Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County – Page 3

Cambria (During Covid-19) – Fiscalini Ranch, Cambria Coffee, Shamel Community Park, and Dinner at Black Cat Bistro

March 4, 2021 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Caffeine Fix, European Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Travel

During our roadtrip last November, our second stop was in Cambria. We had really enjoyed our dinner at Madeline's the night before. From the food, wine, and wonderful service….it was such a nice experience. We were looking forward to our full day in the town. Man, it really felt good to be travelling for a bit. We had really missed it.

I had gotten up early in the morning. The office had an urgent request so I was on my laptop and the phone for a bit. After my call, the Missus wanted a cup o' Joe. So I got dressed and headed out.

I crossed Highway 1 onto Main Street, which was quite sleepy at this time of the morning.

I really enjoyed the quaint, artsy, but unpretentious vibe of Cambria…..and a definite sense of humor!

A few blocks down was my destination; Cambria Coffee Roasting Company.

While I understand that there's a deck seating area upstairs with a view of the street; at this time, due to Covid restrictions it's closed. Basically, a table was set-up in the doorway and you could place your order.

And then you stand aside until you are called. I was happy to note that Cambria Coffee does pour-over…..which would make the coffee snob in the family (the Missus) happy. So, I got a coffee and a pour over for the Missus.

It was nice to see locals seeing each other….during these times, with the social distancing and such, I'm sure it's a treat for those on fours legs as well for those on two.

I went and walked on back to our room. The Missus enjoyed Her coffee. While not quite on the same level as Birdrock, She did enjoy it.

Cambria Coffee Roasting Company
761 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428

Bolstered by caffeine, the Missus was ready to head out. I had done a bit of research and planning for this trip to keep the Missus busy. One thing that caught my attention was Fiscalini Ranch Preserve. Previously owned by the Fiscalini family since the late 1800's as a cattle ranch, it was sold in the 1980's to a developer. The plan was to create a residential area, much like what surrounds the ranch. Fortunately (for us), the developer went bankrupt and the North Coast Small Wilderness Area Preservation was formed and raised 11 million dollars to purchase the property. The preserve consists of over 400 acres of trails which straddle both sides of Highway 1. You go from one of the last Monterey Pine Forests to the beautiful coast.

There are at least 17 trails available all of which are well maintained and makes for rather easy hiking. I decided that we should start at Huntington Road entrance, basically just an gate with street parking and walk along the Ridge Trail.

Where we quickly came upon an interesting bench.

This one is known as the, well, Dolphin Bench of course. We'd come to really enjoy the wonderful and quite artistic benches crafted with driftwood along the way.

We hiked along the Ridge Trail coming upon the pine forest.

And then meandered down to the Bluff Trail, which was scenic and beautiful.

And course there are those benches that I mentioned earlier….they really looked like works of art to us.

We took our time, sitting on the benches and enjoyed the views along the way.

These were the Missus's favorite benches.

Once we reached the North Windsor Boulevard Entrance, we headed back up the SeaClift Trail and eventually back from where we started.

Fiscalini Ranch Preserve was a fun, relaxing, and needless to say beautiful way to spend our day in Cambria.

It was time well spent.

After our hike, we headed into Cambria's East Village to do some shopping.

Which was a lot of fun……

We headed back to our very comfortable room at the El Colibri for, at least for me was a well earned afternoon nap.

I had made dinner reservations for this dinner at a restaurant in the East Village. I asked the Missus to get ready a bit early….She was a bit perturbed, but went along. We got into the car and instead of heading across Highway 1 I took a right turn down Windsor Boulevard and right at the turn down the hill stopped and parked at Shamel Community Park.

As we walked from the parking lot to the beach, the Missus got it…..

And boy was it beautiful!

Doesn't get much better than this, does it?

After the stunning sunset, we headed to our dinner destination, finding parking on the street. And enjoying the wonderful fun and artsy décor along the way.

Dinner was at Black Cat Bistro. The menu looked interesting…. We were seated in a covered porch area. During this time SLO County was under the Red tier and had 25% indoor, we requested outdoor. There were only two other couples during our whole meal….all from out of town and the other two parties had such cute and well behaved pooches with them.

The meal started in fine fashion with a delicious Crab Cake and Shrimp Salad ($17).

The shrimp was fried perfectly, the batter was light and crunchy, the shrimp sweet, plump, and oh so tender. The crab cakes was well made, full of crab meat, moist, the breading stood up well in the face of the remoulade sauce. The arugula added a nice balance as the mild bitterness helped to cut the richness. This was easily the best dish of the night, a memorable dish.

Next up was the "Paso Robles Pork Belly" ($15).

Love the addition of Gigante Beans; the pork belly was fine, the sauce was too salty and sweet for our taste.

Next up; the Gnocchi ($14). The gnocchi is fried giving it an interesting texture…..but beyond the light crispness, the interior was too mushy.

We did enjoy the earthiness of the mushrooms paired with the pleasant bitterness of the radicchio. This added a nice dimension to the plate, though that cream sauce just wasn't to our taste.

The last dish of the evening was the main reason I decided to book our dinner at Black Cat Bistro; the Strozzapreti ($25). The Missus loves strozzapreti and strigoli, the wonderful toothsomeness of the pasta. This was a vegetarian version which the Missus was more than happy to order.

There was just too much going on in this dish and the pasta was over cooked and on the mushy side, lacking in that nice chewiness the Missus enjoys. We enjoyed the purple cauliflower and Romanesco….the Missus just loves Her cauliflower. The currants seemed a bit too much for the dish as was the cream sauce. We would have preferred a bit more restraint in the saucing of the dish….but hey…..this is the US, not Italy. Sometimes, simple is best.

Overall a nice meal; friendly staff, the other two parties were from out of town and come to Cambria yearly. The Black Cat Bistro is a favorite of theirs. The Missus enjoyed the wine pairings as well.

Black Cat Bistro
1602 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428

As you can see; we didn't go to bed hungry! We really enjoyed Cambria and will be sure to return.

