We’ll admit it: Ventura Boulevard lacks the cachet of such other important streets “over the hill” as Wilshire and Sunset. The main surface artery through the San Fernando Valley has long, utterly forgettable stretches lined with strip malls, auto dealerships and low-end motels. However, as Ventura heads into Studio City, it’s studded with some of the Valley’s best food finds — ones that are even worth a drive over the hill.

Start around the corner from Universal City at the celebrated SUSHI NOZAWA, located on the eastern end of Sushi Row, the section of Ventura Blvd. named for its cluster of sushi restaurants that range from ordinary to extraordinary. At his original Studio City place, chef Kazunori Nozawa, known to some as the Sushi Nazi, offers a distinctive style of chef’s-choice omakase (“trust me” is his motto) to cowed but doting customers (he also operates Sugarfish in Marina del Rey). In the same Ventura Boulevard strip mall is the humbler but more hospitable DAICHAN, a family-run hole-in-the-wall that serves excellent homestyle Japanese dishes, such as udon noodles, poki bowls, curries and tempuras.

A short hop west on the same side of Ventura is chef Katsuya Uechi’s original SUSHI KATSU-YA, which has now grown into a sushi empire with a branch in Encino and high-style Katsuya by Starck offshoots in Hollywood, Brentwood and Glendale. Katsu-Ya in Studio City specializes in elaborate rolls and intricate presentations, and if you can swing a reservation it’s a fun spot for a small group. A few blocks west on the same side of Ventura is Uechi’s latest creation, KIWAMI, an elegant, contemporary spot for sushi connoisseurs to savor omakase or nosh less formally on soba noodles, tempura and miso-marinated black cod. If you’re on an expense account, try ASANEBO, which despite its unprepossessing location (in a strip mall across the boulevard from Kiwami) was awarded one star from the Michelin guide in 2007. Asanebo serves a limited selection of nigiri sushi but is better known for superb sashimi and a range of imaginative cooked dishes; omakase starts at $75 per person and ascends from there.

Since man does not live by yellowtail alone, ARTISAN CHEESE GALLERY, located just east of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, purveys handmade cheeses from all over the world, as well as Fra Mani salumi and a variety of gourmet food products. On Sundays, Ventura Place behind the Cheese Gallery is home to the STUDIO CITY FARMER’S MARKET, a small, high-quality market that is hugely popular with the locals (parking can be a challenge). And every morning, the venerable DU-PAR’S is a magnet for hungry folk chowing down on buttermilk pancakes and French toast; it’s also a great place to spot rumpled, uncombed, not-yet-caffeinated celebrities.

A block west of Laurel Canyon you’ll find a chic little bakery called BIG SUGAR BAKESHOP. Every day the bakers create a different lineup of temptations, from red velvet cake and tender scones to luscious brownies, but Big Sugar is perhaps best known for creating the doughnut muffin, which combines the best of both baked goods into one toothsome breakfast treat. Last, for a relaxing capper to this culinary crawl, stop in at THE FLASK, a wine and spirits shop that has been satisfying local needs for premium bottlings for more than four decades. After all, pounding the pavement in search of good eats is thirsty work.

—Jean T. Barrett

Artisan Cheese Gallery
12023 Ventura Blvd., 818.505.0207

Asanebo
11941 Ventura Blvd., 818.760.3348

Big Sugar Bakeshop
12182 Ventura Blvd., 818.508.5855

Daichan
11288 Ventura Blvd., Ste. F, 818.980.8450

Du-par’s
12036 Ventura Blvd., 818.766-4437

The Flask
12194 Ventura Blvd., 818.761.5373

Kiwami
11920 Ventura Blvd., 818.763.3910

Studio City Farmer’s Market
Ventura Place at Ventura Blvd., Sunday 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

Sushi Nozawa
11288 Ventura Blvd., Ste. C, 818.508.7017

Sushi Katsu-Ya
11680 Ventura Blvd., 818.985.6976