Rob Raede: Aegean’s Mediterranean Cuisine Already Changing Santa Barbara Food Scene | Homes & Lifestyle

Last year the Let’s Go Eat Team discovered chef Efe Onoglu, who at the time was doing catering and offering a once a week Aegean Sofra (fixed menu at a shared community table) pop-up dinner.

The flavor intensity, the attention to detail, and his passion for food came through in every dish he served.

He swore, he told us then, he had zero interest in opening a restaurant.

Happily, he’s changed his mind, and just this past month gifted Santa Barbara with the opening of Aegean, at 731 De la Guerra Plaza.

“Here in Santa Barbara,” he told us, “I trust the audience. All these people telling me my food was so good, I had the confidence to try it.”

The menu is what Onoglu calls “flag-less,” a combination of Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine.

We call it incredible.

When we came back for our second dinner in less than a week, we happened to be seated next to a well-known Santa Barbara chef.

She leaned over and whispered to us, “This place is going to change the entire food scene here. The bar just got raised.”

We have no doubt she is correct.

Chef Efe Onoglu started out with catering and a weekly pop-up, but now has a place of his own: Aegean, at 731 De la Guerra Plaza in downtown Santa Barbara. “I trust the audience,” he says. “All these people telling me my food was so good, I had the confidence to try it.” Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoCarpaccio of tomatoes with raspberry sorbet and feta cheese. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoCrispy Brussels with coriander seed yogurt and Haydari dill barberries. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoThe Crispy Wagyu Meatballs feature lamb belly,pita, blistered shishitos,sumac,onions and tzatziki with soy butter and parsley. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoSalgam Crudo with koji-cured Hamachi Salgam Leche de Tigre,pickled blueberry salsa with garlic cilantro blossom. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoAegean, at 731 De la Guerra Plaza, is only open Friday, Saturrday and Sunday — for now. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoAegean hummus. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoThe Green Goddess Salad features lettuce, tahini dressing with fresh herbs, citrus, radishes, cucumbers, black sesame and cilantro stems. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoAegean raises the color bar with its Tavuk Kebab with harissa and yogurt-marinated chicken thighs,lavash garlic toum sauce and blistered peppers and tomatoes. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoFlourless Valrhona Chocolate Cake with seasonal fig slices, anyone? Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photoFinish your meal with a Turkish coffee. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo

For example, the “farmer’s market special” that Onoglu offered that night was a salad of carpaccio with heirloom tomatoes, olive oil dressing, house-made raspberry sorbet for sweetness and a crumble of feta cheese to add saltiness.

There are not many places — here or anywhere — you can find that level of creativity and vision. Mrs Let’s Go Eat says she could eat here every night.

The Aegean menu offers a variety of starters, sides, main dishes and salads, all designed to be shared by the table.

“The perfect order,” Onoglu said with a smile, “is one of everything. All the dishes are made to be shared and they all compliment each other.”

His menu also includes what might be some unfamiliar terms, like Zhoug (a kind of chimichurri he puts on the hummus); Amba (pickled curried mango); Salgam (pronounced “Shalgam,” a kind of fermented carrot juice); and Toum (a wonderful sauce made of garlic, lemon juice and oil).

Fear not brave reader, your taste buds will thank you for expanding your vocabulary. 

And whatever you do, save room for the Flourless Valrhona Chocolate Cake, with orange blossom “espuma” (a kind of cream), cocoa nibs, pistacchios and rose petals.

Onoglu credits many of his ideas to the experience he gained working for some of the world’s top chefs.

“The brussels sprouts on my menu are from José Andrés,” Onoglu offered. “I learned that coriander sauce working for him at Zaytinya.

“The perfect order is one of everything. All the dishes are made to be shared and they all compliment each other.”

chef efe onoglu

“The Green Goddess salad is from my time at Bavel DTLA,” he added.

And Onoglu sources his ingredients from some of the best known names in Santa Barbara, including the Santa Barbara Fish Market, Milliken Farms and Riviera Bread, and of course the great farmers markets we have here.

Onoglu, who grew up in Turkey watching his grandparents prepare traditional Turkish recipes, decided early on that his degree in BioInformatics was nice, but not where he wanted to go with his life.

So he headed to cooking school. After graduating, he worked in South Africa, Turkey and Washington, D.C.  And then Andrés called.

“Zaytinya is where I first saw this Greek/Turkish/Lebanese concept work perfectly,” Onoglu said.

After helping open several restaurants for Andrés, he moved to Southern California (with a stop at Bavel DTLA along the way), and finally to Santa Barbara where he helped open the former Angel Oak at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara (currently home of Marisella).

Along the way, he’s acquired a lot of fans, many of whom helped him build out and open Aegean.

“I wouldn’t have been able to open this restaurant without all the help I got,” he told us.

So what’s the difference between Aegean and some of the famous places Onoglu worked in the past?

“This is slow food, shared food,” he explained. “I don’t want anyone to feel rushed.

“I don’t want to tell anyone we need your table for the next group coming in at 7pm, you need to hurry. That’s why we don’t take reservations,” Onoglu said.

“I want them to come here not just to eat, but because it feels comfortable, personal. It should be a social experience.”

For now Aegean is open three nights a week (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), but Onoglu has plans to slowly add more days.

“And we’ll be doing our first Sofra in late September, and then once a month from there,” he said.

If you arrive and a table isn’t immediately available, the good news is that the unofficial “waiting area” is the Longoria Wine room right next door at 732 State St.

You can sit outside in the nice weather, enjoy a glass of wine and get ready for an incredible culinary ride.

And take all the time you want.

When You Go

Aegean, at 731 De la Guerra Plaza, is open 5-9 p.m. Friday, 4-9 p.m. Saturday and 4-8 p.m. Sunday. The restaurant does not take reservations.