Dishing Ojai: Iron Pan
Mario poured a red wine flight for my husband, Bill, and I at Movino on Friday night while he told us he will be cooking at the new Iron Pan on Thursday and Saturday nights. We know Mario’s cooking well, having sampled his culinary gems when he was at Pangea and later at Tutti’s on Main in Ventura, so no arm-twisting was required.
We arrived last night to find not much has changed about the restaurant behind the arcade we last knew as Shangri-La Gourmet, except that the deli cases are gone, leaving the kitchen more open. And if anyone has lost track, in the 7+ years I’ve been here, it was first Matilija Deli, then Sam’s Place, then the No Name Café, then Shangri-La and now it is Iron Pan, a name given by new chef/owner, Marty Nation, for his mother’s cast iron skillet.
The tables are topped with butcher paper and simple tiny herb arrangements. Then menu is unassuming and printed on plain paper, offering a decent variety that’s pretty easy on the wallet as entrées start at $9 for a burger to $28 for a steak dinner. At the bottom, it indicates a wine list is available on request. Our waiter, Rex, brought a small white board with handwritten beer and wine selections and propped it up on our table to peruse. A familiar favorite, Casa Barranca Pinot Noir, caught my eye, but for $11, I knew I’d want to savor it, which should always be the plan with this fabulous local wine anyway.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted the French Onion Soup, the Green Papaya Salad or the Caprese to start, but ultimately I settled on the Leek & Fennel Marmalade with Goat Cheese and Kalamata Olives. For my entrée, the choices were many: salmon, pork, steak, chicken - but the vegetarian entrée looked too good to pass up: Roasted Japanese Eggplant with Braised Squash Risotto and Tofu. Bill chose the special: Baby Back Ribs.
It took awhile for the food to arrive, so we dove into the fresh baked bread, which is made daily in the restaurant. I told myself carb-loading is perfectly acceptable since I would be doing 6 miles on the trail today (and I did). After 45 minutes, our first course arrived, and it was worth the wait. The entrées came about 20 minutes or more after the first course was cleared and the third basket of bread was put down (I told you it was good). My risotto was wonderful and had little charred Brussels Sprout leaves tucked in underneath. Bill’s ribs fell off the bone and melted in my mouth.
Give Iron Pan a try. As with any new restaurant, they have some kinks to work out with their timing, but the service is pleasant and the food is terrific. I just hope they can stick around for awhile. They serve lunch and dinner everyday except Sunday.
Iron Pan, 219 East Matilija, 646-3500
Other Dishing Ojai columns: Feast Bistro, Key Limes, Pre-Hibernation Binge.
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Comments (4)
Great review - the risotto is fantastic, agreed!
Comment #1 Posted by: Tyler | November 12, 2006 05:11 PM
Haven't yet given dinner a try, but Iron Pan is my new favorite lunch spot. The little ones split the BLT and say its the best in town. I go for the cheeseburger.
Comment #2 Posted by: Jeff Furchtenicht | November 14, 2006 04:52 PM
Had lunch there last week with 3 friends and none of us will go back. The food was mediocre, fries were cold, portions were tiny and the service was terrible. We ordered 3 different things and they all were bland. Trying to get refills on iced tea was next to impossible and we had to take condiments off other tables because we couldn't seem to grab the attention of the waitstaff. All in all a very disappointing experience.
Comment #3 Posted by: Donna | November 28, 2006 08:04 AM
Update: Iron Pan is CLOSED! They lasted little more than a year.
Comment #4 Posted by: Lisa Snider | December 8, 2007 11:26 AM