Cuisine:

• Californian
• Mediterranean

Maravilla Restaurant Description:
Following a major renovation, the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa brought chef Jamie West aboard to oversee its restaurants, including Maravilla, the property's fine dining crown. His California Mediterranean cooking proved a match with the sun-kissed aura of Ojai, drawing on local, seasonal ingredients, many of which he harvests from a two-acre on-site garden. Patrons wend their way between lavender bursts and fragrant rosemary to a Spanish Colonial-style dining room. There, an artichoke flatbread juxtaposes sharp Pecorino cheese with truffle and bitter fresh arugula. Tender butter lettuce and ripe tomatoes from the chef's garden mix with olives and feta cheese in a Greek salad splashed with red wine vinaigrette. Lamb loin---balancing atop baby carrots and an underpinning of vegetable cous cous---is aromatic with Moroccan spices, the smoky harissa and herbal chermoula sauce providing a dose of complicated flavors. Fussy food and ambience had long deterred local diners, but both aspects have shifted: jackets are no longer required, and dishes like "chicken under a brick" (cooked skin side down in a rich lemon herb beurre fondue---beneath a weighty brick) and crème brûlée lollipops reveal a decidedly more lighthearted approach to fine dining. Casually affluent guests mix with residents who have embraced the change. The wine list is heavy on California selections, including representatives from the Ojai Valley, but also includes wines from more than 20 countries.


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