FORT BRAGG: the Surreal Inn at Newport Ranch
Thin places — where heaven and earth come closer or the veil between the here and the otherworld is especially thin — is beloved lore for thousands of years. On California’s breathtaking Mendocino Coast, easily some of the most beautiful and mystical coastline in the world, the couple thousand acres of private coast and redwood forest that is home to The Inn at Newport Ranch since owner Will Jackson bought the land in the 1980s is just such a thin place.
I could feel it immediately as we pulled up to the striking wood inn flanked by one lone, spectacular, tall California Cypress tree in front. Centering a working cattle ranch on the remote coast north of Ft. Bragg, Mendocino County’s largest town (yet with a population just under 7000), the land historically was home to many Native American tribes, especially the Yuki tribe, until it was a town, ship port and logging community from 1865 on.
Here, the Pacific Ocean is populated with dozens of rocks jutting out of the sea like mythological creatures, haunting in the best ways. I ran to the cliffs on my first exploration outside, with wild and teeming sea below, past large rocks the owner had lined up in grass pathways to align with the sunsets during both solstices and equinoxes (subtle shades of Stonehenge). I was laughing with joy and enchantment, each turn revealing another vista more stunning the last. This place brought me immediately to my truest self.
The retired Jackson also had picnic tables and seating (from reclaimed driftwood to wood benches) built into hidden cliffs and corners all along the coast on the property. I felt like a child, exclaiming with glee as I’d come upon yet another unexpected seating set-up carved into rocks and earth gazing over breathtaking ocean vistas. I journaled or had picnics in a couple of these spots, with some tables even sporting cupholders. Best of all, one large main house holds only three lodging rooms, then a redwood tree lined (indoors!) house is three units, plus a couple smaller buildings, means there are few people here at a time. So essentially, we had the coast to ourselves much of my November visit.
Newport Ranch’s spectacular architecture and custom charm seal the deal. The main house is the piece de resistance with a glass-walled dining room that opens to the hills, forests and ocean on all sides — sporting a straight-out-of-medieval storybooks hearth/fireplace. Old growth redwoods, one-ton stones and artfully carved woods make up every thoughtful corner of the house and custom furniture. It feels as if craftsman bungalow and even older arts and crafts-era architecture met modern day with its own one-of-a-kind spin. The place is a stunner.
Each room is small, to be sure, but creatively designed, cozy, unique. The Captain’s Quarters is a worthy splurge of the three main house rooms with its spectacular, from-your-bed view over the ocean and ship-worthy design. All three rooms share one hot tub perched above a deck gazing out to stars and sea. The larger two bedroom Grove Suite in the gorgeous Redwood House has its own private hot tub and a kitchen. Touring the space, I loved the look of the cozy Bird House suite upstairs, also with a kitchen.
Which leads me to the food: chef Stacey Hughes changes the menu each night with three courses and a couple choices in each course, including vegan/vegetarian dishes. There are basic picnic lunches they’ll pack for you to take cliffside or as hike across miles of paths, with nurturing breakfasts each morning in the main house. At dinner, we feasted on the likes of a rich chanterelle pot de crème with ranch-foraged mushrooms, laced with Cognac and cream, and Pacific halibut partnered with tomato, sweet peppers, lemon, dill and wine. A selection of local cheeses with honeycomb and crackers made an ideal dessert, while plenty of local wines and lush, medium-bodied reds like 2017 Domaine de Chevalier Grand Cru Pessac-Leognan from Bordeaux, France, enhanced each course, from a list curated by general manager Blair Foster and Mark Bowery.
I was more than pleasantly surprised in these remote parts to find a quality cocktail menu, with our gracious bartender and host Mercedes Kennedy making them each night. Cocktails stick toclassics, which I can weary of after tasting thousands of versions globally and 20+ years of research and judging cocktails.
But they thankfully make their own twists, like the welcome addition of Mendocino’s own Roederer Brut Rose to The Newport Negroni, making it not so much a classic Sbagliato cocktail, but a robust yet gently sparkling Negroni featuring distilled-in-the-County, Russell Henry London Dry Gin. They make a lovely, grassy Caipirinha, the great Brazilian standby, featuring Germana Cachaca. Or a crisp Gin & Tonic (plus a non-alcoholic Juniper & Tonic version) with housemade tonic in its natural light brown color from the crucial ingredient of cinchona bark. Lingering by the fireplace with a book in the mural-lined, wood-walled front drawing room with a cocktail pre-dinner was sheer pleasure.
