Budding Business

Whether it’s the Ash Street Coffee House, the Ash Street Cafe or the Ash St. Gardens, there’s little chance that folks going to the establishment in downtown Ventura will question its location.

The Ash Street (fill in the blank) at Ash and Main streets recently took on its third incarnation, as the Gardens, under the guidance of restaurateur and businessman Todd Winokur.

Winokur, owner of Cafe Voltaire at Ventura’s Livery building, plans to offer at least two gourmet dinner-music programs at the Ash St. Gardens each month.

It will open officially Saturday at 8 p.m. with a free performance by the blues-rock duo Jones & Jones.

No dinner will be served, but appetizers will be available.

On April 21, fiddler Phil Salazar and guitarist Jonathan McEuen will perform ($5 admission), with post-concert food available for an additional fee.

But it will be Winokur’s March 28 event that will really set the tone for the new Ash St. Gardens.

Plans call for a five-course Guatemalan dinner, backed by the music of veteran Ventura County musician Alan Thornhill. And April 24, the restaurant will host a seven-course Persian feast, with belly dancers providing the entertainment.

“I want everything here to be a special event, something you want to talk about,” Winokur said.

“It will all be within the realms of what the city is going to let us do,” he said.

“We’re trying to keep everything low-key and classy, upscale and really nice, so nobody could possibly take offense. We want to make sure everybody is happy we’re here.”

The March 28 menu, Winokur said, will be typical of the type of ethnic gourmet dinners he has planned for Ash St. Gardens.

It will open with Argentine empanadas--a pastry filled with spinach, garlic and feta cheese; another with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato and ricotta cheese; and a third with chicken, corn and pumpkin.

Following a Greek salad and a Guatemalan soup will be a choice of entrees--baked salmon stuffed with jalapenos, tomatoes and cream sauce and wrapped in banana leaves; a Middle Eastern steak or vegetarian kabob served with basmati rice, saffron and stewed tomatoes; or a Guatemalan chiles relleno with ground lamb, potatoes and carrots, served with Guatemalan black beans and rice.

For dessert, Winokur’s wife, Evie Winokur, will prepare relleno with plantains, sweet pureed black beans and a powdered sugar.

She will also serve her corn tortilla coffee, a Guatemalan coffee made with barbecued tortillas.

The dinner and concert will cost $30 per person. There will be seatings at 6 and 8 p.m. For reservations, call Ash St. Gardens at 648-6139 or Cafe Voltaire at 641-1743.

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Sweeney’s restaurants in Camarillo and inside the Macy’s department store at The Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks are accepting donations of canned food for the Manna food bank serving eastern Ventura County.

For each can dropped off through Tuesday, donors will receive one entry to win a trip for two, with hotel accommodations and meals, to Ireland.

Sweeney’s will cap off St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with dinners Tuesday night at both restaurants. The menu will not stray far from tradition--corned beef and cabbage and boiled potatoes.

Seatings at both restaurants will be at 5 and 7 p.m. Dinner is free, but guests will be asked to donate money to Manna.

Bud Sweeney, owner of the two restaurants, said he wants to use the opportunity to assist the community and to make sure diners are aware of his 7-month-old site in Camarillo and his relocation in The Oaks mall.

For 11 years, Sweeney’s restaurant had its own site at the shopping center, but when its lease was not renewed, the establishment found a new home inside Macy’s.

Sweeney’s in Camarillo is at 315 Arneill Road. The Oaks shopping center is at 222 W. Hillcrest Drive. For reservations to the St. Patrick’s Day dinner, call 527-6543.