Like Beef With Feathers

Francois Zanni, owner of Le Rendez-Vous in Newbury Park, had been pondering the idea of serving ostrich meat at his establishment for some time, but just couldn’t seem to shake his skepticism.

That is until he got to chatting, a while back, with Betty Hicks, owner of the Sleepy Hollow ostrich ranch in Somis.

Hicks apparently was convincing, because earlier this month diners got their first chance to order the bird at the gourmet restaurant.

And they jumped at the opportunity--cleaning Zanni out of 10 pounds of prime ostrich meat in three nights.

“I put it on special and, man, everybody wanted it,” Zanni said.

The ostrich is back this week, and the chef said he plans to serve it at a winemaker’s dinner at the end of April.

The fowl, he added, may find its way onto the regular menu later this year.

Zanni said the popularity of the dish at Le Rendez-Vous is largely a result of the way it is prepared.

“Ostrich is very dry, and I think the main problem is that a lot of people overcook it,” he said. “I slightly grilled it and prepared it with a cabernet sauvignon sauce, with black forest mushrooms.

“Just cooking it kind of medium prevents it from getting overdone; it’s nice and tender, and that makes it a great meat.”

The full ostrich entree is priced at $20.75, comparable to the filet mignon dishes on the menu.

And that makes sense, Zanni said, given the similarities between the prime cut of ostrich meat and the prime beef.

“Ostrich is almost like a filet,” he said. “When you cook it, it looks like steak.

“I make it like medallions. It has a very mild beef flavor, almost sweet, like a really good filet mignon.”

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Gefilte fish, matzo ball soup and a brisket are typical staples of a Passover meal in America, by way of Eastern Europe.

But is that a universal holiday menu? Not necessarily, says Louise Fiszer, a cookbook author and cooking instructor in Palo Alto.

Fiszer will offer some alternative menu suggestions when she hosts a “Passover Italian Style” class at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Let’s Get Cookin’ school in Westlake Village.

“The Italian Jews have a wonderful cuisine,” she said.

“It is very much based on the Sephardic [Spanish and Portuguese] tradition, but using local Italian foods.”

Fiszer’s menu will include a vegetable soup with Passover pasta--a flour-less mock pasta, she said, made with a lot of eggs and a little bit of potato starch. And a sweet and sour fish, Pesce Agridolce, will replace gefilte fish on Fiszer’s menu.

For the main course, Fiszer will prepare chicken breast with artichokes and new potatoes.

“Artichokes are very common because they have a spring-like quality to them,” Fiszer said.

“Almost every Italian Passover Seder will have artichokes in it.”

Fiszer also will prepare spinach pancakes, a sweet carrot salad with mint, asparagus in an herb sauce, charoseth (the traditional dish made from a fig and nut mixture) and a honey-chocolate-almond cake.

Let’s Get Cookin’ is located at 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road. Reservations are required. Call (818) 991-3940. Cost is $50.

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Planning ahead: Thirty-two Sonoma County wineries will supply samplings of their product at a wine-tasting benefit April 6 at the Westlake Inn restaurant.

Proceeds will support the Ventura County branch of the Arthritis Foundation.

Among the participating vintners are Iron Horse Vineyards, Geyser Peak Winery, Belvedere Winery and Clos du Bois.

The visit is the only Southern California stop on a 12-city national tour presented by the Sonoma County Wineries Assn. Guests will have an opportunity to meet with some of the top winemakers and winery owners from the Northern California region.

A $35 admission price includes hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, a souvenir wine glass and a Sonoma County wine-tasting and travel book.

Call 389-5222 or (818) 995-7378 or purchase tickets at the door.

Westlake Inn is at 32001 W. Agoura Road, Westlake Village.