The locals of Los Alamos have a nickname for their little California town: Lost, almost.
Not just because it's teeny-tiny-the town's main drag, Bell Street, is only seven blocks long-but because, for a long time, it was the kind of place that people intentionally didn't talk about. "The rich and famous came here to the Santa Ynez Valley to escape the limelight," explains Daisy Ryan. "They came here to be left alone."
To be lost-but only almost. Because despite its middle-of-nowhere vibe, Los Alamos is actually pretty easy to find: Just a three-hour drive north of Los Angeles on The 101. "It's off one of the most major highways there is," Ryan laughs. "So, really, it's on the beaten path."
Ryan grew up in the area and has long been charmed by its lore. She can tell you how Los Alamos was a popular stagecoach stop after the Gold Rush over 150 years ago; how its surrounding hills served as inspiration for the legend of Zorro; how Michael Jackson's infamous Neverland Ranch is just down the road. She can also tell you about the area's more current attractions-its stellar farms, sprawling ranches, and easy access to the fresh seafood of the Central Coast.
Her love for the region runs so deep that in early 2018, after cooking at restaurants like Gramercy Tavern, Brooklyn Fare, and Per Se, she and her husband Greg (who also worked at Per Se, after his own stints at Tribeca Grill and the Beverly Hills Hotel) returned to the valley to put down their own roots: a French-inspired restaurant in Los Alamos called Bell's.
"We felt like there were no expectations for ourselves here," says Greg of the town's 'lost, almost' appeal. "It allowed us to be far more creative and free." Plus, the town already had a tiny food scene; there was Bob's Well Bread, a beloved bakery opened by a former Hollywood exec in 2014, and Full of Life Flatbreads, an artisanal wood-fired pizza place that was always packed. Indie tasting rooms like Lo-Fi Wines and Casa Dumetz were starting to pop up, and young winemakers, priced out of Sonoma and Napa, were flocking to the area's vineyards. "There was a slow build; younger people were coming to make more interesting wines-Pinot, Chardonnay, Gamay, and even sparkling-not just the usual California Cabernets," Daisy explains. A community with a modern sensibility was starting to form.
Appealing to them-as well as to the already-established community of farmers and ranchers-became the focus for Bell's. The Ryans bought a small 1914 building, originally a Bank of Italy, and set to work. They kept the bank's ancient floor tile but replaced the previous restaurant's deli counter with a sleek stone bar. They built leather banquettes and decorated the dining room with vintage Persian rugs and copper pots gathered on long ago trips abroad. They sourced produce and meat from the surrounding farms and ranches, and even enlisted their neighbor-an actual sea urchin diver-to bring them her daily catch. And, knowing that the area's winemakers would appreciate an opportunity to sample offerings from outside their purview, they put together a wine list culled from places as far-flung as Compagnia and Las Canarias. "We really wanted to be a restaurant that winemakers would like," explains Daisy. "We wanted them to say, 'Oh, this place has an interesting wine list, it's affordable, it's a pleasant place to sit, and the food's not bad either.'"
"Not bad" being an understatement, of course. As executive chef, Daisy has created a menu of seasonal French bistro classics inflected with California freshness, the kinds of "simple yet elegant" dishes you'll remember long after the meal is done. There are savory mille crepe canapes topped with Santa Barbara sea urchin and Regiis Ova caviar, for example, and ridiculously tasty salads of just-picked Finley Farms lettuce dressed with Medjool date vinaigrette. There's also steak au poivre with frites, because "everyone loves french fries."
Four years later and Daisy's take on "Franch" cooking-a portmanteau of the words "French" and "ranch" coined by the restaurant's pastry chef, Rusty Quirk-have earned her a Best New Chef nod from Food & Wine, and recently, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star. Visitors are coming to eat at Bell's from all over California and beyond, making Los Alamos a culinary destination all its own. "It's part of people's travel plans now," Daisy notes.
So much so that the demand for stylish places to stay has grown, too. To that end, Auberge Resorts Collection has recently renovated and opened the historic Inn at Mattei's Tavern in the neighboring town of Los Olivos, offering 67 luxury guest rooms and cottages along with a pool and spa. (The Ryans also recently opened a second restaurant in the town of Los Olivos, the Mediterranean-inspired Bar Le Cote.) And in addition to Los Alamos' two refurbished retro-chic roadside motels-the glossy Skyview and the minimalist Alamo Motel-a handful of well-appointed Airbnbs are available as well: Bodega House, an airy 1920's farmhouse managed by the team behind Bodega, a gorgeous al fresco wine bar and shop; the Mid-century decorated Camp Cottonwood; and Centennial House, a crisply renovated former blacksmith's 19th century home.
But despite the newfound attention, Los Alamos still retains its pioneer town aesthetic and under-the-radar magic-it's still the kind of place where you can get lost, almost. "There's an authenticity to what people are doing here; we don't take ourselves too seriously," Daisy says. "With Bell's, it was just a mix of good luck and being in the right place at the right time." As Greg puts it: "It's amazing how certain circumstances have allowed this little town, with its one stretch of street, to flourish organically in a way that no one really would have ever dreamed."