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More Than Just a Dining Experience

Café Sienna

We recently went to see “The Royal Tenenbaums” a film about a very dysfunctional family preceded by a meal at Café Sienna in North Ranch Plaza near Trader Joe’s.  It turned out to be a synergistic decision. The long-playing drama at Café Sienna turned to be just about as interesting as the movie we attended later that night.  

Sienna is not named after the historic Italian city (which is spelled Siena) near Florence.  Sienna is, however, a light brown earth pigment whose tones were used in many Renaissance period paintings. This tonal theme was tastefully used when the restaurant first opened as a warm, casual and friendly tratorria with excellent and unusual pizza. Actually, it was eponymously named after the original owner Frank Sienna who was always on site and knew what he was doing. . 

Over the years, we ate at Sienna periodically. It was sometimes great and sometimes average.  After a while, we concluded that  splitting a salad and a simple but wonderful thin crusted gourmet pizza was the way to go.

About three years ago things changed for the better when Derek Ashworth, a chef with Cordon Bleu and Spago credentials took over the now interesting open kitchen. It turned out that Ashworth had worked earlier at Sienna (during the up times), left, but came back under what we later learned was new ownership. The food not only was creative; it was consistent. We gave it a positive review in The Ventura County Star.  Café Sienna became one of the most popular and acclaimed spots in the Conejo for lunch and dinner. There was always a wait for tables. The business was hampered however, because while people loved the food, the crowded table conditions, combined with the wait did not produce a pleasant dining experience and people left rather than wait.  

That led to a needed remodel- expansion. I figured that this new environment deserved a review upon completion. I waited four months since that is how long it took to reopen.

The food was fine, but every other aspect of the meal was totally disorganized and unpleasant. The remodel also still seemed incomplete.  During our meal, a person who appeared to be the manager came into the restaurant. He was arrogant in his treatment of the help and disinterested in anything more than eating at his special table. After talking to some of the servers while we completed our meal, the first act of the drama enfolded. It turned out that this off-site executive manager was the son of Vic Kreiss who owns Jack’s Deli. Kreiss also owns Cardinal Restaurant Supply and the son, John Kreiss also worked there. Cardinal had been supplying Café Sienna over the years.  In an involved and perhaps bitter transaction, Vic Kreiss bought the restaurant from Frank Sienna. What a developing plot!

I decided to wait another 6 months to give the restaurant, management and personnel a chance to settle down. In mid January, we returned for the review. In order to beat the anticipated Saturday night crowds at the restaurant and be sure to make the movie, we went to Café Sienna at 6 P.M.

Things started off badly. A dour young woman at the greeting station told us that we would have to wait for someone to take us to a table. A woman who seemed to be the on-site manager was standing behind a small bar. As we waited, I noted that the now completed addition, a long narrow, claustrophobic room was unoccupied.

An equally dour young man with a flannel plaid shirt sloppily hanging over his pants, wordlessly led us to a table in the front of the restaurant, put the menus on the table and left. The front section of the restaurant, furnished with deli-coffee shop style booths and formica tabletops, was moderately busy.

Things then seemed to improve. The menu featured the same Derek Ashworth  designed food  that we had enjoyed previously. The waiter was neatly attired and groomed, as were the rest of the personnel with that one exception. He pleasantly, efficiently and clearly recited the specials including the prices (a very good sign). Water and a generous basket of small cuts of freshly baked pizza style bread were promptly brought to the table.


We split an order of Chile Relleno (7.95). My wife ordered her favorite, Thai Shrimp over pasta (15.95) and I ordered mine, Sliced Duck (19.95) over oriental vegetables. Though a small portion, the unique take on the Chile Relleno was interesting. The Thai Shrimp was substantial in a large bowl. My wife seemed to enjoy the first two bites of shrimp, but was then overpowered by the overabundance of the heavy, overly rich creamed sauce which also drowned the pasta. She ate the shrimp and left most of the pasta and sauce.  My duck was virtually flavorless, partially the quality of the duck, partially due to being overcooked. The oriental vegetables had a strange unpleasant flavor. Something seemed amiss.

We never saw the manager browsing  the main dining or approach any  patrons to find out if they were satisfied with the food and service. There was not enough time to send the duck back but there was enough time to talk to two of the servers that we knew who had been on the job before the remodel.

The tale they related was certainly high drama. It turns out that the son, John Kreiss had supervised the ill-fated and financially disastrous 4-month remodel-expansion. Incredibly, he didn’t realize until reopening that he didn’t have a valid liquor license. Thus he was forced to operate for the next two months without the crucial drink revenue. Kreiss is now no longer involved with the restaurant nor is he any longer employed at the family owned Cardinal Supply.

A further nuance in the plot was related. Ashworth the talented executive chef whose culinary skills were the principal reason for Café Sienna’s prior success, had also been terminated earlier in an ill-conceived economy move. This left the kitchen in the hands of inexperienced line cooks. Café Sienna is still a choice for simple things at lunch. The original Ashworth conceived menu has those huge and interesting salads that are easy to assemble plus gourmet pizzas. However the eatery must find a way to regain the culinary execution and quality ingredients that it gave up before it can justify white table cloth dinner house prices while offering coffee shop-deli quality food and atmosphere.

We paid the bill and left, with the realization that Café Sienna was the stage for a very dramatic real life story about an internecine restaurant business. It is as live and as riveting as “The Royal Tenenbaums.”  Certainly, it had elements of the recent restaurant films “Big Night” and “Dinner Rush”. We had just unknowingly attended a dinner theater. Ironically, in spite of the disappointing food we may have actually gotten our money’s worth.

Sienna      3825 E.  Thousand Oaks Blvd, Westlake Village           805-373-6060

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