A Tour of San Luis Obispo

A recent trip to San Luis Obispo opened my eyes to a side of California new to me - that being a smaller "city" and sprawling surrounding area with a more laid-back coastal(ish) feel. Granted, I've been mainly exposed to the greater LA area, with a little San Diego and San Francisco thrown in - and I love each of these places for varying reasons -A recent trip to San Luis Obispo brought me to a part of California I'd never been to before, and what an introduction it was. What a beautiful area - the rocky, crisp and dune-lined Pacific coast with small beachy communities dotting the land nearby (like Avila Beach, where we stayed and Peter worked), the rolling green and farm-filled landscape leading inland to the heart of SLO (aptly named and abbreviated, given the laid-backness of the tea), and of course, SLO itself - a sweet, small city full of inviting shops and eateries of all kinds.A few of our stops along the way are what I'd consider must-dos/sees, so read on for recommendations:StayWe stayed in Avila Beach at the Avila Village Inn, since the class Peter taught was held practically next door. While picking a hotel directly in SLO would certainly have it's benefits (the biggest being walking proximity to what the city of SLO has to offer), Avila Beach is only a 10 minute drive away and this Inn had plenty of perks. It's a modern, Mission-style small hotel - beautiful, clean and inviting - and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. Every room has a gas fireplace and outdoor hottub on a deck... need I say more? And there's a health club right next door with workout facilities, fitness classes, outdoor tennis courts and two outdoor pools that you can use for free when staying at the Inn. Highly recommend! There are a number of other hotels/inns in the Avila Beach area with hot springs and/or hot tubs; it's a really quaint area to stay if you don't need to be directly in SLO.DO/SEESLO Farmer's Market. Not surprisingly, there are farmers markets to be found in the SLO area pretty much every day of the week. But the main event is held Thursday afternoons and evenings on Higuera (main street through the city), and it is well work a visit! Higuera becomes pedestrian-only, and completely lined with vendors ranging from farm stands selling gorgeous produce to crafts and clothes; local restaurants also have food tents, and every few blocks you'll encounter another live music or other kind of performance. It's a bustling event with too many good things to take in at once! We sampled fruit from a few vendors - there are many samples to be had as you make your way up and down the market - and had some Thai iced tea (a personal favorite) with coconut milk. Delicious.Hike! (and use hikespeak.com). Hikespeak.com is an awesome resource for hiking and outdoor exploration all over California. Route recommendations come with specific locations and directions, as well as fairly detailed play-by-plays of the hikes - including photos - so you really know what to expect. Even if you want to just explore without a set map, I think the info on this site is really helpful even for just starting places from which you can then take off any which way you choose. I found the site's page for the greater SLO area, and one recommended jaunt we checked out was the Dune Trail to Hazard Canyon Reef in Montana de Oro State Park. It's a quick mile that takes you through some hilly and sandy dunes (actually - the true trail is pretty level, I think - but we detoured and took a slightly longer route that had steeper climbs) and you end up right on the shoreline where there are beautiful rock formations and tide pools jutting out from the beach, with waves crashing all around. Pretty spectacular!Bob Jones city-to-sea trail. This is a well-paved, well-marked trail in Avila Beach (it actually runs right behind the Avila Village Inn, making for extremely convenient access if you stay there!) that leads from slightly inland to the beach. Run, walk, bike, roller skate - you'll find folks doing any of the above and then some on this nice, easy and pretty trail. More info can be found here.EAT/DRINKThe short version: there's an abundance of amazing things to eat and drink in SLO. There's an across-the-board emphasis on fresh, local ingredients, and many restaurants and cafes take advantage of the nice climate of SLO by offering outdoor seating - made comfortable year-round by many places even when temps are chilly with the addition of heatlamps.Linnaea's Cafe. A sweet little cafe in the heart of SLO, Linnaea's specializes in coffees and teas as well as baked treats and a few other food items. We parked ourselves there one morning for some breakfast, caffeine and a few hours of work on our laptops. The wifi is free, the coffee is strong and the food hits the spot. We modified a breakfast burrito that was on the menu to be vegan - omitted eggs, cheese, sour cream - and it was just right. I'm also a sucker for vegan bakery items - easily enticed at least, but not so much the easy critic. The lime blueberry muffin was pretty fantastic - hit the balance of light-yet-buttery; the gluten-free/vegan chocolate chip cookies were above average, but a bit on the dry side.Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates. This SLO chocolate shop was hands down one of the best I've ever been to. Organic, fair trade, local and across-the-board decadant chocolates of all kinds. Not to mention the fact that a huge amount of their selection is vegan! Including caramels, which is not commonly found in vegan form. Best of all is the dark chocolate "SLOchew" - made with dark 70% chocolate, rich vegan caramel, crunchy rice crispies and organic cashews. Amazing. Their website includes an online store, so if you feel like indulging...Eureka! Burger. This lively restaurant and bar in SLO (with other locations in CA and elsewhere in pacific nw) has lots to offer - simply put, good, fresh food and massive beer AND whiskey selections. There was a short wait for a table the night we went, so we headed to the bar area to wait - had a really good beer (New Belgium's Lips of Faith Linday's S'more Porter). We had the tempura green lake green beans (enjoyable - the beans were really tasty, though the light batter didn't have a ton of flavor), san joaquin veggie burger (really tasty, and the zucchini pickles add a nice touch; there is egg in the burger patty, but no dairy) and watermelon salad (also delicious). In lieu of dessert, we opted for a whiskey tasting - yes they offer flights of whiskey! - which was fun in its novelty, and for the chance to sample several different whiskeys. Our server sent over another staff member who purportedly knew a decent amount about whiskey - but that didn't really turn out to be the case, based on descriptions given and what we actually then tasted. One or two were decent, but nothing was particularly striking. For proper recommendations or guidance, I'd recommend walking over to the bar and seeing if the actual bartender may be able to help more effectively.Novo. Went to this charming restaurant at the recommendation of good friends, and had a wonderful experience. Thanks to numerous heat lamps, there's outdoor creekside seating on a pretty large deck-like area behind the restaurant - it was a crisp night when we went, but the warmth from the heaters more than dissipated the chill in the air. And we tend to take advance of eating outside whenever possible and convenient. The tofu lettuce cups were a particularly memorable dish well worth getting!Bliss Cafe. This all-vegan cafe is open for lunch and dinner, and we sat outside amidst falling leaves for a delicious lunch. We shared a sandwich with tempeh, avocado and other veggies as well as chili dogs - which really were vegan hot dogs covered in a sort of warm black bean salsa - not exactly what I'd call "chili", but really tasty regardless. They have a great and varied menu, including raw items (desserts too) and juices and smoothies. I wish every town had a place like this.Luna Red. Broad, fresh tapas menu with a great beer list and plentiful outdoor seating (with strong heatlamps - and also an outdoor seating area around a sort of gas fire pit as well as an outdoor bar).Shell Beach Brewhouse. We checked out this very recently opened tap house and restaurant at the recommendation of a local; it's a pretty snazzy joint, especially for a tiny slip of a beach community in between Avila and Pismo. We waited almost an hour in the crowded bar for a table, fortunately having the good luck and position of being able to snag two barstools. There are . Once seated, we were excited to soon discover that the food exceeded expectations. Had the house-made ono kettle chips, garlic and truffle style (an addictive pile of garlicky and truffley heaven), the aloha ahi poke with butter leaf lettuce cups (if you like tuna, this should be ordered), and a modified brewhouse standard burger (sub in black bean burger - which I think had egg in it - and nixed the cheese, bacon and sauce) which was decently good. This place certainly has above average, modern pub fare and a quality beer selection. While it's a little off the beaten path, being that it isn't in SLO or another more commonly known town or city, it's worth a drink/meal - especially if you're staying in nearby Avila or Pismo Beach.SLO Brewing Company. It isn't always a guarantee that a city's eponymous brewery will deliver on the promise of great beer - but this one truly does. Especially if you love IPAs... one is on nitro, which mellows some of the typical IPA bitterness and makes for a more velvety beer. Equally as good, though for different reasons, as the regular IPA. The oatmeal stout was also quite memorable. We sat at the bar, and had a very friendly bartender who was extremely generous with sample pours - always a huge bonus when at a brewery with so many good things to try! I can see why this place seems to be across-the-board highly reviewed. 

