Gary: Good Morning and welcome back to ‘Breakfast for Bikers’. After a little hiatus we are back at it again. Since I have been doing this ‘Biggest Losers’ contest with my club, I have lost 24 pounds at the last weigh-in. So my intake of food has dramatically changed, but one can’t deny one’s self all the time, so throwing caution to the wind we took off on a beautiful Sunday morning.
Hope: Today we decided to try something a little different than the traditional breakfast place. After a little bit of research, I found a place in Oxnard that not only had history in the community, but boasted original artwork. Add good food to the equation and it doesn’t take much arm-twisting to get me on the bike…
Gary pulled up a few minutes after 10 am and we took off. Jamming down the 126, you can see all the changes in agriculture with the change in temperatures. (For those of you who don’t live in the area, we went from 90-degree riding days to 80-degree riding days…and our evenings have gotten much cooler.) Instead of citrus and avocados, we have pumpkins and various other types of squash, tomatoes and the beginnings of strawberries. The weather was perfect; the skies clear and blue and well, combine that with being on the bike and it doesn’t get much better. After turning off the 126 at Wells Road, we followed that to Vineyard, took a left onto Oxnard Boulevard and started to ‘feel’ the culture change of Oxnard. We took a right onto West 6th Street and a quick left onto South ‘A’ Street. ¿Tomas Café? was only a few doors down on the left side with ample parking on both sides of the street. I don’t know how things are in the rest of the world but when you are in a place like Fillmore, Santa Paula, or Oxnard, drivers stop in the street to give you that extra few minutes to back your bike into a space or cross the street, despite not being in a crosswalk. Dare I say...people-friendly? I like this town!
Gary: The ride up to Fillmore was just outstanding and as Hope has stated, the ‘changing of the guard’ has taken place with the farms. So now everything is all different colors and shapes. Plus, we just had some rain so the air was crisp and clean with all the leaves on the plants g listening from the sun and the sky was so amazingly blue you could almost touch it. They grow allot of pumpkins up here and they are close to being harvested. So the pumpkin fields are green and orange. Good thing I am sober otherwise I would take some ‘special’ mushrooms and trip out on the side of the road and have own little Halloween in my head. LOL
Hope: We locked up the scoot and walked into another world as we pulled open the doors of ¿Tomas Café?. The walls were vibrant pumpkin-colored, with beautiful oak moulding on the ceilings, accented with large ceiling fans spreading the wonderful aromas emanating from the kitchen area. Speaking of the kitchen area, it is open and in full view and from the looks of things, not only do the cooks do what they love to do, but they also seem to have a lot of fun doing it. And that goes for everyone working there!
Gary: This place was a visual feast. My eyes never stopped looking at something, either the awesome art work , the pleasant and happy family who ran the place or the marvelous wood work . When we found our spot at the counter Hope had to use the restroom, so the owner’s mother came up to me to ask me what we wanted to drink. Having already checked with Hope, I said coffee. She poured me a cup and then did something so cool. She put an empty cup in front of Hope's seat but didn’t pour the coffee. When she saw a quizzical look on my face, she told me she would wait until Hope returned so that her coffee didn’t get cold while she was in the restroom. I was totally taken back by that. How cool can that be? What a great start to what turned out to be a wonderful experience.
Hope: Lots of tables and booths begged to be inhabited, but after a brief glace around the two sections of the restaurant, we were mesmerized by an entire of freshly baked cinnamon rolls that were proudly displayed on the 5-chair counter area. And you KNOW that’s where we decided to sit!! We started with freshly-brewed coffee and agreed to begin the day of dieting by splitting a cinnamon roll as an appetizer. The cinnamon roll is delivered on a plate steaming hot and drenched in real butter and sweet icing. I dare anyone to take one bite and one bite only. This stuff is addicting to say the least. The two-page menu offers a wide array of dishes not normally found in one restaurant. While it lists the traditional variety of eggs, breakfast meats, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and waffles, it also sports those revered foods like chile verde, chilequiles, ropa vieja, and menudo. A great selection, to say the least.
Gary: First off, let me say that I don’t care who you are or what diet you are on, no one would have been able to resist these cinnamon rolls. They were sitting right in front of us still in their original baking pan. (see photo) The aroma was unbelievable and it made my mouth water. So to rationalize my watching my weight, we decided to ‘split’ one roll. Come on, that’s dieting!!! LOL
Hope: I opted for a steak, pasilla chile, and cheese omelet with a side of fresh fruit (to make up for the fact that I was going to ingest half of a mega-calorie cinnamon roll). The omelet was a good size with a whole fire-roasted pasilla chile sandwiched between the fluffy egg. I doused it with a good portion of their homemade green salsa (‘cuz I like it spicy!) and I was in heaven…
Gary: I ordered a ‘Spanish vegetable omelet’ that consisted of mushrooms, zucchini, potato, spinach, hot jalapeno with jack and cheddar cheese topped with Spanish sauce. Also with it came fruit and whole wheat toast. This was delicious with all the veggies not overcooked and the ‘Spanish sauce’ a really nice finish to this omelet. I also used some green salsa but had to get my own because Hope used the entire first serving on her omelet. LOL. I totally enjoyed my meal but that was because there was so much more to it than just the food. Hope will explain....
Hope: This is the place you go to not just because it offers good food, but because it’s pretty, vibrant, and a heck of a lot of fun. We had wonderful conversations with the family who own and operate this little gem of a restaurant. Everyone went out of their way to make sure everything was perfect and on our way out, the head of the family showed us his beautiful collection of artwork in the gallery next door. We didn’t feel like patrons, but more like old friends. ¿Tomas Café? shines in many ways…and we will definitely be back!
Hope: From there, we rode down 5th Street and headed to the Channel Islands Farmer’s Market, because you know we just didn’t eat enough at ¿Tomas Café?…lol! We walked off some of the calories (mostly from the cinnamon roll) and sampled some fruit. When we were sufficiently stuffed, we rode to Main Street in Ventura where (I’m almost embarrassed to say) we had coffee and strawberry fresco sorbetto (this stuff would be wonderful with a cinnamon roll…lol)! I know… we should be ashamed of ourselves. But hey—you only live once (or so I’ve been told), so you may as well enjoy yourself along the way. Of course, Gary & I have both learned to watch our caloric intake during the week, so this was our ‘off the diet’ day… and what a great day it was!!!
Gary: I love the Channel Island Farmers Market and I always come away with something fresh and ready to make dinner with. Oops, did I say I ate dinner? LOL Oh well, this day was worth it. We had a wonderful time at ¿Tomas Café?, then the Market and of course, on our Harley Davidson motorcycles.
Hope: Get your ass to ¿Tomas Café? and tell them Hope & Gary sent you…you won’t be disappointed!
¿Tomas Café?
622 South a Street
Oxnard, CA 93030-8145
(805) 483-6633
Oxnard, CA 93030-8145
