Newest Santa Barbara Restaurant Arch Rock Fish Set to Rock the Neighborhood Beginning August

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Arch Rock Fish, Santa Barbara's newest restaurant and the first neighborhood joint from HJL Restaurant Advisors Group, is set to debut this month. Arch Rock Fish is a "locals" restaurant backed by the experienced HJL Group team including veteran restaurateur Jeremiah Higgins, chef personality Scott Leibfried and former-Galaxy player-turned-coach Cobi Jones. Mike Anderson is also a partner in the new restaurant and serves as beverage director.

Centrally located at 608 Anacapa Street in downtown Santa Barbara, the Arch Rock Fish dining concept is underpinned by fresh, high-quality and flavorful seafood served in a fun and approachable atmosphere.  

"We're thrilled to open our flagship neighborhood joint with Arch Rock Fish, bringing to life a restaurant concept and business strategy that we've carefully planned out with the intention of providing the best dining experience suited to the beautiful setting of Santa Barbara," said Jeremiah Higgins, Arch Rock Fish operations advisor and co-owner and HJL Group partner. "We've assembled a great partnership and management team that I'm proud to be a part of – a team committed to making Arch Rock Fish an attractive venue for locals and visitors to the area and a successful first of future ventures to come."

Named after the Arch Rock at Anacapa Island off the coast of Santa Barbara, the new neighborhood joint's menu will feature full-flavored dishes including: baked Kusshi oysters with creamed spinach, bacon and tomato hollandaise; ale steamed mussels with garlic, shallots, grain mustard creme fraiche and croutons; grilled salmon burger topped with mustard aioli, arugula and pickled onions; and grilled wild bass with salsa fresco, green olives and cilantro.

Arch Rock Executive Chef and HJL Partner Scott Leibfried, who oversees menu creation, ingredient procurement and the restaurant kitchen operations, has made a conscious effort to source fresh and locally produced ingredients. Leibfried said, "The Arch Rock Fish menu takes the best of regional and international seafood dishes and gives them a local beach vibe to make them all new and original."

He added, "In looking at the resources around us, we're able to identify some wonderful local vendors and areas to obtain what we need to create our best recipes. We're looking for the finest local products, like fish fresh off the Santa Barbara harbor and complementing wines from within and around the region."

According to the partners of HJL Group, Arch Rock Fish is committed to connecting with the Santa Barbara community. In addition to sourcing food locally as often as possible, Arch Rock Fish has partnered with the Santa Barbara Police Activities League (SBPAL), a county-wide program that strives to provide quality educational, cultural and athletic programming for the youth of Santa Barbara to host a variety of local events designed to engage the community and benefit SBPAL. On Sunday, August 22, Arch Rock Fish will host its first annual Neighborhoodjoint Block Party, a fun-for-the-whole-family community event that will feature local businesses including live entertainment, restaurants and micro-breweries, as well as a number of kid-friendly activities like face-painting, magicians, karaoke and more.

Later this year, HJL Group and Arch Rock Fish Partner Cobi Jones, the recently retired professional soccer player and current assistant coach for the LA Galaxy soccer team, will host a number of soccer clinics and appearances with proceeds also going toward SBPAL.  

The new restaurant will host other unique offerings designed to appeal to the community, including all day happy hour and family-style dinner, both on Sundays. Arch Rock Fish features a private dining room, making it a great spot for large groups, meetings, cocktail receptions, rehearsal dinners or special occasion and holiday parties. Santa Barbara local Jaime Kostechko is general manager and Nathan Simandle is Sous Chef.

To learn more about Arch Rock Fish, visit www.archrockfish.com or connect on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/ArchRockFish and www.Facebook.com/HJLGroup) and Twitter (and http://Twitter.com/ArchRockFish and http://Twitter.com/HJLGroup).

About Arch Rock Fish

Arch Rock Fish is a Santa Barbara restaurant and local neighborhood joint that serves a variety of fresh, high-quality seafood dishes in a relaxed but casually elegant full service environment. Arch Rock Fish is led by the partners of HJL Group, an experienced team of restaurant advisors and longtime culinary, wine and operations professionals. For more information, visit www.archrockfish.com, www.Facebook.com/ArchRockFish or http://Twitter.com/ArchRockFish.

About HJL Restaurant Advisors Group

HJL Restaurant Advisors Group is a partnership between restaurant and hospitality veterans Jeremiah Higgins, Cobi Jones and Scott Leibfried. The group assists in creating successful restaurant businesses through concept development, business planning, brand development, team leadership, team building and more. HJL also offers a variety of social media packages such as Facebook and Twitter strategies and webisode and commercial production, among others. For more information, visit www.hjlrestaurantadvisors.com, www.Facebook.com/HJLGroup or http://Twitter.com/HJLGroup.

SOURCE HJL Restaurant Advisors Group