Let Your Fruit Flag* Fly!

Speaking of World Vegetarian Day / Vegetarian Awareness Month - our afternoon yesterday was veggie-filled. We were fortunate enough to get an up close and personal tour of a local friend and Thai-restaurant-owner's home garden, which was pretty spectacular and gave us major plant envy. He was even so incredibly kind as to send us away with a very generous sample of some of his 14+ tomato varieties (many heirloom), as well as several Thai and other hot peppers, some Italian plums, concord grapes, an heirloom spinach, and more:

(*hence the title of this post... the way all of the produce looks in this photo from how we laid it out made me think of a flag!)

The yellow tomatoes in the center of the photo are particularly interesting - their skin is soft and a little fuzzy, like a peach - we'd never seen that before. The spinach was also really unique - we took a bite and could only describe it as "super spinach" - it's a thicker, denser spinach than the typical variety, with more flavor and substance. It was also my first time tasting a fresh concord grape... OH my. Absolutely and immediately one of my favorite fruits. Now, to try and grow some ourselves...And what's in this photo just touches on what his garden grows - there's also chard, apricots, blackberries, tons of herbs (Thai basil!), and lots more. It was very inspiring! We are in the process of planning how to improve and expand what we're growing at home.So naturally we had to put some of these amazing veggies to use for dinner last night. I threw together a variation on this Simple Summer Heirloom Tomato Fusilli.I used a few different tomatoes from the above photo, as well as some yellow grape tomatoes we already had. Heated a little olive oil and some leftover dry white wine (Berger - one of our favorite Gruners) in a pan, and tossed in a few tablespoons of chopped shallot and garlic. Oh but not just any garlic - elephant garlic!:Look at the size of it! I photographed it in my hand for a point of reference. I've never cooked with it before...  needless to say 3/4 of a clove goes a long way (and this is coming from a garlic lover). I haven't yet researched how it differs from regular garlic other than in size, but if I had to guess I'd say it might be a little milder.Once the garlic and shallots softened and became nice and aromatic, and the alcohol from the wine burned off, I added some lemon zest, lemon juice, a full bag of baby spinach, and the tomatoes. I also added some chopped jalapeno (from our garden) and some thinly sliced Thai chili pepper for a kick of heat, as well as a sprinkling of sea salt and a bunch of ground pepper. And a few handfuls of basil from our garden.For pasta, I used remnants from two boxes: a bit of our favorite long fusilli and and also a little gemelli. I tossed the pasta with the "sauce" once it was al dente, and then I added some fresh arugula to the bowls we ate out of for some crunch and additional veggie bulk. I love recipes like this, because it's barely a recipe at all - you just use what ingredients you have and go off of your own taste preferences, and throw something together. It was a great light dinner.