Moby Dick proprietor dies at 78

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Al Steinman, long known as the face of Moby Dick Restaurant and a beloved figure in the Santa Barbara community, died Tuesday morning after being hospitalized with cancer. He was 78.
As word slowly trickled through his vast network of friends, many offered poignant and often humorous tales about the devoted family man, beloved friend, and longtime manager and part owner of the Stearns Wharf eatery.

“To me, Al is the friend that would reach out with his hand and grab your heart,” said David Buckalew, a longtime friend and neighbor. “He was also a friend when times were tough and other people would walk away; Al would walk toward you with an open mind and a helping hand. May he rest in peace.”
Steinman’s family, likely in Los Angeles for his funeral services, could not be reached for comment.
But another close friend, Larry Crandell, offered what history he knew of Steinman’s past.
“When Al came to town, I’m not sure when, he started as a cook at $3.50 an hour” at a restaurant in the airport terminal, Crandell said.
By the time Steinman retired as general manager of Moby Dick Restaurant last summer, the decades spent pouring his heart into his work showed through the personal connections he had built with the community.
“There must be hundreds of young people, or not so young now, who worked for him,” Crandell said.
Year after year, Steinman rose to open the restaurant in the early morning hours, left for a quick nap in the early afternoon, and returned to work through closing.
He had a sign near the front reading, “I only eat in restaurants where the owner is in the back cooking or in the front seating people,” Crandell said.
And while he did some cooking, Steinman’s primary role was standing at the entrance, ready to greet each customer as if they were old friends.
“He was always very personal with everybody,” Buckalew said.
He’d put his arms around young couples, welcome them into the restaurant and offer them a window seat. If none were available, Crandell said, he had a small glass window he would place on the table to make it a genuine window seat.
One couple who first met Steinman as customers at Moby Dick Restaurant, Michael and Sindee Remenih, became frequent visitors and close friends with the gregarious greeter and seater.
About 12 years ago, the Reminihs started visiting Santa Barbara occasionally from their home in the San Fernando Valley and found themselves eating frequently at the restaurant.
“Pretty soon, it became about every Saturday we went up,” Sindee said.
Similar to other eateries in the area, Moby Dick Restaurant didn’t have fish and eggs for breakfast, she said, but Steinman would fix it up for the couple after they quickly became friends.
One day he ran up to them with excitement gleaming in his eyes and handed them a menu. There in the breakfast section was Sindee’s Special, halibut and eggs.
“He always brought a smile to your face,” she said.
As a surprise, Michael crafted a life-sized cardboard cutout of Steinman from a photograph and gave it to him. Steinman promptly displayed it at the front of the restaurant.
“Of course, eventually he got a dog, Max, so we had to add the dog to the whole thing,” Sindee said with a laugh.
And while the restaurant business kept Steinman busy, he loved to play golf when he had the time.
“We played three, four, five times a week when Moby Dick was being rebuilt,” Buckalew said, referring to when a fire had destroyed the restaurant. “…He was just a super friend to me.”
Some of Buckalew’s favorite memories are sitting at the round table in the restaurant with a group of friends including Steinman, his brother — Sonny, who died last week — and Crandell, all three frequently breaking into song.
“That was always a joy,” he said.
When Steinman retired last year, it came as a shock to many who simply expected to see his face when they opened the restaurant door.
But his retirement was well-deserved, Crandell said, and he spent nearly all of it traveling and visiting his three daughters and son.
“He went from 72 hours of work a week to a life of leisure,” Crandell said. “It’s sad that his [retirement] was so short.”
Steinman is survived by his three daughters, son, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, not to mention his many friends. Local memorial services are still being planned.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he left literally hundreds of people touched,” Crandell said. “He’ll be missed by those of us who knew him and loved him.”