One for the Books
On a warm summer evening last season, more than 300 guests gathered at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club for a celebration of the club’s Polo magazine in partnership with Santa Barbara Magazine.
Photographs by Blue Gabor and Steven Simon
On a warm summer evening last season, more than 300 guests gathered at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club for a celebration of the club’s Polo magazine in partnership with Santa Barbara Magazine. Featured guest Nacho Figueras spoke and signed copies of his new novel, High Season (Hachette), while a well-dressed crowd sipped Veuve Clicquot champagne, Summerland Winery vintages, Jardesca summer cocktails, and dined on passed appetizers from Los Agaves. Near the champagne tower, Revelry Event Designers created outdoor living rooms right on the field, complete with leather sofas, lanterns, and throws. As the sunset gave way to stars, DJ Fab moved people off the grass and onto the dance floor.
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Leading Lady
Five things to know about power attorney and polo player Leigh Brecheen
Five Things to Know About Power Attorney and Polo Player Leigh Brecheen
Leigh Brecheen on Zorro at the Engel & Völkers Polo Stadium in See by Chloé chiffon blouse, $460, Allora by Laura.
“There simply isn’t another place like the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. The weather, the people, the level of competition, the physical beauty—it is without peer.”
How long have you played polo? I have been riding all my life but started playing polo in 1984 at a lively clinic lead by Corky Linfoot and SBPRC’s now-deceased 10-goaler Bob Skene. I still have friends from that original clinic.
What’s your connection to the SBPRC? My great uncle William Riley McKeen had a home in Montecito in the 1920s and ’30s, so Santa Barbara has felt like home to me since the first time I ever drove up. My sister—sculptor Laurie Brecheen Ballard who now resides on Padaro Lane—was the first female nonspouse-playing member of the SBPRC in the late ’70s.
Your polo style—on and off the field. My style on the field is dominated by navy blue wraps and horse blankets with red or yellow trim. I believe in science and safety, so I do wear an eventing vest, glasses, and a face mask. Off the field, I strive to be casually elegant. Slightly underdressed but well put together in the classical manner.
Must-haves every woman should have at a polo match? Hats, a friendly attitude, a willingness to learn about the game, and an appreciation of the players and the horses.
Trends you love or hope come back? Good manners! I love pants tucked into boots and fun bright tops with long sleeves to protect me from the sun. Also a certain degree of understatement (which seems to have deserted us in the current era). I guess I am a preppie at heart.
Sunday Essentials
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Flavors of Argentina
Agustin Mallmann adds a South American touch to a Santa Barbara party
Agustin Mallmann adds a South American touch to a Santa Barbara party
Chef Agustin Mallmann.
Written by Joan Tapper
Photographs: Belen Sanguinetti
Mallmann in his element.
As the polo club welcomes its international players, Santa Barbara also heralds the arrival of up-and-coming chef Agustin Mallmann, who spends half the year in Argentina and half the year in Santa Barbara, where he was born. Trained under his uncle, famed South American TV culinary star Francis Mallmann, the 24-year-old went out on his own a couple of years ago.
“It was amazing to work in Francis’s kitchens for six years,” says Agustin, who has adapted his uncle’s wood-fired cooking to his own cuisine: He uses the plancha (a cast-iron griddle) heated over embers, and a wood-fired oven to create Argentine-flavored dinners that are uniquely suited to the Santa Barbara lifestyle. “The technique ties to polo-style events,” he says, often outdoors, a little rustic but with superb meat and fish served on fine plates with the best silver and glassware. “I try to buy everything at the farmers markets and get the fish at the Santa Barbara harbor,” while the meat sometimes comes from the clients’ own ranches.
Asado with chimichurri.
His ideal summer dinner, he says, starts with appetizers seared on the plancha—shrimp with portobello mushrooms and scallops with lemon zest, olive oil, and cilantro. He follows those with salmon cooked whole on the grill accompanied by basil aioli, and prime rib-eye prepared over embers and served with Argentine chimichurri sauce. The side dish features a criolla of chopped green peppers and red onion mixed with arugula and dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar. What to drink? Begin with sangria or a caipiroska—a version of caipirinha made with vodka—and move on to a nice white and definitely a Malbec, which pairs well with the meat.
The plancha.
For dessert, there’s panqueque dulce de leche, a creamy caramel-filled crepe rolled on the plancha and served with vanilla ice cream and fresh mint. “The contrast of the warm crepe and cold ice cream is wonderful,” says Agustin.
Agustin created one such beachside party here last summer for polo player Paco de Narvaez and his wife, Rocio. “This summer,” he says, “I’m hoping to show more people what I have to offer. The food will be awesome—that’s a given. But people will enjoy the whole experience.” agustinmallmann.com