3 days ago
Historic Ojai Hotel Debuts Two Chic Restaurants and a Bar by the Little Dom's Crew
A pair of seasoned Los Angeles restaurateurs just debuted two restaurants and a bar inside Ojai's historic Hotel El Roblar. Little Dom's Warner Ebbink, documentary filmmaker Jeremy McBride, Turtle Conservancy founder and filmmaker Eric Goode, designer Ramin Shamshiri, and chef Brandon Boudet have opened the Condor Bar, hotel guest-only restaurant La Cocina, and Snug Bar this summer in the newly refurbished 50-room hotel. Ebbink and Boudet are the same duo that introduced Los Feliz's longstanding Little Dom's, Little Dom's Seafood in Carpinteria, and Montecito's Bar Lou, which opened in late 2024.
The two-acre Hotel El Roblar first opened in 1919, before reopening as an all-inclusive, adults-only spa hotel in the 1970s onward. After the 2017 Thomas Fire, Hotel El Roblar closed indefinitely until the current team purchased it in 2019. The design was a collaborative effort between the co-owners, with Ebbink and Boudet spearheading and leading the hotel's food and beverages. Little Dom's Boudet is not an official partner at Hotel El Roblar, but collaborated on the reopening of the historic hotel.
'I could never see doing this project with anybody else,' says Ebbink. 'Brandon's been part of this process just as long as anyone else. He put his heart and soul into this business. The restaurants and bar are at the heart of the operation with Brandon's fingerprints all over them.'
The updated property boasts an elegant pool, chic boutique rooms, and a stunning design that's a tribute to Spanish Revival architecture, but Hotel El Roblar's dining and drink offerings are still a main draw, with a California-Mexican menu for Condor Bar rooted in California's history. 'The menu lends itself to Mexican cuisine,' says Boudet. 'It all melds together with deep roots in California, the Old World, and Mexican techniques and ingredients.'
On July 16, Condor Bar revealed its 100-seat restaurant with a menu designed for sharing. The restaurant cooks over live oak on a Santa Maria Grill, a regional barbecue set-up that hails from the 19th century in Santa Barbara County's Santa Maria Valley. In the kitchen, Boudet uses it to add smoky flavor to king oyster mushrooms with mole verde, carne asada, chicken asado, a Veracruz-style Vermillion snapper, and pork ribs al pastor served with a green papaya pineapple slaw and miso pineapple butter. Sides include sauteed chayote squash and refried pinto beans with chicken fat and chicharron. Condor Bar makes all the tortillas in-house with organic masa from Kernel of Truth, though the team is also developing its own nixtamal program. Starters include a jicama salad, oysters, wild shrimp coctel de camaron with chiles, avocado, cucumber, and local tomatoes.
For guests staying overnight, La Cocina serves breakfast and lunch, including chilaquiles, a Santa Maria grilled chicken asado torta, and breakfast burritos. The 45-seat Snug Bar serves complimentary coffee and a cocktail menu. The bar is in the beginning stages of assembling an agave spirit and wine collection, with particular interest in winemakers from Baja California, California, and Spain. El Roblar's cocktails are classics with margaritas, Old Fashioneds, Palomas, and a simple carajillo with Paranubes Oaxacan Rum, Licor 43 Spanish liqueur, and fresh espresso.
Hotel El Roblar resides on the same street as another historic adjacent building that was recently restored: the Ojai Playhouse on Ojai Avenue. El Roblar is a short walk away from Ojai's local favorite, Rory's Place. The charming neighborhood, with its orange groves and walkable downtown strip with the third outlet for Highly Likely, and surrounding Los Padres National Forest, Ojai continues to evolve into a dining destination for Southern California.
The Condor Bar is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and La Cocina serves lunch and breakfast to guests from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The lobby's Snug Bar is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 122 E. Ojai Avenue, Ojai, CA, 93023.
Duck leg carnitas at Condor Bar in Ojai. Bethany Nauert
Prime arranchera steak on a Santa Maria grill. Bethany Nauert
Oysters, Oaxacan After Midnight cocktail, and Best Friend cocktail. Bethany Nauert
Bar closeup Gregory Goode
Gregory Goode
Bar view. Gregory Goode
Bar adjacent dining room. Gregory Goode
Patio dining. Gregory Goode
Snug Bar. Gregory Goode
Lobby. Gregory Goode
Pool. Gregory Goode
Entry. Gregory Goode
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