Decent Italian, Out-of-This-World Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Crustiest Bread Around: The Best of Ojai (near Santa Barbara)

I wasn't sure what to expect when we took a road trip to Ojai for the weekend, but it turned out to be all that it was cracked up to be -- relaxing and quaint, with a few unforgettable gems thrown in. Our first stop was OMG! - Osteria Monte Grappa, a cute little Italian place with a nice outdoor patio that purports to serve authentic Italian food. The pan fried calamari in a tomato sauce with a slice of polenta sporting the perfect grill marks was ok but the squid wasn't top quality.

I liked that the bread was warm although in Italy serving fresh, warm bread usually seemed to be the last thing on restaurateurs' minds. Anyway, we used the bread as sponges to absorb the tomato juice in the calamari dish.

It was fun trying some of the local wines -- an Ojai rose that I craved due to the severe heat. It was 7pm and barely under 100 degrees!

The first pleasant surprise was the grilled beet salad, which came with radicchio, green beans and shaved parmesan. I usually like my radicchio grilled so its bitterness is tempered but the revelation was definitely the grilled beets. The tiny beets themselves were bursting with flavor. They seemed like they were just picked in the restaurant's own garden. They were naturally sweet but they also had smoky undertones from the grill, which first made me happy but then made me wonder if they had added any liquid smoke to infuse a smoky flavor.

Nah. It's got to be natural, right? Well, I'll never know. But they weren't smoky to the point of being overpowering. They were just right and added a whole new dimension to the beet salad I had never tasted before. Brownie points.

The first pasta, penne with eggplant, tomatoes and chunks of burrata was just average. I liked its lightness.

Revelation #2 came with the fettuccine pesto with monkfish, green beans (OMG evidently likes its green beans -- never seen so much of it in Italian food before) and bell peppers. What I liked about it was that it didn't taste too heavy like most pestos I've had. I've had very few pestos that I loved. This was came very close. Purists may say it was too watery or that one couldn't taste the basil as much. Guilty on all accounts. But I actually liked the subtle basil taste. One of my dinner companions and I were positive this pesto had more than basil -- we tasted mint, for instance. But the menu cryptically presented the dish as "local herbs pesto," whatever that means. We asked the hostess and server but they insisted it was mostly basil, maybe with some parsley. Parsley?! We swore we detected mint in there but apparently none was used. In any case, I had never had pesto with fish, only solo, with veggies or shrimp. So it was a nice combo that I hope to have again.

And now, for the third and last revelation -- the cheesecake. I've never had cheesecake in Italy so not sure how authentic it was and it wasn't the most attractive-looking piece of cake. But oh, it was the perfect end to a good meal. It wasn't too sweet, which is always a pet peeve of mine for desserts. The raspberry sauce was subtle and the cheese flavor was just enough to appreciate the fact that it's a cheesecake. Italians seem to use ricotta for their cheesecakes but not sure ricotta was used for this version. In any case, it was solid.

The sorbets were good too although not exactly revelatory. The lime sorbet was the best, followed by peach.

Definitely a place I'd like to return to, save for the weird server who carded us (normally would have been flattered but he was creepy!) when we ordered wine and gratuitously kept calling us "love." You're not in London and you're not English, dude!

The next day, we discovered some amazing gems at the Farmers' Market despite the scorching weather. We managed to get the sweetest yellow peaches and juicy plums from the stands. I got the most delicious crusty bread from New Vineland Bread, which is part of a well-known winery in Lompoc that sounds very promising (note to self: must visit soon). I also stopped by Mt. Olive Company's stand, which had the most amazing jams. So amazing, in fact, that I got the peach and nectarine one spiked with chili sauce.

The kicker was the strawberry rhubarb pie from Marcie's Pies/Jimenez Family Farm that was, quite simply, out of this world. I'm a huge pie snob and this was one was, again, not too sweet, and the fruit filling was clearly made with the best quality ingredients where you can really taste the sweetness. You know how many fruit just don't taste like anything anymore? Well, you could definitely taste these berries and rhubarb. This was my very first rhubarb pie and it was divine.

I mean, take one look at this pie. It's a veritable beauty! I just learned much to my delight that I won't have to trek all the way to Ojai to have another one of Marcie's Pies because they come out to the Farmers' Markets in Santa Monica and Hollywood. Woo hoo!! Big thumbs up.

 

After nearly melting away in the sun, we headed to Oak Grill at the massively expansive Ojai Valley Inn & Spa to seek refuge in the wonderfully air conditioned interior.

The bread was freshly baked and warm. The butter was notably good. I had the slow-cooked barbecued braised beef sandwich that came with roasted green chiles, arugula, pepper jack cheese and chipotle aioli on a toasted potato bread bun. It was excellent. Picture-perfect grounds. Impeccable service. All this doesn't come cheap but lunch is more affordable than dinner.  Plus, you get the view.

