Discovering Ojai, California and its Food

This past week, Jeff and I visited Ojai, California and stayed at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Ojai is located just south of Santa Barbara and about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. It is known for its relaxed atmosphere and art galleries (and probably other things too but that’s what I picked up on).

On Sunday morning (last Sunday), I went on a beautiful and relaxing run to explore the resort and town. I started around 7 am (it was a bit chilly) and took my time getting to the downtown area. There were a few restaurants open for breakfast, but instead, I found Diaz’s Bakery (which was more like a donut shop) located across from the Sunday Farmers Market. (Sorry, but no Web site for Diaz’s.)

I need to point out one quick thing about donuts … I am very, very, VERY picky about my donuts. I tend to stick to the old fashion, sour cream donuts or cake donuts. They need to be just right – just enough crispness on the edges to remind me they’ve been fried. To sum it up … With the right donut, I find myself wishing that I could eat one every single day!

While Diaz’s did not offer cake style donuts, they did have huge (huge!), cinnamon roll-style donuts. I was so, so very tempted but was a little afraid to start my week of vacation with that much goodness. Besides, I was running back to the hotel (or at least walking). So, I settled (but not really “settled”) for a bag of donut holes and a water. The donut holes were perfect. Just like a Daylight Donut donut hole. And another thing that is worth mentioning, they have bottles of soda in the glass bottles … 7-Up, Dr. Pepper, and more.

While this post is about Ojai and its food, I have to also make it about donuts because it is one of my top favorite foods. So, here is my list of some of my Top 3 donut shops.

1) Daylight Donuts (Daylight Donuts is NUMERO UNO because it is consistently good, where ever you go! Most recently visited Daylight Donuts: Breckenridge, CO)

2) Winchell’s Donuts located on Broadway and Louisana in Denver, CO (Not all Winchell’s are alike … you have to try this one!)

3) Diaz’s Bakery in Ojai, California (It was just that good!)

So where else did we eat in Ojai, or at least in the area? How about another list so I am not wasting your time?! (These are in no special order because they are all very different.)

1) Auberge – (Type: French / American ) – I had the richest, most wonderful food here. From a starter of grilled prawns with risotto in a rich buttery sauce to a vegetarian pasta and mushroom entree to traditional berry cobbler and vanilla ice cream, the food was amazing.  (Too bad our server was a bit odd.)

2) Sushi Planet - (Type: Sushi) – We traveled to Camarillo for this treat. My first response was that it is the freshest sushi I’ve ever had. And dessert was a new one for me, sticky rice and mango. So glad we made the drive for this one.

3) Gainey Vineyard - (Type: Picnic Lunch) – After touring the Gainey Vineyard, we were served lunch on the front lawn. From picnic tables to fancy BLT sandwiches and veggie chips, it was so much fun, and the weather and scenery was beautiful.

This week, I am heading to Denver. I will be sure to bring you more favorites from Colorado!

Alive After 5

I am trying to create new posts on Thursdays, for me and anyone else who may read these regularly. So, you can see this is post is coming a bit later than I would like, but Jeff and my “outing” was on Thursday night this past week and then we left Saturday for Ojai, California. So, I am just now getting to this.

But, that also means a week of great food in California! 

We went to Alive After Five, a neighborhood gathering located on the historic Canton Street in Roswell. It happens every third Thursday of the month, running from April to October. In summary, all the shops, galleries and cafes stay open late, until around 9 p.m. There is live music, and local associations and non-profit mingling about. And, an added bonus … the restaurants serve their drinks in plastic cups so you can stand outside and enjoy the festivities with friends.

This was a first for Jeff and me, and we met a couple friends, Tracy and Bob who also live in Roswell, at Pastis. And then, there was their friends, Tom and Jason, who seemed to have 10 more friends. And, they all know Ali, the bartender at Pastis. We spent most of our time drinking beer from plastic cups and “meeting the neighborhood” from the entry of Pastis.

The highlights on the night … 1) spending time with Bob and Tracy 2) experiencing Alive After Five for the first time 3) eating amazing calamari from Pastis!

Also, it is yet to be determined, but another highlight … you might just see Bob, Tracy and I smiling in the local newspaper this week!

On to Ojai …

Classic … And Far From!

Officially, my second post.

Last Friday, I had a hair appointment at Soda Salon, a great hair place that is the “perfect mix of historic beauty and modern functionality and comfort” (according to their Web site – they’ve said it so perfectly). It is located in historic Roswell and conveniently, it is in walking distance from Jeff and my house (introduce Jeff – the fiance). The salon is great. If you are in the Atlanta area, you really should at least take a peak at their Web site … but, the point of my blog is the classic tale of gossip at the salon and how it led me to some excellent eating spots this past weekend. (I am only going to tell you about one though … suspense).

Lindsey, my petite little stylist, was telling me her favorite local restaurants, and among her top choices (and ones that Jeff and I have not tried yet) were Flying Biscuit (claiming it may be better than J. Christopher’s which is right next door and already a favorite of mine … humm, we’ll see), Oak Street Cafe, Fickle Pickle, and Pure.  And by their descriptions and her recommendations, three of them were better suited for breakfast or lunch, so that left Pure, a Mexican place about 10 minutes north of our house. 

