Supper Man

The bygone two-martini lunch. Too much competition. A young daughter and yet-to-be-born son. Those are most of the reasons why the venerable Le Rendezvous restaurant in Newbury Park is changing its hours of operation beginning Monday.

“After 25 years we are closing for lunch,” said owner Francois Zanni Jr.

When Zanni’s father opened the business in the early ‘70s, the restaurant’s hearty country French cuisine was a hit with imbibing good ol’ boy networking types and ranchers alike.

“We were the biggest place for lunch because we were the only restaurant around,” Zanni said. “Those were also the days when the salesman would schmooze the buyer and they would drink two or three martinis apiece. So you needed a full-time bartender and three or four waitresses just to keep up with all the drinks.”

While daily numbers ranged about 80-120 lunchtime patrons, dinner service lagged far behind.

Then the landscape changed, figuratively and literally.

Gone is the business environment that once condoned, even encouraged, noontime drinking. Gone, too, are the nearby industrial centers and all those San Fernando Valley commuters in need of a lunch spot.

The Conejo Valley’s eminent transformation from hinterland to bedroom community/burgeoning metropolis flip-flopped Le Rendezvous’ business. “Dinner business was never that good because most people would go back home to the Valley at the end of the day,” Zanni said. Today, the opposite: dinner business is thriving; lunchers average about 20.

“You start thinking, ‘Why am I really here?’ ” Zanni said. “I run the place by myself pretty much. I have a 16-month-old daughter and a son on the way. Instead of making a little money, I just figure I would be better off at home with my kids.”

Zanni will use the extra time to work on some projects--a new wine bar is planned for April--and concentrate more on his upscale French continental cuisine.

“When I work lunches I have to be at the front door and I don’t have time to work with my cooks,” he said. “Now I will be able to work on new recipes and things without having to worry about anybody being in the dining room.”

DETAILS

Le Rendezvous is at 1282 Newbury Road, Newbury Park. Dinner hours: Monday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m; Sunday, 3 to 9 p.m. Call 498-1019.

*

As Vern Dransfeldt sees it, the Ventura County Food & Wine Festival “is a three-way benefit.”

Dransfeldt is chairman of the annual Conejo Valley Rotary fund-raiser, which will be held Sunday at The Oaks shopping center. Now in its 14th year, the popular event attracts about 1,800 people who traipse about the first floor of The Oaks, station to station, filling their bellies with the foods and wines brought there by an array of vendors.

“The public themselves have a very enjoyable evening,” said Dransfeldt, explaining his three-way theory. “The business owners use this as an advertising medium. And the Conejo Valley Rotary gets profit for its fund-raiser through the admission, which goes to all of our programs we run through the Conejo Valley Foundation.”

The Cheesecake Factory, Fins Seafood Grill, Le Rendezvous restaurant, Outback Steak House, Taj of India and Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill are just some of the 25 purveyors that will be serving samples of their foods and other products.

Among the 40 or so wineries and wine sellers that will pour samples: Daume Winery, Firestone Vineyard, Geissinger Winery, Kenwood Vineyards, Leeward Winery, Old Creek Ranch Winery and Rolling Hills Vineyard.

The evening includes entertainment by live bands. Attendees will receive a souvenir wine glass.

DETAILS

The Ventura County Food & Wine Festival will be held from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday at The Oaks shopping center, 222 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Call for advance tickets and more information at 371-1500.

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.