Road Trip (During Covid-19) – Harmony, Cambria, and Dinner at Madeline’s

December 8, 2020 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, French Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Travel, Wine Bars/Wineries

**** This is kind of a long one; so you might want to save it for when you more time to read.

We headed out from Morro Bay for Cambria where we'd be staying for two nights. But there was one stop to make. In doing my research for this trip, I'd come across a little town about 15 miles North of Morro Bay and 5 miles south of Cambria named Harmony. Population 18. Yep, you read that right, 18. At least that's what "Gladys the Town Cow" says.

Once upon a time the community was a dairy settlement; originally established by Swiss and Italian immigrants. There was a lot of competition which led to intense rivalries; which eventually resulted in a killing, you can read about it here, along with how a desire to restore peace, the town was named "Harmony". Eventually, the creameries closed down. For many years, the only business in the one street, one block town was the post office. Now, it has a winery, and is home to a small group of artisans who produce pottery and blown glass. It has a fun, funky feel to it. Along with the Gladys the cow; there's the "Holy Cow" to the right which celebrates the history of the town.

We spent about an hour in the town visiting the two businesses; the pottery shop and the glass works, purchasing a couple of gifts along the way.

There's also a Creamery and Dairy shop; basically an ice cream shop which was closed during our visit.

There's also a charming and plain adorable Chapel. After all; like the tag line goes for the Chapel's website goes: "Shouldn't every wedding begin in Harmony?"

You can read more about the venue here.

The little town was such a pleasant and fun surprise, we're glad we stopped by and will probably do it again in the future.

Harmony Pottery Works
2191 Old Creamery Rd.
Harmony, CA 93435
Hours:
Daily 10am – 5pm

Harmony Glassworks
2180 Old Creamery Rd.
Harmony, CA 93435
Hours:
Daily 9am – 5pm

After our visit we drove the short distance to Cambria. I'm not sure why I picked the village, but it turned out to be a wonderful stay. We were staying at the El Colibri Hotel & Spa, right on the otherside of Highway 1 from the village. The actual shopping area is made up of the East Village and the West Village which is separated by about a half mile. Since we were still quite early for check-in, we headed to the charming East Village to do some shopping.

We found parking and went about our way. When doing research on Cambria two things kept coming up; Linn's, which has a restaurant, café, a boutique/bookshop, and a gourmet goods store in town. And a Farmstand about 5 miles out of town. The second thing I read about were Olallieberries, a cross between Loganberries and Youngberries developed at Oregon State in 1949. Even though it was developed in Oregon, growing it there proved difficult and it is mainly grown in Central California. And Linn's is know for their Olalliberry Pies and preserves.

We ended up buying a bunch of preserves for friends and some "hot jelly" (to have with cheese).

We walked around a bit more; then headed to our hotel. While our room wasn't quite ready, I had a plan for our afternoon anyway. The El Colibri is located right at the South end of the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk; which is why I chose the place. And so we headed off and did the approximately three mile walk along the boardwalk. It was easy and picturesque.

Of course we had some "supervision" along the way.

We enjoyed the walk.

There were very few people along the way.

One of our lasting memories of Cambria are the benches; which we first started seeing along the Boardwalk.

This one is one of my favorites….for some reason; I just fine the location somewhat romantic.

As I guess many other folks do.

It was a nice little jaunt for the afternoon.

We got back to the hotel, checked in, freshened up….I check in at work to make sure things were going ok.

After relaxing for a bit we headed out to dinner. I'd picked a restaurant named Madeline's. First off, it was in walking distance. Second of all; the wine by the glass list looked really good. During the day, along with serving lunch, Madeline's is a wine shop until 5pm. I'd made reservations for outdoor dining at 530 pm. So, with the sun setting, we headed out, crossed over Highway 1, onto Main Street, pass the Gas Station….we were a bit early and the Missus wanted to do some shopping. Unfortunately, it seems like many of the shop were closed due to Covid-19.

We did stop in at a shop named Bali Gems. The owner was so nice; we chatted for almost a half hour. He told us that the stones found on Moonstone Beach aren't really Moonstones, but a combination of different minerals like agate, jasper, and such. He asked us where we'd be having dinner and when I mentioned Madeline's, I was told that it is the "best restaurant in town", and not like other "touristy" places. He also provided a nice little map for us. The Missus really wanted to buy something, but couldn't find anything to Her taste….maybe next time….

We got to Madeline's and were seated promptly at a nice table….everything was spaced out wonderfully and the heaters worked well. Our Server was a very nice fellow whose name I believe is Oscar. He was efficient, very knowledgeable, and had the perfect combination of professionalism and friendliness. As we often like to do; we ordered a bunch of appetizers making our own tasting menu.

The bread was nothing to write home about.

The Missus picked Her wine, though I waited until our first dish arrived; the Diver Scallops ($18).

The scallops were nicely seared, still wonderfully rare in the middle. The searing added a nice crispness that held out well. The beurre blanc wasn't too heavy with some nice acidity. I went ahead and ordered a Viognier which went quite well with this. Strange, the Missus had never had a Viognier before???? She loved it and because Madeline's is a wine shop; actually ordered a bottle to take with us……which She's enjoyed here at home.

The Spanish Octopus ($18) was cooked perfectly; tender, with the slightest pleasant toothsomeness.

Nice smokiness, the citrus tones came thru nicely to cut the saffron. By this time; I just trusted Oscar to pick a wine to match. He was awesome; he ended up picking wine that weren't on the "by the glass list"; but rather had been part of tastings that afternoon.

The only dish we didn't enjoy much was the Stuffed Quail ($16).

The lemon beurre blanc overwhelmed everything on the plate and while the wild mushroom stuffing had very nice earthy-nutty-mildly sweet tones; the quail was really dry and tough. Oh, but the wine chosen for us…..by this point, the Missus and I were just sharing a single glass that was picked for us.

Sorry to say I never got a shot at the acorn squash in the Fall Salad ($11), but the Missus assured me that it was quite good.

I really enjoyed the mild bitterness of the baby arugula, combined with the mild, almost spicy flavor of the Gorgonzola, and the balanced tartness of the pomegranate vinaigrette.

The Missus enjoyed Her Chocolate Truffle Mousse Cake ($11).

