Southern Comfort

Even while Billy Davis was calculating complicated mathematics for submarine warfare projects at Point Mugu naval base, in the back of his mind he was thinking about something else.

Barbecue. Southern, Louisiana-style cooking.

So it’s not too surprising that just months after his December retirement from his mathematician job at the base, he opened Jamison Q Bar-B-Que Restaurant in Oxnard.

For years, Davis, 53, had been running barbecue concessions at venues throughout Ventura County, and for a brief period in 1969 he operated Bill’s Bar-B-Que at Wooley Road and H Street. A full-scale barbecue restaurant was the next logical step.

“I always wanted to get back into restaurants,” said Davis, who teaches computer systems analysis in the Ventura County Community College District. “Truthfully, the real thing that appeals to me is satisfying the customers--having something they want and providing it to them.”

Jamison Q’s menu includes barbecue tri tip, pork spare ribs and chicken, along with red beans and rice, collard greens, sweet potato pie, pecan pie and cobbler. Davis plans to introduce more dishes--including grilled catfish, gumbo, Cajun rice and vegetables, black-eyed peas and fried corn--as diners familiarize themselves with Southern cuisine.

“I find people knowledgeable about barbecue, but not too knowledgeable about Southern cooking,” he said. “In the South, it’s the spices, highly spiced food, nothing bland. It jumps right out at you.”

Davis credits his mother (and restaurant namesake), Leola Jamison Davis, with providing much of the culinary expertise. Recipes for the restaurant’s barbecue sauce and many of its traditional Southern dishes were culled from her memories of growing up on a Louisiana farm.

“I do some of the cooking,” Davis said, “but my mom and sister do most of it. My mom is 83 years old and she still hand-makes . . . all of the desserts.”

And Davis’ mother can take credit for the distinctive “Q” sauce as well, Davis said. “She first made the recipe in 1969 and has perfected it over the years.”

* Jamison Q is at 2077 N. Oxnard Blvd., in the Lemon Grove Plaza.

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It’s not candy, but wine and appetizers will certainly suffice for a grownup-style Halloween trick-or-treat.

Wine Lovers bar and shop in Ventura will serve food from Oak View’s Avanti restaurant, and drink from Moonshine Vineyards of the Napa Valley at a masquerade ball Friday. The Ojai Blues Band will provide the music.

Guests arriving (in some form of costume) at 7 p.m. may partake in the tasting and the ball for $15. Those arriving at 8 may participate in the ball only ($10).

* Wine Lovers is at 1067 E. Thompson Blvd. For reservations call (805) 652-1810.

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Cookbook author Marcella Hazan will visit the Let’s Get Cookin’ culinary school in Westlake Village on Saturday to sign her latest guide to Italian cuisine.

“Marcella Cucina” (HarperCollins) includes nearly 200 recipes representing various regional Italian foods--from the Adriatic coast to Italy’s wine country. The cookbook will be available for $35 (only books purchased at Let’s Get Cookin’ will be signed).

Hazan will sign her book from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

After the signing, at 2 p.m., the school will offer a bread-baking class by Betsy Oppenneer, author of “The Bread Book” and a consultant and spokeswoman for the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Catalogue.

Cost of the class is $55. Let’s Get Cookin’ is at 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road. To reserve a book for the book signing or to sign up for the bread class, call (818) 991-3940.