The Cave- Ventura, CA

Ventura Wine Co. & Wine Bar is home of The Cave Restaurant in Ventura, CA.  Not only is Ventura Wine Co. a great place to buy local California wines, but its brainchild restaurant, The Cave is also a solid food choice.  Executive Chef Gary Daniel prepares exquisite meals in small portions to accompany his 16 bottle automatic California red wine serving system.  The menu is very diverse with everything from BBQ pork tenderloin with Southern slaw and cornbread, to Penne with mussels, clams, and roasted corn all of which is served at a reasonable price.  Personally, I couldn't make up my mind and being the food lover that I am decided to try a few...you know, just to make sure all the dishes got a fair shot!  I started with the Filet of beef in a demi glaze with basil mashed potatoes and green beans.  The dish looked like a Warhol painting with vibrant colors from the rich purple demi glaze to the green tinted potatoes.  When I took a bite of the filet, I literally almost fell out of my chair!!  Ya...it was that good!  I have had a lot of steak in my life and this filet was absolutely amazing to put it lightly.  It had just the right amount of flavor with the demi glaze not overshadowing the seasoning of the beef.  The potatoes got a similar reaction...perfectly cooked with a hearty but not overindulgent amount of basil.  If I were judging food...and I am, this dish was a 9.5 out of 10, especially when accompanied by a 2007 California Cabernet.  I would recommend that even the vegetarians out there take a swing at this masterpiece.

After I licked my plate clean...seriously, I ordered the BBQ pork tenderloin with Southern slaw and cornbread.  My expectation of this was very different than what I got but equally as delicious.  When I think of BBQ pork and slaw, I think of Texas BBQ with a sweet BBQ sauce and a watery mayonnaise slaw.  This dish was quite the opposite!  The pork was rich and tender with a little kick sitting on top of the crunchy slaw and soft, warm cornbread.  I took my fork and gathered all three troops for a taste that was remarkable.  All of the flavors blended exceptionally with the sweet and spicy pork enlightening the homemade butter enriched cornbread.  Every bite had the right amount of all three and the taste never changed.  I would have licked that plate too if the server hadn't taken it away from me when I got up to serve myself and my lady some more wine.

I did run into a small hurdle later into the meal.  Being that these were both small plates, I managed to save some room for dessert and the two mini chocolate brules with a port nut clusters.  This was the game changer!  The two mini brules were exactly as advertised "mini" but two small bites to me is microscopic.  They had a light, candy surface with a rich, decadent chocolate creme center and a strawberry topping.  Had it not been for the puny dessert portion, The Cave would have been pretty close to perfect but it is still a solid food choice and I can assure you that I will be returning many times over!