Good Food, Word of Mouth Are Keys to Success

Restaurateur Gino Setola has a fairly simple game plan for establishing a dedicated core of customers.

“If the food is good, they keep coming back,” said Setola, who recently opened Gino Trattoria and Catering Co. in Thousand Oaks. “It is a small town here. This is all word of mouth. If they like the food, they come back. If not, well, it was nice to meet them.”

Setola, of course, expects his Italian cuisine to generate more than a few repeat guests.

“The food is strictly Italian, but it’s very Neapolitan,” said Setola, a native of Naples, Italy, and a former co-owner of Ritrovo in Westlake. “We have osso buco, lobster, potato croquettes, poached salmon and a fish of the day. Seafood is very important. Naples is right on the bay.”

The entree list includes chicken breast sauteed in Sicilian wine and mushrooms ($11.50), veal scaloppine with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes in a white wine sauce ($12.95), a light veal parmigiana topped with tomato and grilled eggplant ($13.95), and a chicken breast sauteed in a lemon sauce with white wine and capers ($10.95).

Pasta dishes include an angel hair pasta with spring vegetables and a tomato basil sauce ($7.95), ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta cheese ($8.75), spaghetti with fresh clams sauteed in a white wine sauce ($8.25), and cork screw pasta with eggplant, spinach and tomato sauce prepared without oil ($8.25).

Gino Trattoria also has a selection of antipasti that includes deep-fried squid in a spicy tomato sauce ($5.95), mashed potatoes with mozzarella, salami and eggs in a bread crumb crust ($4.25), and assorted wild mushrooms with parsley sauteed in garlic and truffle oil ($6.50).

The restaurant offers a selection of pizzas and salads as well.

“We just cook it the way you would cook at home,” Setola said. “That’s the key to success.”

Gino Trattoria is at 720 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.

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It’s a dirty job, but Frank Miller is willing to do it.

The owner and chef of Ventura’s new Cutting Edge Pizza Factory has accepted the chore of making repeat visits to Mammoth Mountain and Big Bear ski resorts to discuss his product. And if he has to get in a little skiing while he’s there, well, it’s in the name of business.

Miller has been making more of those trips this winter, now that he has developed a pizza relationship with both resorts.

A couple of weeks ago he shipped an initial batch of 100 ready-to-bake pizza doughs to Mammoth Mountain, and another 400 were delivered last week.

Over at Big Bear, Miller has been selling his pizza sauces--spicy peanut, roasted garlic barbecue, and cherry chipotle--and helping the kitchen crew institute a functional pizza program.

Miller worked with Mammoth Mountain’s food service staff when he manufactured food for Trader Joe’s. He said he noticed the high volume of food consumed at ski resorts during the winter and saw serious potential for his own pizza business.

“They need a product that is extremely fast and user-friendly,” he said. “Patrons going to ski resorts have a much more discerning palate than they used to. The old days of slap it on a plate and get it out is not what Californians want.”

Miller’s pizzas, for now, are available only in portions of the Mammoth Mountain resort, but he said the potential is there for much larger orders in ski seasons to come.

“My feeling is we could probably do 3,000 to 5,000 pizzas a week for Mammoth Mountain,” he said. “We’re really hoping to turn what is normally a slow time of year into a really busy time of year.”