So, it was margaritas and guacamole! … But to be honest, I didn’t get my hopes up very quickly because everyone likes their Mexican just a little different. (And, that’s worth an entire separate post.) And besides, we were in North Atlanta. (I don’t technically know what North Atlanta is, but here I am referring to north of the Perimeter, or I-285 loop.) A part of me wondered how much atmosphere can a little Mexican place have in this area. In all seriousness, it could have been in a strip mall.

The Atmosphere.

Turns out that Pure Taqueria (the official name) is far from classic! It is a fun, contemporary restaurant located in an old garage or filling station. The atmosphere is full of energy, and the decor is modern mixed with elements from the past …  Probably 1920s, when the garage was built. Jeff also made the comment that there were lots of beautiful people …

The Server.

Our server was fantastic. Jeff instantly made friends when he tried to order fried rice, thinking that’s what rice is called at Asian and Mexican restaurants. (Seriously?!) So the server offered Jeff a wasabi margarita for his next round, and to top off the night, he showed up wearing an Asian (sumo wrestler, maybe?) Halloween mask. What are the odds?! Great service, amazing attitude!

The Food.

Round 1: Guac! and house margaritas. Huge bowl of guac. Fresh chucks of avocado with a kick of lime (and some spice) with each bite. Delicious! Margaritas = Average. But, that was our fault for ordering house margaritas!

Round 2: Fish tacos and chicken enchiladas. (Pure uses authentic Spanish names for the entrees, just a little something that makes the menu fun and unique.) The food was so amazing that I ate as much as I possibly could, until I just could not have one more bite.

My summary.

So delicious that I found myself wanting my friends who live in Denver and Kansas City and New York to be in Atlanta so that I could share it with them right that moment. So, I texted my friend Jo to let her know of our discovery … I think it went something like this “I found a Mexican place that you would dance on the tables for! Amazing guac. Way hip. Way Jo! The name is Pure.”

Did I mention they offer complimentary valet?

 

 

Who am I? Why this blog?

Recently engaged and very new to Atlanta, I am eager to discover everything the South has to offer. Especially, the amazing food … My food exploration will include Atlanta as well as any place worth sharing along the way. I’ll get to all that in my second post because I want to give you a little background on how I got here (to creating a blog).

So, Who am I? Why this blog?

Almost three years ago, I moved to Denver from Kansas and began working for a start-up technology company, Efficient Forms, with probably 15 employees total. I was hired to do sales. (Note: I had no sales experience, and it was cold calling, nonetheless.) Tech company. Start-up. Denver. All pretty normal.

Here is the twist for me. I came from a marketing organization for the insurance industry … sales environment … 150 employees … average age around 28 … my job was to give away Corvettes and Harleys, help plan reward trips and employee events, produce a monthly magazine, and other really fun and amazing things. It was B2B marketing, and my target audience was insurance agents. (One more note: I was young, loved my job, and a bit naive … and maybe a little arrogant too.)

My new job and environment was shocking. So shocking that it took me well over a year to adjust to the change. BTW, I am back in marketing, and I am getting to the point so stick with me …

Last summer, the tech company decided to launch a product for consumers – high school seniors to be exact. (Check out CollegeZapps.com!) Everything I learned about marketing over the previous five years went out the door, and the past year has been an “experience.” Let me introduce just a few of the things that I have learned and I am still learning and will continue to learn: blogs … MySpace … Facebook … YouTube … MyYearbook.com … what’s next?!

BTW, I am not that old. I am still in my twenties … So, technically, I should have probably known a little more about all of this. But, I had this “opinion” about people my age who had a blog or spent time on MySpace. Seriously?

What I have come to realize is I was really the one who was totally in the dark. The tech people who I work with and who I originally had such a hard time figuring out … well, they are different than me, and they are wonderfully different. They have opened my eyes to a really great, new techy world. They have introduced me to things (like blogs) that I need for my job, that allow me to understand my new target audience (and my younger sister), and to things that I would have probably never explored myself. And for the long-run, all of this is the key to Generation Next who I will be working and communicating with very soon in the workplace.

Seriously, where was I for the past six years (okay, five years because I have come a long way in the past year)?!

So from here on out, there will be very little techy talk. I’d much rather share about my favorite place to eat breakfast on Saturday morning (with very little Atlanta knowledge, how about J. Christopher’s in Roswell – hello tummy!) or the amazing seared scallops I had last weekend at Barnsley Gardens Resort in Adairsville, Georgia. And, in case you were wondering, I love everything from donuts, onion rings, and beer to shopping at Whole Foods and striving to eat my recommended daily fruits and veggies. 

P.S. Thank you, Chris Kasten, for your patience with me and for being so hip. (Is “hip” really the right thing to say with Generation Next? In this case, I really don’t care. I think you are hip.)