LIFE

Cafe Society: 10 things to know about The Star's food and wine event this weekend

Ventura

Attendees pose with a cardboard cutout of Martha Stewart during a culinary festival in Detroit in September. Stewart will appear in person to present a cooking demonstration and more when the Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience takes place Oct. 1 in Ventura.

Don't be surprised if you see lifestyle maven Martha Stewart and/or celebrity chef Duff Goldman bopping around Ventura County this weekend: They're both expected to join local chefs, restaurants, wineries, breweries and more in presenting the Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience Oct. 1 at the historic Olivas Adobe in Ventura. Here are 10 things to know about the event, whether you're thinking about going or already have tickets.

1). THE PARKING IS FREE and off-site: Although parking on the back lawn has previously been allowed for concerts and other events at Olivas Adobe, that area has been declared off limits this time around. The good news: free parking with shuttle service provided by Roadrunner Shuttle is offered less than a mile away, in the Ventura Port District's launch ramp overflow lot at Harbor Boulevard and Schooner Drive. Look for the Four Points by Sheraton sign as your guide.

For VIP Grand Tasting and Meet-and-Greet ticketholders, shuttle service will start at 11:30 a.m. for entry at noon. For Grand Tasting ticketholders, shuttle service will start at 12:30 p.m. for entry at 1 p.m.

Free shuttles for the Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience will run from the launch ramp overflow lot at Harbor Boulevard and Schooner Drive in Ventura. Parking will not be available at Olivas Adobe, the site of the event.

2). MARTHA WILL BE SMOKIN' HOT during her cooking demo: Ever the overachiever, Stewart plans to prepare not one but three recipes from her newest cookbook, "Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker: 101 Recipes for Flavorful, Foolproof Dishes (Including Desserts!)."

Open to all ticketholders, the demonstration will feature poached salmon with salsa verde, ribollita (a Tuscan soup made with cannellini beans, kale and leftover bread) and blueberry cornmeal buckle. Stewart is scheduled to take the stage at 1:15 p.m.; check for updates at the event gate.

Martha Stewart will demonstrate three recipes from her newest cookbook, "Slow Cooker," during her appearance Oct. 1 at the Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience in Ventura.

Attendees holding Meet Martha Stewart tickets will take part in a separate, face-to-face session with Stewart. They will each also receive an autographed copy of "Slow Cooker," a "Martha-curated" gift bag and other perks.

3). BE READY FOR DUFF GOLDMAN TO ASK, "How you like them apples?": Known as the "Ace of Cakes," Goldman — who also co-hosts "Kids Baking Championship" on Food Network and is the author of "Duff Bakes: Think & Bake Like a Pro at Home" — plans to focus on making the perfect apple pie during his cooking demo. ("I have very specific opinions about apple pie," he told The Star in a phone interview. "There's the right way to make one, and there's the wrong way. My way is the right way.")

Open to all ticketholders, Goldman's on-stage cooking demonstration is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. (You know the drill: Check for updates at the event site.)

Chef Duff Goldman shows support for his hometown team while leading a cooking demonstration in Florida in February. Goldman, the star of "Ace of Cakes" and other Food Network shows, will make an apple pie during his Oct. 1 appearance at the Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience in Ventura.

Attendees with Chef's Package tickets will also receive an autographed copy of "Duff Bakes" during a meet-and-greet session with Goldman.

4). HOMEGROWN TALENT WILL BE THROWING DOWN on the kitchen stage, too. Born and raised in Oxnard and trained at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in San Francisco, Tony Sewell is back on home turf as executive chef at Main Course California, a Ventura-based catering company known for its farm-to-table approach to events in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties. To catch Sewell's tutorial on "how to make salsa verde, Main Course-style," head to the kitchen-stage pavilion at 2:30 p.m.

While you're in the vicinity, be sure to stop by the Main Course California booth, where Sewell will be serving tastes of his favorite dish from the catering menu: beer-braised brisket with a Dijon mustard and brown sugar glaze, and, on the side, creamy garlic mashed potatoes. Brugen, a Belgian Amber from fellow festival participant Ventura Coast Brewing Co., is his braising liquid of choice.

