805 EATS DINING BLOG
Welcome to the "805 Eats" dining blog where we'll keep you up-to-date on restaurant and food happenings in the 805. To send tips and comments, email edit@805Living.com.
Events listed on the blog are subject to change. Please contact the restaurants to confirm availability and details.
Rosti Tuscan Kitchen comes to aid of cancer research
JAN. 16-18
Three days and three restaurant locations could add up to nearly endless possibilities for cancer research.
From Jan. 16-18, diners at any of the Rosti Tuscan Kitchen locations in Encino, Calabasas and Santa Monica have only to say the words “Concern Foundation” to see 15 percent discounted from their bills and donated to the Concern Foundation for Cancer Research. The Los Angeles-based non-profit organization has raised more than $45 million for cancer research and currently funds more than 60 projects around the world.
Open for lunch and dinner, Rosti features a menu that could keep Concern Foundation supporters coming back for seconds and thirds without repeating themselves. In addition to pizzas, calzones and panini, it offers kitchen-sink salads (think roasted beets with apples and candied pecans), seafood (including linguini Vongole with fresh clams in your choice of white wine or tomato sauce) and dishes like Pollo al Mattone, named for the Italian brick used to press the herb-marinated chicken as it cooks. If ever you needed an excuse to go out for dinner, this is it.
Rosti Encino, 16350 Ventura Blvd., (818-995-7179); Rosti Calabasas, 23663 Calabasas Road, (818-591-2211); Rosti Santa Monica, 931 Montana Ave., (310-393-3236)
And in this corner …
JAN. 19
The inaugural Local Food & Wine Challenge organized by the Ventura County Wine Trail is shaping up to be the culinary slugfest of the New Year.
Set for Jan. 19 in the ballroom atop the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach Hotel, the competition will feature 13 teams, each consisting of an area restaurant or food purveyor matched with a regional winery. The teams’ mission? To create the “ultimate” pairing of food and wine. And according to behind-the-scenes sources, the competition already is so fierce that some teams are engaging in a little good-natured trash talking as they plan their entries.
The results of those plans will be judged by a panel of “professional” eaters and imbibers that includes Lynne Andujar and Angela Pettera of 805 Living magazine. But there will be plenty of food and drink to go around, provided you get your tickets in time. Advance tickets, $45, may be ordered now via the wine-trail website. They will be $55 at the door, if still available. Tickets include tastes of each of the “challenge” dishes and wines, plus admission to a pre-competition reception that will feature brut rose sparkling wine from Malibu Wines and appetizers from Panera Bread from 6-7 p.m. in the hotel’s Aqua Beachfront Bar . A portion of the proceeds will benefit FOOD Share, a Ventura County food bank.
The teams:
Aloha Steakhouse with Rancho Ventavo Cellars
Bella Victorian Bistro with Bella Victorian Vineyard
Boccali’s Restaurant with Boccali’s Vineyards & Winery
C-Street Restaurant with Cantara Cellars
Cafe Zack with Four Brix Winery
Carbon Beach Club with Rosenthal - The Malibu Estate
5th Street Steak & Seafood with Squashed Grapes
The Jolly Oyster with Vino V Wines/Old Creek Ranch Winery
The Kitchen with Sunland Vintage Cellars
La Dolce Vita Ristorante & Lounge with Magnavino Cellars
R & R Chocolate Palace with San Vicente Cellars