O ONE has threatened to waterboard me so this is a voluntary confession. Or maybe I should call it a revelation. Are you ready for Ventura? Not Ventura Boulevard. Not Ace Ventura Pet Detective. I’m talking about the seaside town of Ventura, one of California’s secret vacation destinations.
Ventura is a fabulous beach town 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 25 miles south of Santa Barbara. Malibu is just a 35-minute drive down Pacific Coast Highway.
For years millions of motorists have whizzed by on the freeway barely noticing that Ventura was quietly building its own reputation. Now they’re stopping, amazed at what they’re seeing.
It used to be Iowa on Sea, with a wide range of hotels from a Holiday Inn to a no name motel and food that ran the culinary gamut from burgers to overcooked steaks.
Nuvi Mehta |
It seems almost overnight it’s become a gourmet’s delight, with a line-up of great uncrowded eateries in charming venues from the beach to the pier to the quaint, historic downtown. There are restaurants with every conceivable choice from Fusion to Mediterranean, Japanese to Cajun, haute French to Northern Italian, with fabulous wine lists.
Some of them are still pretty undiscovered. But not for long.
Ventura grew up as an oil and citrus town. Slowly refugees from cluttered L.A. found it great as a weekend retreat. Eventually they decided to live there forever.
Not surprising. You can still park outside your favorite restaurant downtown. The traffic is manageable and the small town atmosphere encourages friendly smiling welcomes all round.
Once it was a cultural desert. The natives and visitors had to travel to Santa Barbara or downtown L.A. for theatre, art galleries and music. Today the arts are booming. Why, they even have an annual Jewish Film Festival!
First let me tell you about my favorite arts group: The Ventura Music Festival, now about to unspool its 14th annual May festival which runs from April 30 to May 10.
This year they’re serving up a delicious array of music, with an open air picnic atmosphere (think Hollywood Bowl) on Sunday, May 4, headlined by the incredibly versatile international group Pink Martini.
Shopping on Main St. |
This year’s Grammy-winning group, Turtle Island Quartet, will perform on Friday, May 9. Next day the dazzling soprano Nicole Cabell—winner of the BBC’s Singer of the World—performs with the Ventura Music Festival orchestra. A homegrown star, having graduated from Ventura High School, Nicole returns in triumph—as a fully fledged international diva who many compare to Renee Fleming and Maria Callas.
Throughout the year artistic director Nuvi Mehta, of the famed Mehta family, brings the best in the world to Ventura. She also stages a series of popular Crossover Concerts outside of the festival (like Arturo Sandoval last year and Poncho Sanchez in February 2008). Check them out at www.venturamusicfestival.org and come visit.
Besides music we now boast a top-of-the-line professional theater, Rubicon, which has brought major names to Ventura. The New West Symphony concerts are a monthly feature during the fall and winter season. And the visual arts scene has boomed. There are probably more artists per head of population in Ventura than anywhere else in the state. The works of local painters and sculptors can be seen in a growing assortment of galleries from main stream to avant garde mushrooming in the downtown area.
"Ventura is a unique destination," notes Jim Luttjohann, executive director of Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau.
"It offers visitors the best of what California used to be and what it promises to be. It’s a real town with no pretense. It still revels in the fact that it is not changing from being what it has always been. We haven’t succumbed to bulldozers and high rises or urban sprawl. We have amazing natural beaches, and the perfect climate in a still unspoiled atmosphere."
Strolling on the pier |
Where To Stay
Crowne Plaza (450 Harbor Blvd.) on the promenade, just steps from the sand and a stroll to the famous surfing destination, Surfer’s Point. Great view rooms with great prices and a top cafe restaurant, C-Street.
Ventura Beach Marriott
( 2055 E. Harbor Boulevard), a short block from the beach. We like the historical Pierpont Inn and Racquet Club, 550 Sanjon Road, a classic California Craftsman building where good food and killer martinis await you in its Austin’s Restaurant.
Smaller hotels include the Clocktower Inn, 181 E. Santa Clara Street or the Bella Maggiore Inn, 67 S, California.
WhereTo Eat
For superb country French fare there’s 79 Palm and for Italian cuisine there’s Café Fiore on California Street. Brooks Restaurant at Thompson and California attracts the chic crowd. On downtown’s Main Street you can sample French fare at Riviera Bistro, Argentinean goodies at Café Bariloche.
If your taste runs to hearty Irish grub and grog there’s the lively Dargan’s Pub, and for great wines and food the West Side Cellar or Jonathans. There’s Tutti’s Off Main—a classy deli restaurant with take-out. There’s even authentic The Greek at the quaint Ventura Harbor. For the best steak in town stop in at the Aloha Steak House on the promenade steps from the Crowne Plaza Hotel. But be sure to try Eric Ericcson’s Fish Co. on the pier.
One of the locals’ favorites—and that’s only because it’s slightly off the tourist beat—is Café Zack, 1095 East Thompson. The food is fabulous, the service friendly and the wine list intelligent.
Walking to the beach |
For lighter and more casual fare try My Florist, 76 S. Oak, where they bake their own bread and cakes on the premises and are open ‘til midnight, a rare thing in this town. The Savory Bakery on Main is great for breakfast and lunch and a good spot from which to watch all of Ventura pass by.
Where To Shop
Stroll downtown where you will find everything you ever wanted and then some. In between checking out the historic 18th century mission and the impressive County Museum of History and Art, 100 East Main Street, browse antique and decorating stores where L.A. designers flock to pick up bargains, furniture, some fabulous original jewelry and trendy clothes for men, women and babies. Don’t worry about driving anywhere because everything is within walking distance.
It’s a town with a woman mayor: Christy Weir who likes to talk about "the new art city." And it’s obvious why.
For further details call Ventura’s Tourist and Convention office at 1-800-483-6214 or visit www.ventura-usa.com.
It will come as no surprise when we note that our longtime columnist Ivor Davis and his writer wife Sally Ogle Davis have lived in Ventura for more than 20 years. He is president of the Ventura Music Festival.
