Porter's in the Forest adds dinner, free rides to Pebble Beach.

Chef Johnny DeVivo and company have a good thing going at Porter's in the Forest (622-8237).

That inspired a recent column, "At Poppy Hills, Porter’s redefines ‘golf course restaurant’ with joy."

Now they've got a couple more qualities kicking in that confront two of its challenges, namely early closing time and its relative remoteness tucked into the tall pines of Pebble Beach next to Poppy Hills Golf Course.

On the first front, starting March 23 they've added dinner until 9pm with daylight savings time, and the early returns from the soft opening are inspiring.

New bar bites include a short-rib topped burger, hazelnut-herb butter baked oysters and asparagus with duck egg and house-cured coppa.

Highlights from dinner included a sublime short-rib tortellini with tempura-fried mushrooms ($14), carrot croquettes that popped with curry and earthy root flavors and juice ($8), a pork chop with pickled kumquats, charred onion and fermented local honey, and a Black Angus rib-eye with huge house-battered onion rings on top ($46). 

The most intriguing item, green tea-steamed local bass wrapped in nori seaweed ($32), proved tasty but a touch overdone.

Barkeep Carlos Colimodio again demonstrated his dexterity with farm fresh inputs, crafting a hibiscus cosmo with his own syrup and a new old-fashioned with grapefruit zest he candies in a five-stage process.

On the other front, the restaurant is partnering with Uber to furnish rides. 

"We feel like we're paying for uber we'll make it up ok back end when guests get another glass of wine," GM Joe Valencia says. "And we just don't want people to drink and drive. If it works out, we'll keep [the service] forever."

For now it means free rides (up to $20) for all new Uber clients between March 23 and June 18 with the code PORTERS16. For current Uber users, Porters in the Forest will deduct (up to $20) for the month of March and April.