The Lark Opens As Latest Whistle Stop To The Santa Barbara Funk Zone On August 6, 2013

Pedigree Team of Dan Russo, Jason Paluska and Nick Flores Join Forces to Create a Dynamic Culinary Destination in the Center of the Urban Wine Trail SANTA BARBARA, California; August 7, 2013 - The Lark, one third of the triumvirate that also includes Lucky Penny and Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant, opened on Tuesday, August 6, 2013 as the latest whistle stop to the newest project in Santa Barbara's exploding Funk Zone.
The Lark, led by hospitality veterans General Manager Dan Russo, Executive Chef Jason Paluska and Executive Sous Chef Nick Flores, is committed to catering to local sensibilities while welcoming visitors to rediscover Santa Barbara and experience it in a magical space that is the anchor to this revitalized neighborhood. The Lark is conveniently located within the Funk Zone, home to the Urban Wine Trail, just one block from the Santa Barbara train station and minutes from the 101 Freeway. The Lark will offer New American share plates with a! focus on locally sourced products from Santa Barbara County, neighboring farmlands, ranches and the Pacific Coast. Managing Partner Sherry Villanueva, a longtime Santa Barbara resident and founder and principal of Twist Worldwide, a boutique marketing and branding agency, saw the future attraction of the Funk Zone and conceived a setting that would present a variety of interests to a diversified population. By recruiting a stellar cast of seasoned talent that excelled in management, design, cuisine and wine, she assembled a team to express what she imagined would be a perfect setting for people to gather and build community.In what was once a thriving fish market that is a short walk to Stearns Wharf, The Lark represents homage to the history of California train travel and a nod to the treasured and long gone Santa Barbara Fish Market. The Southern Pacific Railway first launched The Lark, a luxury, all-Pullman train in 1910. The Lark train ran between Los Angeles and San Francisco and carried 17 cars including The Lark Club dine r-lounge, more than 130 feet long. The railroad was very important in the history of Santa Barbara and played a crucial role in the lives of the Castagnola family, who originally built the 10,000 square foot Santa Barbara Fish Market building in the 1920's as a commercial fish processing plant, shipping their seafood products throughout the state by rail. Today, The Lark celebrates everything found around Santa Barbara County - wineries, farms, ocean and natural beauty. Designer Doug Washington, owner of four successful restaurants in San Francisco and Portland, and a 2012 James Beard Foundation Award Semi-Finalist for Restaurateur of the Year, teamed with Villanueva, intending to create an original space with sophistication and style while imbuing the funkiness, earthiness and wit of its surroundings. During the peak of train travel the trains represented change, evolution and progress. The design of The Lark restaurant strives to connect to the past and the future, using discovered objects from the past and blending them with modern, urban and industrial materials to spectacular effect. One enters the restaurant flanked by oversized Dutch doors to an inviting bar. A focal point is a massive communal table, constructed from a single slab of solid wood from a 226 year-old Douglas fir tree that stood dead in the forest for 40 years before being salvaged. Crafted by Oregon Design/Build Contractor Dan Bush, the table measures an impressive 18 feet long and 50 inches wide with live edges. The table weighs in at 2000 pounds and is supported by four antique warehouse radiators serving as the base. With the remaining wood, Bush built matching table tops for the restaurant. Three enclosed dining booths with benches built from repurposed church pews and stretched Argentinean bison hide tops offer intimacy in a vibrant dining space. Tucked