How a One-Street Town Became California’s New Culinary Destination to Know

“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.