Try going to Ojai for a weekend getaway. It's close enough and its greenery and remote feel still make you feel like you've escaped the city.

Best and Worst of Santa Ynez Wine Country: Burger Out at Los Olivos Cafe

Who knew that the highlight of my Santa Ynez wine country trip would end up being (besides the wine, of course) none other than a bloody burger with one of the best barbecue sauces I've had west of Texas?!

I had three burgers in two days because I'm a burger fiend but only one of them at Los Olivos Cafe in a tiny sleepy town just outside of Solvang took the prize. This patty was juicy, flavorful and had just the amount of bite that I liked, albeit a teeny bit overcooked.

Still, it was plenty messy to eat. The sesame bun was warm and firm enough to withstand the huge mound of "the works," including tomato, red onion, romaine lettuce, pickle, cheddar cheese and a dollop of thousand island dressing. While taking a bite may leave stretch marks on the side of your mouth, it's well worth it. The combination is fantastic. The fries were crispy, warm and not over-salted. The barbecue sauce that seems to have been made at the premises from scratch was out of this world. Maybe it was also the excellent Los Olivos' house Pinot Noir that I washed it down with that made it all the better. Still not at Houston's level, mind you, but very good (The 'cue sauce was hands down better than Houston's, however. I wanted to drink it.). Just remember to skip the unremarkable pizzas.

P.S.: Stop by Stolpman Winery Tasting Room known for its Syrahs if that's your thing. It's delish.
The second-best dish I had was the Maytag blue cheese souffle at Root 246, Bradley Ogden's new place in Solvang that also got a decent review by the LAT last week.

I'm not even a huge blue cheese fan, but it had me at souffle. It was like blue cheese mousse that was made milder from the cream or whatever they added to the souffle to make it so delightfully fluffy and airy. The blue cheese was sandwiched in a crusty puff pastry shell that made for a great mix of textures. The accompanying strawberry and watercress salad gave it a refreshing counterbalance to the slight heaviness of the blue cheese. I love eating things like this that are clearly dishes that would be very hard to make at home. There's a reason souffles take so much time and care to perfect!

I also liked the pan-fried chicken that came with mashed potatoes and topped with thin apple slices and what looked and tasted like giant raisins. Although chicken breasts are usually too dry for me, the chicken was perfectly juicy with a crispy, salty skin that seasoned the chicken nicely. The potatoes were a tad bland (thank God for the Tapatio they had handy) but I liked the salty and sweet/tart interchange with the chicken and toppings. Not as revelatory as the souffle but still good.

I didn't have any of the dishes LAT raved about but the calamari and burger I had were not worth raving about at all. The calamari was overcooked the first time and then the second time as well so we barely touched it and they thankfully didn't charge us for it. The burger was average and I wouldn't get it again.


Next up, the Hadsten House in Solvang had a very juicy (Please excuse my excessive use of this word. What can I say? I can't stand dry meats.) pork chop but they poured far too much of the fig and apricot sauce over it that overpowered the meat with its sweetness. I like a sweet sauce with pork but this was too much, as it took it away from the nicely-brined pork chop that would have been able to hold its own without being smothered in candy. I learned a long time ago that the secret to the best pork chop was brining it in apple cider + water or some kind of liquid to ensure the moisture is retained. Avoid the scallop appetizer that sounds enticing. It was overcooked and drowning in bacon and bread crumbs and as a bacon-lover I can safely tell you that it wasn't a good thing. The service at dinner was appallingly rude and annoying but breakfast food and service were both good. So much for consistency. Desserts were ok but the portions were ridiculously large.

Now for the worst of "Sideways" country (brace yourself for reminders here at every corner): Avoid Little Mermaid on the main road like the plague. Split-pea soup and a sampler of traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches were below average. There were chicken liver sandwiches topped with beets and pickles and cheese sandwiches topped with radishes and carrots that were ok but not enough to order again. The sausages sampler that came with a scoop of mashed potatoes and green beans looked and tasted like a frozen TV-dinner gone from bad to worse or straight-up plane food. Either way, the worst of images and analogies.

I was seduced by a cute-little shack called the Big Bopper Drive-in and made the mistake of ordering the namesake burger that was so incredibly overpriced (for a shack burger, that is) and positively disgusting. I can't believe they actually sell this as an edible piece of meat in between bread. The tacos are supposed to be ok but I'm not going anywhere near that place again.

So, I had to have the famous Aebleskivers, little fried doughy balls with powdered sugar and raspberry jam that this town is known for. I found the ones at Solvang Restaurant to be too flour-y and didn't like them. But maybe it makes a great one that I just happen not to like.

Here's another tip for winos: Check out Curran, Melville and Lucas & Lewellen tasting rooms for some awesome Pinot Noir and other wines this region is known for. I was ecstatic to have discovered a late harvest white that actually smelled and tasted like it had lychee in it! Priceless.