FEATURE | By Robin Gerber

Making Their Ojai Home

Rory and Meave McAuliffe

You can call them transplants, as if Ojai’s new young arrivals are a non-native, invasive species. Perhaps, but they’re bringing a vibrancy, originality and determination to town that should make them as beloved as Bermuda Buttercups.

Rory and Meave McAuliffe arrived from Venice, California via quite a few detours, just before Covid came to town. The blondish, early thirty-something sisters are as serious as any two entrepreneurs in the fraught business of running a restaurant. They’re also far too slim to be eating the imaginative delights of Rory’s Place, one of Ojai’s newer dining spots. And yet, as we chat, Meave the chef jumps up from her patio seat, runs inside and comes out carrying two individual Boston cream pies. She offers me one, and proceeds to devour hers explaining that she missed lunch.

Rory is less talkative than her big sister, and more serious as if the weight of meeting payroll is never far from her mind. She had the idea to start the restaurant after working first for an arts organization in New York City and then for a film production company in Los Angeles. She was in her 20s when she started dreaming of a wine bar/pub of her own. She asked Meave to help with a business plan. 

Both sisters attended Hampshire College, a New England refuge for independent-minded young progressives who want to shape their own course of study. Meave focused on environmental science, but when she graduated in 2008 nonprofit jobs were scarce. She found herself back home in Venice as the pastry chef at Gjelina, a new neighborhood restaurant with unconventional ideas. Gjelina was “produce forward,” with pizza dough that fermented for days and a communal feeling between customers and staff. “Some people in Venice were angry about Gjelina,” Meave says. “They said it was ‘gentrification,’ but Gjelina was opened by locals and locals felt it was great. They employ hundreds of staff.”

At that time Venice still had its small-town-in-a-city vibe. “It wasn’t billboard Venice,” Rory explains. “It wasn’t just a place for flagship stores to rent space for their signs.” The sisters remember the main street, Abbott Kinney, as the center of a “funky little arts town.” Rory laughs and says, “We thought of the liquor store as the candy store, because that’s where we went to get candy.” 

Their dad was an artist with a gallery, but these days he does furniture design. Their mom had a bakery. “We experienced the magic,” Rory remembers, “and we loved how fun and active it was, playing with cake toppers, grabbing a cookie, chatting with customers.” The sisters smile at each other, and memories of chocolate dance in their blue eyes. Their mom’s bakery closed in the 1990s when Starbucks moved in next door.

Gjelina had helped Meave find her calling. She left to help open Behind the Bookstore, a farm-to-table restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. From there, she headed across country to Marin County where an aunt had a cabin in the tiny town of Inverness. With a view over Tomales Bay, the Saltwater restaurant brought Meave in as head chef, offering locally sourced oysters and fine dining to the area. Along the way Meave worked as a private chef, learned to throw pots, and worked on an uncle’s Cape Cod oyster farm with her sister. Since she was a little girl, she harbored a dream of opening a restaurant. 

Meave did a business plan for Rory’s wine bar idea, and when Rory’s friend dropped out as a partner, Meave stepped in. But she didn’t want to live in L.A. She loved small towns, and had wanted to live in Ojai since visiting with an ex-boyfriend years earlier. Meave remembers, “The idea to work with Rory got me off a small island and away from heartbreak. Everyone was saying Ojai needed a good restaurant, and when we drove in everything was blooming, the air was intoxicating with winter citrus. Coming from the east coast, it was magical.” Meave’s dream was being realized with her sister, a restaurant where her ceramics would be on the tables and walls, and oysters would be on the menu.

From the start, Rory’s Place faced one hurdle after another from lack of money to Covid. “We were relying on funds from private investors but then Covid hit and we didn’t hear from some of them,” Meave remembers. “We were on the brink of turning back a lot,” Rory adds.

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But the sisters persisted, delivering gourmet meals during Covid lockdown, building their reputation and connection to local suppliers and the community. Meave says, “Our farmers and fishermen had lost so many of their accounts, so we started a supper club with them during Covid. We felt more tied into the community despite lockdowns.” They started crowdfunding the restaurant. “We got small investment chunks,” Rory explains, “and they came from our local community. We got over 25 investors.” They also worked on growing their list of local food suppliers which includes Earthtrine Farm, Shear Rock Farm, Eric Hodge’s Local Catch, Peter Strauss’ produce, Churchill Orchards, John Givens Farm, Lily’s’ Organic Eggs, Friends Ranch, Ojai Roots and Eric Goode for avocados and oranges. 

Rory’s Place opened its doors in February 2022, and was an instant hit with locals and tourists alike. “This is a gathering place,” Meave says. “We built it so it feels like you’re eating at someone’s house. We’re here every day. Our staff is like family. Connections are being made all the time. We set up table 40. That’s our communal table where we sit lots of ‘two’s.’” Rory laughs, “People are always going home with each other’s phone numbers.”

Rory’s place has a staff of almost 35. The sisters pride themselves on paying a livable wage, way above minimum wage. All tips are pooled for all employees. 

“We believe everyone has an essential role in getting the food from the farm to the plates we serve,” Rory says, “so we wanted an equitable pay structure that reflects that.” 

Meave smiles, “We feel incredible about providing jobs for young people here. It’s a fun and beautiful thing.” Some of Rory’s crew grew up in Ojai, left and returned. “We want them to have dignity in the work they do here,” Rory says, “and maybe be able to move out of home.” As with other Ojai businesses, lack of housing is a huge issue as Rory’s tries to find and keep staff.

The sisters care about issues like local housing, food waste and sustainability. A portion of their T-shirt sales go to Ventura Food Share. The restaurant’s food waste is composted in partnership with local farms, and the fisherman who delivers his catch takes their used fish oil to fire his boat. They also have plans for a sliding scale ‘glean’ dinner made from the overage and bruised produce at the farmers’ market. Meave has a plan for ‘pop-ups’ for local cooks. “We want to make room on days when we’re not open, for others to come in and use the kitchen,” Meave explains. 

When I ask if Ojai is home, Rory jumps in, “Yes, it is home. We put everything we had into here. it’s our passion project.” Rory also bought a home in Oak View with her partner. They dug their Ojai roots deeper with a backyard wedding earlier this year. 

Rory and Meave may be transplants, but they are growing strong and vibrant as part of Ojai’s newest generation of entrepreneurs and residents. Their sense of community and environmental awareness can only benefit our town. “How we integrate sustainability and community is what gives meaning to me in owning a restaurant,” Meave says. “Our most important relationships are with the stewards of the land.” When I ask if they see themselves raising children here, Rory laughs. 

“I have a kid. It’s Rory’s Place.”

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