County-Grown Edibles Will Enhance Wines at ‘Taste’

Regular visitors to the Summer Open House at Leeward Winery are likely to notice something different about this year’s event.

Namely, more food.

The fifth annual “Taste of Ventura,” to be held Saturday and Sunday at the Ventura winery, will offer a nice selection of food to pair with the winery’s current releases. All of the edibles will be Ventura County grown and prepared, and will represent the county’s many agricultural branches.

“We do grow things here besides condos,” said Leeward owner Chuck Brigham.

The food list will include chocolate-covered strawberries and raspberries from Driscoll Strawberry Associates of Oxnard, sauteed mushrooms from Pictsweet Mushroom Farms of Ventura, lemons from the Saticoy Lemon Assn., oranges from the Fillmore-Piru Citrus Assn. and Caesar salad prepared by Ventura’s Chart House Restaurant.

There will also be a salad made of greens and vegetables from Camarillo’s Underwood Farms, avocados from Oxnard’s Mission Produce and walnuts from the Somis Nut House. Port Hueneme’s James Teschner will provide his own JC’s Midnight Salsa and chips.

Leeward’s 1995 Edna Valley Chardonnay and its 1994 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon, which has yet to be bottled, will top the wines available for sampling.

The open house will run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Admission is free. The winery is located at 2784 Johnson Drive. Call 656-5054 for more information.

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Benny Bitterman and Patricia Cartin may not be household names. But folks who have snacked at the Barnes & Noble Cafe in Santa Barbara have likely tasted some of their creations.

Bitterman, owner of Bitterman’s Deli, and Cartin, owner of Trish’s Wholesale Food and Catering, both of Santa Barbara, will be among the presenters Sunday when the bookstore hosts a Cafe Cooking Festival.

A representative from Sweet Street’s Gourmet Desserts and a certified party planner from Grande Affair, a Santa Barbara party and catering service, will also be on hand.

“We are highlighting some of our vendors and the products we serve out of our cafe,” said Kevin Irwin, supervisor of the Barnes & Noble Cafe. “A lot of our vendors have catering services as part of their businesses.”

Bitterman will bring along a meat tray and Cartin is expected to prepare a pasta dish, Caesar salad and cookies. Irwin said guests will get to sample a variety of desserts from the Pennsylvania-based Sweet Street’s operation.

The festival will run 1-4 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 829 State St. For more information call 962-8509.

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Calling all backyard chefs.

Mimi’s Cafe, a bistro-style restaurant chain with an establishment in Thousand Oaks, is sponsoring a barbecue-sauce contest as a way of promoting several new barbecue dishes on its menu.

Sauce makers are asked to mail their recipes, along with name, address and phone number, to BBQ Bake-Off, c/o Frank Groff Public Relations, 249 E. Ocean Blvd., Suite 1010, Long Beach, CA 90802. Deadline is noon Saturday.

Entries will be judged on flavor, use of ingredients and creativity. Ten finalists will be chosen for a grill-off Aug. 19 in Irvine.

In keeping with the theme, the 23 restaurants in the Mimi’s chain are serving BBQ Chicken Benedict ($7.25), a BBQ Beef Sandwich ($6.50), BBQ King Salmon ($9.95), BBQ Chicken ($8.50), BBQ Chicken and Ribs ($9.50) and BBQ Back Ribs ($10.50). These items will be available only through Labor Day.

Locally, Mimi’s is at 400 N. Moorpark Road. For more contest information, call (310) 491-1000.