5). COME HUNGRY. More than 20 chefs, restaurants and/or catering companies will offer samples from their menus for attendees with Grand Tasting and VIP Grand Tasting tickets. Read on for a sneak peek at some of the dishes.

Chef Juan Agustin is chef and operator of Alma, a Ventura County-based catering company and private chef service that also stages pop-up restaurants.

Juan Agustin, chef and proprietor of Alma Catering, has three items up his chef's-coat sleeve, each inspired by fall: chicken pibil on an arepa with avocado-tomatillo crema and heirloom beans, a dessert plating of natillas with guava and Oaxacan chocolate, and an agua fresca of pomegranate and prickly pear.

As executive chef at Austen's and the Pierpont Inn in Ventura, Salvador Hernandez is also doubling up on dishes. Look for his cucumber slices topped with your choice of blackened shrimp and guacamole, or smoked salmon with dill cream cheese — or both.

Michelle Kenney, executive chef and co-owner of La Dolce Vita Ristorante in Oxnard, plans to serve portobello Florentine pasta with spinach and marsala cream sauce, while Matthew Klingberg will represent the Ojai Deer Lodge with barbecued pulled chicken tacos. Public School 805 of Thousand Oaks will offer ahi tuna poké, while its sister restaurant, The Grill on the Alley, focuses on mini crabcakes.

Alex Montoya, executive chef at The Cave at the Ventura Wine Co., poses with one of the frozen custards he makes using an anti-griddle.

Alex Montoya, executive chef for The Cave at Ventura Wine Co., plans to cover both the appetizer and dessert courses. Visit the restaurant's booth for fig and prosciutto crostini topped with whipped cambozola, and for slices of frozen pumpkin custard pie with a gingerbread crust on the bottom and whipped cream on top.

Tierra Sur, the white-tablecloth restaurant at Oxnard's Herzog Wine Cellars, will be on site with what chefs Gabe Garcia and Eric Cancino are calling The Odds & Ends Croquette. Inspired by snout-to-tail dining, the croquettes are made from beef necks, beef cheeks, sweetbreads and oxtail, then served with Béarnaise sauce, roasted squash and pickled red currants.

Gabe Garcia is executive chef at Tierra Sur restaurant at Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard.

Ventura County Farm to School, a program that coordinates the efforts of farmers, teachers, schools and communities to promote healthy eating through hands-on school gardens and other initiatives, will serve samples of a Mediterranean tomato salad prepared by a team headed by Anna Jackson, farm-to-school coordinator for Oxnard Union High School District. The program touches the lives of more than 69,000 students in grades K-12 each year and has been recognized as a local and national leader in the farm-to-school movement.

Attendees will also find sweet treats from Dottie's Sweet Delights, Esther's Sweet SinSations Bakery, and from Carrara Pastries of Moorpark and Agoura Hills.

6). COME THIRSTY. The Ventura-based distillery Ventura Spirits will stir things up with the Wild Side, a shaken-to-order cocktail made with its Wilder Gin, lime juice, simple syrup and muddled cucumber.

Anacapa Brewing Co. and Ventura Coast Brewing Co., both of Ventura, will tap into current selections. And covering the oenophile side of things will be more than a dozen wineries from Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties (think Cantara Cellars of Camarillo and San Marcos Creek of Paso Robles), plus selections from the newly launched Martha Stewart Wine Co., an online service that delivers Martha-approved selections from around the world.

Martha Stewart poses in a promotional photograph for Martha Stewart Wine Co., which delivers labels selected by Stewart from around the world.

7). SURROUND YOURSELF WITH AVOCADOS. You can, thanks to event sponsor Mission Produce. The Oxnard company specializing in the production, distribution and marketing of Hass avocados plans to treat festivalgoers to the Mission Avocado Experience, a field-to-fork lifestyle lounge that includes a pictorial display of the life of an avocado, plus tips and recipes.

