Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/455266
78 / the tasting panel / january/february 2015 T he morning after the soft opening of Santa Barbara's new globetrot- ting bar, The Good Lion, owners Brandon Ristaino and Misty Orman- Ristaino appear fresh and wide-eyed despite just four hours sleep. Fulfilling a career-long dream might have some- thing to do with it. "I've been doing this for seventeen years," says Ristaino. "I've opened six bars along the way but always for somebody else." A veteran of the Los Angeles concept bar scene, Ristaino previously directed operations at Temple Bar Concepts, The Townhouse and Del Monte Speakeasy, in addition to managing an in-demand consulting business. But after traveling abroad several times and falling hard for the effortless cocktail culture of coastal Europe, he hatched a plan to launch his own intimate project in the heart of America's answer to south- western Europe: Santa Barbara. Brandon Ristaino and Misty Orman-Ristaino, owners of The Good Lion in Santa Barbara, CA. The décor is intriguing and is a nod to Ernest Hemingway and his global travels. The Good Lion: A Study in Sincerity by Jaime Lewis / photos by Jeremy Ball