KICK-BUTT SELF-DEFENSE: Lori Hartman Gervasi, author

Denise Kelly pours champagne for guests at a recent spring dinner. The sparkling wine was tinted in pastel colors as part of the evening's motif.
its life as a bank in the early 1900s.
The restaurant, named after their 8-yearold
son, opened in 2003. At that time, they
owned a Chino sandwich cafe called
Brown Bag It, which had been successful
for 14 years. The city was redeveloping the
old part of town and approached the Kellys
about opening a new place in the area.
They immediately were drawn to the
location as it reminded them of the
buildings in old town Pasadena — red
brick walls, Japanese maples and Spanish
style iron gates in the courtyard.
Besides Owen’s, they also kept the cafe
going, but after a couple of months, they
decided their real passion was for the new
place and sold the cafe.
James, who also works as the chef, is
self-taught with more than 22 years of
experience. He started at a young age in
the kitchen of an Italian restaurant run by
his grandparents on Chicago’s south side.
When he was a teenager his family
moved to California, where, after high
school, he went to work at the Velvet
Turtle, first as a bus boy and then as a
waiter — all the time volunteering to do
prep work in the kitchen.
It was the kind of experience he needed
to open the sandwich cafe in Chino.
Chef James is into molecular gastronomy,
but prefers to call his cuisine progressive
American with a sense of humor. He likes
the idea of concept meals, much like the
camping trip described above. He doesn’t
follow recipes and has often created dishes
to go with particular wines — instead
of pairing the wine to the food.
On a recent evening, Owen’s Bistro
offered one of its monthly chef’s dinners.
The concept was spring and everything on
the menu as well as the décor was designed
to bring that fresh feeling to all the senses.
The Kellys believe that what you see and
smell is just as important to the dining
experience as the taste, and the evening
reflected that.
The whimsy began as each arriving
month 09 | inlandlivingmagazine.com | xx