Looked at one way, it could have been the Meal from Hell: Here we were eating tuna tartare and crab-topped brie in an area of town better known for its Lexus-to-resident ratio than its culinary offerings, while a twentysomething with a shoe-polish smudge of a beard on his chin sang an acoustic version of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” loudly from the adjoining bar.
On the other hand, things at Ventura Grille could have been much scarier. For instance, Anna Nicole Smith could have been doing the singing. But, then again, the restaurant’s live musician also wound up doing Van Halen’s “Jump” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” Twice.
The funny thing, though, is that by the time we left this 3-month-old eatery, the incongruous tunes (from guitarist Mark Ferriera, who plays at Ventura on the weekends) somehow fit this below-ground-level space in an upscale strip mall in Greenwood Village. From twinkly patio lights to paintings of such neglected subjects as “Yellow Chair” to a menu of retro-comfort-fusion foods, Ventura refuses to be pinned down to any description other than eclectic.
A big part of that can be attributed to the quirkiness of owner Steve Shelman. A Boston native who moved to Vail in 1981, Shelman has alternated between managing restaurants and instructing skiers for the past 22 years, until he took a hiatus last winter in Boca Raton, Fla.
“A real estate friend called me down there and said he had the perfect place for me to do a restaurant in,” Shelman says. “It turned out to be true.”
Shelman explains that for his first place, he didn’t want a hip downtown spot or a LoDo loft eatery. He wanted something that he could mold into a cool neighborhood joint. “That seems like the most rewarding thing for a restaurateur,” Shelman says. “Who wants a transient bunch of people who only support you when they feel like it? A neighborhood should have a vested interest in keeping it going.”
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Well, judging by the large proportion of well-coiffed ladies in Neiman Marcus matching pantsuits dining in the main room and the takeover at the bar one night for a meeting of Young Republicans for Wayne Allard, this neighborhood loves Ventura. How could they not? The setting is classy but cozy, with brown butcher paper over white linens. Not to mention groovy lighting fixtures that aren’t being done everywhere else, which meant I didn’t have to get out my can of Sconce Be Gone.
Chef Jenna Johansen’s menu fits right in, a mishmash of tastes and styles that puts to good use her diploma from Johnson and Wales, a year in Tuscany and her time spent at Vail’s Zino Ristorante and as a corporate sous chef for Pappadeaux, the New Orleans-themed eatery that is well-known for its ways with fish.
It’s the latter that has given Johansen the confidence to offer six nightly fish specials, appetizers and entrees that give her an opportunity to show off her flavor-matching skills. For instance, one night sea scallops ($9) had been seared so that the edges had caramelized slightly, and they were served with a tart but fruity-sweet mango chutney that played off the scallops’ own sweetness.
The true test of Johansen’s seafood savvy, however, was the salmon with blue cheese butter ($18). Friends don’t let friends put cheese and fish in the same dish, but here it actually worked: only a touch of blue had been used, which gave the butter an extra saltiness that upped the grill flavor on the fillet’s charred edges.
Get away from the specials and things just get better. Citrus-sparked, diced tuna tartare ($10) was presented with red sea salt, sesame seeds and sriracha sauce, while beef carpaccio ($9) had been pelted with crackly, deep-fried capers. Mussels ($8) offered the unusual flavoring of chorizo in its broth, and an ice-cold lettuce wedge ($5) was dressed in bacon and buttermilk for a welcome change from blue cheese.
If a lobster pot pie ($19) was more lobster than pie, well, who’s complaining? Especially when the sweet flesh swam with fresh peas and potatoes in a creamy brew that soaked right into the two puff-pastry triangles that topped the stew. A juicy, tender hanger steak ($21) was truly hanger – would this be a bad time to explain that this cut is actually the two small, membrane-joined muscles that push a bovine’s, um, stuff through its pancreas? – and truly delish, and open-faced ravioli ($15) contained a forest’s worth of wild fungi releasing their earthy perfume into a blanket of homemade pasta.
With the bar being such a popular hangout at Ventura, the menu also wisely offers a few sandwiches, including ahi tuna ($11) open-faced on a sesame roll and a drippy, thick-cut burger ($9) paired with fries coated in white truffle oil.
There were only two missteps in our meals. One was that the pita chips with the crab-and-brie dip ($11) were tooth-crackingly stale; the other was crispy portabellos ($7) that weren’t; the ‘shrooms had sogged down a bit while sitting in the clever but impractical presentation of butcher paper inside a pint beer glass. But a dessert that tastes like Toll House made a bread pudding ($6) go a long way toward making it all better.
The staff seems to love working at Ventura as much as the diners seem to love eating there, and I love to see a restaurant so proud of its employees that the chef and sous chef (Brett Smith) are named on the menu. Both chef Johansen and owner Shelman make a point of visiting every table to check on things, too.
In fact, it all kind of makes me want to belt out an acoustic version of “Feelings.”
Great catches
Restaurant: Ventura Grille
Address: 5970 S. Holly St., Greenwood Village
Phone: 720-482-9744
Style: Contemporary American
Food: *** 1/2(out of four)
Service: ***(out of four)
Atmosphere: ***(out of four)
Price: Items from $5 to $25
Hours: 5:30 to 10 p.m. daily
Credit cards: All major
Number of visits: 2
Parking: Parking lot
Noise: Mellow during week, louder with live music on weekends and late bar crowd
Wheelchairs: Yes
Smoking: Bar only
