A Batch of the Blues : Coffee, pastries and music make for a creative blend at new family-run bakery in Ventura.

The nose catches a whiff of lemon bars as the ears grab hold of the sounds of Miles Davis. The eyes? They’re focused on the Janis Joplin concert poster next to the pastry counter.

There are only a few places in Ventura County where the senses could be occupied in such a way--the newest spot being the Blues Bakery, 518 W. Main St., in downtown Ventura.

The coffeehouse, owned by Bruce Leonard Jr. and his mother, Barbara Leonard, is the newest retail operation to squeeze into the 280-square-foot corridor-like space that for 17 years was home to the Standing Room Only bakery.

“When we were growing up, my brother, my sister and I got tired of hearing my mother say, ‘I want to own a bakery,’ ” said Bruce Leonard, who spent a lot of time sipping coffees, reading up on the retail world and attending culinary shows before opening the bakery. “We just learned from scratch.”

Scratch maybe for son, a journalist by trade whose previous baking experience consisted of about three batches of chocolate chip cookies. Mom, on the other hand, has long been at home in the kitchen.

“I’ve always, always wanted to own a bakery--I’ve only wanted to do two things, writing and baking,” said Barbara Leonard, editorial director for TL Enterprises, publisher of outdoor recreational magazines.

“I’m from South Philadelphia, from an Italian family. We had a very open family and as a girl I was able to go into the kitchen and bake. I have entered cooking and baking contests all my life,” she said.

The combination of Barbara Leonard’s baking skills and the Leonards’ combined trial-and-error dedication, has resulted in some pretty tasty treats to go with quality coffee at the 3-month-old establishment.

Tops on the Blues Bakery charts, so far, have been pumpkin muffins, peanut butter cookies and Memphis Melodies--a square chocolate and peanut butter dessert that pays tribute to a blues haven.

And music, indeed, is part of the experience at this bakery, where the sounds of Davis, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Rodgers, the Rolling Stones and other musical legends are piped onto Main Street.

“I get an awful lot of people who hear the blues and come in,” Bruce Leonard said.

For now, the Blues Bakery is open daytime hours, Tuesdays through Saturdays, but the Leonards are planning to open Sundays or Mondays in the near future.

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Continuing the pattern of the Ventura Chamber Music Festival, music will battle for attention with cuisine Saturday evening.

Festivities will open at 5:30 p.m. with a Festival Finale dinner. Giovanni Tromba and Toby Pope of Ventura Pastabilities restaurant will present a multicourse meal served al fresco in Mission Plaza, at Figueroa Street between Santa Clara and Main streets.

The meal will open with eggplant and zucchini served with Roma tomatoes and sweet-roasted bell peppers atop a bed of mixed greens. Next will be a bow-tie pasta sauteed in Marsala wine and cream sauce with sweet red onions and mushrooms, followed by large prawns sauteed with cognac and garlic in a tomato sauce.

For the main course, Tromba and Pope will present a broiled top sirloin with Dijon mustard and garlic sauce with sun-dried tomatoes. Dessert will be homemade ice cream made from fresh lemons. Each course will be accompanied by wines from Fillmore’s Giessinger Winery.

Shuttle service will be provided from Mission Plaza to the Ventura Theatre, where the Ventura Chamber Music Festival Orchestra will present “Beethoven’s Magnificent Fourth” at 8 p.m.

Cost is $65 for dinner; $29 and $34 for the concert. For reservations, call (805) 648-3146.

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Santa Barbara chocolatier Carmela Herron will team with Francois Joneaux, co-founder of La Maison du Chocolate in Paris, and the Santa Barbara chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food on Tuesday to present--what else--an evening of chocolate and wine.

The indulgences, which will include a dinner catered by Juliana Middleton, will be presented from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Rooftop at La Torre, 1532 State St., fourth floor, in Santa Barbara.

Cost is $40 general, $30 for members of the wine and food institute. Information: (805) 966-1690.