Welcome to the 805 Living Dining Blog where our Dining Editor, Angela Pettera, keeps you up to date on restaurant happenings in the 805. To send her your tips and comments, email angela@805living.com. Happy eating!

Blog Companion to Nutritious School Lunches Story

In November, our magazine dining feature outlined all that’s being done to improve school lunches served to our nation’s children. Here are links to even more resources on that subject.  If you want to learn more about what others are doing or get involved yourself, these websites are a great starting point. Just click on the links below.

USDA’s YouTube channel with a video about the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiatives
http://www.youtube.com/usda

USDA press releases on Farm-to-School Tactical Teams
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2009/09/0441.xml

The Nutrition Education page from the USDA, which has education and training materials along with information on grants and how to apply for them
http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=14&tax_level=1&tax_subject=526

A good blog post from Obama Foodorama about creating school lunch infrastructure through government and private partnerships
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2009/08/president-obama-announces-white-house.html

The Whole-Foods-Market-sponsored site The Lunchbox, which has tons of information and resources for school administrators, cafeteria works, students, parents, and advocates who are interested in improving school nutrition
http://www.thelunchbox.org/

United Fresh website where you can read about their Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program, which has expanded to include salad bars in schools
http://www.unitedfresh.org/ffvp

Write-up of press event with U.S. Representative Sam Farr (Dem., CA), which took place at Jesse G. Sanchez Elementary School in Salinas, CA.
http://thepacker.com/School-salad-bar-seen-as-model/Article.aspx?articleid=830796&authorid=577&categoryid=202&feedid=215

Life Lab website, the organization that helps schools develop gardens
http://lifelab.org/about.php

School Nutrition Success Stories posted by the USDA
http://www.fns.usda.gov/TN/Resources/makingithappen.html

California Department of Education Nutrition Services web page
http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/nt/

California Health & Longevity Institute at the Four Seasons Westlake Village
http://www.chli.com/

School Lunch Menus for the Oak Park Unified School District
http://www.oakparkusd.org/16451093013235043/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=57522&1645Nav=|&NodeID=216

Musical Dining - Blog Feature

In the October issue of 805 Living Magazine, I wrote a feature about restaurants where music is a theme (or at least where you can see some live musical acts).  In the process of researching that article, I came across a number of good restaurants offering live musical performances.  I want to share those places with you.  So I’ll be listing one restaurant almost every day throughout the month of October on the blog here and talking about what kind of music they offer.

In the print article, I mentioned:

Charline’s Urban Tapas & Wine Bar (546 E. Main St., Ventura, 805-652-2255, www.charlines.com) with its smooth jazz and Southern small plates. Owner Kevin Williams brings in bands from Santa Barbara and L.A. like Bobby Watley & The Organ Trio or Satellite Orchestra. He also created the menu of interesting bites like fried mac & cheese balls, Gouda grits, catfish sliders, and buttermilk pie. “I go against the grain,” he said of his self-described “new-age jazz juke joint” named for his grandmother. The lights are low, the booths are luxe, and the martinis can be spicy. The blues, jazz, soul, and R&B artists play Wednesday through Sunday nights beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Melomaniacs will love the upstairs Entertainment Loft of Zoey’s Cafe (451 E. Main St., Ventura, 805-652-1137, www.zoeyscafe.com) for its nice acoustics and intimate atmosphere. An abbreviated menu of salads, pizzas, and dessert is available along with strong coffee drinks, beer, wine and cocktails. There’s a cover charge that varies with the artists playing. Mostly it falls between $5 and $20. Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. you can catch emerging singer/songwriters—a real treat. For a taste of the talent, visit www.syd-music.com to see Syd in action or  www.myspace.com/brandonharriswalker for a snippet of Brandon Walker’s tunes. Thursday through Saturday nights catch more acoustic acts playing pop, jazz, rock and folk tunes, often of their own making. See Zoey’s special event web calendar to see who’s playing and to link to the artists’ web pages.