Fresh Approach

The barbecue chef needed 1,500 fresh, warm tortillas delivered ASAP.

For many on the receiving end of the order, it would have seemed a monumental, perhaps impossible job. But for husband and wife, George and Iris Van Hemert, it was just another day at the office.

The Van Hemerts own the new Ventura Tortilla Factory, 950 N. Ventura Ave., on the former, though fully renovated, site of a welding-supply outlet. The factory is lined with sacks and sacks of corn and is equipped with stone corn grinders and corn cookers.

Thanks to the equipment, the 15,000-tortilla task was completed in less than an hour.

“This is the old-fashioned way to make tortillas,” George Van Hemert said. “It’s labor-intensive.”

But, Iris Van Hemert said, the effort is worth it. “We want to offer a quality product, a true tortilla,” she said. “You can appreciate the taste more. You have control over everything.”

A combination restaurant and tortilla-making establishment, the factory is the first culinary operation for the Van Hemerts. But the couple’s combined background seems to be a good match for such a place.

George Van Hemert is a former supervisor at Proctor & Gamble (he used his retirement fund to purchase the factory). Iris Van Hemert has spent years in the kitchens of herparents’ restaurants in Ventura County.

“When I was 10 years old, my father said, ‘You cook,’ ” she said.

Tortilla production goes on in the back of the facility and is open to customers interested in the process. A glass window separates the kitchen from a fast-food style restaurant at the front.

The menu includes meat, chicken and tongue tacos (85 cents), burritos ($1.85 to $2.75), tostadas ($1.95), fish tacos ($1.65), huaraches ($1.45), quesadillas ($1.35) and a variety of hamburgers ($1.65 to $2.15).

Corn tortillas are available at 69 cents for a dozen and $1.49 for three dozen. Flour tortillas are $1.69 per dozen. Tortilla masa itself can be purchased at 1 pound for $1.35 or five pounds for $5.

“In the Hispanic community, fresh tortillas are a draw,” George Van Hemert said. “There’s a large Hispanic community in Ventura that goes all the way to Oxnard to buy fresh masa for tortillas.”

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How does a spinach, brie and roasted garlic omelet sound? What about poached salmon with dill sauce? These dishes are among the entrees on the prix fixe Sunday brunch menu, which debuted last weekend at 71 Palm restaurant in Ventura.

The meal, served from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., includes fruit or mixed baby greens salad, glasses of orange juice and champagne, coffee and tea.

The entree selection includes the omelet and salmon selections as well as eggs Benedict Florentine, grilled pork chops with Dijon mustard sauce and roasted tri tip and eggs.

A dessert of the day rounds out the $18.95 meal.

Chef and owner Didier Poirer also provides diners with a la carte brunch options.

There is a selection of salads ($3.75 to $5.75); appetizers, including oysters on the half-shell ($7.75) and smoked-salmon pate ($7.75). Entrees include chicken sausage and scrambled eggs with herbs ($8.95), crepes filled with strawberry preserves and sour cream ($8.95), and an onion, potato and cheese frittata ($8.75).

All entrees include French country potatoes and vegetables.

The restaurant is at 71 Palm St. For reservations, call (805) 653-7222.

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Speaking of new offerings at local French restaurants, Cafe Provencal in Thousand Oaks will introduce an occasional dinner show, or as they say more dramatically in France “diner spectacle,” beginning May 24.

What it means, in French or English, is a combination of entertainment--in this case provided by comedian Bobby Burton and magician Richard Burr, and a multicourse meal--provided by restaurateurs Florence and Serge Bonet.

Comedy and magic are self-explanatory.

As for the menu, it will open with avocado, asparagus and shrimp salad followed by a tataki, a French-Hawaiian style dish of tuna with rice. The main course will be roasted leg of lamb with figs and mint sauce. Lemon tart with lavender will be served for dessert. Each course will include a glass of wine.

Seating will be at 6 p.m. Cost is $65. The restaurant is at 2310 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. For reservations, call (805) 375-1070.