Father Figure

If the way to your dad’s heart is through his stomach then read on.

The restaurant business doesn’t gear up for Father’s Day like it does for mom’s special fete, which is the busiest day of the year for many establishments. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have options for Sunday.

The venerable Boccaccio’s in Westlake Village has drafted a Father’s Day brunch menu. The a la carte offerings will include appetizer, entree and dessert choices.

Appetizers include Caesar salad, seafood ravioli with a light lobster cream sauce and chilled gazpacho with vodka. Appetizer prices range from $5 to $7.

Among the entree options: roast chicken; braised veal; eggs benedict with rissole potato and strawberries; rib eye steak with scrambled eggs over thin fried potatoes; and Maryland-style crab and shrimp cakes with a Chardonnay chives sauce and asparagus. Entrees range from $9.50 to $14.50.

Boccaccio’s is at 32123 W. Lindero Canyon Road. Reservations are required. Hours: brunch, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner, 4-8 p.m. Call (818) 889-8300.

*

2087 An American Bistro in Thousand Oaks--home of contemporary American cuisine with Latin American, Asian and European influences--will serve a buffet-style brunch. Various food stations will be erected throughout the restaurant, including omelet, dessert, salad (salads from the regular menu will also be served) and a roast prime rib carving station. There will also be eggs benedict on brioche, French toast and other fare.

Brunch will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cost: $25 general; $12.95 children under 12. Dinner service from the regular menu will be available from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Reservations are recommended.

The restaurant is at 2087 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Call 374-2087.

*

The loyal clientele at The Plug Nickel Restaurant in Westlake Village will recall the annual Father’s Day event, “Dad Gets to Tie One On.” That’s right folks, past tense. There will be no sixth annual affair, according to owner Dixie Vollmer.

Despite the title, this was not some free-for-all bender. Rather, casually dressed dads would show up at the restaurant outfitted in their most uncomely tie and then exchange it for another from the restaurant’s huge, eclectic collection.

“The idea just kind of ran its course,” Vollmer said. So what happened with all the ties? Vollmer donated more than 500 of them to a local charitable secondhand store.

Retired accouterments aside, The Plug Nickel makes for a nice spot to appreciate dad. The restaurant will serve from its regular Sunday brunch menu from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dads will receive a complimentary glass of champagne.

The Plug Nickel Restaurant is at 717 Lakefield Road, Suite I. Call 495-3469, Ext. 1.

*

If your armchair-quarterback-of-a-father would rather stay home and watch the game on TV, there is still a chance you might rustle him from the recliner. Just tell him you are taking him to Damon’s in Simi Valley. This large, sports-themed steakhouse is outfitted with four gigantic wall-mounted video screens and many more monitors that televise sporting events of all sorts.

An extensive menu includes appetizers, chicken, steak, seafood, salads, ribs galore, sandwiches and children’s fare.

Damon’s is at 2410 Sycamore Drive. On Sunday, the restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Call 582-7427.

*

The Mediterranean-inspired Jonathan’s at Peirano’s in Ventura will prepare three special dinner entrees with a father’s palate in mind. These are baked rack of pork ($16.50), encrusted with herbed crumbs and finished with an apricot-cumberland port wine sauce; baked New Zealand escolar ($15.50) served on a bed of Israeli couscous and topped with a roasted red pepper-olive compound butter; seafood pasta ($15.95) with lemon linguine sauteed with crab, shrimp, scallops and New Zealand mussels tossed with garlic and dill Alfredo sauce.

The restaurant, which will be open Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., will also serve from its regular menu.

Jonathan’s at Peirano’s is at 204 E. Main St. Reservations are suggested. Call 648-4853.

*

Does dad sprechen sie Deutsch? No matter. But if German and continental cuisine are favorites of his, you might try Old Vienna in Ventura. The restaurant--home to classic examples of German, Austrian and Hungarian dishes--will host a special Father’s Day champagne brunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Included will be soup or salad, vegetable, spaetzle, potato pancake, choice of entree, choice of apple strudel or Black Forest torte, plus coffee, tea, champagne or orange juice. Cost: $12.50.

Old Vienna is at 3845 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Call 654-1214.

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.