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.

Stomp on it!

Grape stomp at Cantara Cellars in Camarillo

SEPT. 19, OCT. 21-22
Two area wineries are celebrating harvest season with some good old-fashioned grape stomps.

At Cantara Cellars in Camarillo, the party will start at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19 with a blessing of the harvest by Father Leon Hutton of St. John’s Seminary. Volunteers are asked to wear old shorts and to wash their feet before jumping into bins packed with 4 tons of Lodi zinfandel destined for such blends as The Bride and Franknvein. Or, just stand by the sidelines while sipping wines by the glass, $5 each (126 Wood Road, Suite 104; 805-484-9600).

At Opolo Vineyards in Paso Robles, grape-stomping is part of a two-day harvest event that has become so well known the winery’s website refers to it as the “famous” harvest party. It includes a full spread — pork tenderloin, barbecue chicken, whole roasted lamb — for pairing with assorted Opolo wines on Oct. 21 and 22. For required reservations, $85-$95, call 805-238-9593).

Western Wine Awards Gala

Friday, September 30th, 6 - 10 p.m.

The city of Pismo Beach is throwing a gala dinner on the Pismo Beach Pier as part of the Savor the Central Coast festival.  Sunset magazine’s Wine Editor Sara Schneider and Editor-in-Chief Katie Tamony will be handing out awards to winemakers who produce wine in the west.   Sip the nominated wines at dinner and raise a glass to the winners as they are announced.  Read more about the dinner here.  Tickets are $85 each and can be purchased here.

A heady subject

Sampling cups at the ready at the California Beer Festival in Ventura

 

SEPT. 14, 16 and 17-18
Planning for the California Beer Festival in Ventura comes to a head this weekend, when tastings, live music and a barbecue cook-off take place in Mission Park. Get your tickets before you go, though: The event typically sells out. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Dyslexia Awareness and Resource Center.

Saturday, Sept. 17 has been deemed “Craft Beer Heaven,” thanks to the 200 brews that will be on tap (including those from Ladyface Ale Companie of Agoura Hills and the non-commercial “nanobrewery” Two Trees Brewing Co. of Ventura) and available for tasting from noon to 5 p.m. (Open to ages 21 and older. Tickets are $45, or $25 for designated drivers.)

Sunday, Sept. 18 will feature the “Blues, Brews and BBQ” portion of the festival from noon to 6 p.m., when craft brews will be available for purchase.  And the food? Some will come courtesy of samples offered by the dozen or so teams participating in the barbecue cook-off; the rest will be available for purchase from a small grouping of food trucks that includes O Street Truck of Santa Barbara . (All ages. Tickets are $25; children 2 and younger admitted free of charge.)

Can’t wait till the weekend to get into the beer-fest mood? Wet your whistle at one (or both!) of  the pre-event dinners offered by Ventura restaurants.

On Wednesday, Sept. 14, chef Peter Edwards of Watermark on Main in Ventura will pair five beers from Ventura’s Surf Brewery to as many courses.  The fourth-course matchup of chipotle-glazed duck breast with sweet-and-sour cabbage and a frosty glass of Surfers’ Point Vienna lager sounds particularly promising. Just sayin’ … ($48 per person, not including tax and tip. Call 805-643-6800)

Friday, Sept. 16 will feature a four-course, team-effort dinner by Firestone Walker Brewing Co. of Paso Robles and Zoey’s Cafe of Ventura. Sample pairing by chef Andrew Hoganson: spicy pulled-pork quesadillas with Union Jack, a West Coast IPA.  We’ll drink to that! ($28 per person, not including tax and tip. Call 652-1137)

Not-so-endless summer

Patio at Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas

SEPT. 10 and 17, noon to 5 p.m.
You might be in denial, thanks to the recent heat wave, but summer is coming to an end (noooooooo!)
Helping to usher it out in grand alfresco style are Saturday-afternoon gatherings on the patio at Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas. There, you’ll find executive chef Christopher Kufek’s upscale small plates menu (think watermelon gazpacho and rabbit confit quesadillas for about $9 or less) just waiting to be paired with wines from SIP Malibu, the official tasting room for Cielo Wines (think Cielo Estate viognier and Malibu Rouge, a merlot-cabernet sauvignon blend). Also available are cocktails by house mixologist Christopher Barragan, the mad scientist behind such concoctions as Psychedelic Sangria. Live music by a guitarist helps makes summer’s swan song a little more bearable.

Thanks for shopping …

AUG. 27, 3-6 p.m.

