The day after I finished my last final exam in college, my boyfriend and I hopped into my car in Evanston, Illinois and took off toward San Francisco on what would be one of the most memorable journeys of my life. There was little planning involved - we had a couple hotels booked in strategic locations, and we knew that after San Francisco we would head down Highway 1 and stop in Monterey to visit the aquarium, travel down toward L.A., at some point we would see the pandas at the San Diego zoo, and wine would be involved somewhere along the way. (Things we didn’t plan: my car jolting and shuddering violently in the middle of Utah, forcing us to stop in Salt Lake City; not being able to find a shop with the broken part until San Francisco, which made the drive through the blizzard in the Sierra Nevadas even more perilous; the rainiest week in California’s recent history, which caused mudslides on Highway 1 and made the redwood forest quite a slippery place; and a last-minute detour to the Grand Canyon, which was worth the extra miles.)
I’m losing myself in my memories - let me back to my original purpose. After Monterey (where we ate delicious clam chowder and watched the otters play in the surf), after winding through strawberry fields and past fresh fruit stands, after cliff-hugging roads, scary bridges and dense forest, we found ourselves in Big Sur around sunset. This part of the trip was planned. My parents had told me about this great restaurant in Big Sur - Nepenthe - that sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. The best time to stop in this restaurant, of course, is sunset.
As fresh college grads, our funds were low - so we couldn’t exactly afford the Ahi Tuna Steak or the Glazed Duck. We told the owner we were just here for a glass of wine (from the restaurant’s extensive list of excellent vintages), figuring he would seat us far away from the booths next to the windows that open up to the view, so as to save those tables for a party who might actually order food. But instead, the owner welcomed us enthusiastically, gave us the best seat in the house, and encouraged us to stay for as long as we wanted to make sure that we saw every last gorgeous ray of the sunset. If this isn’t luxury service, I’m not sure what is.
We did end up ordering a cheese plate to complement our wine (yum!) and we stayed for the entire sunset. Afterward, we left the cozy timber interior of the restaurant and walked out onto the decks outside to take some pictures of the unbelievably beautiful scenery - the kind of indescribable beauty that, I imagine, frequently elicits spontaneous marriage proposals.
So if you’re traveling on Highway 1, I highly recommend Nepenthe for its atmosphere, food, wine and service. Next time I go back I’m ordering the Filet Mignon.
As a fairly serious cook, I am fanatical about fresh herbs — but as an urbanite, my flower-box herb garden has been hijacked by neighborhood squirrels. I’ve just discovered the answer to my dill-ema (sorry, it was so easy). The good folks at Sur La Table offer The AeroGarden – an indoor aeroponic garden that can grow herbs in as little as two weeks. The machine adjusts nutrient delivery, light cycles and water flow for specific plant types. Fresh mint at my reach any day? May there be mojitos all year long!
