New Pizza Option for Ojai
Winter in Ojai brings a fresh new face to pizza with Pinyon, owned and operated by Jeremy Alben, Sally Slade and Tony Mont. All three owners bring loads of experience and passion to this locally focused venture that has found its home on Ojai Avenue, between Ojai Rotîe and The Nest.
“We want this to be a casual place for people to hang out [and] have good wine and good food,” says Slade.
New to Ojai, Alben, chef, and Slade, beverage director, grew up in Seattle, friends since they were toddlers. Later, Alben met Mont, baker and general manager, during his time on the East Coast and the two quickly bonded.
All three have spent much of their time in restaurants; Alben started working on the line when he was 14 years old. His journey took him to Sweden, Australia, Mexico and then the East Coast. Slade worked both front and back of house, but eventually found her passion and interest in the world of natural wines. Mont, originally from New Jersey, grew up in Philadelphia in a pizzeria and is now passionate about baking with fermented grains.
Like most chefs and restaurant workers, Alben and Slade were both furloughed during COVID and, during their time off, reconnected with Mont. With an open-ended future, together they decided to pursue the dream of opening a restaurant that looked different than the norm.
“Working in a Los Angeles restaurant, the produce and meats were coming from central California—we wanted to be where the food was being grown and have direct relationships with the farmers,” says Alben.
Ojai fit the requirements for location, a small town close to Los Angeles with good local travel. “The appeal of the produce in Ventura County is what drew me to Ojai as a chef,” says Alben, “to connect with locals who care as much about the food they grow as we do about the food we serve.”
Pinyon started as a private meal delivery business that utilized commercial kitchens to prepare their “subscription” pizza. The menu was simple, consisting of three seasonal pizzas, a salad and a whole-grain dessert, dropping weekly on their website for advance orders with weekend delivery. Catering jobs soon followed and, along with the delivery drops, were lucrative enough to be used as proof of concept for the brick-and-mortar opened in late 2021.
They are focused on a pro-worker business model, especially paying a living wage.
Local partnerships, a key component of their business, include Earthtrine Farms, Shear Rock Farms, Ojai Roots, Ventura Fresh Fish, Casitas Valley Pastures and Kelpful (SLO).
Pinyon offers daytime grab-and-go Philly hoagies, Sicilian-style pizza, and snacks. The evening menu consists of seasonal salads, hot veg, four seasonal pizzas, plated desserts, beer, wine and cider. On weekends they sell bagels by the half dozen and dozen.
Pinyon 423 E. Ojai Ave. PinyonOjai.com | @pinyonojai
