Sensory Feast

Dining at the Local Squeeze in Westlake Village is an experience for all of the senses--at least, it is during a full moon. When that occurs, for taste and smell there’s the restaurant’s health-oriented cuisine, of course. For sight, there’s a new art exhibit. For sound, there’s a musical act (also changing monthly). And as for touch, there are 10-minute foot massages.

The next full moon, barring an extraordinary celestial event, will be Nov. 14, and the restaurant will be in full swing, with the artist Dov showing his paintings and the duo Jazz 911 providing the music.

“It’s about waking up the language of our senses. The idea is to get a little bit more communication between people who live in the community,” said Dean Fransem, who serves as a liaison between the restaurant and its customers.

“It’s certainly not something that’s for everybody,” Fransem said. “If you’re not interested in it, that’s fine; we’re not on a crusade. We just want to make this available in this area, so people don’t have to drive into the Valley or into Santa Barbara.”

Local Squeeze is at 30869 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Westlake Village.

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Not much has changed in the 34 years Chester’s Asia Chinese Restaurant has been in business.

“The restaurant was redecorated about two years ago, but the outside still looks like the original,” said Keith Kwan, owner since 1981. “Families have been coming here for generations and generations, grandchildren, daughters, great-granddaughters.”

As a thank you to all those return customers, Chester’s is offering anniversary lunch and dinner specials, with discounted drinks, through November.

Lunch includes soup of the day, egg roll and fried wonton appetizers and an entree of barbecue pork fried rice served with either mixed Sichuan vegetables, beef with oyster sauce, cashew chicken, three-flavor mixed vegetables, three-flavor Szechuan or chicken with plum sauce. The price range is $3.95 to $5.35.

Dinner includes a soup of the day, paper-wrapped chicken and egg roll appetizers, barbecue pork fried rice and a selection of main dishes for $9.75 and $10.75.

Chester’s is at 2216 Pickwick Drive, Camarillo.

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Ventura’s Leeward Winery will open a barrel of its 1995 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for its annual holiday open house, Saturday and Sunday.

Guests will have an opportunity to compare the taste of the barrel vintage with the winery’s current Cabernet Sauvignon release.

Capistrano’s restaurant of Oxnard will provide food samplings to accompany the wine.

The open house will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

Admission is free. The winery is located at 2784 Johnson Drive.

For more information, call 656-5054.

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If you can maneuver around the World Wide Web and you also can prepare a nice batch of chili, you’re something quite special.

And, more important, you’re also well-equipped to enter the virtual turkey-chili cook-off being sponsored by the Honeysuckle White Turkey company of Springdale, Ark.

Cyber-cooks are being invited to submit recipes, by e-mail only, in the traditional red chili category (prepared with tomatoes and red or brown beans) or white chili (made with navy, kidney or white beans, but no tomatoes). All recipes must, of course, include turkey.

Deadline for entry is Monday. Complete contest rules and an entry form are available on the Honeysuckle Web site at https://www.honeysucklewhite.com/turkey