announcement
Michelin Star and Michelin Green Star Restaurant Offers New Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Experience
October 10, 2025
Montecito, CA - Caruso’s, Rosewood Miramar Beach’s Michelin Star and Green Star signature restaurant perched above the Pacific, is augmenting its culinary program once again—this time with the debut of its bean-to-bar chocolate program. In this new chapter of sustainability, Chef/Partner Massimo Falsini presents a unique in-house chocolate program, bringing the story of domestic Hawaiian cacao to Montecito through bars, cacao tea, and bespoke desserts featured on Caruso’s signature tasting menu.
Guests are invited to taste a chocolate degustation experience on Caruso’s tasting menu that features four unique house-made chocolates: three single-cru expressions from three respective Hawaiian cacao farms, with a final custom blend marrying the distinct beans into one profile. Paired with carefully selected whisky and house-made cacao tea, guests additionally receive a chocolate bar upon finishing the tasting menu.
“Six months ago, we travelled to Hawai'i to find the world’s greatest chocolate,” says Massimo Falsini, Chef/Partner of Caruso’s. “Hawaiian chocolate is the perfect expression of terroir and craftsmanship, as distinctive and vibrant as the islands themselves, and as refined as any world-class product. From that journey, we are proud to launch our bean-to-bar program: chocolate crafted from the ground up, honoring extraordinary farmers, land, and tradition, while creating something uniquely our own by the sea.”
Chef Massimo began his chocolate journey in the Hawaiian Islands, the only place in the United States where cacao is cultivated, and a region celebrated for its commitment to sustainability under some of the world’s most rigorous agricultural and environmental laws. From these volcanic landscapes comes cacao that is truly exceptional: fair, sustainable, and fully traceable to the farms where it is grown. Falsini identified three boutique cacao farms for partnership: 100% Hawaiian-owned Lavaloha Chocolate farms and Mauna Kea Cacao on the Island of Hawai’i, and veteran-owned 21 Degrees Estate in O’ahu, that align with Caruso’s ambitious sustainability model. Selected for terroir and flavor complexity, heirloom beans are fermented and dried on-site to preserve their natural characteristics before being flown to Montecito for processing
At Caruso’s, every cacao bean begins a patient, multi-day journey of transformation. The team carefully roasts the beans to draw out the essence of each terroir, presses the nibs to create pure cacao butter, and conches the chocolate for more than 48 hours to achieve a silky texture and fully expressed flavors. Guided by Falsini’s sensitivity and craft, the process remains intentionally pure; only cacao butter and sugar are added, allowing each Grand Cru to speak with its own distinct voice and concentration. In alignment with Caruso’s zero-waste model, Falsini additionally developed a cacao tea made from the bean’s husk, exemplifying full-bean sustainability
Caruso’s zero-waste chocolate program is yet another example of the restaurant’s dedication to sustainable dining. Long recognized for its outstanding efforts, Caruso’s sources over 90 percent of seafood from sustainable sources, earning the property recognition as an Oceanwise and Seafood Watch Partner, a Where Food Comes From/Smart Catch Ambassador, and three stars from the Sustainable Restaurant Association 2024 Food Made Good Awards. Falsini is also an ambassador for Project Zero’s Coral Collective, an organization that works to save coral reefs from extinction. With an on-site apiary, Caruso’s very own farm in Buellton, CA, partnerships with regenerative farms and sustainably granaries, glass reduction efforts, and in-house food waste measures, including the utilization of the Power Knot Biodigester and an Enzyme Eater to convert waste into environmentally safe grey water, the restaurant has taken meaningful strides towards becoming a zero-carbon footprint establishment.
For more information: https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/miramar-beach-montecito
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Facebook.com/RosewoodMiramarBeach or Twitter @RosewoodMiramar or Instagram @rosewoodmiramarbeach, @Carusos
About Rosewood Miramar Beach
A Forbes Travel Guide Triple Five-Star hotel and spa, Rosewood Miramar Beach is situated on one of the most pristine beaches in the region and is in Santa Barbara’s picturesque Montecito community known as The American Riviera. Offering 153 ultra-luxury guestrooms and suites, including beachfront accommodations, a collection of signature suites, and multi-bedroom bungalows, the resort has been designed with style, grace and glamour and perfectly balances the residential and the refined. Amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness studio, two cabana-lined pools, bespoke beach service on the sandy shores of Miramar Beach and Sense, A Rosewood Spa – the only Forbes Five-Star spa in Santa Barbara. Home to several distinct dining venues including Caruso’s, the Michelin-starred signature oceanfront restaurant, Michelin-recognized AMA Sushi, and The Revere Room, an all-day eatery with an emphasis on hyper-locality, Rosewood Miramar Beach is a culinary destination for locals and visitors alike. An elevated retail experience further bolsters Rosewood Miramar Beach as the ultimate retreat for the best in luxury lifestyle, with The Shop at Miramar exclusively featuring The Miramar Collection, a first-of-its-kind goop Sundries Shop as well as Loro Piana, Zegna and Bottega Veneta. Expansive indoor and outdoor event space, totaling approximately 33,000 square feet, includes the Chandelier Ballroom with over 6,500 square feet, and the Great Lawn, which offers infinite ocean views. Personalized service makes Rosewood Miramar Beach the perfect destination for celebrating life’s moments both big and small. Rosewood Miramar Beach is owned by Caruso and managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
