Named for the wood fires used to cook the restaurant’s farm-fresh dishes, Ember is the project of executive chef Brian Collins, an Arroyo Grande native who shares with his hometown skills he honed at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos. Chef de cuisine David Marks oversees the menu, which is locally focused, like the beer and wine list, and changes seasonally. Typical offerings include rustic specialties like smoked mozzarella and lamb sausage pizza, grilled “Pollo al Mattone” (a half chicken cooked under a brick), and grilled rib eye served over roasted potatoes and topped with a decadent garlic confit and avocado chimichurri.