LIFE

Cafe Society: Chef Nancy Silverton to head culinary events at The Farmhouse in Ojai

Ventura

The Ojai Valley Inn this week unveiled a 30,000-square-foot events venue and a schedule of culinary gatherings planned by James Beard Award-winning chef Nancy Silverton to go with it.

The Farmhouse, a $20 million, "multi-use epicurean and event center" with an exhibition kitchen in one building and a ballroom that can seat up to 800 people in another, officially opened Monday with a gathering that included a ribbon cutting and self-guided tours of the gardens. Before leading a champagne toast for the nearly 150 people in attendance, owner Steve Crown described the project as one of a kind.

After appearing together on the PBS series "I'll Have What Phil's Having," chef Nancy Silverton and host Phil Rosenthal will team up again for an April 17 event at The Farmhouse at the Ojai Valley Inn. Silverton is Culinary Ambassador for the $20 million epicurean and event center, which opened this week.

As The Farmhouse's first Culinary Ambassador, Silverton has pulled together a calendar of talks, workshops, master classes and book signings designed to showcase well-known and up-and-coming culinary figures. Many hail from Los Angeles, as does she.

"The inn, less than 90 minutes from my home ..., has always been an oasis. I'm excited about helping to bring the newly constructed Farmhouse into the elite league of American culinary destinations," Silverton said in a media release.

MORE:At CBD dinner in Ojai, attendees learn a drop or two will do

What the same release referred to as a "bucket list-worthy" lineup will kick off on April 17, when Silverton and Phil Rosenthal, star of the Netflix series "Somebody Feed Phil," team up for a multi-course lunch with paired wines. Rosenthal, the creator, writer and producer of "Everybody Loves Raymond," will talk about his travels and favorite dishes from around the world ($250).

An aerial view of The Farmhouse at the Ojai Valley Inn shows the building that houses The Kitchen at left, with the 8,500-square-foot Great Room at right. The $20 million project also features organic gardens, a two-story fireplace in the center courtyard and, in the foreground, an events area known as The Lawn.

On April 18, Silverton will join fellow chefs Suzanne Tracht, Mary-Sue Milliken and the husband-and-wife team of Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani of the late Napa Valley restaurant Terra to present a multi-course dinner that promises to touch on a variety of cuisines. Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis of Bestia are in charge of the dessert course ($275).

The events will take place in The Kitchen, where high-definition display monitors and a 14-seat chef's counter flank a gleaming assortment of grills and stove tops. Additional seating offers a front-row view of the action for up to 80 people.

Silverton will also be present for an Aug. 30 grilled cheese pop-up inspired by her late Los Angeles restaurant Campanile ($275), an Aug. 31 burrata cheesemaking demo and dinner with Mimmo Bruno of Di Stefano Cheese in Pomona ($200) and, on Nov. 30, a gala white truffle dinner prepared by the culinary team from Osteria Mozza and paired with wines selected by Mozza Group beverage director Sarah Clarke ($500).

World-renowned Italian butcher Dario Cecchini will visit the Ojai Valley Inn's newly opened Farmhouse for two events on Nov. 22.

Classes will include a Nov. 22 "Butcher for a Day" session with Dario Cecchini, the Italian butcher known for his whole-animal approach ($250), and a Nov. 23 open-flame cooking demonstration and dinner with Debbie Michail, chef and co-owner of Logmeh, a roving supper club that specializes in Middle Eastern flavors and large-format roasts cooked over fire ($250).

Other sessions will include a June 15 pasta-making demonstration and lunch with Evan Funke of Felix Trattoria in Venice ($225) and a Dec. 7 pastry class with Dahlia Narvaez, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef at Pizzeria Mozza ($75).

Ruth Reichl, winner of six James Beard Awards from a career that thus far has included serving as restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, editing the late Gourmet magazine and writing such books as "Tender at the Bone" and "My Kitchen Year," will visit Ojai for a book-signing and family-style lunch on Sept. 21 ($175).

Members of the Ojai Valley Inn culinary crew prepare food in The Farmhouse kitchen during the grand-opening event on Monday.

Additional events at The Farmhouse will showcase area vintners, farmers, beekeepers and members of the resort's culinary team.

They include a Winemaker Tasting Series appearance by Doug Margerum of Margerum Wine Co. (March 9, $65), an Art of Macarons pastry class with the resort's executive pastry chef, Joel Gonzalez, and pastry sous chef, Amy Hong (March 23, $55), cooking classes for kids (April 4 and 12, $65), honey harvesting with master beekeeper Glenn Perry (April 14, $75), a wine tasting and book-signing session with Rajat Parr (April 27, $125) and a tomato tasting, chef demonstration and Bloody Mary-making tutorial with Scott Daigre, founder of the tomato seedling sale Tomatomania and the official culinary gardener for The Farmhouse (Aug. 6, $125).

The Ojai Vineyard will be featured during back-to-back events: a library dinner in The Farmhouse garden (May 17, $240) and a rosé release party with live music and light hors d’oeuvres on The Lawn, equipped with its own Lynx Outdoor Kitchen (May 18, $55.)

Built on 220 acres between the ninth and 18th fairways of the resort's golf course, The Farmhouse was designed by architects Howard Backen and Silvia Nobili, of Napa Valley-based Backen Gillam & Kroeger. Standing in contrast to the Spanish Colonial-style buildings seen elsewhere on the property, the project's straight lines and dark gray exteriors were inspired in part by the loss of a rustic barn on a nearby property that had previously been used by the resort as a venue for weddings and other private events.

The Farmhouse project broke ground in October 2017. Its progress was halted less than two months later by the Thomas Fire, which threatened the town of Ojai and temporarily closed the resort for evacuations.

