时尚女人。可爱孩子。美丽家居。男人爱车: Escape to Pescadero for artichoke bread & pie

Our guide for a food-filled (and safe) day trip to the coast

In late February, I took what I didn't know at the time would be my last weekend trip for a long time to Pescadero. The whole point was to get off the grid and disconnect, but while I was ripping into the above artichoke bread, smearing hunks with local goat cheese, it hit me: There's some incredible food here, and I must write about it. (Work is never far from my mind, even when I'm off the clock.)

Fast forward a few weeks, and a story encouraging people to travel and dine out felt wildly unsafe. Some of the businesses I wanted to highlight had closed temporarily. I put the idea on the back burner.

But this week, I picked it up again for a few reasons. We know more about the coronavirus now, and it does feel safe to get in a car with the people you're quarantining with (or seize the chance to go solo, I would), make the hour or so drive to pick up food to-go and spend some time outdoors. San Mateo County beaches are back open — masks required — and I bet an oceanside picnic of tacos and olallieberry pie sounds as dreamy to you as it does to me as I write this from a very uncomfortable chair at my tiny kitchen table. And like all local restaurants right now, these farther-flung Coastside eateries need our support.

While writing the story, I was reminded of how uniquely tight-knit this small community is. Many businesses are working to bolster each other and the broader community, like The Sunshine market selling produce and meat from local farms and Pie Ranch, an educational farm, starting a food relief program for needy families in the Bay Area.

As with anything in this moment, please only do what feels safe for you. But if you're up for it, here's my guide to eating your way through Pescadero. Don't forget to tip well and wear your mask.

Stay safe and healthy,
Elena

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Restaurant intel: Baumé to-go; masks on for Santa Clara County diners

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: Starting next week, the two-Michelin-star Baumé will be serving takeout. The intimate Palo Alto French restaurant, where an eight-course prix-fixe tasting menu cost nearly $400, will reopen with a $98, four-course to-go menu. (Elsewhere in the land of fine-dining-gone-takeout, private Los Altos restaurant Hiroshi is now slinging $165 A5 Wagyu katsu sandwiches.)

ICYMI, if you're dining outdoors in Santa Clara County, you now have to keep your mask on at all times except when eating or drinking. Personally, I'm glad to see the more stringent face covering requirements, which acknowledge that servers should be protected as much as customers, and I hope other local counties follow suit.

San Francisco's China Live will soon be delivering its sheng jian bao locally from ghost kitchens throughout the Peninsula. The expansion reflects an interesting role reversal for ghost kitchens, which pre-pandemic were villainized in the food world but now offer a lifeline for struggling restaurants.

Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover financial losses incurred during the shutdown, with the long-term goal of forming an independent social nonprofit.

Kasim Syed of Salvaje in Palo Alto is going to start turning his natural wine bar over to pop-ups on weekends. This Saturday at 5 p.m., his aunt, who ran the now-closed Shezan in Mountain View, will be making nihari, a Pakistani-Indian stew; on Aug. 1, Zack Fernandes of Lil' Eagle Burger will be serving his smashburgers on buttered Martin's potato rolls.

Palette Tea House is soft opening for outdoor dining at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo this week. The modern dim sum restaurant comes from the Ng family of the iconic Koi Palace in Daly City.

New Mountain View nonprofit Appetite for Good aims to kill two charitable birds with one stone by allowing people to purchase vouchers for meals from local restaurants to feed families in need.

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Wondering if your favorite restaurants are open for alternative ways of dining? Check out this list of restaurants, cafes, breweries, wine shops and bakeries throughout the Bay Area that are providing takeout and/or delivery service.

What I'm eating

I popped into Pape Meat Co. last week, an epic family-run butcher in downtown Millbrae. Open since 1958, the meat market is known for its dry-aged beef, wonderful customer service and knowledgeable staff.

For dinner, I grabbed some lamb shoulder chops — cut fresh that morning, the man behind the counter told me. And I couldn't resist the sliced-to-order prosciutto, which became that evening's appetizer, draped over lemon cucumbers (my favorite!), drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sumac Tajín.

Not pictured: Me, working late and eating said prosciutto straight out of the package a la Tony Soprano.

What I'm reading

The dangers of food pigeonholing. When Epicurious asked Tara O'Brady to write a dosa recipe, it wasn't a simple "yes." In an essay, she eloquently describes the pressures and limitations of asking food writers of color to write only about their heritage.

What's ahead for bars? The fate of local bars is in many ways even more uncertain than restaurants. One San Francisco bar group is reinventing its locations as speciality liquor stores, a shift I imagine we'll see more of.

Community fridges. "Food is not, and should never be, a privilege. But it is." I love the details and photos in this story about community fridges providing free food to underserved New York neighborhoods during the pandemic.

The last reporter in town. This has nothing to do with food but everything to do with local journalism. Please read this excellent profile of the sole, essential journalist covering a small town in Pennsylvania.

About the Peninsula Foodist

Elena Kadvany covers restaurants and education for Embarcadero Media. She's a Peninsula native, thinks In-N-Out is better than Shake Shack and is already planning her next meal.