Time flies when you’re drinking wine

Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards tasting room manager (and "Sideways" star) Chris Burroughs

 

 

AUG. 12-14
Located on 100 square miles between the Santa Barbara County towns of Buellton and Lompoc, the winemaking region known as the Sta. Rita Hills is small but mighty. Remember how its vineyards, winding roads and local restaurants served as backdrops for the Oscar-winning movie “Sideways”? ‘nuf said.
But the American Viticultural Area that helped launch a thousand merlot jokes has new reason to celebrate: This is the year that the Sta. Rita Hills AVA hits the Big 1-0. And to mark the occasion, members of the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance are presenting Wine and Fire, a weekend-long event packed with open houses, barrel tastings and winemaker dinners. Participants range from Ampelos Cellars to Zotovich Cellars.

The party starts at 6 p.m. Aug. 12, when Avant Tapas & Wine in Buellton is the setting for a tasting of library and large-format wines. A grand tasting is planned  from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 13 on the grounds of La Purisima Mission near Lompoc. On Aug. 14, highlights include an Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyard  library tasting led by Chris Burroughs — yep, the same hat-wearin’ dude who played himself in a tasting-room scene in “Sideways.”

Individual-event tickets ($10 and up) and weekend passports ($60-$175) are available.

Down on the … farm?

The lawn outside Ventura's historic city hall was the setting for the first event in the "Dinner at the ..." series

AUG. 11 (and OCT. 6)

For a farm-dinner experience without the usual views of crops, farmhouses and — dare we say it? — compost piles, check out the next event in the “Dinner at the … “ series presented by Totally Local VC, a marketing campaign designed to highlight businesses in Ventura and surrounding areas.

The first event in the series took place on the lawn outside Ventura’s historic city hall. The setting for the Aug. 11 dinner pairing locally grown produce with regional wines will take place next to the hilltop Serra Cross in Grant Park, affording views of the ocean early in the meal and of the evening fireworks at the nearby Ventura County Fair at the end. In between, chef Jason Collis of the Ventura restaurant  Jonathan’s at Peirano’s will serve multiple courses showcasing ingredients from Rio Gozo Farm, Petty Ranch and Limoneira, paired to beverages by Surf Brewery, Vino V Wines and more.

Prefer your farm dinners to be on a farm? That can be arranged. The final event in the “Dinner at the … ” series will take place at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at the McGrath Brothers Great Pacific Pumpkins patch, with French Laundry alum Rachel Main — now of the catering firm Main Course California in Ventura — at the culinary helm. Hay rides and some spooky, Halloween-themed entertainment will be included in the $90-per-person price. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Serra Cross Conservancy and FOOD Share.

Reunited, and it feels so good

Two area restaurants (one no longer with us, sad to say) are the focus of upcoming dinners that will reunite owners with chefs and diners with some beloved dishes from back in the day.

Aug. 13, 5:30 p.m.
A decade has passed since former Ventura mayor Sandy Smith sold his (now closed) downtown restaurant, Rosarito Beach Cafe. But its menu devoted to regional Mexican cuisine (think margaritas with fresh lime juice, crab-and-cheese stuffed chile rellenos and plump, made-on-the-premises tortillas) lives on once a year, thanks to the Rosarito Beach Cafe Annual Reunion Dinner for the Arts.

Slated to start with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 7, the Aug. 13 event will feature Smith and former server turned cook Kelly Briglio (now co-owner of the wine and cheese shop Paradise Pantry) re-joining forces in the Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Pavilion at the Museum of Ventura County. Proceeds from tickets, $100, will benefit the California International Theatre Festival.

Aug. 28 (RSVP by Aug. 22)

Tommaso Barletta and Alberto Vazquez, together again. That’s the idea behind a four-course dinner that will reunite Barletta, owner of Tuscany il Ristorante in Westlake Village, with one of the more colorful chefs to pass through the restaurant’s kitchen. (Known for dressing in studs and black leather, Vazquez recently launched a rocker-themed mobile kitchen, Rock Chef Rolls.)

Their reunion menu will feature crostini with fire-blistered baby tomatoes, pan-roasted wild-caught sea trout with pickled three-bean ragout, medallions of Wagyu beef with braised wild mushrooms and, for dessert, doughnut-holesque bombolini over vanilla bean custard with mixed berries. Reservations, $85, include wine pairing and the chance to sit back and watch a couple of pros at work.

Get your goat

August 3-7, from 5 to 10 p.m.

In the spirit of Old Spanish Days Fiesta, the Santa Barbara restaurant Julienne is planning its second annual Fiesta Goat.  At the center of the limited-time-only menu is Goat Bandito, a dish pairing braised goat with a housemade potato quesadilla, guacamole, pico de gallo, queso fresco and creme fraiche. Reservations are recommended, or you can take a chance and angle for one of the spots at the five-person bar.

