Home Grown in Mendo

Mendocino County is known for its waves, wines and wilderness…at least that is what the sign says upon entering the county; most people know it for their pot.  My childhood memories of the county are split between spending time at the Lake and on the coast for my dad to abalone dive.  While most kids’ idea of going to the beach includes running from the car straight to the water while the parents lugged the cooler, umbrella, chairs, towels and toys behind, playing in the waves, building sandcastles and trying to avoid the five minutes of staying still while mom slathered you up with sunscreen as other kids ran around screaming and laughing…growing up on the beaches of Northern California, going to the beach was slightly different. 

The trek to the beach involved treacherous, narrow paths along steep seaside cliffs and few people around to help if and when you lost your footing.  Carrying coolers, chairs and umbrellas were just not an option as they could disrupt the balance required to navigate the paths.  Not that it really mattered, since once to the beach, the gear wasn’t needed…the “beach” typically consisted of a narrow stretch of rocks above the fridge waters and wet sand if it was low tide.  No beach to layout on or sand to make sandcastles with, no running in to the waves, and definitely no other kids.  Nope, we would sit on the rocks while my dad dove and if we were lucky, there would be nearby tide-pools to look into for unknown creatures (typically seaweed and star fishes).  And whatever you did, you did not get wet…on a good day, the weather would be foggy and cold; on a bad day it would be foggy, cold and windy.  Even with the multiple layers of sweatshirts, I was inevitably always cold.

All this is to say that upon heading back to Mendocino with its jagged cliffs, foggy days and smell of the ocean made me feel right at home…a sense of my childhood restored and with the added bonus of a new appreciation for the coast and all of the memories growing up. 

With the five hour drive completed (thanks in part to the holiday traffic and the bay bridge closure) we arrived in the sleepy coastal town of Mendocino just in time to drop our bags and head out to dinner before all of the restaurants (and entire town) shut down at nine pm.  With empty stomachs and fear of going to bed hungry, we made a beeline for the two recommended restaurants, having no time to take in the town’s sites and explore along the way.  Dinner turned out to be a two hour dining experience at Café Beaujolais, with each course a surprise of high quality ingredients and cooking perfection.  A bottle of local wine started us off, rolling into a perfectly seasoned beef tartar and a refreshingly new take on the standard beet and goat cheese salad (topped with fried polenta).  Dinner was an easy choice: Martin with the filet and mashed potatoes, me with the lamb, red wine reduction sauce and English pea risotto.   Dinner was rounded out with dessert, coffee and conversation…our first great meal together in six weeks and it happened five hours north of the alleged gourmet ghetto.

Too full for exploring on the way back, we made a quick stroll through town to get our bearings and went straight to bed.