While I had a nice digestif to finish things off.

This was a nice meal. But, as is often the case, it's the staff and service that elevated the meal, into something memorable. We'll be back!

Madeline's Restaurant & Wine Tasting Room
788 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428

Road Trip (During Covid-19) – Cocktails from the Good Lion, Sama Sama, Handlebar Coffee (Santa Barbara), and Morro Bay

November 19, 2020 mmm-yoso Cocktails, Indonesian Restaurants & Food, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

After dinner at the Black Sheep we headed down State Street all the way to the "Funk Zone" area. It was way too crowded, even on a Sunday night, so we decided to head back to the motel room.

About two blocks down; the Missus and I looked at each other…….we still wanted a "nightcap" (or two). I recalled the place right under "The Earth Without Art is Just EH" sign, a cocktail bar named the Good Lion. The outdoor tables were nicely separated and we decided to stop here. The Server was really friendly and reminded us that the current law required us to order some food. Right next door was a restaurant that was on the "list" I'd presented to the Missus before our trip, an Indonesian Restaurant named Sama Sama and they had partnered with the Good Lion to provide food. So we decided to order an item from the menu.

The Missus ordered a "Good Toddy" a warm cognac and spiced rum drink that She said warmed Her up nicely.

I got an Oaxacan Old Fashion.

The first one was kind of on the weak side….so of course I ordered another, which was a bit stiffer and I enjoyed more.

While sitting a very friendly pooch wearing a couple of LED lighted collars walked on up…..she was soooo sweet and friendly, just asking to be pet. Her name was Lexi, I wish I took a photo of her.

Meanwhile, our food from Sama Sama arrived. We had ordered the Crispy Rice Salad.

A bit like Nam Khao, except milder in flavor and the rice was very light and crisp. Not very spicy, the Missus enjoyed the fried egg….it was a nice "dessert" of sorts. Really balanced flavors; cilantro, fish sauce, salty-savory sausage. Even though we would have enjoyed some pork skin in this, I'd gladly it again.

We enjoyed the service, our waters were constantly refilled, the servers really made an effort to keep folks happy. It was a nice way to end the evening.

The Good Lion
1212 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Sama Sama Kitchen
1208 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

We headed back to our room and fell asleep. Though the rooms were a bit dated and the walls thin; I could hear people talking and all of the street noise.

The next morning we woke and checked out at around 7 am and headed off….first stopping to refuel and grab some coffee from Handlebar Coffee

The Missus, the coffee snob, was disappointed that even though they roasted their own beans; that they didn't do pour over; so She got a double espresso, I got an Americano.

And then we were off to our next destination.

Handlebar Coffee Roasters
2720 De La Vina St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93105

We got on 154 West, then the 101 North, then the1, and made good time to our next destination. It was a place that I always wanted to check out….mainly for one thing.

It was still misty when we got to the village of Morro Bay. We easily found parking and started walking down Front Street. We decided to stop into this kinda touristy looking fish shack and shop.

And I saw something that I hadn't had since we visited Vancouver; salmon candy.

The really friendly young man provided samples and even though it was a bit more fishy than what I'd had before; I got some Salmon Candy. We always bring along a good sized ice chest on long road trips so we could purchase items like this.

Giovanni's Fish Market And Galley
1001 Front St.
Morro Bay, CA 93442

From here we headed south and walked down the Embarcadero. There were many shops; but we didn't see any tourists; just a few locals walking their dogs or having coffee and also other "residents".

It was still quite foggy as we walked down the street window shopping. Though we could hear the barks and honks from seals.

There are quite a few memorials along the waterfront…..

I recall seeing this shop and telling the Missus, "I hope they don't get folks orders wrong….."

We ended up stopping and getting Frankie's "cousin" some treats.

We stopped at a couple shops that were open.

And walked all the way down to Tideland Park before turning around and heading back toward the car.

By now, the fog had started burning off; giving me a view of what I came here to see; Morro Rock.

The drifting fog gave the volcanic plug an air of mystery. We could also see the platform where all the sea lions were hanging out on.

Of course there's always that one fellow who has to do his own thing……

All while under the watchful eye of this one.

We'd enjoyed this stop; it was quite relaxing, the views were nice…..I'm not sure when the area is busy or if it's always this relaxed. Also not sure how the food is in the area; perhaps one day we'll spend a night.

For now it was time to head on out to our destination for the next couple of nights.

Thanks for stopping by!

Where In the World Were We?

November 12, 2020 mmm-yoso Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Santa Barbara County, Travel

Does the map to the right look familiar? Yes, it's my "roaming range" which I've used in a couple of posts since the pandemic started. And as of March 246th (November 1st most years) it was as far as I'd gone since March 15th, the last time I ventured beyond those boundaries….232 days. For us, we who travel several times a year, having to cancel three trips sure took a toll on us. You could say that pandemic fatigue was setting in. The Missus kept complaining that we hadn't gone anywhere this year, even though we had gone to San Francisco in January and then Mexico City in February, it just seemed so long ago to Her. It was time…..we both needed some time off…..but stewing in our juices at home would just make things worse. So, we made a decision. To take a road trip. We'd play it safe, do things outdoors, stay at a variety of places, eat outdoors, with the option to "pull the plug" anytime we felt uncomfortable.

Well, where in the world were we? Not very far….though I got to visit a couple of places I'd had on my list…..it always seemed so close, that we'd always "put it off until later". I guess it was time.

We started in a familiar spot. Though on this occasion the always busy main drag of the city was now blocked off, made into a pedestrian only zone, with outdoor seating areas for eateries and coffee shops set-up.

We only spent an evening. And while my dinner plans fell through a couple of days before the trip; we did find a nice place with outdoor seating for dinner.

The next morning, after grabbing some coffee, we headed out, making a stop to see something that I had on "my list"….though strangely, the Missus had never heard of the place.

We had a fun little short break as this quaint little beach town was empty.

We also made another stop at a charming, tiny little village along the way.

We spent two evenings at our next destination. We enjoyed doing some walking along the beach front boardwalk and also "hiking" (the Missus said it wasn't "a hike" but merely a walk) along a couple of trails along the way.

