Faces of our Community
Bettina is a cozy neighborhood restaurant serving naturally-leavened, Neapolitan-style pizza made with seasonal California ingredients. Rachel Greenspan and Brendan Smith first bonded over their love of carbohydrates while he was working as the head baker at Roberta’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn. When Brendan was offered a new job in California only a few months after they first met, it seemed only natural that Rachel would join him.
Meet Rachel Greenspan and Brendan Smith, owners of Bettina
Q: How did you start your business?
A: Brendan and I started doing mobile pizza catering up in the Santa Ynez Valley. That led to us meeting our landlord to expand our operations and open a restaurant.
Q: Why did you start your business?
A: We decided to transition from catering to restaurant operations so that we could be a more permanent fixture in the community and provide a different service experience to guests.
Q: How long have you been in business?
A: Three years
Q: What makes you the most passionate about your work?
A: I'm personally most passionate about our sourcing. We personally hand-shop at the SB farmer's markets every Tuesday and Saturday to source the best local produce and fruit we can. We also find amazing vendors for everything from our canned tomatoes to our meats to our wines so that every element of the restaurant puts an emphasis on quality and community building. Brendan is most passionate about everything sourdough. We make all of our bread and pizza dough in house, and they are all 100% sourdough.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of what you do?
A: Interacting with guests and seeing our regulars. It's incredible how many people in the area know us and are now a part of our lives. We've felt so much support over the last three years, especially through Covid, and it's very heart-warming to have made these connections.
Q: Where can we find you on a weekend or your day off?
A: We love sitting in the sunshine drinking wine at Satellite and taking beach walks at Butterfly Beach. We also just love cooking at home and taking advantage of all of our amazing Santa Barbara produce on a more personal level.
Q: Favorite menu item?
A: I'm always in love with our seasonal pizzas. It's the reason Brendan and I can still eat pizza one to two times a week and not feel sick of it :)
Q: Connection to Santa Barbara, why do you work/live here?
A: Brendan got offered a job up in Santa Ynez in 2014 and we moved down to Santa Barbara when we started building the restaurant. We've build a community here in California and a lifestyle that's less stressful than what we had in New York (even with owning a restaurant!). Our family is all back on the East Coast but it's a pretty special place for all of them to visit.
Q: Location?
A: Montecito Country Mart on Coast Village Road
Q: Contact & social media
Instagram: @bettinapizzeria
Website: https://www.bettinapizzeria.com/
