Binns - Sunset eating up the West Coast: the best road trips, restaurants, and recipes from California to Washington

Sunset

Eating Up the

WEST COAST

The best road trips, restaurants, and recipes from California to Washington

by BRIGIT BINNS

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

CHAPTER 2: NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

CHAPTER 3: OREGON

CHAPTER 4: WASHINGTON

Foreword

Early in 2001, photographer Christopher Hirsheimer and Ia couple of California nativesdrove south on Interstate 5 from Grants Pass, across the Oregon border down into the Golden State. This was the start of a 10-day journey, following a largely improvised itinerary that took us jagging back and forth from the coastline to the Central Valley, through tiny towns and major cities, past flat farmlands and rocky seaside cliffs, all the way to the edge of Mexicoeating and drinking and occasionally cooking along the way. (Our report of the trip appeared in the May/June issue of our magazine, Saveur , that year.)

It was one of the most memorable trips of my life, and I dream sometimes about making it again. In the meantime, Brigit Binns has done it for mefor all of usbut in her case, beginning in the south and heading north and not stopping when she got to Grants Pass but pushing on all the way up almost to the Canadian border.

Brigit divides her own itinerary into a dozen easily manageable, food-filled routes, punctuated with stops at farmstands, markets, bakeries, and dairies, but most of all at great places to eat. With a few exceptions, these arent big-name restaurants: Theyre local treasures, the real thing, establishments with names like Oink and Moo Burgers and BBQ, and Frannys Cup & Saucer, and New Sammys Cowboy Bistro, where folks with good stories behind them and sizzling griddles and bubbling pots in front of them prepare real foodnot fancy show-off chefs stuff, but dips and hashes and scrambles, sandwiches and salads, tacos and burritos, fried fish and fried oysters, crab Louis, and tri-tip steak.

The best part? Brigit gives us clearly written, irresistible recipes for many of the specialties she devoured with great joy along the way, from homemade focaccia (and homemade English muffins!) to mango-strawberry flamb with coconut ice cream, from sweet potato fries with honey-maple drizzle to truffled cheese tortelli with butternut squash and pepitas , from Dungeness crabcakes to bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with Worcestershire butter.

If you have no plans to take a West Coast road trip, read this book and cook some of these recipes insteadbut Ill bet youll be thinking plane flights and rental cars before youre halfway through.

COLMAN ANDREWS

Co-founder of Saveur magazine and editorial director of TheDailyMeal.com

Introduction

Some people drive just to arrive. Getting there is most of the fun for me; I drive because the lure of the open road is irresistible. And because the diversity of people, sights, and food I encounter along the way are, well, just as captivating as finding what Id consider the best of the best: eating perfect Dungeness crabcakes with a glass of crisp ros on a sunny day, while perched at a cliffside cafe overlooking the crashing waves of the Pacific.

In 2006, I began a tradition that lasted for six years: Every fall, I would drive from New York to California. A few months later, I would drive back. (This was winter-avoidance by someone whod vowed never to put her dog on an airplane.) Mostly, I was solowith Stella, of course, but she doesnt drive. I always took my sweet time, and in 12 cross-country drives, I never once ate in a chain restaurant. Routes, lunches, and overnight stops were meticulously planned around dining opportunities. So when the folks at Sunset suggested I apply this algorithm to the entire West Coast, I literally burst into (happy) tears.

By then I was living full time back in my native California, and had begun to miss those semiannual drives. Inspired by a roomful of precious back issues of Sunset but also ravenous for new sights, people, and tastes, I pestered the magazines travel and food editors for recent discoveries, and mysteries that were rumored but yet to be revealed.

Next, I commenced the delicate dance of deciding where to stop, what to eat, and which sights and experiences merited my attentionalways leaving myself open to on-the-fly encounters of the captivating kind, of course. I wanted a range of eateries: from dress-up fine dining to walk-in-straight-from-the-car/paper- napkin joints (plus everything in between). Big urban areas were no-go zones on this trip. It was a spectacular smorgasbord: Is there anywhere else on Earth as quirky, romantic, and delectablein short, iconicas the route along the edge of Americas West Coast?

And then the fun began. Meeting mother-daughter bakersone with purple hairin their jewel-like shop front, in a one-horse town on the wild Mendocino coast. Standing at the prow of a ferry as it approached Whidbey Island, sun glinting on water. Rediscovering gold in Southern Californiain the form of a meat-centric menu and pig-themed patio in the small town of Fallbrook. Frolicking with Stella on the deepest beach Id ever seen, just north of Newport, Oregon. Visiting the new-millennium incarnation of a burger-and-shake shack Id once frequented as a college student, in Portland, Oregon. Sinking my teeth into ethereal roast chicken and crisped rustic breadon a salad, so quintessentially SoCalin a teensy town north of Santa Barbara. Scribbling down excellent restaurant tips from a well-traveled gent at the tiny bar of a tiny tiki hut on the Oregon Coast.

My belly was always full, and I was never starved for companionship: Everyone I met was warm and generous with spirit, sustenance, and best of all, their precious recipes. Stella was always sanguine, waiting patiently in countless dog-friendly hotel rooms; she knew there would be food, toys, and episodes of wild dancing before the next mornings departure.

Back home, I set to work re-creating the dishes Id found, often phoning and emailing (okay, bugging) chefs and restaurateurs from Mexico to Canada. Eventually, the recipes were reproduced in a home-kitchen-friendly form, and then passed on to the exacting folks in the Sunset Test Kitchen for further refining. Occasionally, we tweaked things away from restaurant style, always retaining the spirit of the dish. The painstaking results are offered here, and theyre keepersrecipes youll return to time and again.

I invite you to ride along with me (and Stella) on our tasty culinary adventure. You dont even have to leave your kitchen.