San Luis/Paso R. non-fine dining, food sources?

[Brigit Binns]

Just arrived and will be eating and drinking here until end of Jan. There don't seem to be too many recent posts, although I see that tacos in Morro Bay deserve attention. I have a big kitchen to play in, too, so looking for local farms that sell produce,meat and poultry, etc. V. grateful for advice.

Check out Roadfoodie to journey along....

[some people drive simply to arrive]

[dockhl]

Hey Brigit~

Where will you be? Paso? There is a nice fish store in Templeton (Pier 46) in the Trader Joe's shopping center and Templeton has a good farmer's market on Sat AM in the park. Give me more specifics and I am sure we'll get you some recs. Maybe even a meetup, if you are interested?

Kathy

[carpet bagger]

In my opinion the best restaurant in the whole area is Artisan. artisanpasorobles.com They take a lot of pride and the dishes are delicious. They are cery friendly. They are also very busy so be sure to make reservations. They would make it even in LA or Sanfrancisco. They also do lunch. Absolutely a "MUST" go.

[Brigit Binns]

Hey Kathy - thanks, yeah that could be fun. We are slightly south of SLO (Avila Beach area), but can drive anywhere reasonably close, and will be going to visit friends who own L'Aventure in Paso at some point. I have liked the New Frontiers on Santa Rosa in the past, and have been to the farmers market in Arroyo Grande, last year. Any pig farmers around here?

I will def find Templeton for the fish store. There used to be a fish market out at Avila piere, too.

Budget is an issue this year (like everyone, I guess), but thanks for the heads-up re Artisan, carpet bagger. That'll be one of the occasional splurges for sure.

[hzrt8w]

Since you have 3 weeks... I recommend to try out "Rosa's Restaurant" (Italian) in Pismo Beach. I love that place.

McLintocks along Hiway-101. Steak and BBQ stuff. The price is high but the portion is gigantic! I and my wife shared one order for dinner one time and it kept us both full. (They brought free fried onion rings as appetizer...)

http://www.mclintocks.com/locations/index.asp

"Steamers Restaurant" inside the Kon Tiki Inn is so-so foodwise, but has a good view of the ocean. (Pismo Beach)

"Pelican Point Restaurant" is also so-so foodwise, but a good view of the ocean. (Pismo Beach)

And... Splash Cafe to try out their clam chowder... (Pismo Beach)

Edited January 4, 2009 by hzrt8w (log)

[dockhl]

Hey Kathy - thanks, yeah that could be fun. We are slightly south of SLO (Avila Beach area), but can drive anywhere reasonably close, and will be going to visit friends who own L'Aventure in Paso at some point. I have liked the New Frontiers on Santa Rosa in the past, and have been to the farmers market in Arroyo Grande, last year. Any pig farmers around here?

I will def find Templeton for the fish store. There used to be a fish market out at Avila piere, too.

Budget is an issue this year (like everyone, I guess), but thanks for the heads-up re Artisan, carpet bagger. That'll be one of the occasional splurges for sure.

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So, Brigit, do you want more of the south county recs? Or north (Paso, Templeton)? or both?

Good fish in Morro Bay.....Giovanni's is my favorite. San Luis has a good farmer's market on Thursday nights.

NZ Ranch.......Edna Valley, pig farm

Fair Oaks Ranch, http://www.forbeef.com/, Paso Robles

You may be able to get these at the farmer's markets, too.

Kathy

[rjwong]

I strongly second the Farmer's Market on Thursday nights in San Luis Obispo. I haven't been there for a long while. Higuera St. gets shut down for several hours for the farmer's market. Several stands cook tri-tip BBQ, Santa Maria-style. Should try some, if you haven't already.

The fish market at Avila Pier is no longer there??

You might want to check out some of the wineries around Paso Robles.

[Raoul Duke]

Brigit,

If you're interested in seeing an olive farm and talking extra virgin olive oil for an afternoon, let me know. Enjoy your stay on the central coast.

Edited January 6, 2009 by Raoul Duke (log)

[Brigit Binns]

Brigit,

If you're interested in seeing an olive farm and talking extra virgin olive oil for an afternoon, let me know.  Enjoy your stay on the central coast.

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YES, Raoul, I am very interested, and roadfoodie.com readers would love to "see" an olive farm. I used to inhale Graber's when I was a kid growing up in LA. I see they are still around, but getting those mondo-jumbos isn't easy.

Note that I haven't been out to Avila pier yet, as my husband had the unexpected pleasure of an emergency root canal in SLO this am. Thus, I haven't yet set out to explore. I will report as to the fish-market-on-the-pier's presence, or non-presence. I am definitely going to track down the NZ pig farm per Kathy, and Thursday market in SLO.

Thanks

[syrah girl]

We dined at Artisan in October while in Paso for the weekend and were very impressed with the quality of food and service here. We also had a nice meal at the Gardens of Avila at the Sycamore Spring Resort. Also in SLO is Bueno Tavola for Italian food, they also have a location in Paso there.

We are spending a nice, long weekend in the Pismo area the end of the month and would love recs for this area. Is Hoppes still a good choice in this area?

[Raoul Duke]

If you're in the Pismo area a good deli choice is Depalo & Sons in Shell Beach. A local retired doctor makes the fresh mozzarella.

[dockhl]

Is anybody interested in trying to get together? We haven't done that for a long time, and Brigit's visit is a great excuse !

syrah girl, when are you coming up?