The views were wonderful; but it was the benches that intrigued us.

It was all capped off with a beautiful sunset on our second evening.

We had one wonderful and one ok meal here.

We were charmed by this village of 6,000 and the Missus now has the place on Her "revisit" list.

We got to check out some Elephant Seals along the way to our next stop.

Our next stop was two nights in another seaside town. We loved the architecture and even did our own little architectural walking tour.

And on our full day in the town we walked along the seaside trail all the way to the neighboring city. Needless to say; it was a beautiful walk.

On our first evening, we got to pay respects to our good friend, the late Ed from Yuma by eating at one of his favorite spots.

And on the second evening, we had a wonderful meal….so here's another place on the Missus's "return to" list.

We actually stayed on the top floor of a Victorian Mansion – the entire set-up was contact free….we saw no one during our entire stay. And right down the street was an Art Store….closed, but with two cats that liked to sleep and hang out in the window.

The next day we were in another neighboring city, with reservations at a Michelin Starred restaurant that really delivered the goods. In fact, the Missus claims that this meal might be the best She's had in the US.

We also took a bit of time to visit a beautiful Mission.

Our final stop was another city the Missus wants to return to. Our main reason for visiting was to see a "field of light"……..58,000 solar power lights, blooming over 15 acres.

And while dinner was less than stellar.

We enjoyed our cocktails afterward.

And then we headed home the next morning.

Let me regroup and I'll start on more detailed posts.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thomas Hill Organics, Paso Robles, June 2014

July 18, 2014 ed fromyuma Fine Dining, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Pizza, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today Kirk and Cathy can concentrate on their real work (or just kick back and relax) because Ed (from Yuma) has a post about a restaurant up in Paso Robles.

Tina and I had wonderful memories of a lunch at Thomas Hill Organics back in 2009, so we wanted to be sure to go there with Steve and Helen. Again we entered through the larger and fancier alley entrance to the restaurant:

This side of the restaurant has the larger indoor dining room, the Park Street side has a long skinny room with the bar and small tables, but whenever possible, we like to eat in the central covered courtyard in the middle of the restaurant:

Remembering a wonderful watermelon gazpacho from our previous visit, Tina and I decided to share the avocado-corgette cold soup with coconut milk and chili oil ($8):

What can I say? The cool smooth green avocado blended with the summer fresh squash seemed like the essence of a late spring harvest – rich, vegetal, tangy and complex. The chili oil added a touch of spicy hotness to balance the cool green creamy depth of the soup.

For Helen, the soup was her main dish, though she did share some of Steve's skirt steak sandwich:

All of the sandwiches came with extremely fresh field greens tossed with a light basil vinaigrette and a few grains of quinoa:

Along with the soup, Tina opted for the local grass fed beef hamburger ($17):

Her burger was topped with Cambozola cheese, caramelized onions, and abundant applewood smoked bacon, all accented by nut romesco and roasted garlic aoli. It was really wonderful:

I had the pork belly banh mi:

I love banh mis, but this seemed a little over the top for my tastes. While the pickled carrots, avocado, and chopped cilantro were good, the two thick slices of pork belly seemed excessive and were a bit chewy. Call me old school, but I also missed the light crunchiness of a good Vietnamese baguette:

Tina and I had always wondered about dinner at Thomas Hill, so we decided to have our last dinner in Paso at Thomas Hill Organics. The menu seemed wide-ranging, we liked that many produce and protein sources were identified on the menu, and it is hard to beat the ambience of that courtyard.

Our dinner began with ahi tataki style ($16), a plate that looked like a beautiful little tuna topped volcano erupting ginger/scallion relish :

This was very nicely done. The excellent fresh ahi was lightly seared, and the ponzu sauce was perfectly flavored and did not overpower the other ingredients. Speaking of other ingredients, when Tina and I removed and divided the tuna, the rest of the appetizer was visible:

There was a large clump of wakame (seaweed salad), slices of avocado, wedges of pickled apricot, rounds of beautiful purple radish and cucumber, sunflower sprouts, and that ginger and scallion relish. For Tina and I, these flavors worked well together.

The next course was an unusual ceviche ($15) with local yellowtail and Oregon baby shrimp accompanied by chunks of Rocking Chair Farms nectarines and white peaches with purple radishes, cilantro, shaved shallots served on tostadas made from plantain and drizzled with coriander/honey coconut milk:

In most ways, this was an ambitious and very tasty ceviche presentation. It was not too tangy/sour to accompany our wine (more on that soon), and we loved the combination of stone fruit and seafood – though I would have liked even more of the seasonal fruits:

For us, the only things that didn’t work in the dish were the discs of plantain. They were more chewy than crunchy, and while they stood up to the ceviche toppings, the flavor/texture profile just didn't appeal and we actually left most of one round on the otherwise cleaned plate.

Because we were starting with two seafood courses, we began with glasses of Lone Madrone 2011 Points West White ($13), a very tasty Rhône style blend of 4 grapes, the rich and creamy roussane being the most prominent. We had tasted that very same wine the previous afternoon at the winery and had enjoyed it very much. It did not disappoint with dinner, and of course, the stemware was excellent and the pours very fair.

Our next course was called Jewel of the Spring Salad ($15):

In that picture, you can see what they called a Fabergé farm egg, attractive and hard-boiled. The greens in the salad were wild arugula and pea leaves and tendrils. The orange carrot ribbons, dark pink macerated red onions, asiago cheese shavings, and abundant sweet pea pods added body, color, and variety to this lightly dressed and unusual salad, dense with the taste of spring:

From the moment we had been seated in the courtyard in the middle of the building that evening, we noticed a chef attending to the woodfired pizza oven:

So our last course just had to be one of their woodfired pizzas. Called the Verde Green pizza on the menu, it was topped with mozzarella cheese, black truffle salami, pistachio nuts, roasted zucchini, basil leaves and a light sprinkling of Romano cheese ($17):

It was excellent, the crust light and crunchy and the toppings tasty but not overpowering. We shared a glass of Enfold 2010 Jazzy Zinfandel ($13), which went well with the pizza.

