The Restaurant at Ventana Restaurant Review
Ventana Inn & Spa
48123 Hwy. 1 
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Big Sur, CA 93920
831-667-2331 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
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The Restaurant at Ventana is one of our 2012
Hot 10 Monterey/Carmel Restaurants|
Cuisine
Open
Lunch & Dinner dailyFeatures
- View
- Heart-healthy dishes
- Romantic setting
- Full bar
- Reservations suggested
- Outdoor dining
- Parking lot
- Casual
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 If you are lucky enough to pass through this part of the world on a coastal journey, allow time on your itinerary to stop at Ventana. The property has been through the ringer---forest fires nipping at the property, a departed chef, then a kitchen fire that closed the restaurant, Cielo, for months. Ventana is back and has reinvented itself with a different name and new chef, Truman Jones, whose résumé includes stints under Gordon Ramsay and Daniel Humm. If you’ve been here before, you’ll recognize the beautiful bright wood interior, but if the weather holds, opt for a table on Ventana’s veranda. You’ll never get tired of this panorama, and it’s hard to tire of Jones’ menu too. For lunch, we liked the lively Brussels sprouts salad with manchego and dried cherries, and juicy pork loin Cuban sandwich. Jones sears big eyed tuna and serves it with mussels in a saffron broth, carefully flavoring it with hints of leek and vanilla oil---a winning dish, if it’s on the menu (he changes it up seasonally, culling many ingredients from organic gardens). Influence from Jones’ time with Ramsay in Dublin dots the menu. He reaches to the Scottish Highlands for Loch Duart salmon, and you’ll find contemporary and refreshing takes on spring lamb loin in a parsley crust, a vegetable Wellington and a truffle-infused, foraged mushroom soup.
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RESTAURANT AWARDS
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