You won’t regret splurging on the Inn’s much loved UTV tour. Otis was absolutely amazing; knowledgeable on all things Newport and the ranch, having grown up nearby. He drove us all along the coast, through redwoods and forests to a breathtaking vista overlooking the ranch and sea below over a couple unforgettable hours. We even got to plant our own redwood tree (!) From mushroom foraging in the woods to his wife’s role as the head gardener supplying the inn’s kitchen, these beautiful people exemplify this beautiful place, one that is restorative and nurturing not just because of its service, brilliant design or even unparalleled beauty.
The roots, terroir and soul of this spectacular stretch of the Mendocino Coast can be felt and is honored, not marred, by the Inn. Even in crisp November, the skies were sunny and clear, the sunsets ablaze, the air alive with healing. I left dreaming of returning in all seasons.
// 31502 N. Highway 1, Fort Bragg, www.theinnatnewportranch.com
OTHER PLACES TO EAT & DRINK
Princess Seafood in Noyo Harbor
Princess Seafood is a badass business: all-female staff and fisherwomen go fishing every morning in their boat, the F/V Princess, and run their longtime Fort Bragg market selling sashimi-grade, sustainably wild caught, west coast seafood (everything from local crab, oysters, halibut and salmon, to prepared dishes like shrimp and crab Louie or poke).
In 2018, they opened a special order-at-the-window outdoor restaurant a few doors from the market in Noyo Harbor. Here you can enjoy live music on weekends on the docks with local wines (they pour hip Carboniste wines/pet nat), 12 beers on draft, fish tacos, BBQ oysters, clam chowder, lobster bisque and Fort Bragg Phillys with rock cod or a surf n’ turf version of fish and Angus beef, a fun play off a cheesesteak. All of this goodness while sitting under the bridge gazing across the harbor to the sea. Princess is a Ft. Bragg must.
// 32410 N. Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg; https://fvprincess.com/p/the-res
MendoParks’ Mushroom, Whiskey & Wine Train
Fort Bragg’s historic Skunk Train is one of their regular tourist attractions steaming through redwoods. But catch a MendoParks sponsored event like the Mushroom, Whiskey & Wine Train I joined on November 12 and you get much more than a train ride.
With wine and whiskey on the slow train ride through towering redwoods, we ended at a huge deck that led to an open-air, barn-like structure flanked by majestic redwoods. We roasted s’mores around fire pits, listened to local experts in mushrooms, spirits and sea foraging, snacked on local mushrooms in bites from nearby restaurants (including The Inn at Newport Ranch), sipped Mendocino Spirits (like Captain Fletcher’s Private Reserve 8 year rye whiskey), and tasted wines from over 15 Mendo Co. wineries, including Brutocao, Goldeneye, Handley, Jaxon Keys, Lula, Philo Ridge. When the rain came, we weren’t thwarted. The giant structure sheltered hundreds of us, but even around the campfires, we got cozy under umbrellas, continuing to roast and sip, surrounded by those magic redwoods.
MENDOCINO — Food & Drink Weekends at Little River Inn
Little River is a stretch just south of the village of Mendocino boasting (yet more) cliffy, stunning Mendocino coastline and the historic, family-run Little River Inn. I’ve stayed here every couple years (especially appreciating Ocean View Deluxe rooms for sweeping views of the ocean from front decks). I’ve participated in memorable food and drink-centric weekends, including judging an abalone cooking contest with local chefs cooking with abalone from Mendo County’s shores, a unique Ferment & Forage weekend where we foraged on land and in sea, Mendocino Spirits whiskey dinners with live music and more. I’ve also written of chef Marc Dym’s excellent sherry-laden clam chowder year-round.
This November I returned for a Mushroom Festival and intimate beer dinner at Little River Inn with none other than the husband-wife owners of Russian River Brewing (RRB). Mushrooms and beer are a happy combo — and, no, we did not drink Pliny.
We dove into deeper cuts and seasonal treats, paired with chef Dym’s dishes in a hearty six-course feast. Starting with broiled oysters dotted with tobiko, kewpie and pickled enoki mushrooms, we sipped a crushable STS Keller-style Pilsner made in an unfiltered, German Helles style, before moving on to one large raviolo in brodo (broth) filled with house ricotta, morel mushrooms and cured yolk, swimming in chive oil and Marc’s dreamy mushroom consomme. With this course we compared two versions of Russian River’s Robert Saison farmhouse ale (classic, yeast-driven, my favorite as the brighter of the two) & Jannemie Saison (same beer but with brettanomyces added).
The meal rolled on with highlights like a seemingly simple chanterelle, frisée, marcona almonds and lardon salad dotted with fifth-generation innkeeper Cally Dym’s (Mark’s wife) preserved Dry Creek Peaches. Flavor-packed and juicy, they almost equal fresh peaches, paired with RRB’s Peach “Small Batch Series” made with peaches from the same legendary farm (6 lbs. of peaches per gallon of beer)!
