If you’ve known me over the past year, you’ve probably heard me rave about my discovery of the region just north of Santa Barbara, CA, known broadly as the Central Coast of California. Specifically, this region is the San Ynez Valley, which is a quick, two hour drive up the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles.

Aside from the green, rolling hills and lush farmland, I often find myself daydreaming of the local food that initially brought me up to the small town of Los Alamos 12 months ago.

While reading the back of a frozen flatbread pizza box that I bought at Whole Foods, I was in complete disbelief that the pizza that I just ate was made by hand and was mostly composed of locally grown ingredients. It was a fantastic pizza, a simple cheese and fresh herb flatbread, but my mind imagined machines and production lines. The box mentioned the use of a single wood oven – and that got me curious.

After reaching out to Full of Life Flatbread via their website, I was contacted by Clark Staub. An extremely friendly and open guy, the owner of Full of Life Flatbread invited me to visit on the weekend, when their production facility was converted into a restaurant. I took Clark up on his offer and was amazed to find that not only were his pizzas made by hand in a wood fired oven, but more importantly, the ingredients truly were the product of local farmers. I actually saw the fava beans that were in my dinner salad being dropped off in the afternoon. That was the surprising thing; Full of Life Flatbread pizzas are amazing – even better fresh out of the oven, but Clark and Chef Brian Collins prepare some of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten.

After dozens of meals at Full of Life Flatbread over the past year, I’m still amazed by what’s on my plate each and every time. This weekend, I had the opportunity to shoot (and sample) most of the menu, including house-made ricotta gnocchi with artichokes and garlic butter.

If you’d like to know more about this gem , you can read about Full of Life Flatbread in depth on my food review site. If you’d like to learn more about the Central Coast of California, stay tuned, I’ve got more on this area (including photos) coming soon!