Nepenthe Restaurant
48510 Highway 1, Big Sur
667-2345
Start in the “dirty corner” where Henry Miller and his rowdy bohemian friends held court, and order the South Coast margarita. Or take a glass of Pisoni Pinot on a walk out to the back deck. Or find a pillowed seat overlooking the front pavilion and its endless views south. Or leave the decision-making angst to a menu that mandates the famous Ambrosia Burger slathered in “ambi-sauce,” the unrivaled roasted beet salad with Point Reyes blue cheese and the Lolly’s half roast chicken on a bed of sage stuffing. In the late 1940s, Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth owned the land Nepenthe is built on, and today Hollywood celebrities stop in, but the stars here are the deeply loyal servers, barkeeps, chefs and wine minds—and the coast they live to share.