In a desperate, albeit belated, attempt to escape the hot, hot sun, we took a long weekend to head to the coast and cool ourselves off. Usually we head North to Mendocino, or South to Monterey/Carmel to get our marine layer fix. Mendocino vacations are typically reserved for week-long trips where we rent a house and basically imitate barnacles for about 17 of the 24 hours in the day. Monterey tends to satisfy our quicker hotel-stay getaways, but thanks to all sorts of events in town this weekend, getting even the crappiest hotel room for less than $320 a night was impossible.
So we cast a wider net, and thanks to many reccomendations, chose Half Moon Bay for our 3 day destination. We unwisely hit the road half-past rush hour on Friday night and spent the first 10 miles/1 hour crawling through West Sacramento. After making our way through SF and surviving very dark, single-lane winding roads ("um, I think we're meant to turn as all I can see in front of us is a wall of rock"), we reached our destination. At around 9pm.
Figuring this was to be a vacation full of firsts, we brought our trusty (and did I mention car-sick?) black lab with us for the ride. She only lost it once (success!) on the trip in. We felt this was our lucky omen. Anyway, we reached the hotel which prides itself on accommodating dogs (didn't even have a weight restriction!), and then dutifully informed us that their pet policy includes the declaration that no dogs are to be left unattended in the hotel room at any time. Suddenly, the list of why dogs are easier than kids shriveled up. Immediately I imagined us tethered to a queasy black lab, sequestered nightly in our hotel room with take-out, watching expensive movie rentals on the fuzzy 20-inch screen. We bucked up the first night - we were grungy, and tired, so really, even without the dog, what we really wanted was cheap Mexican take out food from the Tres Amigos Tacqueria (located on Highway 1, just south of 92) next door. Actually, it was pretty good. If we'd wanted to continue to eat cheap Mexican food all weekend, I'd have gladly returned there - they had a large selection of meat choices including beef tongue.
The next morning, we headed into town and got our first daylight glimpse of Half Moon Bay itself. It boasts all the usuall Northern coastal points of interest: Marine layer? Check! Wildflowers, cypress and eucalyptus trees? Check! Cliffs, beaches, windy roads? Check! Cottage homes? Check! It was great - we put on sweaters (layers! sweaters! socks! oh my!) and headed on up to Main Street (oh yeah - Check!), full of quaint (read: cha-ching!) shops, galleries, cafes and dogs on leashes. Some previous online investigation had yielded a list of dog-friendly eateries in town. At the end of Main Street sits the Half Moon Bay Coffee Company with an extensive coffee bar, nice full breakfast and lunch menu, and most importantly for us at the moment, plenty of tables on their large outdoor patio. We took a seat, gave the dog a biscuit, and ordered some breakfast. Rich chose the Italian Breakfast Wrap - essentially a huuuuge breakfast burrito with sausage, potatoes, mozarella and marina sauce. It was very good, hot and fresh. My order had gotten confused, and several times they tried to serve me the vegetarian omlette rather than the Vegetarian Eggs Benedict I'd ordered, but they were pleasant, attentibe and the third time was the charm. The benedict was very good - with portabello mushrooms and spinach standing in for the usual Canadian Bacon. The hash browns suffered the same fate as 99% of all restaurant hash browns I order - crisp and brown on the outside, pale and bland on the inside. Fortunately, the benedict was more than enough and the dog seemed to enjoy the hash browns just fine.
We strolled further along the small Main Street of HMB, enjoying the quaintness of it all. A flower market sets up every Saturday 9-1, and I was wishing it'd been held on the day we'd be returning so we could take proper advantage of the amazing cut flower bouquets available.
