Clean Slate Pours Heart into Cajun Nights, with Bocce Ball Sparkling Wine

Chef Melissa brings Louisiana love & Cajun soul to Solvang, from red beans & rice to Jambalaya and vegan gumbo, all paired with Jason’s rotating wine pours – in Edible Santa Barbara.

Solvang is fast becoming the SYV’s ethnic food center. With Indo-French, Japanese ramen, Italian and Mexican restaurants in the mix (plus a new Thai spot), this Danish town also boasts authentic Cajun food on Monday nights, and traditional Curry on Tuesday nights at Clean Slate Wine Bar.

Jason and Melissa Scrymgeour own and run this wine bar, restaurant, and event space like their own home. Jason minds the wine, Melissa commands the food, and both treat you with southern hospitality.

Chef Melissa grew up in Louisiana, where food is an expression of love. From her earliest days, she was at the side of her mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers, absorbing the joy of cooking. Some of her very first memories are of being passed from hip to hip, helping stir, taste, and create dishes meant to comfort and delight.

Melissa feels lucky to be Influenced strong by the women in family: both grandmothers and both great-grandmothers. Her fondest memories are helping cut all the aromatics for the holy trinity (Cajun base of onion, celery, and peppers) with the ladies while singing and dancing to Patsy Cline and George Jones.

And that’s still how Melissa comes up with new recipes – a little research and some music in the kitchen with the ancestors. “I always start with a rue, which is a basic step, but to me, it’s comforting and relaxing,” she says. “Then you add the holy trinity. If I could bottle that smell! It’s the smell of family.” And when it comes to garlic—they call it the Pope—along with spices; you don’t measure. “You keep tasting until your Cajun ancestors whisper that it’s enough.”

Along with seasonal starters and Grilled Shrimp salad, Cajun dinners are classic: Nawlins Red Beans & Rice – slow-simmered Louisisana red beans, ham, andouille, and rice; Jambalaya – Cajun one-pot rice dish with savory pork and smoked beef sausage; and Gumbo Z’Herbes – Vegan gumbo with smoky black-eyed peas, greens, and jasmine rice.

The Vegan Gumbo is a delicious blend of cold-smoked peas and greens that are more “California” (kale and spinach instead of collards and mustard greens). It’s a marriage of Cajun heritage and California sensibilities and local produce. Melissa was inspired by legendary Creole chef Leah Chase, who creates vegan dishes for New Orleans folks during lent.

Melissa’s creativity is her keystone, wiping the slate clean each day to create a new menu. She also loves to pass on her cooking heritage, and involves her sous chefs and employees in creating new dishes as well. Tuesday’s Curry Night brings another array of interesting and complex dishes, and her Just 8 Dinner menus are out of this world (as is the wine brought in by Jason and Wine Enthusiast writer Mett Kettmann).

Jason Scrymgeour is the quietly steady hand behind the wine program at Clean Slate Wine Bar, shaping a list that feels both thoughtful and unfussy. As wine buyer, he curates bottles with the same intention that defines the kitchen—leaning toward small producers, local connections, and wines that actually want to be at the table. His selections are meant to work with food, not overpower it, and they shift with the seasons and the menu, making the wine list feel alive rather than static. The result is a bar where pairing feels natural, discovery feels easy, and guests are encouraged to trust their own tastes.

That philosophy carries directly into Jason’s own winemaking project, Bocce Ball Wine, a small-production label rooted in the idea that wine is at its best when shared. Inspired by the social nature of the game it’s named for, Bocce Ball wines are made to bring people together—serious about quality, but never precious. The Bocce Ball sparkling wine, in particular, embodies that spirit: bright, approachable, and built for everyday celebrations as much as big ones. It’s the kind of bottle that feels just as right popped open on a random weeknight as it does poured at a crowded table, reinforcing Jason’s belief that good wine doesn’t need an occasion—it creates one.

Melissa brings all these dishes alive in Clean Slate’s tiny kitchen, just like her Granny Gerto did in Ponchatoula. She loves being able to bring authentic flavors she grew up with, and share those with everybody. “Ya’all,” she exclaims, “you can get legit Cajun southern food right here in Solvang!” And Bubbles to celebrate it.