The interviewer
Not long after Graham Duncan relocated to Montecito, California, in 2020, he went about opening a restaurant in trademark Graham Duncan fashion: with a lot of intentionality, a lot of interviewing, and no rushing.
He decided early on that the location had to be exceptional. He looked at a few good options, backed away when he realized he was forcing them to feel right, and waited, he says, until “a spot came up that has such good feng shui that your car kind of wants to go there”.
He got that spot, which will be called Little Mountain, after working for nearly a year to secure the long lease he wanted.
Rather than cut a licensing deal with a famous name who’d rarely visit, Duncan sought to bring in a chef who would become a fixture in the community. The problem: housing is extremely expensive in Montecito. The solution: buying and renovating a fixer-upper a few doors down from the restaurant. “I knew the biggest carrot I could provide was a great housing setup,” he explains.