Amazingly, we found ourselves hungry again (must be that fresh coastal air) and this time settled further down Main Street at Casey's Cafe (thanks again to my pre-trip investigating). Rich was still rather sated thanks to the enormous breakfast burrito, so he opted for the Crab Josephine off the appetizer menu, while my eyes grew larger than my stomach and settled on the Crab Melt. The Crab Josephine was delicious and mild - fresh Dungeness crab mixed with shallots, sherry, cream, gruyere cheese and tomatoes, served with garlic bruschetta. It was more than enough for two people to share (Rich and dog did good work on it). But hands down, the Crab Melt was the way to go (you should have seen the longing look in Rich's eyes). Gruyere cheese melted onto buttered and toasted sourdough slices, topped with what looked like a full avocado's worth of slices, and the piece de resistance: enough fresh Dungeness crab to satisfy the pickiest eater. I was actually dumbfounded at how much crab rested between the two slices of sourdough. 
Rich was green with jealousy. The dog whimpered for scraps, but there were no scraps to be had, not off my plate! The crab was deliciously sweet and untainted by any additive or mayonnaise. It was perfect! The amount of it resembled the neat and envious pile my father makes when we have a crab feed - he of the endless patience, who diligently cleans a whole crab's worth of meat, piling it ever higher until he can dig in and eat crab to his hearts content, while the rest of us exhibit the worst of instant gratification, cracking and eating the meat every step of the way. Even Rich commented that the sandwich looked like my dad had made it - and truth be told, he'd be the only to have the patience to recreate such a thing at home.
We hit the beach then had a nap, hoping to digest our early gastronomic indulgences to make room for our dinner that evening at Cetrella's. We'd solved the dog problem by, well, looking around and turning our brains on. Everyone else seemed to be leaving their dogs in their cars while they went in to stores that didn't allow them, so, duh!, we'd do the same. This of course was an infinitely easier decision given that weather wasn't a factor at all (ahhh, 62 degrees and a marine layer). Anyway, we headed to our dinner at Cetrella's, arriving 30 minutes ahead of our reservation in order to share a drink at the bar first. A live jazz band was playing in the fairly packed bar when we arrived, but we were fortunate enough to be hovering near the next party to be seated, so we got seats at the bar almost immediately. The restaurant itself is fairly large with what looked to be three separate seating areas - one directly across from the kitchen, another larger dining room with high ceilings and exposed beams, and the third, where we were seated that was much smaller (cozier), an enclosed sun room.
The menu at Cetrella's is chosen daily by the chef based on what looks the freshest at the market. We always tend to splurge on a restaurant when we go out of town, or just for special occasions, because food is our favorite hobby. Otherwise, we tend to spend little, choosing relaxing book-reading kinds of vacations. Therefore Cetrella's was my first choice for our special dinner - I'll gladly pay for a good dinner, but experiencing one designed daily and comprised of fresh, local ingredients and the chef's talent makes the bill that much more worth paying for. We began with the scallop appetizer. Notice the lack of an 's' on the end of 'scallop'. That is not a mistake. Our appetizer arrived - a large scallop, wrapped in bacon, sitting on a bed of fresh sweet cream corn. The problem with anything bacon-wrapped, though the idea is delicious (when isn't bacon the perfect accompaniment?), the bacon usually needs to be cooked longer than the thing it's wrapped around, thus rendering the wrapped item a rubbery, dry mess. Not so here. The bacon was perfect, but more importantly, so was the scallop that still retained it's subtle sweetness and a hint of the smoky bacon. Delicious. Amazingly, though, the cream corn (not creamed - the corn kernels were whole, and the cream was light and I suspect just a subtle mix of whole cream and milk from the cob) was even more delectable than the perfect scallop. We nearly fought over the corn - and got every last kernel and bit of cream (with the aid of fresh bread- for future reference, a soft foccaccia is the ideal sponge).
Rich ordered the duck breast for his entree, with condensed grape sauce and poached grapes. The duck was perfectly cooked, nicely pink in the middle. I unfortunately opted not to take a bite (the scallop and many pieces of bread threatened to prevent me from enjoying my own entree before my seams busted), but his wide eyes and urge to give a thumbs up (we've restricted the "thumbs up" to restaurants with entrees priced $10 or less) said it all. For my own entree, I ordered the pork chop - huge, wonderfully crusted and very juicy. The entrees were fantastic, as only a deft hand in the kitchen and the best of ingredients can produce.
