As you drive down the mountain into the valley where
Fillmore is, along the roadside carved into the mountains is what I call modern
petroglyphs. People have carved their
names, symbols, some art, etc. I stopped
to photograph some of it to share.
I had stopped in Fillmore before, so didn’t stop there and
caught the 126 and drove on to Santa Paula and thought maybe I might have lunch
there. I stopped on the main drag in
town and walked around for a while to check out the shops and restaurants. Apparently they roll up the streets on Sundays
since half of the places were closed, and nothing looked interesting for
lunch. But it was nice to get out and
check out the downtown area. Also, all
around town they have murals on the sides of buildings to celebrate the history
and heritage of the town and area.
Apparently at the turn of the century (20th that is), they
were the largest citrus producer in the U.S.
I didn’t take pictures of the any of them this trip, but I did take one
of the oldest church in town, and the first Unitarian Universalist Church on
the west coast, erected in 1891.
I drove on to Ventura and took the scenic route through town
until I found Main Street and the historic district. Sundays apparently aren’t as busy a day as
Saturdays are there as I found plenty of free parking behind the buildings (and
this was just around noon!). I parked it
and got out and walked around. I wasn’t
exactly sure what I wanted for lunch, so checked out all the restaurants. They have an abundance of Indian and Thai
food, in just a four block area. Also
some brew pubs and cafes. I walked down
California St. and found an Italian restaurant that piqued my interest: Café Fiore (www.fiorerestaurant.net).
When you walk in, it is rather dark, with a huge bar in the
middle and the main dining area behind, but it was well done and felt kind of
like a brasserie. They sat me at a bar
that overlooks the kitchen so you can watch them while they are cooking. It was actually kind of cool. While I initially thought the service may be
lacking as it took someone a while to take my drink order, but my server made
up for it through the rest of my meal with plenty friendly of attention.
A server dropped off some bread with a dipping sauce. This dipping sauce was amazing. It was almost a bruschetta sauce, but was so
much more. I’m going to try and copy it
myself. Here’s what I think was in it: tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, fresh
basil, salt/pepper, and olive oil. I’ll
let you know if I have success duplicating it.
For my first course, I wanted to have the Prosciutto Melone
E Mozzarella – but my server told me that unfortunately they didn’t have the
melon today, but did have a wine poached pear to replace it. I’m all about trying something different, so
I told him to bring it on. When it
arrived, it was plated beautifully with the prosciutto lining the plate, with
mozzarella with a dab of pesto placed around the plate, the pear, and arugula
mounded in the middle. It was a very
interesting melding of flavors that worked very well.
For my main course, I opted for a pizza and had the
Parma: a thin crust pizza with
mozzarella and fontina cheese, prosciutto and baby arugula. I know what you’re thinking: more prosciutto? I love it and I don’t get to have it very
often – and I’m quite sure my lunch was my entire daily allowance of
sodium. But it was worth it. The pizza’s crust was crispy, the cheeses
creamy, and the salty prosciutto and peppery arugula all worked so well as a
dish. I could only eat half of it, but
enjoyed every bite.
My entire meal, with an Arnold Palmer to drink, cost me $25
plus tip – not a bad deal. It would have
been perfect to share with someone and been more than enough food, so would be
excellent for a date….now if I could just find one. I can offer a solid recommendation for Café Fiore
if you find yourself in Ventura. They
also have a location in Woodland Hills I found out.
After lunch I walked down to the beach to enjoy the weather
and the view. I walked out onto the
pier, where you can get excellent views of the town and the coast – and it was
a clear enough day that you could at least see the outlines of the Channel
Islands.
It was getting to be later afternoon, so I walked back in to
town and did a little shopping. I picked
up some olive oil and balsamic vinegar at We Olive (www.weolive.com) to add to my kitchen. On my way back to my car I did some window
shopping. Ventura really is a pretty
little town. It’s made me think I should
drive up there a little more often to hang out.
I retraced my route back home as there are some fruit stands
along the 126 between Santa Paula and Fillmore.
I stopped at one to pick up some cherries and cantaloupe. They had Rainer cherries! It was very exciting for me as they are generally
hard to find until about June, and very expensive, but they are my favorite
cherry.
The rest of the drive was beautiful, though uneventful. It was a great day and left me feeling very
content.
No comments:
Post a Comment