Publishers Letter

Ben Malkin & Robin Chesler

Why not? Who knows what tomorrow may bring? If the food is good, the style of cuisine is to your liking, and the wine and libation list is reasonably priced, then there is no better time to support your local restaurant, wine bar, or brew pub. As we emerged from the dark days of 2020 to 2021, the quality and service in restaurants have returned to whatever was “normal” for those that survived the pandemic (it wasn’t easy!).

While prices are higher due to inflation, the smart customer- and community-focused restaurants have kept the tab at the end of a date night for two somewhat under control. A creative way of doing that has been to increase the size of a portion so that their patrons can share. Since Robin is an expert at “sharing,” this has made her very happy. Besides… even I am willing to share an 18-oz Kansas City Strip Steak on the menu of the new and quite excellent Old Oaks Steak House in Thousand Oaks. As a result, their $80 steak really becomes a $40 steak. Since it is aged premium beef, once we add in shared sides, that’s plenty of food. Our first visit was somewhat “new restaurant not quite ready for prime time.” We gave it another shot and were very pleased. As you enter, the wine wall built by Scott Berry’s Cellar Masters is stunning.

We enjoyed a delicious food- and wine-pairing experience at Marcello Ristorante. The carefully chosen Italian wines paired perfectly with excellent eggplant parmesan, marinated shrimp, and the rest of a multicourse small bites dinner.

Last but certainly not least…wine! The best wine bar/winery in the Conejo has been, and continues to be, NABU Wines. I have been begging Greg Barnett to submit his Napa, Malibu, and now Mendocino and Paso Robles wines into competition. He is now knocking the ball out of the park with multiple medals from state fairs and wine events throughout SoCal. The reds are superior wines that can also be aged. The Albariño, a not-too-well-known Spanish varietal, is a star.

Last, but not least, take a look at our Sonoma wine country trip—more on that inside this issue.