The land of goat cheese-avocado-tofu sandwiches
By Staff
Scot Beard
One of the things I like most about traveling is sampling the local cuisine.
You can get McDonalds in any town. Steakhouses are a dime a dozen in larger cities.
The key to good culinary travel is to find the small, non-chain restaurants. They usually have the best food and a local flare.
I have found many such places across this country and have been pleased with the results.
The barbecue in Memphis is superb. The seafood in New England is fantastic. The jambalaya in New Orleans is out of this world.
So when I went on my recent trip to California, I decided I would try to find a few good dives and eat like the locals.
The first day there I was driving down the coast near Big Sur when I got hungry for lunch.
I traveled several miles before I found the first place to grab a bite to eat.
The sign by the road said it was a restaurant, so I pulled into the parking lot. When I got inside the hostess told me they were no longer serving lunch, but there was some quiche available if I wanted it.
I didn't. I'm not a quiche kind of guy – I want a meal I can sink my teeth into, not a glorified omelet.
The next stop had two options for food – a restaurant at the top of the hill and a caf/ halfway up the hill. I decided to head to the top.
When I got there, there was an hour-long wait. I grabbed a menu and found a surprise.
If you like avocadoes, goat cheese, tofu or any combination of the previously mentioned ingredients, this is the place for you. It was not, however, the place for me.
I hiked down to the caf/, but the first item I saw was a turkey sandwich with goat cheese, avocado slices and a vinaigrette dressing.
I like the turkey and I like the vinaigrette dressing, but I do not like avocado and I most certainly do not like goat cheese. The rest of the menu didn't get any better.
In my frustration, I turned the car around and drove 26 miles to Monterey. There I found a restaurant that looked promising.
The first item on the menu was an avocado dip. I was about to scream, but I looked down the rest of the menu and found food more suited to my tastes.
I ordered the grilled shrimp in cream sauce over pasta and it was good.
It might not have been true local fare, but I have never been interested in having a weird hippie diet anyway.
