Ready for a New Era

The transformation is complete. From the tumbledown, cobweb-filled remains of a late 1800s-era brick structure in downtown Ventura comes the Mediterranean-style Jonathan’s at Peirano’s.

The much-anticipated restaurant opens today, with seating beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Boarded up for nearly 15 years and once home to the venerable Peirano Market, the historic landmark has been undergoing rehabilitation in earnest since last October. That’s when the city approved a proposal by Oxnard-based developer KL Associates to renovate the city-owned building.

Tonight, patrons will walk through the building’s original glass doors and step onto 120-year-old Douglas fir hardwood floors. Little else remains of the old grocery market.

The new restaurant--Tuscany-esque in motif and featuring Mediterranean cuisine--is the brainchild of Ventura restaurateurs Jonathan and Sharon Enabnit. He is the creator of Nona’s Courtyard Cafe; she was manager of the Banana Belt Cantina.

Ventura was long known as a meat and potatoes town, so are the Enabnits at all anxious about how locals will take to their fare?

“Not a bit,” Jonathan Enabnit said. “When I started Nona’s, that’s the way things were. It was totally up in the air whether that type of program would work or not.”

Enabnit said he expects to draw patrons from the western end of Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara and Ojai.

“Due to the influx of transplants from culinary hot spots like Santa Barbara and Los Angeles,” he said, “lots of people now live here and they expect more.”

What patrons can expect is an eclectic menu that will feature dishes from Spain, Italy, Morocco, North Africa, France, Greece, Portugal and elsewhere.

“Ventura is ripe for this,” Enabnit said. “I say that because Mediterranean cuisine is fairly simplistic, which is good for Ventura. And you can be real creative because you have 18 different countries to choose from.”

A la carte dinner entrees are moderately priced, with grilled lamb chops the priciest dish at $15.95.

Enabnit has chosen chef Annie Harfield, formerly of Nona’s and other Ventura eateries, to be in charge of the kitchen.

There is something for everyone on the menu, she said, including paella, fish and meat.

“This is a place even vegetarians can come to and enjoy,” she said. “We will emphasize healthy foods.”

The regular menu will be supplemented by a couple of specials each night, plus a risotto, she said.

The rectangular space has an elevated dining area, complete with a vine-covered gazebo structure that serves to break up a rather long room. A wine bar offers about a dozen wines by the glass (and for now, about 40 bottled wines, mostly Californian), and an espresso machine.

Art enthusiasts will enjoy the theme for the room: It was conceived as a part-time gallery. Currently, the textured walls, illuminated by day with the help of two new skylights, feature works by Michael D.B. Kelly. Revolving art shows will change about every three months and will be curated by Kelly.

Indoor seating totals about 75. A patio seats about 40 and offers views of the San Buenaventura Mission.

For the first three weeks or so, Jonathan’s at Peirano’s will be open for dinner only, 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, till 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Lunch will be instituted thereafter, 11:30-2:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Also to follow, Sunday breakfast and brunch programs, coinciding with Masses held at the mission. Light breakfast fare will be available from 8 to 11 a.m.; then brunch items till 2:30 p.m.

The restaurant is at 204 E. Main St. (805) 648-4853.

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Santa Barbara: Mitchell Sjerven is back in business.

After selling his De La Vina Street eatery Meritage in January, Sjerven (pronounced SHER-vin), bided his time scouting a locale for his new progeny, Bouchon.

Yearning for a larger room and a new concept, he landed in the former Oysters’ site on Victoria Street, where he recently celebrated a grand opening and debuted his “Santa Barbara wine country cuisine.”

“We thought equally about the local wine scene and our foods, which are all from local purveyors and producers,” he said.

Sjerven prefers to call Bouchon’s fare “an ingredient-driven menu,” but there is a culinary moniker for it:

“People are always looking for labels--which is normal, we all want to have an idea when we go out--so we’ve chosen French California.”

The French are traditional dishes, like rack of lamb and rabbit, done in the French style but with the addition of fresh California “just got ‘em today,” ingredients, he said.

A la carte entrees ($15-$25), prepared by chef Charles Fredericks and staff, include free range rabbit, chicken and ostrich from the Santa Ynez Valley, escargot from Ojai, and locally harvested seafood.

Sjerven’s deep passion for wines is a major focus at Bouchon (French translation: wine cork). He pours a plethora of California wines by the glass, concentrating heavily on varietals from the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria valleys, Santa Barbara and Monterey counties and the Paso Robles area. An impressive array of wines is also available by the bottle.

Bouchon, featuring country French decor, is open nightly from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Indoors seats about 50, and a garden-setting patio serves 25.

The restaurant is at 9 W. Victoria St., just off State Street. Call (805) 730-1160.

’ Ventura is ripe for this. I say that because Mediterranean cuisine is fairly simplistic, which is good for Ventura. And you can be real creative because you have 18 different countries to choose from.’