Goat not your thing? The field-to-fork restaurant owned by the husband-and-wife team of chef Justin West and Emma West also is serving baby abalone from The Cultured Abalone in nearby Goleta. “They are a little smaller than a silver dollar and so tender that they don’t even need to be pounded,” Emma says of the 1-year-old abalone, which Justin is serving grilled with housemade bacon jam, olive oil-poached tomatoes and a sprinkling of bread crumbs.

Restaurant Julienne is at 138 E. Canon Perdido in Santa Barbara

In the clink for a good cause

JULY 28, from 1 p.m.

If you’ve ever received one of those bogus “I’m stuck in London, please send money,” e-mails, you might view a recent message from Amanda Ramirez, assistant manager at Bernard’s Wine Gallery in Calabasas, with some suspicion. But what Ramirez wrote is true: She really will be in “jail” and in need of  bailing out (to the tune of $2,500) as part of a charity Lock-Up fundraiser benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Friends and patrons are welcome to visit Ramirez “behind bars” from around 1 p.m. July 28  at the Sagebrush Cantina, where tax-deductible donations of any and all amounts will be accepted to assure her freedom. Or, beat the rush and go directly to Ramirez’ donation page. Either way, your donation will help send area children to MDA Summer Camp at The Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center.

Chef Showdown at Onyx

June 15-25, around 6 p.m. nightly

Chef de Cuisine Masa Shimakawa of Onyx at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village challenges  visiting  Executive Sous Chef Tsutomu Konishi from Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi to an Iron-Chef-style throwdown nightly at Onyx.  Guests watch the preparation and cooking, then taste the creations from each chef in order to vote for the winner.  The winning dish is that night’s special.  The competition happens around 6 p.m. nightly until June 25th.

Manly Dining

In honor of Father’s Day, here are some fun and masculine eating opportunities (to which you can take dear Dad):

Saturday, June 18th, 2-6 p.m.

Salute! A Finely Crafted Beer & Food Festival takes place in Ojai, outdoors at Ojai Beverage Company.  General admission tickets cost $43.30 and include unlimited tastings at the festival on Saturday.  VIP tickets cost $92 and include admission to a Connoisseurs’ Pairing Dinner Friday night as well as early admission on Saturday.  You must be 21 or over to attend this festival which offers 100 different craft beers, tastes of food from 10 restaurants, and live music.

Sunday, June 19th, 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Catering Celebrations by the Plug Nickel in Westlake Village is offering a free meal for dad with the purchase of another meal.

Monday, June 20th, 7 p.m.

Raphael restaurant in Studio City is hosting a wine dinner featuring Duckhorn Vineyards with winemakers Zach Rasmuson and Neil Bernardi.  Raphael’s chef, Adam Horton (the game master from Saddle Peak Lodge) will prepare a globally inspired 5-course meal to complement the wines.  The whole menu can be viewed here.  Highlights include butter-poached Maine lobster and Wagyu (Kobe-style) beef slow-cooked with Vietnamese spices.  The price is $165 plus tax.

Limoneira Food Truck & Bocce Ball Festival

Sunday, June 12th, noon - 6 p.m.

Limoneira Ranch in Santa Paula is the site of the Ventura County Food Truck & Bocce Ball Festival happening on Sunday.  Sponsored by Food Share, Ventura County’s food bank, the festival will have 9 gourmet food trucks (some all the way from LA), a bocce ball tournament, and live music.  Tickets cost $20 for adults ($10 for children) and can be purchased at the door.  Ticket prices do not include food.  The food trucks in attendance include Spencer Makenzie’s Fish Company, It’s In the Sauce BBQ Truck, and The Sweets Truck.

Wine, Waves, and Beyond

June 2-5

Pismo Beach is the location of a four-day wine, food, and surfing festival this weekend.  Wine, Waves, and Beyond features a Barrel to Barrel dinner where winemakers, brewmasters, and local chefs show off their latest creations.  A Brew Masters’ dinner features five chefs from San Luis Obispo County who each create a course of food paired with a specific beer or ale from Firestone Brewing Co.  A longboard surf contest includes BBQ and will showcase the charity AmpSurf which teaches amputees how to surf with their disabilities.  See the Wine, Waves and Beyond website for more details.

Outstanding in the Field Dinner

Wednesday, May 11th 4 p.m.

Earthtrine Farms in Ojai is the site of tonight’s farm dinner from Outstanding in the Field.  Chef Rachel Main of Main Course California Catering will prepare family-style dishes using produce from farmers BD and Liz Dautch.  The evening begins with a farm tour and moves to long tables set up in the farm fields.  Wines are provided by Chris Brown of Cantara Cellars.  Tickets which can be purchased here are $200 each.  Amazingly, they’re not sold out yet, so act fast.