People of Montecito: Chris Dabney

What’s your favorite memory of growing up here?

“One of my favorite memories of growing up in Montecito is walking with friends to the Upper Village from Montecito Union School and getting a sandwich from the Village Cheese & Wine Shop. It was just the most incredible sandwich you ever had. Just cheese and meat but a lot of cheese and meat. We’d usually sit out front somewhere to eat or maybe walk towards school and go through Upper Manning Park. It was so safe and quaint. John, the guy who made the sandwiches, he was from New Zealand so he had a New Zealand accent. He had all these great surf posters in the shop. His son was a big surfer. He always had surfboards in the front window, like one or two used boards for sale. When I started surfing, I would go in there and fantasize about buying one of the boards. Later in life, I ended up buying a used surfboard from him. I think it was my first short board.”

Chris Dabney