Lisa McKinnon

After rolling into Ventura County for a string of day trips, the Los Angeles-based White Rabbit Truck is setting the parking brake.

They came, they cooked, they presented their dishes to the judges. And two of them will have to do it all over again — in front of hundreds of people, no less — during the 29th annual California Strawberry Festival.

Of all the ways to celebrate Mother's Day, this might be the most unusual: with a beer, some hot wings and deep-fried pickle slices from Hooters.

If he thought that fellow season-two "MasterChef" contestant Adrien Nieto invited him to Ventura County for some rest and relaxation, Derrick Prince likely realized his mistake by the fourth hour spent working in his friend's food truck in Oxnard.

Back to the drawing board. That's where the hopeful owners of a restaurant proposed for Ventura's beach side Pierpont neighborhood were sent Wednesday after a meeting of the Design Review Committee.

What started as a petition to show support for keeping H. Salt Fish & Chips open in Oxnard turned into a condolence book last week, as the restaurant's owners prepared to serve their final orders of fish, fries and deep-fried ...

Easter. It's not just for brunch, or kids, anymore. Witness the adult-themed goings-on a week early at Oxnard's Heritage Square, where Rancho Ventavo Cellars and La Dolce Vita restaurant are teaming up to offer the inaugural Adult April Fools' Easter ...

One year, it was violins. Another, chairs — musical chairs, painted with clef notes and instruments by Ventura County artists and then sold at auction to benefit the Ventura Music Festival.

Rain may be in the immediate forecast, but the flip of the calendar from winter to spring has many of us thinking about eating outdoors. Witness the nearly simultaneous announcements this week of upcoming farm dinners and variations on the ...

These are trying times for restaurants. So Michael Noyes, the chef and owner of Westside Cellar Café & Lounge in downtown Ventura, has decided it's time to try something new. Like serve breakfast and lunch.

Admit it. You really only read this column to find out which restaurants have opened, which have closed (and why they closed, preferably) and which are bobbing in the horizon. So without further ado, I give you ...

The use of Ventura County-grown produce at the Academy Awards and other Hollywood soirees puts a glamorous exclamation point on the recent Ventura County Agricultural Summit, where the theme was "How the Local Food Movement Can Support Ventura County Agriculture.

Nearly eight years after it served as the backdrop for Alexander Payne's Oscar-winning, merlot-hating movie "Sideways," the Santa Ynez Valley wine region is ready for another taste of fame.

Love makes people do crazy things. In Connie Milano's case, it inspired her to rack up $2,000 worth of lunches and dinners at a single restaurant to get the chef's attention. It worked.

It was billed as the inaugural Local Food & Wine Challenge, a culinary smackdown featuring a dozen area restaurants matched to as many regional wineries. The goal: To see which team could produce the "best" pairing.