Food Blog

Whales, Waffles, Waterfalls and Wine: A Taste Adventure

First there was the sea, then a blend of seven sea salts. Within hours came waffles, whale sightings, waterfalls and wine. In between there were militant elephant seals and peaceful organic gardens, short ribs and long meals, five-spiced duck and single-vineyard Pinot.

It was a lot in a little bit of time—a whirlwind of stimuli and flavor packed in about a 30-hour, 200-mile round-trip ideally bite-sized for today's tight timelines and tighter budgets (and captured in photographs by the talented Kelly Rose Anderson).

The best way to shoot through the riches of this Big Sur-Paso Robles loop might be chronological. Blue skies and a truly pacific Pacific escorted us down Highway 1. The first stop: Fernwood Grill (667-2422) to grab a menu from new chef Tommy Noel, who is smoking his own pastramis and bacons. He's already earned the affection of two Big Sur tastemakers who happened to be there when I poked in, FolkYEAH! mastermind Britt Govea and Big Sur Food and Wine major player Matt Peterson, who plugged the housemade ground pork chorizo quesadilla ($8.95) and the chile verde special ($12.95). I like the look of the pulled pork Gorge Burrito ($10.95) or the tri-tip torta ($9.95).

Next up: a look around the eye-catching artifacts, installations and human nests at Big Sur Spirit Garden (667-1300) and a rustic snack at Big Sur Bakery (667-0520), where a basic duo of marinated olives ($5.75) and a bread plate ($4.50) speak to the power of ideal ingredients and execution, particularly Michelle Rizzolo’s signature sourdough and nine-grain rustic breads, with crusty crusts, chewy and layered midsections, and a regal crown of pure butter and the seven-sea salt blend. A cup of simple but sensual black bean soup ($6.50), meanwhile, warmed away the winter chill.

Forty-five minutes of coastal curves later, we were approaching the jewel of Pacific Valley, Treebones! Resort (805-927-2390)...

...which has only evolved of late, with an expanded organic garden—which was a colorful menagerie of leafy life, even in winter—and new chef Michael Wood.

(The yurts remain magnetic; our big yurt #13 wasn't cheap at $300+, but it did provide a fireplace, a soaring ceiling and comfortable sleeping arrangements for four—and helped us harvest soul-tingling views of the sunset and migrating gray whales.)

Our server at in-house Wild Coast Restaurant that night, sweet 'n' bubbly Cinda Lee Bidwell, is also the garden chief, which made her insights more textured from the get-go, when we dipped focaccia into a mysterious and addictive blend of olive oil, balsamic reduction and garden herbs—which turned out to be a concerto of chives, fennel, lemon thyme, sweet marjoram, tarragon, parsley and dill. The sauce could serve as a metaphor for the place, where fresh, raw ingredients—the remote coast, the founding Handy family, the yurts, the communal bathrooms—alchemize to equal something far greater than their simple sum. Her advice on wine was right-on, even martyr-ish, as she turned over the last beloved bottle of Heller Estate Reserve 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon ($40) left from Big Sur Food & Wine.

It danced nicely with a Harris Ranch filet mignon ($30) flash seared to seal in the juices then roasted and caressed with melting rosemary butter.

Wood's comfort with the most crucial details—from the sauce on the popular Burgundy short ribs ($26)...

to the lively but light five-spice duck...

to the coconut curry treatment on the scallops—was commendable. The closer is a clincher too: The insanely moist sticky date pudding ($8) remains a must-do.

Two of us even added a bonus treat at adjacent Sunset Sushi, where Carlos-san kicked down a spectacular all-veggie roll with beets and asparagus.

After a morning of self-poured waffles and whale watching...

Salmon Creek Waterfall beckoned a few miles south.

It's just a tiny jaunt up a roadside path before its veils start to wrap you in their mist, but not before hulking black boulders and lush greenery deploy their own otherworldly charms.

At the foot of the falls, ferns sprout from rock and the perpetual roar celebrates life itself.

The next pause was more seasonal: San Simeon, for some intense marine mammaling.

We arrived just as the first plump females were carving their spots in the sand to have their pups, and bulls were starting to bellow and spar over who gets to protect them (and promptly knock ’em up once the babies are birthed).

The bizarre, burping uglies are enough for their own article: Suffice it to say when you can dive to more than a mile and a half under, traverse month-long migrations and tolerate/seduce 20 mothers-to-be, yours is a uniquely fascinating species.

We were on to a nice ying-yang tasting two-step hoping to experience a dynamic Paso Robles cross-section: Cinda Lee's hubby, Treebones! grounds foreman Dave, recommended Castoro Cellars (1-888-DAM-FINE); Passionfish wine geek/cork dork Sarah Kabat sent us to the small-plot Pinot gurus at Winward Vineyard (805-239-2565). Castoro (Italian for Beaver, the nickname for its founder) won us over with its easygoing and informative tasting team, the surprising and uncommon Tango reserve white blend (a Viognier, Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay and Rousanne combo, $21.95), the whale vertebrae in the vineyards from PR’s past life as an inland lake, and seven tastes for $5. That they let their members compete in a blending contest, then bottle a bunch of the winning formula for a bargain sticker price (the Dam Fine Red Wine 2007 had already sold out) was also cool. Their Whale Rock Zinfandel 2006 is a big-spicy-explosive treat—though it was the 2008 Primitivo, an Italian primo of Zin ($22.95) that I took home.

The bustling tasting bar contrasted dramatically with the Windward Vineyards just around the corner, where the mood is more muted and tastings are $10, purchases be damned—but the grape fidelity backs up the strict sales approach big time. The four-part vertical tasting was a dream sequence that demonstrated the native luscious-intense-complex profile and peacock-tail finishes, and revealed why Windward doesn’t have to market, ever. It took all my self-control to leave with just a 2007 Pinot Noir Monopole ($38).

The only suitable next step on this flavor parade: lunch at downtown’s Artisan (805-237-8084) for sandwiches like lamb French dip with goat cheese and picked chilies ($14)...

poached shrimp club with avocado ($16)...

and the best veggie sandwich I’ve had in a decade, easy, thanks to hyper-fresh burrata cheese, local tomatoes, arugula and a side of crispy squash ($13).

The car ride back up the 101, just over a day since our mini epic began, contained four awfully satisfied passengers.