Ojai Valley School students helped build this redwood table from trees scorched in the Thomas Fire. It is on permanent display in a side garden at The Farmhouse on the grounds of the Ojai Valley Inn.

The fire's impact on the community is commemorated by a redwood table placed just outside a pair of The Kitchen's 40-foot sliding glass doors. Built by students from Ojai Valley School under the guidance of fine arts and woodshop instructor Ryan Lang, the table's ends have been left unfinished to show where flames scorched the felled trees before they were milled. One side of the table is inset with the metal silhouette of a tree, while the top is carved with words that tell the story behind its creation.

For a complete schedule of events at The Farmhouse, go to https://www.ojaivalleyinn.com/farmhouse.

The Ojai Valley Inn is at 905 Country Club Road (805-646-5511, https://www.ojaivalleyinn.com).

WHAT'S NEW ON THE MENU

At Azu Restaurant & Bar in Ojai, the first day of the work week is for burgers – and for sampling a new whiskey.

Available from 5 p.m. Mondays, the Burger + Whiskey special ($20) includes diner's choice of a grass-fed beer Native Burger or a plant-based Beyond Burger, plus the featured whiskey, on the rocks or neat. The whiskey is subject to change, for the sake of exploration. In February, for example, the focus was on selections from High West Distillery of Park City, Utah.

Monday is also Industry Night at Azu, where specials include Prohibition-era cocktails. The cost is $8 for those who can show a pay stub from a restaurant and/or bar job, and $10 for everyone else.

"The overall idea is that Mondays are great for the local working scene to come in and get a burger, hang out and have a couple drinks without breaking the bank," said Elizabeth Haffner, co-owner and event coordinator at Azu.

The restaurant also serves as the off-site taproom for Ojai Valley Brewery (457 E. Ojai Ave., 805-640-7987, http://www.azuojai.com).

MORE:Social Monk restaurant debuts in Thousand Oaks

In Camarillo, Slate Bistro + Craft Bar has expanded its hours since debuting as a dinner spot in December.

More:Slate Bistro unveils new decor, menu at familiar Camarillo address

Weekday lunch service launched in January and continues from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The menu includes a variety of 12-inch, brick-oven pizzas ($11-$14), chicken Cobb salad with diner's choice of grilled or crispy chicken breast ($14), an ahi avocado roll with spicy miso and crispy wonton ($15) and sandwiches ranging from ham and cheese on toasted baguette ($13, including a choice of Parmesan fries, mixed greens or purple Caesar salad) to steak on ciabatta with garlic aioli and salsa verde ($16 with choice of side).

Several lunch options also appear on the dinner menu. They include a roasted butternut squash stuffed with risotto, spinach, pecans and sage brown butter ($14 at lunch) and grilled salmon with olive relish, asparagus risotto and roasted pepper aioli ($16).

New to the mix: Sunday hours from 4-8 p.m., when the happy hour menu is in effect. It includes three street tacos of the day ($7), Yucatan chicken skewers with pickled onions and lime-habanero crema ($8), a variety of pizzas ($8-$13) and specialty cocktails like Butterfly Collins made with color-changing butterfly pea syrup ($7).

The happy hour menu is also in effect from 4-6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays (4850 Santa Rosa Road, 805-388-9888, https://theslatebistro.com).

FOR A GOOD CAUSE

At more than a dozen Jersey Mike's Subs locations in Ventura County (and at nearly 200 California sites in total), March is also known as the Month of Giving.

Now in its ninth year, the charitable campaign this year will give diners a chance to donate to Cancer for College, which awards scholarships to low-income, high-achieving cancer survivors. The campaign will culminate on March 27 with Day of Giving, when participating Jersey Mike's restaurants will give 100 percent of sales to Cancer for College.

The chain has restaurants in Camarillo, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Ojai, Oxnard, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Ventura (https://www.jerseymikes.com).

At the other end of the dining-out spectrum, Mastro's Ocean Club in Malibu will offer a limited-time March on Malibu menu to benefit the Ventura County Community Foundation and its efforts to help those impacted by the Hill Fire and Woolsey Fire.

Available March 1-31, the three-course menu will offer "some of Mastro's most popular dishes, including the warm butter cake," according to a media release. The cost is $105, of which $5 will go to the cause (18412 Pacific Coast Highway, 310-454-4357, https://www.mastrosrestaurants.com).

YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY

March 3 marks what would have been the 126th birthday of Ojai artist Beatrice Wood, a fact that will be celebrated with the launch of a new chocolate created from one of her ceramic molds by Ojai-based Beato Chocolates.

MORE:Beato Chocolates made, sold at Ojai art gallery

The event from 2-4 p.m. at the Ojai Valley Museum will include a ceramic demonstration with a hands-on activity, plus wine tasting and a free box of chocolates for the first 25 people through the door (130 W. Ojai Ave., http://www.ojaivalleymuseum.org).

BEER WALK THIS WAY

More than 20 craft breweries from Ventura County and beyond will team with local businesses when the fourth annual Beer March presented by the Camarillo Old Town Association takes place on March 10.

Check in will open at noon at Studio Channel Islands Art Center, 2222 Ventura Blvd. Self-guided tastings will be available from 1-4 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance and $45 when purchased on site. For details, click on https://www.camarillo-oldtown.com.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Open & Shut column published in the Feb. 23 Business section of The Star contained information on the opening of Social Monk Asian Kitchen in Thousand Oaks, the debut of DV's Mexican Grill in Ventura, the closure of VinTura Tasting Room & Wine Rack and plans for a second location by the owners of the Ventura coffeehouse Simones. To read it, click on https://bit.ly/2Iw3XvW.

DIG IN:Keep up with Ventura County’s ever-changing culinary scene with a digital subscription to The Star.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. To contact her, send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com.