We had a good time at Thomas Hill Organics, the service, ambience, and food were all first rate. Much of the food was local and organic. The wine list was well focused on local wineries. If we had any complaint, it was that we ordered too much food, so had to take about half of the pizza back to our room with us. Oh, hold on here, why am I complaining about a midnight snack?

Thomas Hill Organics, 1313 Park St., Paso Robles CA 93446, (805) 226-8555

French Omakase: Bistro Laurent in Paso Robles

July 6, 2014 ed fromyuma Fine Dining, French Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Again today it is Ed (from Yuma) blogging, not Kirk or Cathy. More about his vacation in Paso Robles.

Every evening in Paso we had to decide on dinner. Steve and Helen and Tina and I had rooms in an old-fashioned 1950s style motel only a couple of blocks from the beautiful little park downtown. Where once I had had difficulties finding a good meal in Paso, now there were numerous restaurants serving all kinds of wine friendly cuisine, at a range of different price points, all within easy walking distance of the motel. So every evening we would stroll around, read menus, and discuss the possibilities at great length. We started the process fairly early so no serious danger of anybody actually starving.

On Tuesday evening, we wanted to get a look at the menu at Bistro Laurent, which had been closed Monday. The restaurant sits kitty corner from the northwest point of the park and is located in an old brick building:

On the right side of this picture is the outdoor/indoor patio area, right next to the actual entrance (picture taken later):

We looked at the menus. There were various dishes à la carte, appetizers, salads, entrées, etc. There were also prix fixe dinner options: four courses or five courses; with wines or not. The hostess then explained that we could just allow the chef to decide our dinner selections based on what he wanted to prepare. That sounded way too easy – French bistro Omakase. We sat in the enclosed patio area, and all decided on the chef's four choices with wine.

An amuse bouche, sort of a mini bruschetta, showed up first:

It was okay, certainly, but to my mouth, not especially amusing.

The server then poured us each a small glass of French Chablis:

We all thought it was a fine dry Chardonnay, and we all loved the breads that showed up next. Each of us grabbed half of a slice of the rustic dark olive bread to start:

There was also the equivalent of a small baguette of crusty French bread in the bread basket as well:

The next item to hit our table was the first course, warm lobster salad:

Wow! In the center of the plate stood a mound of chopped mesclun lettuce topped with and surrounded by large chunks of moist warm fresh poached lobster. Numerous chunks – excellent quality. And the whole salad was brought together by the mild creamy white sauce. Three orange slices and green and red flecks for color.

The next thing to arrive at our table was clean stemware for our glasses of La Vieille Ferme, a pleasant blended French red wine from the Rhône Valley:

To our initial surprise, the dish to accompany this red wine was grilled sturgeon, lying on a bed of al dente French lentils in a savory cream sauce:

But combination of wine and ingredients worked. The fish was not overcooked, it's mild fleshy flavor accented by the earthy lentils and both balanced by the light red wine:

After we finished the course, our wine glasses were changed again and a full flavored 2009 Paso Robles syrah from Clavo vineyards was poured to complement the meat course:

Two large pieces of venison, roasted medium rare, sat on top of a thick disk of fried mashed potatoes. Not only did I enjoy the accompanying blueberry sauce; I also savored the sprig of fresh marjoram, taking little bites of the herb occasionally as I chewed the deeply flavored deer meat:

The chef's choice of desserts was accompanied by small glasses of Sauternes, a sweet golden wine made from late harvested white wine grapes affected by pourriture noble, which gives the wine a honeyed richness:

The desert itself was a fresh fig tart topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and surrounded by vanilla and caramel sauces:

The pastry was light and flaky. Figs, vanilla, caramel mingled light sweet flavors. Umm-yoso.

Even though each dinner (with wine) was $69, all four of us thought we received good value. No one left hungry – in fact, we were all stuffed. The wines had been well-chosen and enhanced the foods . The pours were generous for a prix fixe dinner. The service throughout the meal was outstanding without being annoying or intrusive – very friendly, helpful, and professional. The meal was a culinary highlight of our visit to Paso Robles.

Doing this post reminded me that I had first eaten at the restaurant back in the summer of 2002. It is interesting that a few things have changed for the better over the years, but the chef has stayed true to his basic vision. And his vision looks pretty good to me!

Bistro Laurent, 1202 Pine Street, Paso Robles CA, (805) 226-8191, 11:30 – 2:00 and 5:30 – 10:00 Tues – Sat. Website

Paso Robles Wine Tasting Adventure

June 28, 2014 ed fromyuma Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk and Cathy get a break today because Ed (from Yuma) wants to take the reader on a wine tasting experience in Paso Robles.

About 30 years ago when I moved to California, I discovered tasting at wineries, one of the true pleasures available to Californians who enjoy wine. Don't worry, this blog post will not be full of pictures of wine bottles and glasses of wine. Most wine in a glass looks like most any other wine in the same glass. And no one goes wine tasting just to look at the bottles. I will also try hard to avoid wine babble as much as I can.

Instead, I just want to share a recent wine tasting adventure up in Paso Robles.

J Dusi

Tina and I had left the San Gabriel Valley munching on banh mi around 11 AM and arrived in Paso around 3 PM. We met up with Steve and Helen (old friends from Monterey) and decided to head out to do a little tasting. I wanted to start at J Dusi:

The tasting room for this winery, located on Highway 46 south of Paso Robles and a little west of Highway 101, has only been open about a year, but I wanted to visit because I had had a wonderful bottle of Zinfandel from Janell Dusi’s winery with a dinner at Artisan Restaurant on my last visit to Paso. I was surprised that she herself was in the tasting room on that Monday:

Her great-grandfather originally planted Dusi vinyards in the 1920s, making them truly old vine, and Ridge winery, which has focused on making wine from classic, high quality, old vine vineyards, has made limited edition zinfandels from the fruit for dozens of years now.

The zinfandels (a 2011 and 2012) are 2/5 of the wines on the tasting menu ($10):

Janell pointed out the differences between the two zinfandels. 2011, a cool year, produced a wine that is spicy, smooth, and complex. 2012, having warmer weather, gave a wine with a bolder more intense berry fruit flavors. OK, yeh, we could taste that.

