Dining At 2 Historic Inns On California's Mendocino Coast

Defined by fog enshrouded overlooks and sandstone cliffs lashed by the wide open Pacific, villages along the Mendocino Coast  on this stretch of Pacific Coast Highway like Little River and Mendocino dot the coastline among rolling meadows and working farms resembling Scotland much more vividly than the classic beach scenes of Southern California.

When it's time to check-in for an overnight, plenty of top rated lodging options await offering their own unique hospitality as well as connection to the riveting landscape and local history. Here are 2 standouts which also feature can't- miss dining experiences:

Brewery Gulch Inn

Situated on the original 10 acre farmstead of Mendocino pioneer Homer Barton, the Brewery Gulch Inn overlooks the craggy bluffs of Smuggler's Cove tucked along 48,000 acres of preserved meadows and redwoods of Jackson Demonstration State Forest. In 2007, current owners Guy and Sarah Pacurar purchased the 10-room Inn featuring a central Great Room and dining area built around a huge four-sided fireplace made of glass and welded steel by a local ship builder. A 3-story high skylight and 13-foot tall redwood-trimmed French doors flood the space, including the dining area's quarter-sawn oak tables, with sunlight and unobstructed views of Smuggler's Cove.

Whether gathering around a dinner buffet with entrees ranging from Scallops on a Bed of Lentilles Du Puy, Moroccan Lamb, Mussel Bisque, and Halibut Escabeche complemented by their widely diverse selection of local beers and wines or pondering their cooked-to-order breakfast menu featuring Millionaire's Bacon, Executive Chef Peg Davis only uses organic locally-sourced ingredients from what either local Mendocino County farmers, fishing fleets, or their own heritage garden provides.

Little River Inn

Roughly 5 minutes up Route 1 from Brewery Gulch Inn on 225 wooded acres high on a knoll also overlooking the wild Pacific, Little River Inn's ambiance successfully integrates historic polish with seaside luxury.

For years, Little River Inn's signature dish was local abalone cooked on Ole Coombs customized grill which was eventually adapted into the griddle used to this day for cooking up his Swedish Hotcakes served every morning on the breakfast menu. Other can't miss breakfast dishes include their fresh Crab Cake Benedict and Cynthia's Homemade Granola.

Chef Marc Dym, Little River Inn's latest Executive Chef, married into the position in 2006. Dym brings a Zagat rated modern twist to classic American-regional dishes like Confit Pork Osso Bucco, Asian Calamari Salad, Pinenut Crusted Salmon, and when available, Sole Meuniere made from Petrale Sole caught in nearby Noyo Harbor. Selections on the Inn's wine list and local beers on tap often pair extremely well with whatever is on the menu. Dym's more spontaneous creations are best explored on the bar menu with small plates like Green Lip Mussels with Tobiko wasabi mayo, Baked Brie, and fried Calamari dusted with rice flour flash fried in house made mustard sauce.

Although typically used out of expediency at many hotels, in room dining at Little River Inn is de rigueur for at least some meals during your stay. Weather depending, the views, especially sunsets from your patio or deck trump the inn's main dining room. But the smaller dining room to the front with windows or a seat at Ole's Whalewatch Bar can't be beat for savoring the Inn's historic ambiance and taking your turn with the binoculars spotting whales migrating offshore.