A 2021 RRB Grape Pomace Beer (10.15% ABV) was another rare thrill of Syrah, Petite Syrah and Cabernet with a touch of hops, aged like a lambic beer. It was earthy, dry, grappa-esque with all that pomace. With dessert, a Shadow of a Doubt Imperial Porter is named after the great Hitchcock film filmed mostly in RRB’s home base of Santa Rosa.
These are the kind of memorable events Little River rolls out. They helped launch the first U.S. sea urchin/uni festival in June 2022 — with sake and local Mendo County urchin. I long to go as I live for uni. This winter they offer a locally foraged Christmas dinner menu, discounted Christmas Eve and Day lodging packages, and from January 27 to February 5, a Dungeness crab and local wines festival celebrating our great local crab.
// 7751 CA-1, Little River; www.littleriverinn.com
OTHER PLACES TO EAT & DRINK
Modern Izakaya with Strong Sake Selection: Gama, Pt. Arena
It’s a good 40 minutes drive each way down Highway 1 to the sleepy little town of Point Arena from Little River Inn alone (slightly further from the village of Mendocino). Point Arena is home to beloved (and closet-sized) Franny’s Cup & Saucer bakery, but since fall 2020, it’s got Gama, a rare-for-these-remote-parts modern Japanese izakaya with vibrant sake selection.
Gama’s sleek wood design and service could fit in at home in the City, even if some kinks reveal its small town nature: a key one was a mad rush of dishes all at once at the beginning. This is a real pet peeve as it means warm dishes grow cold while you try to taste quickly, and sashimi was thrown together with warm plates, a faux pas in Japanese cuisine. Especially after our server expressly said we could order one tasting menu/omakase (a reasonable $65 plus $35 sake pairings) and supplement with additional dishes, as we hoped to try a broader range and sample their typical omakase. Coursing out dishes should have happened here.
Mt. Lassen trout sashimi with local Half Moon Bay wasabi (grown just south of SF) showcases our silky NorCal trout, the best in the world, which I eat regularly in raw and cooked forms. But here it was cut in such odd, long strips too big for one bite and impossible to cut. It made for an unpleasant sashimi experience (typically, sashimi cuts are manageable in one bite).
Despite these disruptive foibles, Gama’s rarity in the entire region still makes it a destination, as do well-meaning servers. The quality sake selection, while common in SF, is, again, an anomaly here, blessedly served in handmade sake vessels and poured with care, including delights like Tedorigawa U-unique sake or a favorite I drink in restaurants at home: Taiheizan Chogetsu “Clear Moon” Kimoto Junmai Ginjo Sake.
While a giant bowl of yamitsuki — “addictive” Oak Valley Napa cabbage — was larger than necessary even for two people, its crisp, clean crunch was given complexity and tenderness “massaged” in salt and fish powder, a standout dish. Japanese potato salad, using local eggs and potatoes with carrots and aioli, was on-point… a simple dish done beautifully. Llano Seco pork gyoza (dumplings) were solid and kushiyaki skewers offered a range of grilled items from onions or Mycopia King Trumpet mushrooms to beef tongue and momo (chicken thigh).
The omakase included comforts like silky local cod with daikon and wasabi carrots in house ponzu, and a shaved ice dessert of classic kakigori with African horn melon and condensed milk. Unexpectedly, house made ice cream (yuzu, matcha or a dreamy black sesame) was a highlight of the meal. Though I taste these blessed flavors all the time, their black sesame was among the better I’ve tried in ages.
// 150 Main Street, Point Arena; https://izakaya-gama.com
Coffee Time + Quality Beers on Draft: The Waiting Room, Mendocino
I’ve been visiting Mendocino’s stunning limits for 20 years and have always bemoaned bad coffee throughout the county, despite Sonoma and surrounding counties offering plenty of third wave coffee. The Waiting Room — from Mendo longtimer, Cafe Beaujolais — is not exactly comparable to the standard best all over the Bay Area, but it’s in the right ballpark.
Open December 2020, it’s the cabin feel, from arched wood ceiling to wood-burning stove, a vinyl soundtrack and records lining the wall, a couple choice vermouths, wines and craft beers on draft that make Waiting Room special. Linger in the cozy space or on the little back deck with a view over Mendocino rooftops to the sea, sipping espresso drinks (made with Mendo longtimer, Thanksgiving Coffee), sampling solid housemade pastries. Servers can be somewhat friendly to downright disinterested, but despite lackluster service, it’s a welcome addition to the town.
// 961 Ukiah Street, Mendocino; www.cafebeaujolais.com/waiting-room
