5 Star Eats
Compared to the big city, the Mendocino Coast has relatively few restaurants. And even fewer in the “5-Star” category.
Unlike suburban areas, we have no neighborhood strip malls filled with eateries or national chains (I’m not counting our MacDonalds, Round Table Pizza or the single Starbucks outlet).
More likely than not, a restaurant on the Coast is owned by an individual, a couple or a family, rather than investors. They are often unique and quirky, the invention of a creative chef, chef/owner or enthusiastic entrepreneur.
Accent the Positive
Our pledge when we started MendocinoFun.com was to talk about the positive; to review and make note of those things that maintain good quality overall and over time. When you look at our recommendations for basic foods like pizza or fish and chips, I think you can figure that we represent a consensus of local viewpoints. There is also strong local opinion about the better restaurants.
The Tourist Factor
Tourism is the economic engine of the county and therefore tourists get a strong say in which restaurants they like best. They often return again and again to their same favorite restaurant. The 5-Star restaurants are a little different. When you live here, you tend to go less often to these restaurants — saving them for special occasions.
Café Beaujolais - Mendocino
In 1977 Margaret S. Fox, a Mendocino local acquired the restaurant and turned it into a breakfast house that soon began dinners and started a Brickery and a Bakery also. Margaret and her dinner chef turned the place into a national land mark and a must dine at destination in California. In June of 2000 Cafe Beaujolais was sold to loyal customers that kept the tradition going while putting a fresh new and modern look to the interior. They owned it until May of 2006 when David LaMonica and Kristy Bishop acquired the present property. The local buzz on Cafe Beaujolais is that the succession of owners have maintained much of the menu and the standards set by Margaret Fox, who is now the catering director for Harvest Foods in Fort Bragg. Both the service and food are great. And, after many years as a dinner-only restaurant, the new owners have opened it for lunch as well. Margaret’s book Morning Food, originally published in 1990 with her Cafe Beaujolais breakfast and brunch recipes, was expanded and updated in 2006.
Heritage House Inn - Little River (contributed by Larry Wagner)
Another star has risen in the Mendocino coast dining firmament – the restaurant at Heritage House. Six of us dined there recently and savored the tasting dinner. Chef Nancy Kinchela, an Australian, served us an array of dishes that were mouthwatering good. We started dinner at 6:30 and finished eight courses at 10:30, comfortably sated and raving about the experience. Nancy is not the showman chef – we had to drag her out of the kitchen to tell her how great she was. Let me add that the wine list is innovative and superb.
My wife and I went back for a pre-theater dinner this weekend. The more modest, reasonably priced, three course meal was equally wonderful. If I were pressed to say what restaurant came to mind when I ate there, the comparison would be “French Laundry”, but a lot easier on the budget.
For a special treat, give it a try.