To accompany the wines, we were served a small wooden tray with fruits, nuts, and rice crackers:

That was a nice touch. As was the cork art on the wall:

Jada

We left that winery at around 4:30 PM, so we simply drove to Vineyard Drive and looked for tasting room that was still open. We found Jada, a winery I had never heard of previously:

The tasting room was very modern, clean, and attractive:

Looking the other way, large glass panels separate the tasting area from a special wine storage and display room and reflect some of the rural natural setting the winery:

Here the tasting options were more complicated; visitors can taste five wines from a regular or special list ($10 or $15) and can choose to taste the wines with chocolate or cheese:

Tina and I chose cheese. Each cheese matched a particular wine and showed off that wine’s flavor profile best:

We had a good time chatting with the pleasant young woman running the tasting room, and we learned that most of the grapes come from the estate vineyards which are all managed biodynamically. Almost every bottle of wine exhibited a unique blend of classic varietals. We enjoyed our visit.

Calcareous

The next morning, Steve, Helen, Tina, and I decided to start at Calcareous vineyards, just a few miles west of the town Paso Robles itself. This was another new winery that had been receiving a lot of favorable mention. Clearly the tasting room is a modern construction:

The vista from the patio outside the tasting room is pretty and spectacular, miles and miles of rolling hills at the beautiful southern end of the Salinas Valley:

Inside the pleasantly decorated tasting room itself, there was extensive use of wood, stone, and marble:

Again, for $10 a visitor could taste five different wines, all grown on vineyards owned or managed by the winery:

Kurt who was pouring in the tasting room that morning, called our attention to the white wine that began the tasting, explaining how one could taste each of the three types of grapes used in the blend – the viognier with its flowery aromas hitting the palate first, the grenache blanc providing clean smooth dry mineral flavors, and the roussane finishing with richer more buttery mouthfeel. He was right, I could taste all those things, so we made it a point to buy a bottle of this wine at the end of the tasting.

The winery also stressed that most of their grapes were grown in calcareous vineyards, the limestone stressing the grapes and producing more flavorful grape clusters. There was even a chunk of limestone rock in the tasting room:

We all felt this was a good beginning to our day of wine sampling, but it was time to go back and into Paso Robles and have lunch.

When I first tasted in the Paso Robles area in 1985, there were less than 10 wineries with tasting rooms if memory serves. I couldn't find any place for an interesting dinner. There was little to distinguish Paso Robles from other rural California towns. Now there are over 200 wineries and a vibrant restaurant scene. Our tasting theme for this year's visit was to seek out places where none of us had tasted before that we had heard good things about – or just happened to run across.

Caparone

However, after lunch on Tuesday, we headed north on Highway 101 to San Marcos Road, turned left, and drove along small two-lane road for a few miles until we came to Caparone winery, two very nondescript buildings at the end of a gravel driveway. The exterior of the tasting room looked like this:

This is true old school Paso Robles. Dave Caparone started making wines in his home in the early 1970s, and began Caparone vineyards in the late 70s when he purchased the property on San Marcos Rd., planted it to Zinfandel and Italian grape varietals, and built his modest winery and storage buildings on the property.

I do not believe I have ever done a wine tasting in the Paso Robles area without stopping in at Caparone winery.

The winery, now operated by Dave's son Marc, is a family operation that focuses on producing traditional unfined and unfiltered red wines that can age for years. Look at the list for the tasting in June 2014:

A couple things stand out. First, most of the other wines we tasted on our Paso Robles adventure retailed at over $30 – that seems standard for boutique wines in the area these days. All Caparone bottles were $16 with case and half case discounts. Caparone was also the only place we went that did not have the tasting fee. Gotta love the prices.

Second, look at the vintages. At every other winery we visited, the oldest wines that were served were from 2010, and most of the bottles came from 2012 or 2011. At Caparone, the newest wine was from 2010; in other words, Caparone is now selling wines that are aged so that they they don't have to be stored to achieve their peak flavors. I know of no other winery that does that – certainly none that sells aged wine at a basic price.

Caparone was also the first winery to bottle some traditional Italian grape varietals and cultivars. For example, the Sangiovese comes from cuttings obtained from one of the outstanding vineyards in Brunello di Montalcino and, with a little bit of aging, exhibits characteristic reddish brown tones:

Lone Madrone

After tucking a few cases of Caparone wines into the car, we drove south to Lone Madrone winery, a very new winery that showcases wines made by Neil Collins, the talented winemaker at Tablas Creek – the large Franco-American winery connected with Château Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape:

Five wines were available for a $10 tasting fee – 2 whites and three reds:

As you can see, quantities of these wines are very limited and the prices for them are pretty expensive, but the tastes were very pleasant. The four of us discussed how the blended white wine here, dominated by the roussane grape, had a distinctively different flavor profile from the one that had started our day at Calcareous.

We also enjoyed the wine label art – here a picture of James Dean who was killed in an automobile accident on Highway 46 in 1955:

Epoch

After Steve and Helen headed back to Monterey on Wednesday, Tina and I had time to try a couple of other wineries. This time we headed south and west, taking Highway 46 westward toward the ocean, then turning right on York Mountain Road. Up there we found Epoch winery, another new boutique winery operating out of the new building:

The interior is also bright and striking:

The long-range goal at Epoch is to restore and renovate the York Mountain winery building, which stands on the property:

As well as being scenic, York Mountain was the first winery in the Paso Robles area dating back to the 1880s.

We were able to taste 4 highly rated and expensive wines for $10:

Some of the grapes come from a vineyard begun by Polish statesman, pianist, and president, Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

We were also intrigued by the subtle salmon shade of the rosé wine:

Kenneth Volk

The last winery we went to during our stay in the Paso Robles area was KennethVolk Vineyards on Highway 46 a few miles east of Epoch. After parking, a visitor walks down a little trail through the entrance:

alongside a rustic building with the restrooms:

to the old barn like structure that is the tasting room:

Kenneth Volk founded Wild Horse Vineyards back in the day, and his new eponymous winery features wines made from numerous different grape varieties:

That's just the first half of the list – here are the rest:

Each of us could choose tastes of six of the wines for $10, so we were able to sample some unusual varieties (blaufrankisch or cabernet Pfeffer) , and some from unusual vineyard locations, such as San Benito County or Lime Kiln Valley. It was a nice change from the other tasting rooms we had been in and a pleasant conclusion to our tasting adventure.

