Guides
The Mendocino coast, from the kitchen side
Where to eat, where to shop, what’s on, and who to hire, from the people who cook here.
This coast is a two-hour string of villages with no freeway, patchy signal, and venues that range from a commercial kitchen to a field. These guides are what we’d tell a friend who was coming to stay, or coming to throw a party.
Staying on the coast
Where We Eat
Where we eat off duty
The places we go on a night off, from a devoted regular’s seat: what to order, dogs and kids, and the detail nobody tells you.
32 shops, farm stands and markets
Stocking your rental kitchen
Fish off the harbor, butchers, bakeries, co-ops and farm stands, town by town, for the nights you cook.
18 festivals and markets
Food and wine events
Winesong, the Pinot Festival, the Salmon BBQ, crab season and the weekly markets: what, when, cost and tips.
Planning an event
8 venues
Venues, from the kitchen side
What the kitchen really is at each place, capacity, cost and curfew, and the questions to ask before you sign.
5 planners and coordinators
Planners
Who plans on this coast, and why the timeline decides whether the food arrives hot.
16 photographers and filmmakers
Photographers
Who shoots this coast, and the golden-hour question that quietly decides when everyone eats.
10 florists and flower farms
Florists and flower farms
Florists and local growers, and two decisions that change the table.
7 rental companies
Rentals
What you actually have to rent, especially at a venue with no kitchen. It’s more than tables and chairs.
2 bar services
Bar service
Who pours on this coast, the permit you’ll need, and the 10pm curfew.
Why we write these
We’re downstream of every decision on this list. The venue determines what we can cook. The planner determines whether it arrives hot. The photographer determines when you sit down. The rental company determines whether there’s anywhere to plate. By the time a problem reaches the kitchen it’s usually too late to fix, so we’d rather it never got made.
We recommend people we don’t work with, including some who compete with us, because a bad recommendation costs us more than a lost booking.
And if you need a chef
We cook in the house you’ve rented, from Point Arena to Ten Mile and inland through Anderson Valley: retreats, rental-house dinners, family gatherings, small weddings and the dinners either side. See sample menus and guide prices.
Work this coast and not in here? Tell us, and if something needs updating, tell us that too.