8). ENJOY THE VIEW from the balcony. Completed in the 1850s, the two-story Olivas Adobe features a balcony that is accessible from an outside staircase, offering the perfect perch from which to snap photos of the event. Keep in mind, however, that only 12 people are allowed on the balcony at the same time, "to ensure the safety of visitors and the adobe." (Pro tip: Balcony benches offer near-private seating for those times when you want to escape the crowd.) Don't forget to check out the Olivas Park Drive side of the building, home to what the British Fuchsia Society has deemed the oldest, still-flowering fuchsia in the world.

Visitors to the Olivas Adobe in Ventura will find a prime picture-taking spot at the top of a courtyard staircase. The adobe grounds will be the setting of the Oct. 1 Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience.

9). YES, TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE at the door, but they'll cost a little more. Here's the score: Grand Tasting tickets ($85 in advance, $100 at the gate) include access to chef demonstrations and panels, plus food-and-beverage samples, from 1-4 p.m. VIP Grand Tasting tickets ($120 in advance, $135 at the gate) include admission from noon to 4 p.m., plus access to a VIP lounge and private tastings with wineries and distilleries, in addition to the sampling included with Grand Tasting tickets.

Chef's Package tickets ($180 in advance, $195 at the gate) include all of the above, plus a private meet-and-greet and book-signing event with chef Goldman. Meet Martha Stewart tickets ($325 in advance, $350 at the gate) include the VIP Grand Tasting, a private meeting with Stewart, an autographed copy of her new "Slow Cooker" cookbook, a gift bag of items selected by Stewart, and more.

(Pro tip: If you've read this far, you deserve access to the insider discount available for tickets purchased online. Enter INSIDER20 for $20 off Grand Tasting tickets, and INSIDER30 for $30 off VIP Grand Tasting tickets.)

Proceeds will benefit the Rancho Ventura Conservation Trust — aka "the home of Two Trees" — and The Ovarian Cancer Circle, founded by Paulinda Babbini in honor of daughter Robin Babbini, who died of ovarian cancer at 20.

10). BRING YOUR ID. The Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience is a 21-and-older event.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. To contact her, send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com. To have the VCS Eats newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, visit http://bit.ly/VCS_Eats and type in your email address.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience sponsored by Mission Produce will feature Martha Stewart and Duff Goldman, plus cooking demonstrations and tastings from area chefs, restaurants, caterers, wineries, breweries and other purveyors.
WHEN: 1-4 p.m. Oct. 1. (VIP Grand Tasting and Meet-and-Greet ticketholders enter at noon.)

WHERE: Olivas Adobe in Ventura. All parking will be off-site.

PARKING: Free parking will be provided in the lot at Schooner Drive and East Harbor Boulevard in Ventura. Free transportation to the event site will be offered by Roadrunner Shuttle. For VIP Grand Tasting and Meet-and-Greet ticketholders, shuttle service will start at 11:30 a.m. for entry at noon. For Grand Tasting ticketholders, shuttle service will start at 12:30 p.m. for entry at 1.

TICKETS: Grand Tasting tickets ($85 in advance, $100 at the gate) include access to chef demonstrations and panels, plus food-and-beverage samples. VIP Grand Tasting tickets ($120 in advance, $135 at the gate) includeadmission from noon to 4 p.m., plus access to a VIP lounge and private tastings with wineries and distilleries, in addition to the sampling included with Grand Tasting tickets. Chef's Package tickets ($180 in advance, $195 at the gate) include all of the above, plus a private meet-and-greet and book-signing event with chef Goldman. Meet Martha Stewart tickets ($325 in advance, $350 at the gate) include the VIP Grand Tasting, a private meeting with Stewart, an autographed copy of her new "Slow Cooker" cookbook, a gift bag of items selected by Stewart, and more.

INFORMATION: http://foodandwine.vcstar.com

BEHIND THE SCENES: The Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience is being organized by R Entertainment, a nationalmarketing company, as part of the 10-city USA TODAY Network food-and-wine event series. The Star is part of the USA TODAY Network.