Business & Tech

California Grill Freshens Look, Menu

The Freedom Boulevard restaurant has new owners and healthier entrees.

The Pajaro Valley has a great farming tradition and, starting Saturday night, diners can have an authentic farm-to-table dinner at .

Lakeside Organics founder Dick Peixoto and his daughter, Ashley, bought the restaurant in the Freedom Centre earlier this year. The Peixotos have spent the past week doing a  to the place and plan to reopen for a 7 p.m. dinner service Saturday.

"It has been a big, crazy ordeal," Ashley, 21, said as carpet cleaners worked around her Thursday afternoon.

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The elder Peixoto has made a name for himself in the organic farming industry. Now, those organic veggies will be served at the family-style restaurant under his daughter's watchful eye.

"I've always wanted to go to culinary school and work in a restaurant," Ashley said. She said she's worked in the kitchen at an assisted-living facility and loves watching The Food Network.

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Ashley, who grew up in Watsonville and attended Cabrillo College after high school, said she hopes to follow her dad's entrepreneurial ways. He had his own business before he graduated high school and converted his conventional farm to all organic in 1995, long before the organic trend caught hold.

The former California Grill owners had been encouraging the Peixotos to buy the restaurant for awhile. The family took over March 1 and, a week ago, shut down the eatery for the quick-and-dirty makeover: carpet, paint, lighting and deep-cleaning the kitchen.

The staff will remain the same.

"We wanted them," Ashley said.

The menu will change to include more vegetarian and kid-friendly dishes. Look for healthier options and more fresh vegetables. Ashley said they would source locally-grown mushrooms and fruits, two things not grown at her dad's farms.

Ashley said she'll be "the lady of the house" and do a bit of everything: waiting, managing and, eventually, cooking.

"I kind of just jumped into this," Ashley said, with a big smile on her face.

California Grill is at 1970 Freedom Blvd. It's open daily from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will have .

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