Sandwiched by Rent

Last week the Avants’ closed the doors for good to their Lunch Basket shop in the 500 block of Main Street.

For 14 years, the Ventura natives have served up home-style sandwich fare and health foods to downtown business folks and passersby. They were hoping an infusion of new customers attracted by a spruced-up downtown would sustain their business for years to come.

In the end, though, it is the area’s eagerly anticipated economic growth that put them out of business on Main Street. While the city’s considerable redevelopment efforts are beginning to succeed, rent prices in turn are rising higher and higher.

“Our rent was $1,300 and it was going to $3,300,” Charlie Avants said. “There is just no way. We would have to raise prices so high, nobody would be able to afford a sandwich.”

The erstwhile Lunch Basket is housed in a former bakery--a roomy and now pricey space measuring over 2,000 square feet. The Avants searched for a smaller, less expensive site in the downtown area, but a dearth of small tenant space made a relocation impossible, Charlie Avants said.

The Avants have not given up on the food business. The Lunch Basket will begin anew Sept. 7 at a new locale: inside the Growing Company, a floral and gift shop on Telegraph Road.

Owner Amon Aharon Ezer has struggled for the last year to complement his flower sales with a small cafe operation. He is ready to hand over the reins to somebody who understands the food industry.

“It’s an adorable place,” Vicki Avants said. “I love it. It will be a much smaller operation, but I can still do what I want.”

Customers at the former Lunch Basket site will recognize much of Vicki’s newly drafted menu. Health-conscious foods will remain a priority. The cafe’s smallish menu will be greatly expanded to include salads, several more sandwiches, a garden burger and soups. There will also be smoothies, espresso, cappuccino, fresh-squeezed juices and light breakfast fare.

“It’s going to be a tough road,” Vicki said. “We’re hoping our customers won’t forget us and they will call us on a delivery.”

DETAILS

The relocated Lunch Basket will open Sept. 7 inside the Growing Company, a floral and gift shop at 5944 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday hours have yet to be determined. Call 644-7950.

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School’s In: Cooking show host Barbara Pool Fenzl will lead a class at the Let’s Get Cookin’ school in Westlake Village on Tuesday.

Fenzl is the author of “Savor the Southwest,” the companion cookbook to her current PBS series on Southwest-style cuisine. She will instruct class participants on how to prepare the following menu: smoked salmon quesadillas, chilled tomato soup with cilantro creme frai^che, pork tenderloin in corn husks with pineapple salsa, saute of chayote squash and goat cheese poundcake with blackberry crisp.

DETAILS

The Let’s Get Cookin’ school in Westlake Village will continue its series of classes with “Savor the Southwest” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Cost: $60. The cooking school is at 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road, Westlake Village. For more information or to register, call (818) 991-3940.

Rodney Bosch writes about the restaurant scene in Ventura County and outlying points. He can be reached at 653-7572, fax 653-7576 or by e-mail at: rodney.bosch@latimes.com.