All in all, Steve, Helen, Tina and I had fun exploring the Paso Robles wine region. We tried to be moderate and responsible in our consumption, particularly Tina who did most of the driving. Of course tasting the wines was fun, but just driving around the hills outside of Paso Robles, enjoying very pleasant weather, and talking with friends was a good time. Except for our visit to Caparone, we purchased very few bottles at the tasting rooms – those are usually the highest prices (outside of restaurants) that a person would have to pay for the wine. Many people spend several days in the Paso area sampling the wines and then make their purchases at the supermarket in town where many of the local wines are available at a discount price.

I realize this was a terribly long post, so if you've gotten this far, thank you for reading and I hope I have been able to convey some of the pleasures of wine tasting in Paso Robles.

Winery map

Roadtrip: Firestone Grill – San Luis Obispo

January 11, 2014 mmm-yoso Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, Salads, Sandwiches

**** I have an updated post on Firestone Grill here

The was a reason we dawdled around Solvang for a while. I'd really been wanting to have a tri-tip sandwich for a while. Calculating driving times and such, it was either Firestone Grill or bypassing Solvang and hoping to make it to Salinas. We decided on stopping in San Luis Obispo, driving through the downtown streets of this quaint looking college town, finding parking across the street from Firestone Grill.

Having never been here before; I really didn't know what to expect…..the place is large a cavernous, looking like part College hang-out – Sport's Bar – Chain Restaurant. You order at the counter and wait to be called.

The menu is simple; burgers, salads, pulled pork, hot dogs….smoked grilled, slapped between bread. The food, though simple, is not slapped together. The portions looked huge; which is not always a good sign…..

The Missus was ravenous and had me order the Steak Cobb Salad (Large $9.49), which is served in what looks like on of those metal mixing bowls.

The greens and vegetables were sparkling fresh….the truth of the matter is that the generous amount of bacon and blue cheese made this salad. We didn't use any dressing (on the side) at all. Basically, a solid salad.

Of course I ordered the Tri-tip Sandwich ($8.69).

I was sold after the first bite. I've never had tri-tip this moist and tender ….I still have a hard time believing it actually is a tri-tip, the bottom sirloin. The beefy flavor however, was definitely there along with a pleasant, light smokiness. The meat was tender without being mushy. The roll toasted lightly with garlic butter just heightened the experience. I took a bite and told the Missus, "you're going to love this….." Which She did. She's still talking about this sandwich. It was probably the most pleasant surprise on our road trip. I'm glad I requested the BBQ Sauce on the side. It was way too sweet and would have totally over-powered the flavor of the beef. This was probably the best sandwich I had all year.

Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

I'm guessing there are those who have issues with Firestone Grill – after Tweeting about this sandwich; FOY – MrZ, the Zompus actually mentioned that the sandwich was too tender for his taste! Go figure! Perhaps MrZ had one too many of these in his life and has become jaded? (I do miss the both of you BTW)

Melissa Good Taste, however agrees with me.

After lunch we walked around a bit and ended up getting some stuff from here.

All in all a successful stop…….

Evening Two at Artisan: Paso Robles

August 12, 2009 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Almost everyone likes roadtrips. Cathy and Kirk both travel, but today ed (from Yuma) wants to tell you about a dinner he and Tina enjoyed on their roadtrip north.

Tina and I returned to Artisan on a Monday night after having thoroughly enjoyed our Sunday night dinner. In some ways, we might as well have come back a year later as most of the kitchen staff and waitstaff seemed different. Only the attentive manager and our hard working busser seemed familiar from the night before.

Even the bread that was placed in front of us was clearly different: While decent enough, these slices lacked the thick crunchy crust of the previous bread.

On this evening, we had decided to build a meal around a local red wine, a J Dusi Zinfandel ($40): The Dusi Vineyards have been growing some of the best Zinfandel grapes in the Paso Robles area for many years. These family Vineyards have supplied premium grapes for such outstanding wineries as Ridge. Today, Janell Dusi produces her own wines from the vineyards planted by her grandfather, Dante Dusi, over 60 years ago.

This bottle lived up to its pedigree, and both Tina and I thought it was superb — fruity, deeply flavorful, and incredibly smooth with spicy and earthy notes. It matched the meal well.

For her first course, Tina deecided to try a California Burrata ($13). This type of cheese, based upon Italian custom, is like a combination of fresh mozzarella and cream. It is rich and barely cheesy. In her appetizer, it had been drizzled with olive oil and dominated one side of her plate:
As you can see, it was accompanied by French bread toast, smoked almonds, microgreens, and fresh slices of both white and yellow peaches. Scrumptious and beautiful.

On the other side of her appetizer plate lay paperthin slices of salty old school prosciutto: Her appetizer touched all the bases. Creamy soft and crunchy. Sweet and salty. Rich and fruity.

I opted for the herbed meatballs ($12), which were served with ricotta gnocchi, heirloom tomato ragout, cooked nettles, and grated hard Italian cheese: This appetizer was more focused than Tina's. The herby meatballs were a delight, nicely complemented by the tomatoey ragout, the sautéed greens, and the mellow grated cheese. The gnocchi were light as cumulus clouds in a summer sky and matched perfectly with the other ingredients.

When it arrived, Tina's entrée, from one side, looked like a mushroom and vegetable stirfry: The chard, king trumpet mushrooms, and various pole beans contributed a range of flavors and textures. In particular, the beans were still crunchy and the trumpet mushrooms gave the palate a firm chewy mouth feel.

The main attraction on her plate, however, was the sliced Niman Ranch hanger steak ($26), cooked perfectly — seared but left rare in the center:
It was very tender and flavorful. The bordelaise sauce was a bit salty for my taste, but it was clearly a background note on her plate.

