Have you ever visited a place where you instantly felt welcome, comfortable and excited all at the same time? Paso Robles, CA is one of those places, and given my druthers, I’d be writing this from there. Alas, I pen this piece not from the glorious vineyard-kingdoms of Halter Ranch, Denner Vineyards or Silver Horse; nor from a fine food sampling of Artisan’s foie gras or Chef Ryan Swarthout’s braised pork belly. Nope. The bittersweet reality is that I’m at home, hoping that my pining will inspire you to enjoy an escape to the Central Coast of California.
There is a plethora of reasons why a destination like Paso Robles is so desirable. To name a few: It’s one of the most picturesque areas of the United States, the food is outstanding, it’s widely accessible by plane, train, and automobile, and—need I even say it?—the wine is outstanding. Trust me when I tell you that all of these aspects of Paso Robles remain ingrained in my memory, bathed in a golden light or something like that. However, the real heart and soul of Paso is the people.
Upon my arrival and check-in at Enterprise rental car, the sales clerks who seemed genuinely interested in my itinerary, made several suggestions for dining, and even gave me a free upgrade! This trend of superior customer service followed me to my hotel, La Bellasera, where the front desk girl, Lauren, rearranged some bookings to get me a room with a small pool. She also downloaded a map for me so I could find Brad Buckley at The Abalone Farm.
Abalone anyone?
I could write about Brad all day long. He’s automatically endearing and as sincere as they come. He gave me a personal tour of the farm, which is set high atop a windswept bluff overlooking Morro Bay. I was awestruck. Sometimes the sheer beauty of nature takes me by surprise. He lives on the property (lucky guy!) and at the end of the tour he asks, “So, do you have time for snacks?” Duh!?!?
If you’ve never tasted abalone raised on the Central Coast of California and lovingly prepared by Brad Buckley, you have not lived! He showed me the sustainability and all-organic components of these farm-raised mollusks; from how they are bred, to the harvesting process, to their many wonderful culinary applications.
Brad Buckley–Abalone King and New BFF
While we dined on perfectly prepared abalone—in both “rustic” and “trimmed” styles–we shared a small bottle of Silver Horse Syrah, and I found myself becoming fast-friends with Brad. It was as if we’d known each other forever and all was right with the world. So, when I said, “Can you come on my show tomorrow?” He said, “Duh?!”
After good snacks and good company, I was back on the road. My destination? The center of Paso at a place called Vinoteca for my ‘meeting’ with the Mental Marketing Girls, Maryann Stansfield and Nancy Hoover. These were the ladies who organized my little adventure to Paso, so naturally, I was a little nervous. Sometimes PR people don’t quite understand what I’m all about, but geez, it was fun at first sight with these ladies! We kicked off our very serious, professional, conference with a quick flight of local wines, and then we walked around the corner to one of the funkiest joints you’d ever expect to find in a farm town – Artisan!
More New Friends: Maryann Stansfield, me, and Nancy Hoover
We’ll save the food review for the next installment of Paso – The Food, but let me say that these wine country folks (Trevor, Ryan, Anthony, Bill, Becky, Lowell, Michael and the lovely Shandi) set the stage for a perfect 3 days. Oh, and um, we closed that funky joint the first night. Maryann, Nancy and I all had some sort of “grass roots” in our being and I felt, once again, completely at ease, comfortable and welcome. Go figure.
And so, should the travel bug bite you, head to Paso Robles, CA for the “friendly”, and stay for the food and wine. These people are real and they give a damn. They love what they do and they want you to love it, too! (Ahem—I expect to see that on a billboard when I return).
I expect to see this on a billboard too.
Last but most certainly, not least, I tip my hat to my new friend Michael Cervin. He’ll be getting lots of accolades as I progress through this series, but just let me say that it was a pleasure to hang with such a gentleman during my stay in Paso Robles. He drove, he planned, he opened the doors, he cracked me up, and he helped…a lot!
Stay tuned for the sequel “Paso – The Food”…shit, wait a minute, when did I start doing sequels? Oh well. I guess it was only a matter of time.
Contact Heidi@intothesoup.com for tickets to the midnight showing. Costumes encouraged.
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