Cyber Food

An order of steamed New Zealand mussels or a large pepperoni pizza is now just a click away.

Food.com, an online takeout and delivery service, has started recruiting Ventura County eateries to join its Web site.

Here’s how it works: Hungry patrons can log on to https://www.food.com and punch in their street address and zip code to fetch a list of participating restaurants in a given city or neighborhood.

Click on your chosen restaurant to browse menus--for lunch, dinner or otherwise--and place a food order for pickup or delivery. Orders can even be placed days or weeks in advance for all you organized types.

Restaurants can choose to receive orders via fax or a computer-generated telephone call. Once the restaurant receives the order, the customer can expect confirmation via e-mail in about five minutes.

One caveat for local users: There is currently a shortage of area eateries listed on the site, but participation is slowly growing.

“One of the great challenges for us is making contact with the individual restaurants,” said David Gilcreast of the San Francisco-based online company. About 80% of restaurants are individually owned, he said, which makes it difficult to mass-market the concept. So Food.com salespeople rely on the door-to-door approach. “You have to go in and talk to them,” Gilcreast said.

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Jorge Ramirez, proprietor of Landmark No. 78 in Ventura, was recently sold on the cyber idea.

“It will give us more access to our customers and help us find new customers by sending them to our site,” Ramirez said. “It’s about getting our name out there.”

Some of the other participating restaurants:

Ventura: Banana Belt Cantina, Nona’s Courtyard Cafe, Jim & Bob’s Fresh Grill (also in Ojai), Old Vienna Restaurant, Papa John’s Pizza (also in Camarillo, Simi Valley and Oak Park), the Greek at the Harbor and Pastabilities Ristorante.

Thousand Oaks: Enrique’s Mexican Restaurant, Sea Fresh (also in Ojai) and Winner’s Pizza & Pasta.

Oxnard: Port Royal.

Camarillo: California Grill.

About 13,000 restaurants are listed on Food.com, which primarily focuses on major metropolitan markets.

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Unmated Revelers: Maybe you are a single professional bitten by the holiday blues or just looking to share in a little holiday cheer. If so, read on: West Coast Supper Club will hold its Harbor of Lights Holiday Party on Dec. 11.

The Camarillo-based social club for single professionals has reserved the terrace and patio overlooking the water at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, where festivities will be held during the annual Parade of Lights. Party-goers will dine buffet-style while watching the procession of decoratively lighted boats and other vessels chug on by. Dancing and live music will follow the parade.

The 500-member club--whose members range in age from the 20s to early 60s--includes participants from Santa Barbara, Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley. You do not have to be a club member to take part in the holiday party.

DETAILS

The West Coast Supper Club will hold its Harbor of Lights Holiday Party on Dec. 11 beginning at 7 p.m. You do not have to be a member to participate in the event. Registration is required. Cost: $55. For more information or to register, call 388-5589.

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Buche de Noel: Christmas just wouldn’t be the same in France without a yule log. And you can make the venerable custom part of your holiday, too.

A demonstration of the traditional cake roll will be held Tuesday for an installment of the Camarillo Health Care District’s food class series.

Led by Deborah Yaeger of Chefs-on-Call, participants will learn the intricacies of preparing the genoise (sponge cake roll) and garnishments, including chocolate butter cream, meringue mushrooms, lebkuchen (traditional German Christmas cookies), marzipan holly and crystallized flowers.

The class will be held from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Registration is required. Cost: Camarillo and Somis residents, $20; others, $22. Prepayment is required. The class will be held at 3639 E. Las Posas Road. For more information or to register, call 388-1952, Ext. 117.

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On a similar theme: So you know how to make a cake but are short on skills or ideas on how to dress it up? This one’s for you: Santa Paula Community Services Department will hold a holiday cake decorating workshop Saturday morning. You bring a cake, and Calla Dominguez Larson will provide the instruction on how to beautify it with a holiday motif. Larson will have on hand an assortment of cake decorating tools and utensils for the hands-on demonstration.

The class will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Santa Paula Community Center, 530 W. Main St. Cost: $10. For more information or to register, call 933-4226.

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.