I’ve dreamed of opening a true brewpub for years. Many friends of mine have flirted with it and I’ve come close on a couple of occasions. But I tend to agree with Gordon Ramsey on this that if you’re opening a restaurant to make money, and that’s your goal — don’t do it. I’ve added an American caveat to it, which is if you simply want to open a restaurant to make money, go open a TGI Friday’s franchise and be done with it. Be done with flavor and fresh ingredients and unique fare. Just serve your Jack Daniels Monterey Jack Sirloin Blue Cheese Burger and go away.

That, of course, is what happened to the once promising BJ’s “Brew Pub.” I put brewpub in quotes because BJ’s really should remove it from their name. Their flirtation with quality beer, brewed in their facilities, is now simply over. Oh, they claim to do it and in one or two places they do. But they may as well just pour in the ingredients from the bag that says, “Red beer” and turn on the machine and start frothing. Because the beer, while not quite sucking, is rather….well….mundane.

And it was this fact that drove the hero of our story, Dave, to look elsewhere. A former BJ’s brewer, he was distraught by the corporate wing-dinginess of BJ’s and he went forth in search of adventurous and more beer-a-licious climes. He found them with the lovely and gracious Serena and together, they took an old Chuy’s Mexican restaurant and turned it into The Ladyface Alehouse in Agoura Hills off Kanan Road.

An adventurously lean menu kicks off the experience and fresh, local ingredients are used to create mouthwatering dishes like the seasonal and ever-changing flatbreads. I had eggplant, sun-dried tomato, onions and arugula on mine and it was so very satisfying. All the components fit together. The burgers, with grass-fed beef and balsamic marinated onions, the Belgian Pomme Frites served with aioli or ale-infused ketchup, the sausage plate-all of it is captivating and interesting and tasty.

Dave’s beers are works of art. They really are—and it’s not that they’re gorgeous and elegant and simple and finessed, though they are those things. It’s that the brewer takes his time to create limited batches of beer with quality hops and malts, choosing his ingredients, his fermentations, his mash, oh so very carefully and producing unique, flavorful ales, lagers and lambics, among others, that deserve your undivided attention. I won’t do a taste test here—go there, see what’s pouring and taste for yourself. They do a tasting menu which is helpful and if you don’t like what Dave and Serena have concocted, you can order from their “cellar.” And you won’t find Bud, Coors, Coors Light, Pyramid or Sam Adams (allow me to note that Sam Adams does not even belong in that league. Sam Adams beer is a Godly and fine creation. The others are posers and fakers. Sort of—but that’s another article).

Sitting at the foot of Ladyface Mountain in Agoura Hills, nestled next to my very own Westlake Lutheran Church-which makes me happy every Sunday-and now, makes me even happier- Ladyface Alehouse is a wonderful addition to the 101 corridor. They still have some service hiccups to work out. Serena is finding that waiters and waitresses flake once in a while and if it gets busy, you end up with two servers running the show—it can be slow and maddening. I imagine that they’ll work that out over time, but you should know it before you go. The place is tremendous and the food is tremendous-er and the beer is tremendous-er-er.

Ladyface makes me happy. I think it will make you happy, too.