gail]

Sorry, but FWT?

[PolarBear]

Far Western Tavern

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Far Western Tavern
899 Guadalupe St, Guadalupe, CA

[Gail]

Thanks PB. Never heard of it. Am I missing something?

[PolarBear]

One of the all time old school steakhouses on the west coast, the elderly owner died just last month, iirc. Located in Guadalupe. Weird, but when I replied to your first post there was an autolink and Google map in the upper right corner. I'll try checking the specific resto box.

Far Western Tavern
http://www.farwesterntavern.com/

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Far Western Tavern
899 Guadalupe St, Guadalupe, CA

[glbtrtr]

Please, any updates about La Simpatia and the old FWT hotel site in Guadalupe?

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La Simpatia Cafe
827 Guadalupe St, Guadalupe, CA 93434

[toodie jane]

no news--will try to find out. phone # is disconnected.

[toodie jane]

Did a drive by last week and the building is still looking the same. Boarded up and beleagured.

[toodie jane]

Far Western is moving to Old Town Orcutt into a new 'old-west' styled business complex.

Can't help but think this is going to be a major change of pace for Rick. Will the menu change at FW?

[Pius Avocado III]

I've never been to Chef Rick's but looking at his menu I fear there will indeed be changes and they could be radical.

The only beef entree I see is a "prime beef tenderloin skillet steak with andouille maque choux, exotic mushrooms and skinny onion crisps." Half the entrees are seafood.

I was plotting my next run down ahead of the move for early fall but I may have to move it up to weekend after next...

Thanks to Bruce for the heads-up.

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Chef Rick's
4869 S Bradley Rd, Santa Maria, CA 93455

[glbtrtr]

His Jack Daniel's pecan pie still generates good memories for us.

[OldJalamaMama]

There was an interview in the local paper- Chef Rick said he wans't going to change the menu, leaving alot of the favorites....BUT of course he was going to add his touch, perhaps with new dishes etc. If he messed with the beans- he'd hear from me!!
I think it is a odd match-up. But I also think Chef Rick respects FWT, and FWT Tavern respects him- so I will cross my fingers and can't wait to try it out!

here is the link to the Santa Maria Times article...
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/l...

[glbtrtr]

Chef Rick single handedly put this central coast on the culinary map many years ago - no one ever paid attention to real dining in Nipomo or Orcutt for goodness sakes besides getting well fed at Jocko's, yet the whispers and reputation gradually grew to where he became a local institution. More power to him to build a destination restaurant from such humble strip mall beginnings. Wish him and the FWT and "Olde" Orcutt every success.

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Chef Rick's
4869 S Bradley Rd, Santa Maria, CA 93455

[toodie jane]

well said, well said!

My bet is that he is looking forward to helping polish FWT's offerings. They are old school enough that they can stand some tweaking, even if just to streamiline vendors, get better quality produce, etc. Mr Minetti was 92, likely had the same vendors for years w/o looking at what's out there. The old FWT has a certain cache, and the ambiance will change at the new location out of The Funk Zone, so it would stand to reason there would be some menu changes as well. Rick is no dummy, he will have some months to try new things out and get reactions before the move to Old Orcutt..