By The Secret Diner –
In my last review, I described our dining experience at Danny’s Deli, 3263 Telegraph Road, Ventura. Did you guess right? Let’s see if you can figure out our latest dining experience.
“Well, how was it?” our friends asked. They’d waited patiently on the front porch of the cute little bar across the street from where Mrs. Secret Diner and I dated, a Friday happy hour that was waning into the evening. Servers lit heaters and brought a round of drinks. “That might have been the best meal I’ve ever ordered,” Mrs. Diner answered.
“It was soooo good,” I added.
“When our family starts to wonder where we should go to eat, that’s the place we always pick!”
We pushed away from our high top table near the back of the patio. “You’re going to need this,” Mrs. Diner handed me our Secret Diner notebook filled with notes, sketches, deconstructed recipes, snatches of overheard conversations – all the ingredients for each review, the classified brief of each secret mission we have accepted. Bussers wearing navy t-shirts, the restaurant’s logo over the heart, had our table cleared and reset before we shuffled past the large birthday party, clinking a toast at the long bench of banquet seating running down the middle of the patio dining area.
“You know one of the things that made tonight great, something we haven’t written about before?” I asked.
“What’s that?”
“Look around. It’s Friday evening, and they are slammed.” Conversation and laughter built and crescendoed. Built again.
“And you would never know it by the service we got.” Mrs. Diner realized.
“Right, look at them. They are working like a NASCAR pit crew.” It was like a ballet. We stood, probably in the way, and admired the choreography of it – servers, food runners, bussers, hostesses, floor managers working as one unit. Masterful. This place has a large staff, needed for such a busy Friday night. We like to imagine where they all go when their shift is done. Where do they drink and unwind?
“Are your friends still coming?” our server asked.
“I think they are having wine across the street. We’ll take the check, and go meet them, I guess.” Mrs. Diner answered.
“Of course, I’ll be right back.” And she was, left the little black folio with our night’s choices inked on the ticket. Mrs. Diner was digging around in her purse. “I think I left our gift card on the counter. Let’s split the bill; I ordered as if we had the card.”
Our server set a large bowl in front of Mrs. Diner, two flaky pieces of fish placed artfully on a mound of coconut rice. Lobster coconut pan sauce united the plate into one decadent statement. Sauteed peppers and cherry tomatoes adding a pop of color. “Oh my god. This sauce is amazing. And the coconut rice! You know I love coconut, it just compliments the fish perfectly.”
On my plate: three pork-belly tacos, braised pork belly, lots of it! on house made corn tortillas, pico, aioli, cilantro. The star of the plate, a house made barbeque sauce. Nectar, I could drink it from a rocks glass! Someone in the kitchen knows what they are doing.
“Can I get you anything to get started?” Mrs. Diner asked to try the cucumber collins from the cocktail list. I ordered a soda water and bitters on ice. “We’d like an order of the clams, too, please, and street corn.”
With food this good, it’s hard to avoid hyperbole. Believe us when we say these were the best clams we’ve ever had. They came in a large bowl, soaking in a spicy lobster broth, chorizo. Two slices of charred ciabatta dissolved deliciously when dunked. We forked the clams from their open shells greedily. And the corn, grilled to add a smokey flavor?! Wonderful. We gobbled every kernel.
The hostess pulled menus and flatware wrapped in blue and white cloth napkins from her stand, asked if we’d like to eat inside or out. Inside offered high top tables with tall metal chairs, low four-tops with white chairs, banquet seating along the wall, or stools at the bar. We asked to sit outside, a large square patio with a variety of options and configurations. Our hostess led us under a pergola draped in vines, lemon trees at the corners, to a hightop near the back. A wedding party made their way into the event space.
“Where should we go?” Mrs. Diner asked. “I’ve got that gift card from work.”
“Oh, yeah! We love that place.”
Think you know the restaurant we chose? Check out our next review to see if you’re right, and to join us on our next adventure.
