Villa Creek History
Wine grapes lured Cris and JoAnn Cherry to Central California back in the mid nineties but it was the quality of life that seduced them to stay. They sold their Mexican restaurant in San Diego and put their efforts into renovating a dive bar on a prime corner of the downtown Paso Robles city park. In the spring of 1998 the Cherry’s opened Villa Creek, a restaurant serving Spanish and Mediterranean influenced comfort food along with some of the worlds finest wines.
In 1998 Paso Robles was just ripe for a surge in tourism, but at the time local businesses were solely dependent on the local cowboys so the Cherry’s hunkered down to watch their clientele evolve. Early menus included items such as Chicken with Mole Negro, Rack of Lamb and Penne with Wild Boar Sausage. As local palates grew more adventurous and tourism increased tenfold the Cherry’s, who had been developing the recipes themselves, felt it was time to add a trained chef to the team. In addition to bringing fresh ideas to the menu, this would enable Cris to spend time on his creative passion, wine making.
Chef Tom Fundaro had recently relocated to Paso Robles after a five year stint with some of New York’s most active kitchens. The Cherry’s quickly snatched him up after his first Paso Robles endeavor was waylaid by an untimely remodel. Fundaro has taken Villa Creek to the next level of fine dining while keeping the cuisine approachable. Local organic produce, cheeses, olive oil, and grass fed beef and game products have become readily available to Chef Tom in recent years enabling him to build a seasonal menu reflective of the area’s bounty and complementing the numerous local wines featured on the list.
Rolling hills dotted with vineyards, almond and walnut orchards, and lush oak forests attract tourists from around the globe to Paso Robles’ central California oasis. Villa Creek is ideally located on the downtown city park which provides a scenic background of 100 year old oaks and black walnuts and a beautiful old brick Carnegie library.
The Cherry’s converted the park front corner bar into an old world mission style restaurant with a premium bar. The high ceilings, thick warm red walls and dark wood beams connote visions of old Spain and Mexico. Rusted wrought iron hardware and Oaxacan tapestries displayed throughout the dining room echo the rustic, artesian theme of the restaurant. Mission style banquettes upholstered in worn leather run the length of the long softly lit fifty seat dining room.
The thirty seat windowed Garden Room at the rear of the restaurant opens onto a courtyard which is tastefully landscaped with bay and flowering pear trees, ornamental grasses and an ivy covered fence. Both are frequently rented for private parties.
The walnut bar, hewn from a single tree, runs the length of the 1000 sq. ft room while bar height two and four top tables dot the floor. Accordion paned glass doors fold open to bring the outside in to the park front bar where patrons enjoy a full selection of premium wines and liquors as well as a seasonal bar menu. In the warmer months patrons enjoy the bar tables out on the sidewalk overlooking the city park.
Villa Creek is continually featured in various national and local publications as recommended dining when visiting Paso Robles. For more information, contact JoAnn Cherry.