Her entrée was accompanied by a ramekin of what I would call scalloped potatoes, described on the menu as onoway potato gratin: As good as her entrée was, I liked mine even more: This was a pasture raised veal striploin lying on a bed of creamy rich asparagus risotto, topped with asparagus spears, hen of the woods mushrooms, Madeira sauce, gremolata (garlic/parsley oil), and pea shoots ($28) . This tasted so wonderful, that it deserves a second photo: The veal loin was, like Tina's steak, perfectly cooked. The exterior had been seared, but the flesh was still richly pink. The abundant Madeira sauce was sweeter and less salty than the bordelaise. I was blown away!

For dessert, we chose the three chocolate crèmes brûlées ($9): Under the crunchy caramelized skin, each brûlée featured a different flavor of chocolate. The one on the right was white chocolate, in the center Mexican chocolate with notes of cinnamon, and on the left deep dark rich chocolate. The last one was my favorite, but we used our spoons to scrape out every bit of creamy goodness from all of them.

Both Tina and I had thought that our second dinner could not possibly live up to the first. We were wrong.

Artisan, 1401 Park Street, Paso Robles, California 93446, 805-237-8084

Dining at Artisan: Paso Robles

July 28, 2009 ed fromyuma American/New American Restaurants, Paso Robles/Cambria/San Luis Obispo County, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Cathy and Kirk continue eating, but today ed (from Yuma) is not only eating, but he's also inviting you to share a dinner.

I first visited Paso Robles nearly 25 years ago (geez, I'm getting old). Back then it was quite literally a little Cowtown. Maybe there were six or seven wineries scattered around, some of which weren't especially good, and I could find no interesting place to eat in town. Nowadays, over 230 wineries lie within a few miles of the city, and numerous eateries beckon you to sample their gourmet cuisine.

My favorite place for dining in the town had been Bistro Laurent, which features a modern California approach to traditional French cuisine. Memories of dishes like veal cheeks, roast squab, and venison shanks still make me salivate. Unfortunately we were going to be in town on a Sunday and Monday, the two days BL closes each week.

So Tina and I did some research and then walked around downtown Paso reading menus, asking about daily specials, and discussing where we wanted to go. The decision, however, was an easy one to make as soon as we got to Artisan: The dishes on the menu sounded interesting, the wine list was varied and almost affordable, and all that walking around made us hungry.

As we sat at our table looking over the menu, several slices of outstanding crunchy French bread (baked by a small bakery in Atascadero) showed up: This was the best bread on our trip. The rustic half baguette came with a generous pat of soft sweet cream butter. This was a good omen for the rest of the dinner.

We had decided on building a meal around a local white wine. The most interesting wine, at least the most interesting one I could afford, was a Vermentino from Tablas Creek ($38): One great thing about dining at restaurants like Artisan and Passionfish is that you get a chance to try wines that you might otherwise never encounter — particularly if you live in a place like Yuma, Arizona. This Vermentino is the first California grown version of that varietal that I have ever encountered on a wine list. Even in Europe, this type of grape is not common, it being the predominant white grape only on the island of Sardinia — though it is grown elsewhere. The Tablas Creek version was crisp, richly flavored, and smooth.

The appetizers soon arrived. Tina had chosen crabcakes ($16), which were perched on quarter size disks of firm potato, covered in a very tasty, lightly spicy remoulade sauce. A sprinkling of micro greens decorated the golden brown cakes: Although I don't quite understand the potatoes, which to my mind seemed out of place on the plate, the crabcakes themselves were packed with tasty crab meat: I ordered seafood chowder ($10) for my first course:
Having grown up close to the Oregon coast, I consider myself something of a chowder aficionado. This one was quite good. The broth was creamy and richly flavored. Most notably, the predominant taste was mussels, with small chunks of potatoes and halibut studding the soup and providing texture variations. Allegedly, some clams were also present, but any clams were very much in the background.

For my entrée, I had decided on the halibut, which came with lobster raviolis, grilled spring onions, micro greens, ceci beans (fresh chickpeas), and a small side of chard ($28): Halibut cannot be broiled more perfectly. Inside the crisp crust, the fish was incredibly moist and tender: The beans and greens added variety to the platter. The lobster raviolis, unfortunately, did not taste strongly of lobster, although they certainly looked right: As good as my main course was, Tina's selection was the gem of the entire evening. On the menu it was described as "Summer truffle pici, handrolled pasta, piopinni mushrooms, goat cheese toast" ($25). It looked like this: We both agreed that this was as good as a noodle dish can be. The noodles themselves, lightly golden with the faintest hint of truffle, were mimicked by the shimeji (piopinni) mushrooms, which presented the same colors and shapes: Yet the flavors and textures of the two were very different.

The noodles and mushrooms were only one of the flavorful matrices that interacted on the plate. The robust contrastive tastes of grated aged Italian cheese and absolutely fresh peas mingled with every bite of pasta. To those of us bored by standard frozen peas, these freshly shelled nuggets were a joy — and their flavor was accentuated by the pea greens strewn on top of the noodles:
If Tina's entrée had any shortcoming, it was the goat cheese toast: There was nothing wrong with it, but it was unnecessary and played a distinctly second fiddle in the orchestra of flavors set before her.

Even though one or two aspects of the dinner might have been better, we both were extremely impressed. In addition to the creative, interesting, and flavorful food, the service had been friendly and attentive throughout the meal. Just for one example, we both drank a lot of water that evening since we had been wine tasting in the afternoon and then had walked around 95 degree Paso Robles looking at menus. As soon as the waitstaff watched us slurp down our first glasses, a large carafe of iced water was placed on the table. I also enjoyed watching the manager, a young woman who seemed to miss nothing going on in the restaurant. Kitchen and waitstaff totally professional.

This dinner was, by my standards, a pretty pricey meal. It was, however, so tasty and intriguing that we decided to do something that I almost never do — come back to the same place on the next night for a second meal. Stay tuned for the results of that adventure.

Artisan, 1401 Park Street, Paso Robles, California 93446, 805-237-8084