Last Updated on July 19, 2023
Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts has entered a partnership with Thomas Keller, the acclaimed Chef/Restaurateur currently holding seven Michelin stars for properties throughout the United States. Chef Keller will oversee all food and beverage operations at the Coral Casino in Santa Barbara, CA including Coral Café, Fins, Poolside Dining, the Tydes location restaurant, and La Pacifica.
The Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club is legendary social club open only to private members and guests of Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara. With oceanfront dining, a world-class fitness center, yoga, extensive locker rooms with sauna and steam room, a whirlpool, a kids pool, one of the largest swimming pools in the world and direct private access to Butterfly Beach, you’ll soon see why this family-friendly Club remains one of Hollywood’s favorite retreats.
Plans are also underway with Operation and Design teams to transform Tydes and La Pacifica to match the brand and inspiration of Chef Keller’s Thomas Keller Restaurant Group.
Best known for his flagship Yountville restaurant, The French Laundry, New York City’s Per Se, and The Surf Club Restaurant in Surfside, Florida, Chef Keller will continue his craft at the iconic Coral Casino with a newly envisioned and seasonally inspired Continental menu, adding to its reputation as a world-class, private club, and historic coastal destination.
“We are honored to have Chef Keller as a part of this new chapter in the Coral Casino’s storied legacy,” Coral Casino owner, Ty Warner, said. “The restaurant experience will now sing in unison with the club’s history, architecture, amenities, and unparalleled oceanfront location. It’s the final piece that will cement the Coral Casino as the most unique and coveted private beach club in the nation.”
With the recent green light from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, Warner’s team can now move forward with implementing their operations program for a fall opening. Multi-million-dollar enhancements include a new members-only rooftop sundeck (adjacent to the second level restaurant) with lounge furniture, fire pit, and direct views of Butterfly Beach and sunsets. Members also will benefit from a new cold plunge pool and expanded whirlpool spa, which has been relocated to the edge of the pool deck above the crashing waves.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in mid-July 2023 also granted the public limited access to the beach and ocean adjacent Tydes Restaurant for the first time since Coral Casino’s opening in 1937.
The private dining room at the second level restaurant will now feature retractable doors and windows to provide an indoor-outdoor experience – along with other upgrades at Fins café and The Crow’s Nest.
Like its sister club, the Montecito Club, and the San Ysidro Ranch, the Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club came under owner management in May of 2022. Ty Warner’s team received approval on their Development Plan Amendment to make club facilities private to members (discontinuing access by Biltmore hotel guests to club facilities), while making Tydes restaurant accessible to the public – for the first time – on a reservation-only basis.
“A restaurant of this setting, standard, and cuisine deserves buzz, energy, and a vibrant ambiance,” Warner said. “We are glad that members, visitors, and the local community will be able to experience this unequaled dining concept.”
The Coral Casino has been a famed and exclusive hotspot that claimed such members and families and Bing Crosby, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Clark Gabel, Greta Garbo, Benny Goodman, Rock Hudson, Gregory Peck, Lana Tuner and many more.
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