[Brigit Binns]

OK, reporting back:

Russell: the fish market is still there at Avila Beach, end of the northernmost pier. I was at the restaurant next door last night for a sunset cocktail, but it was after they'd closed. Will return for dinner supplies this week.

Kathy: I am lookin' and lookin' for contact info for NZ Ranch in Edna, and the Nevilles, but not finding much. I'm wondering if they sell from the farm, or where I can get some of their pork for next weekend...Will try New Frontiers and, if no luck, order some from Niman.

The Thursday night market in SLO was wonderful, and I just came from the Saturday market in the parking lot at Madonna, which has many of the same producers but none of the street food. Bought many tasty things, plus a Buddha's Hand citron, for amusement value.

Today, going up to visit Raoul's olive farm! Next week, visiting Rinconada Dairy in Santa Margarita to meet the sheep, and also to see my friends at L'Aventure.

Boy oh boy is it gorgeous here.

[Rebel Rose]

There's a new restaurant, PROFILE, at 450 Marsh St. in San Luis Obispo. They just opened and do not have a website yet. (For locals, it's the old Benvenuti restaurant, completely remodeled.) Chef Casey Wolcott trained under Laurent Grangien. The concept is bistro-style food and pricing, and the menu will feature locally procured foods, ingredients and wine, hence the restaurant name. Casey is only 25, and a family friend so I am very excited for him. I am planning a blitz on the restaurant--Casey will create a special prix fixe menu if I can fill the place (100 people). Anyone local who would like to be in on it, please email me and I will let you know the date (TBD).

[dockhl]

There's a new restaurant, PROFILE, at 450 Marsh St. in San Luis Obispo.  They just opened and do not have a website yet.  (For locals, it's the old Benvenuti restaurant, completely remodeled.)  Chef Casey Wolcott trained under Laurent Grangien.  The concept is bistro-style food and pricing, and the menu will feature locally procured foods, ingredients and wine, hence the restaurant name.  Casey is only 25, and a family friend so I am very excited for him.  I am planning a blitz on the restaurant--Casey will create a special prix fixe menu if I can fill the place (100 people).  Anyone local who would like to be in on it, please email me and I will let you know the date (TBD).

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Mary, wow, nice to see you ! Count me in.(Jessica , too) Would you be interested in me iputting the word out to some local Chowhounds, too?

[syrah girl]

We just returned from the Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach and had some really great meals. Lido at the Dolphin Bay Resort was fantastic for both lunch and dinner. Mirasol @ The Cliffs did some really nice Monterey Bay Crab Cakes with Poached Eggs and Hollandaise for breakfast, I had this twice! We also enjoyed Steak and Lobster at Steamers one night and I loved the Halibut Fish Tacos at the Cracked Crab in downtown Pismo. I'll try get a full report out on Lido later on in the week. We found our coastal "gem" here.

[Raoul Duke]

Syrah Girl on the way out of my driveway this am I noticed across the street they are pruning the head pruned Zin and remembered last year you were looking for Zin grapes. This is a small plot of an otherwise trellised vineyard. Will that be on your agenda this year?

[pedie]

I followed this thread and we just returned from a week with San Luis Obispo as our base. Here were our experiences:

Dinner at Big Sky was very good. I had the special Goat Cheese Lasagna which was not at all heavy with a delicate pasta. He had the Lamb shank. Well prepared and nice portion.

Lunch at Firestone Grill, crowded with lunch crowd but the tri-tip and the sausage sandwiches were very tasty and tender.

Lunch at Pete's Pierside was fun. We liked the fish toaco, fish sandwich and the cup of chowder. Good value.

Dinner at Splash in SLO. I don't know if this is any different from the Pismo Beach Splash, but we weren't that impressed with the chowder...overly thick for our palate.

Italian sandwiches from Muzio's Market were very good and enjoyed as a picnic at Montana de Oro bluffs.

Dinner at Corner View Restaurant in SLO. We had the Restaurant month fixe-prix dinner. Selected fish entrees that were well prepared. Creme Brulee was brutal...torched top was almost black and tasted burned...so much so that the custard had warmed to soup.

Dinner at Mama's Meatball in SLO, okay but nothing memorable.

Dinner at McClintoch's SLO was good and fun. These are steaks for the college crowd but they were tasty, prepared nicely and good value. We would go back.

Dinner at Bon Temps SLO was a disaster. Food very greasy, batter on popcorn shrimp over done, my husband was ill all night from his Jambalaya. Beware....

Also of interest to foodies: We had two delightful visits at the Cal Poly Organic Farm (open to the public). Cindy, the General Manager and Jerry, the Production manager could not have been friendlier. Nathan, the main gardener, answered our copious questions. It was great to talk with the student workers, wander through the garden and see how they run their CSA program that funds their effort.

Enjoyed brief visits at Mt. Olive Farm toward Paso Robles and a Lavendar Farm as well.

Beautiful country..and the wineries!!!! :-)

[dockhl]

There's a new restaurant, PROFILE, at 450 Marsh St. in San Luis Obispo.  They just opened and do not have a website yet.  (For locals, it's the old Benvenuti restaurant, completely remodeled.)  Chef Casey Wolcott trained under Laurent Grangien.  The concept is bistro-style food and pricing, and the menu will feature locally procured foods, ingredients and wine, hence the restaurant name.  Casey is only 25, and a family friend so I am very excited for him.  I am planning a blitz on the restaurant--Casey will create a special prix fixe menu if I can fill the place (100 people).  Anyone local who would like to be in on it, please email me and I will let you know the date (TBD).

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Haven't heard anything new but saw they they now have a website

PROFILE, SAN LUIS OBISPO