The Sidecar takes a culinary detour off the beaten path
By JR Grant 04/23/2009
The Sidecar Restaurant
3029 E. Main Street
Ventura
653-7433
Lunch $5-$14
Dinner $7-$28
When Alice Waters developed Chez Panisse in Berkeley in the early 1970s, the concept of serving only fresh and locally grown and/or bred ingredients and seasonally designed menus was a unique concept in fine dining. Having spawned the artisanal and slow food movements, this concept of local haute cuisine is fast becoming the sine qua non in fine dining nationwide. Despite being the produce basket of America, Ventura County had yet to jump aboard this bandwagon until very recently. And jump aboard it certainly has with Chef Tim Kilcoyne’s Sidecar Restaurant on Main Street near Telegraph Road in mid-Ventura.
On Saturday, April 25, Chef Kilcoyne will be giving a cooking demo at the anniversary celebration of the farmers market. I am very much looking forward to his preparation of a farm dinner on June 20 (farm to be determined) for the great organization, Outstanding in the Field. (See www.outstandinginthefield.com for further information.)
I first became aware of Chef Tim’s fondness for exotic cooking (and particularly chanterelle mushrooms) in 2007, when he was profiled in an article on this superb delicacy in Ventana magazine on Ventura County back country foraging. I knew he was a chef to be tracked, and when he was named Central Coast Magazine’s top chef in 2008 (and I saw his recipe for a foie gras Monte Cristo sandwich), I knew his cuisine was certainly top drawer in Ventura County. He has either hosted or participated in many SloFood Ojai and SloFood L.A. events, and his food celebrations of local farmers have become much-anticipated events for local foodies.
You’ve probably seen the train-car restaurant as you’ve sped down Main Street in Midtown. You may have become a regular at the Tuesday grilled cheese and jazz night. Patrons love the various dishes, including the grilled cheese, which includes all the cheeses from his dessert plate and if desired, Chef Tim will add a hearty pancetta or prosciutto di Parma, with a side of creamed spinach with pecorino ($13) or my personal favorite grilled cheese special that combines asparagus, black pepper relish, and cambozola ($12) — all of this with Sidecar’s amazing offering of cocktails and vodkas, some infused with locally grown produce (blood orange, pixie tangerine, Asian pear, Meyer lemon). Of course, there is Sidecar’s signature cocktail, the Ventura lemonade, which mixes Ventura Limoncello, fresh Meyer lemon juice, mint and ice. And great jazz!
At lunch the other day, I enjoyed a leg of lamb sandwich with a fava bean, mint and garlic tapenade that was spectacular. The lamb had been roasted to perfect pink tenderness, and the rosemary and garlic seasonings of the meat mixed perfectly with the creamy fava bean mixture. My luncheon partner selected the half portobello sandwich with Chef Kilcoyne’s signature tomato basil soup — a tasty and phenomenal bargain at $9. Both luncheon entrees came with spectacular french fries and Kilcoyne’s delicious sweet and rich homemade tomato ketchup.
Although food at the Sidecar Restaurant nearly always wins raves, service has been known to be spotty at times in the past. However, a recent dinner showed the staff to be one of the most professional and attentive in recent memory. When my companion asked for a spoon to sample my almond and smoked trout soup with pickled grapes, the utensil arrived on a white linen-covered tray (just as in the dining cars of yesteryear). The soup, by the way, was divine and had such a pastiche of flavors and textures.
The fresh, seasonal menu can best be exemplified by the accompaniment to my chicken breast (from Petaluma Farms) main course. It was served with bits of Niman Farms bacon and a succotash of locally grown beets (red, golden and candystripe), fava and lima beans, shallots and garlic. Oh, and to finish this local extravaganza? The perfect dessert: Timber Canyon Ranch blood orange and Ojai honey tart, with fresh tangerine sorbet.
If you want to celebrate the fresh and local bounty, you will certainly not be disappointed at Chef Tim Kilcoyne’s Sidecar Restaurant.
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