Drakes Sonoma Coast 103 Coast Highway One
Bodega Bay 707-875-3525 drakes@lodgeatbodegabay.com
Breakfast, Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 11 a.m. Brunch, Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner, daily, 5 to 9 p.m. Fireside Lounge, daily, 4 to 9 p.m.
share and enlivened by a trio of boquerones, a nice change from the saltier brown sardine typical of the salad. The lodge celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, renovating for a more modern design and updating its brand. It’s still operated by the Aldens’ Woodside Hotel Group, with family scion Greg Alden as president and CEO. In addition to its guest rooms and restaurant, the lodge is also a destination for weddings—a happy couple were strolling down the aisle on a nearby lawn overlooking the coast as we approached the restaurant. (Note: Parking can be dicey, so give yourself an extra couple of minutes before your reservation to find a spot.) For entrees, we tried two of the house favorites—black cod ($38) and the Berkshire-Duroc pork chop ($36). The fish is served in a French butter sauce, or beurre blanc, with bits of apple and cuts of hyper-trendy sunchoke—a rich and satisfying dish. (Hint: Slices from a basket of the house della fattoria, $5, were ideal for soaking up the remaining beurre.) The pork chop, meanwhile, proved the highlight of the meal. Served with a delightful bread pudding, the chop comes under a sweet/ savory bird’s eye chili glaze dotted with diced stone fruit. The lean pork paired perfectly with the Thai-inspired glaze—we’d be hard pressed to name a better chop in SoCo. The meal culminated with the cool “sweet potato pie” ($12), which is actually browned-butter panna cotta with graham shortbread and a maple drizzle; a hidden-gem of a dessert. Drakes is in its busy season during the summer months— guests and beachgoers abound, but we also ran into local friends who’d traveled intra county to escape the hot inland temps and enjoy an afternoon on the deck of the lounge. Even if you’re not staying at the lodge, a meal at Drakes is a sure way to take in and enjoy the Sonoma County seaside. The coast, as they say, is clear. u
Jason Walsh is editor in chief of NorthBay biz magazine and northbaybiz.com. A North Bay native, he’s spent his career covering the news, lifestyles and people of Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties. When not up to his elbows in page proofs, you can find him and his family exploring all corners of the North Bay from their home base in Novato.
Valley Ford cheese and charcuterie board by an outside electric fire pit. [Photo by Duncan Garrett]
July 2024
NorthBaybiz 65
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