Yucatecan Aspirations : Restaurateur hopes to expand flavor, introduce new region to downtown Ventura.

Ventura restaurateur Jonathan Enabnit is looking to stretch the proverbial envelope in downtown Ventura’s culinary scene.

Already the proprietor of the Mediterranean-styled Jonathan’s at Peirano’s, Enabnit wants to bring an eatery to The Livery that would look to Mexico’s southeastern-most state for inspiration.

“We are in the negotiation phase of doing an upscale restaurant with Yucatecan cuisine,” Enabnit said. “It’s not a done deal, but everybody connected with this venture is very excited about it.”

The late-summer departure of Cafe Voltaire to another downtown location will allow the entrance of a new restaurant at the courtyard site, which is owned by developer Jim Mesa.

Mesa said he and Enabnit are hammering out details of a lease agreement and logistics of refurbishing The Livery to make room for a full-service restaurant.

Renovations would include using the old Cutting Edge Pizza Factory site as a kitchen and removing a wall for more dining space.

“I’m going to redo the facade of the building and the inside for a more upscale feel,” Mesa said. “We’ll also rehab the existing bar so it’s more conducive to the style of the restaurant.”

Enabnit’s chosen name for the would-be restaurant is Damiana, after an herb that grows throughout Mexico and is thought to be an aphrodisiac.

Yucatecan cuisine would certainly be a new concept for Ventura.

“I think the timing is just right,” said Enabnit, who also created Nona’s Courtyard Cafe at the Bellamaggiore Inn.

“The culinary scene in Ventura is getting to be more and more diverse and people are opening up. Venturans are becoming a lot more receptive to new ideas,” he said.

Traditional foods of the Yucatan peninsula, home to many Maya and Toltec sites, are unique to the region and differ from other more common Mexican fare.

“They use a variety of beans and rices,” Enabnit said. “But what’s really striking to me is how many of the different types of foods there incorporate fresh fruits and fresh seafood.

“There’s really nothing like it around here. And I happen to think there would be a tremendous market for it.”

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Wanted: a tenant for the newly shuttered Gael’s Cafe Restaurant in Ojai.

A dearth of customers forced chef-owner Gael Lecolley out of business after about seven months. Building owner Ron Fitzgerald is determined to find another restaurant suitor to set up digs, despite the site’s recent troubles.

Before Gael’s Cafe Restaurant, there was Nora’s Bistro. Fitzgerald and his wife, Barbara, took over the Italian eatery in April 1998 after owner Thomas Marshall declared bankruptcy. Lecolley was then brought in to run the kitchen. The Fitzgeralds subsequently leased the site to Lecolley in June 1998.

The large restaurant--located in Fitzgerald Plaza at Ojai Avenue and Montgomery Street--features upstairs and downstairs dining spaces.

“The right party that knows the restaurant business could make a real success out of it,” Ron Fitzgerald said.

As for Lecolley: “I put a lot of energy into [Gael’s],” he said. “It just wasn’t the right idea for Ojai. For the type of restaurant that I am trying to do and the type of food there was not enough audience in Ojai to support it.”

Lecolley said he is looking to move to Los Angeles and attempt to launch another restaurant venture.

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The Westlake Culinary Institute will offer “A Lucky St. Patrick’s Day Menu” as part of its Let’s Get Cookin’ series of classes. On Wednesday, Tim McGrath will instruct participants in the preparation of traditional foods for the Irish holiday.

Menu items include Finnan Haddie potato-onion cakes with chives cream; Blarney cheese and Harps Lager beer soup; Irish whiskey braised chicken with parsleyed potatoes, savory cabbage and carrots; lemon scones with currants and Bailey’s Irish cream.

Cost: $50. The institute is at 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road, Westlake Village. For more information or registration, 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