Of course, even with my stomach reaching sizes never before seen, we couldn't walk out of there without dessert. We ordered coffee, bolstered ourselves, and dove into a warm Scharffen Berger chocolate cake topped with a waffle crisp and vanilla bean gelato. I actually think we fought over this. Neither of us ate it slowly - rather forks clanged like swords as we both vied to ensure each bite would have enough gelato for cool creaminess, cake for maximum depth of chocolate and a bit of the thin waffle for crisp. Deeelicious!
Somehow we waddled back to the car (the dog passed out in the backseat next to the Milk Bone we'd given her), and really, the rest of the night is a blur. I just remember dreaming about food, too much food, and really tight pants.
Sunday morning we hit Casey's again to check out their breakfast menu. I ordered the Potato Pancake Breakfast, which consisted of two potato pancakes, eggs over easy, sour cream and their homemade applesauce. Rich got the Potato Pancake Eggs Benedict - which was similar to mine, but missing the delicious "home for the holidays"-esque applesauce. The potato pancakes were pretty good, passable - tasted and looked like good hash browns formed into circles. I have a hard time being objective here because my family prides itself on the homemade potato pancakes we make every Christmas, and well, they have a reputation. However, for non-family potato pancakes, these were decent.
We decided to hit the beach for the day with a couple of books and some picnic items. We made a stop at Cunha's Country Market (with a second floor shopping emporium full of kitchenware, cowboy gear and antiques - don't miss it!) on Main Street for some good nosh. We filled our basket with a sourdough batard from a local bakery, salami, Irish cheddar (Rich's favorite) and some fresh, local goat cheese from the dairy farm down the road. Sundried tomato pesto and locally jarred Good and Evil Pickles rounded out the meal. The Good and Evil Pickles? Well, just take a guess. I'll just say, they were very good (like Mrs. Fannings Bread and Butter Pickles) and very evil (with a resounding afterburn of intense, but wonderful, jalepenos). It was a great day on the beach - the marine layer only burned off just a bit in the afternoon, revealing a hint of blue sky, while the ocean spray misted our faces. It was wonderful and wonderfully relaxing. The dog enjoyed herself as well. And really likes sourdough.
Sunday night, off a good tip, we hit Pasta Moon on Main Street. Really, this was the crowning meal of the trip. The pasta is made fresh daily, the restaurant cozy and comfortable, and the service was wonderful. We split a Caesar salad to start - the dressing was good, nicely salted from the anchovies with a good kick of garlic and lemon. They put quite a few fresh white sardines on top of each of our plates, which was excellent news for me because Rich won't eat them, and I can't get enough of them. For dinner, Rich ordered the Clam Linguine - the clams were plentiful and steamed to tender perfection. The pasta was tossed lightly in the clam sauce, with a good bit of garlic, pancetta and enough red pepper flakes to provide a nice, but not overwhelming kick to the dish. I chose the Tagliattelle with black tiger prawns - probably 7 in all, and huge. The pasta was tossed with prosciutto, garlic, pepper, olive oil and asparagus. Wonderful, with the prawns tender, but firm on the outside. Unfortunately we were unable to sample the fresh dessert menu because the weekend had caught up with us. We were stuffed beyond capacity. It was time to go home. Even the dog had started turning her nose up at her kibble, assuming better prospects would be available shortly. So, we got in one more night of stuffed food coma sleep, awoke Monday and packed to head back to Hotramento. Er, Sacramento.
But not before one last stop at Casey's for crab melts on the way out.
Every day you grow before my eyes - I have watched your eyelashes grow in - first from none to the full lashes you now have. It's amazing to see you change so much in such a short time. You look a lot like me - a couple of my baby pictures could have been taken of you. I love this - it's amazing seeing myself in you. This doesn't mean you'll always look like me (I looked like Sha-sha as a baby, too, and now we don't look alike at all!), but it's certainly fun for now.
