Business Spotlight: Prose Kitchen & Bar

There's a stretch of Ventura Boulevard that longtime Valley residents will tell you, without much prompting, they used to just drive past on their way somewhere else. Prose Kitchen & Bar, at 21150 Ventura Blvd., is one of the reasons that's changed.

Chef David Gussin opened Prose with his wife, Molly, after years running kitchens at STK, Fig & Olive, and Cleo, and building Food First Events, their catering company. It's his first solo restaurant, and it shows: a 60-seat dining room with rich wood accents and camel-colored leather booths, plus a 30-seat all-season patio built for the Valley's actual weather, heat lamps and misters included.

The menu leans into seasonal, ingredient-driven California cooking with global touches. Handmade pastas, premium steaks, and vegetable-forward dishes that don't feel like an afterthought next to them. It's the kind of place built for a date night or a small celebration rather than a quick bite, though the bar and happy hour, 4:30 to 6 p.m., make it easy to stop in for less than a full dinner.

The details

Prose is open daily starting at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday until 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 9:30 p.m., Sunday until 9 p.m. Reservations and the full menu are available on the restaurant's website, and both onsite and street parking are options.

Why we're featuring it

Part of what West Valley Guide is here to do is point you toward the businesses already doing the work of making this stretch of the Valley worth sticking around in, not just the newest opening, but the ones locals keep going back to. Prose has become exactly that kind of fixture on Ventura Boulevard, and it's a good example of the caliber of independent business we'll be spotlighting regularly.

Own or work at a West Valley business you think deserves a spotlight? We'd love to hear from you.

West Valley Guide