POSH WITH A SIDE OF SUN

Posted on 01/04/2016 | About San Francisco, California

The iconic State Route 1 with its gorgeous seacoast vistas between San Francisco and Los Angeles is the California road trip that most have on their bucket list. This time of year however the most southern coastline from San Diego to LA offers less driving and more sun with a liberal sprinkling of posh and great eats. It’s the travel gift to spoil a loved one.

From San Diego airport, it’s a quick easy drive to La Jolla, a pretty seaside town lined with fine shops, spectacular murals done by contemporary artists under commission, and the worthy Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. At George’s at the Cove, I enjoyed wrap around ocean views and the first of my fresh seafood feasts. Dinner was spectacular at the Marine Room, opened in 1941 and famous for the pounding surf that at times splashes with such force that it goes over the roof. Our window table seemed to almost hover over the ocean. Executive Chef Bernard Guillas has been there 21 years and focuses the cuisine on sustainable and as local as possible. Along with his Chef de Cuisine, Rob Oliver, he’s written the Flying Pans Cookbooks: Two Chefs One World and Two Chefs One Catch. Chef Guillas told me that there are 3000 micro farms in the area and 42 farmers markets per month so sourcing fresh, organic food for his menus is a snap. The kitchen produces refined and elegant dishes such as Trilogy of Lobster, Ahi Tuna, Pompano, White Sage Brioche Mary’s Farm Chicken and Cervena Farm Elk Loin.

That night I slept at the Lodge at Torrey Pines, which being a golfer was a thrill for me. It overlooks the world-renowned Torrey Pines Golf Course with views of the Pacific Ocean. A Rees Jones-designed golf mecca, it’s annually named one of America’s best municipal golf facilities. I got up early to line up for a chance to play the south course – tee times between sunrise and 7am are on a first come basis and I was able to pay and walk on with fellow keeners. La Jolla is also near to some interesting wineries and so I took a chauffeured winery tour with San Diego Beer & Wine Tours. It started with a pizza lunch at Cordiano Winery overlooking the vineyards, then stopped at Orfila Vineyards (which served excellent estate grown viognier, pinot noir and syrah) and ended at Bernardino Winery, founded in 1889 and which had its own little town of shops, cafes and museums. The A.R. Valentien in the Lodge at Torrey Pines has been named one of the top ten Farm-to-Table restaurants in the U.S. by Epicurious.com. I was in luck as the restaurant’s weekly communal Artisan Table was on that night with Schramsberg Winery pouring wines to match each course. We all sat at a huge table set on the outdoor terrace overlooking the golf course and the ocean. Chef Jeff Jackson who has been with the restaurant 14 years, since it opened, created a bountiful feast of seafood, salads, roasted vegetables, sablefish and grilled beef served up family style.

The next morning after a walking tour of the Murals of La Jolla (free), my companions and I drove on to Newport Beach. Newport’s a posh seaside paradise; the city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings. We lunched at The Cannery, once a fish canning operation and now rebuilt as a waterfront restaurant with tasty fresh seafood on the menu. We walked off lunch strolling through the shops of quaint Balboa Island, just a short bridge off the mainland. Our final destination that day was the luxurious Montage Resort at Laguna Beach. It was hard to imagine that it was once a trailer park and Laguna Beach an artist colony. Today it’s triple five star with an atmosphere it calls comfortable elegance. Set on a coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific, it has gorgeous rooms, two onsite pools, a large spa and three signature restaurants. We ate at The Studio a California influenced modern French restaurant with a panoramic oceanfront location. Custom-built wine vaults flank the entryway and spotlight more than 2,500 bottles of the restaurant’s wine collection. The tasting menu is the way to go and Chef Craig Strong let us switch in dishes to suite our fancy.

The grand finale of our trip was in West Hollywood, starting with morning spa treatments at a day spa tucked away in the Sunset Plaza’s lower level, Ole Henriksen, which reputedly has celebrity clientele. While we didn’t catch a glimpse of anyone famous at the spa, we did at lunch at The Eveleigh on Sunset Boulevard. This laid back eatery with a rustic, reclaimed wood interior, and farm to table cuisine by Chef Jared Levy, obviously appealed to film and TV stars who lived in the neighbourhood. The buzz was palpable. After a tour of the cool design district of WeHo, we checked into The London West Hollywood hotel. My room on the ninth floor was delightful, large and modern with a balcony with sweeping views of the city skyline. This is a hotel I highly recommend – including the top notch buffet breakfast. Dinner at the Sunset Tower Bar is a must do when in WeHo. During the Golden Era of Hollywood it was the chic place to live and many celebrities of the time called it home; Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn and Mae West to name a few. John Wayne, whose former apartment is now the hotel’s salon, kept his pet cow on the balcony so guests could have fresh milk with their coffee. Howard Hughes kept several apartments for his various mistresses. Bugsy Siegel’s former residence is now the Tower Bar restaurant.

With all this history, I wondered if the food would be good. It was retro cuisine in all its glory (deviled eggs, oysters Rockefeller, chicken pot pie, Dover sole) and truly delicious. Some things – in fact this whole trip - are well worth repeating. www.visitcalifornia.com