Giovanni Tromba, owner of four Ventura County...

Giovanni Tromba, owner of four Ventura County restaurants and a chef in his own right, will cook up the jambalaya for a Mardi Gras party Saturday at Ventura’s Poinsettia Pavilion. The event is a benefit for Christopher House, a residential care facility for people with AIDS.

“I’ll prepare the jambalaya from a recipe by Paul Prudhomme, but I’ll make some adjustments,” Tromba said. “I’ll use (ingredients) I feel would be in a lighter, healthier style. I’ll use light herbs and it won’t be so spicy.”

Tromba will prepare a jambalaya with Italian sausage, as well as a vegetarian version.

The party begins at 7 p.m. with games, a silent auction and other festivities throughout the evening. Costume attire is requested, but not required. Tickets, available by phone or at the door, are $25 (general), $15 (seniors and students). Call 653-0468 for reservations.

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The Gallery restaurant at Ventura’s Doubletree Hotel underwent major menu changes recently and customer response has been positive, said Executive Chef Gil Scorse.

“Because we had so much input from customers, we have added quite a bit to our vegetarian, light and health-food section,” Scorse said. “Year after year it seems we get more requests for vegetarian items. People want variety, not just steamed vegetables.”

Among the more popular of the new dishes is an Italian sandwich of grilled vegetables, cheese and olives on a seven-grain roll.

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Ojai rancher and restaurateur DeWayne Bocalli will do double duty at the Ojai Valley Historical Society and Museum’s annual lunch-meeting Sunday. Not only is he catering the affair, but he will also discuss a little bit of the Ojai Valley’s wine-making history.

The Bocalli ranch, in upper Ojai, used to be the site of a long-forgotten 10- to 15-acre winery built about the turn of the century.

“The facility is still there, but it’s fallen in. It was quite a large deal. It wasn’t just some home winery,” said Bocalli, owner of Bocalli’s Pizza & Pasta on Santa Paula-Ojai Road. “It had all rock walls. The cellar was about 20 feet wide and 60 feet long and went back into the hills.”

One other historical note: The museum lunch will be held at 5334 Reeves Road, former location of the Simoni Winery.