Lisa McKinnon

• Café Society: White Rabbit, Boba food trucks find cafe space in Oxnard Published 05/19/2012 at 3 p.m.

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

• Café Society: Strawberry recipe-contest field narrowed in Oxnard Published 05/12/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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.

• Café Society: Mother's Day dining options to include free meals at Thousand Oaks Hooters Published 05/05/2012 at 3 p.m. 1 Comment

  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.

• Cafe Society: 'MasterChef' competitors take over Ventura Published 04/21/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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.

• Café Society: Prospective Ventura pub owners tap into permit process Published 04/14/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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.

• Café Society: Petition fails to save H. Salt Fish & Chips in Oxnard from closure Published 04/07/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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 ...

• Café Society: Local winery, brewery get jump on Easter events Published 03/31/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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 ...

• Folding screens hold artists' visions for Ventura Music Festival fundraiser Published 03/24/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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.

• Café Society: Spring turns thoughts to farm dinners with local brews, views Published 03/23/2012 at 11:13 p.m.

  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 ...

• Cafe Society: Trying times call for breakfast. At a wine bar. Published 03/17/2012 at 3 p.m.

  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.

• California Strawberry Festival features veteran cooks who are recipe contest newbies Published 05/19/2012 at 3 p.m.

  They may be recipe-contest newbies, but Olivia Smith of Oxnard and Winona Krieger of Agoura Hills are far from beginning-level cooks. When she showed up for the California Strawberry Festival Berry Blast Off recipe contest semifinals early this month, Smith ...

• 'Day on the Farm' to offer free tours of Ojai Valley sites Published 05/16/2012 at 6:11 p.m.

  Five Ojai Valley farms and a school garden will be featured from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday during A Day on the Farm, a free self-guided tour.

• CASA matches children in foster care and child welfare programs with volunteers Published 05/12/2012 at 3 p.m. 1 Comment

  As the mother of two grown children, Gay Conroy knows about the challenges of raising kids. As a superior court judge assigned to the juvenile dependency calendar in Ventura County, she sees the results of some of those challenges played ...

• Young performers raise the bar for Ventura Music Festival Published 05/02/2012 at 8:18 p.m.

  David Fraley and Jourdan Urbach have never met, but they share many traits: Perfect pitch. An active interest in sports. The title of "Rising Star" at the Ventura Music Festival.

• Cafe Society: Mike's Restaurant, Local Cafe of Ventura call it quits on same day Published 04/29/2012 at 4:48 p.m. 14 Comments

  What would you order as your final meal? The question takes on new meaning as two Ventura restaurants — one open for more than a quarter of a century, the other for a fraction of that time — prepare to ...

• Ojai Valley's Ranch House is on the market, but don't worry Published 04/28/2012 at 3 p.m.

  In the 60 years since it opened as a vegetarian place in the Ojai Valley, the Ranch House has added flat iron steaks to the menu, amassed an award-winning wine cellar, been the setting for countless marriage proposals and provided ...

• Deadline nears for local Berry Blast Off recipe contest Published 04/26/2012 at midnight

  The April 30 deadline is approaching for the Berry Blast Off recipe contest organized as part of the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard.

• The Fun Five: Watch these spaces for Ventura County's newest eateries Published 04/26/2012 at midnight

  If you’re the sort of person who likes to be first on your block to try a new restaurant, you’ll want to keep an eye on the five in-progress eateries on this list. (Psst! It includes Hooters in Thousand Oaks ...

• Local foods movement percolates into Ventura County coffee scene Published 04/26/2012 at midnight

  After years of progressing at a steady drip, drip, drip, the Ventura County coffee scene is heating up. Helping push things along? The fact that you now can tour coffee trees growing in Goleta.

• Homegrown lemonade company keeps Ojai resident on the run Published 04/26/2012 at midnight

  When life as a substitute teacher gave her lemons, Ojai resident Lori Volk took the "just do it" mantra from her training as a triathlete and turned them into Lori's Original Lemonade. "In my old world, I would have said, ...

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