Wild nature, refined eating

We tend to think of Sonoma County as a fairly built-up place, as nighttime views from the top of Fountaingrove Parkway looking west across the Santa Rosa plain reveal.

But the far northern part of the county, from Sea Ranch east to Cloverdale, is so devoid of development that there are places along Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs Road where you can look across many miles of raw nature without seeing human habitation.

Sea Ranch itself is seemingly a refreshing million miles from nowhere on a lonely stretch of Highway 1 between Timber Cove and Gualala. It's a large cluster of rental units, homes, plus a lodge and restaurant perched where the continent turns into the ocean. All the buildings have been artfully designed in a simple, rustic style featuring natural wood inside and out, with large picture windows offering rare views of earth, sea, and sky meeting in a dazzling display of nature's beauty.

And speaking of dazzling displays, there's Chef Phillip Kaufman's cooking at the Sea Ranch Lodge restaurant. Who would think you'd run into such sumptuous food out here where the hills are aprowl with mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats. And Kaufman's art extends past the careful way he infuses everything with rich flavors to include crisp, pretty presentations.

For example, a bouquet of watercress was laid next to two of his superb Crab Cakes ($13 ) the way one would lay a dozen roses next to a birthday gift. Neither of two perfect lemon wedges had any seeds. A heaping tablespoon of creamy celery root salad and a fluffy paprika aioli completed the plate. All were beautifully arranged, and the crab cakes themselves made up for all the coarse, over-cooked, hard-crusted, dark brown crab cakes served at some of the careless restaurants around here. These were cooked to a homogenous light beige color over all the surfaces of the cakes, and the interiors were filled with lots of fresh crab and only the minimum filler needed to hold the cakes together.

Sea Ranch Lodge has a cozy full bar and tavern, with a tavern menu from 2 to 5:30 in the afternoon with items like green chili stew, hanger steak sandwich, and local crab and Maine lobster macaroni and cheese.

Two main dining rooms hold plenty of tables by big picture windows so you can watch waves crashing on the rocks and spits where conifers grow. The tables are set with vases with fresh flowers - at this time of year, perfumed freesias and colorful tulips. Service is handled by a squad of friendly waitresses, one of whom brings you a small dish of house-made fleur de sel from evaporated local seawater, and a salty condiment made of nori and toasted sesame seeds, plus pieces of red radish for dipping in the salt. A basket of excellent sourdough bread and room temperature butter are then delivered.

The drinks list includes dry, culinary sodas flavored with kumquat, rhubarb, or cucumber, and Fentiman's Sodas from England in dandelion and burdock, ginger beer, “curiosity cola,” and tonic water flavors. The smart wine list is focused on local wines from Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Some bottles of note include the 2007 Tandem ‘Sangiacomo Vineyard' Chardonnay at $58; 13 Sonoma Coast appellation Pinot Noirs, including the 2007 Radio-Coteau ‘La Neblina' at $78 and the 2006 Fort Ross at $42; plus several Mendocino Ridge and Rockpile appellation Zinfandels; a 2007 Nalle Zin for $48, and the well-aged 2002 Scherrer ‘Scherrer Vineyard' Cabernet Sauvignon for $72. Corkage is $15.

If you're thinking of taking a drive to Sea Ranch, consider the feature they call “Local Flavor Thursdays.” You get three courses for $19 and wines by the glass at half price. This menu changes weekly but on a recent Thursday you had a choice of a whole leaf Caesar salad or mixed organic green salad, beef bourguignon or penne pasta in a local tomato and vodka cream sauce, and a choice of chocolate pot de crème or fresh local farmer's cheese with wildflower honey and grilled walnut bread. Not bad for less than $20 — and this is Phillip Kaufman's food and his cooking is superlative.

Dinner started off with the Selected Local Artisan Cheese Assortment ($14 ). Now obviously the kitchen didn't make or cook these cheeses, so why the flurry of stars? Because the kitchen knows how to keep cheeses until they reach their perfect moment of ripeness-and all three cheeses were at that perfect moment. It is rare indeed for even the most sophisticated restaurants to be able to serve cheeses at perfection, but Sea Ranch Lodge did it. The Mount Tam from Cowgirl Creamery was soft and peaking in flavor, Laura Chenel's Cabochon goat cheese couldn't have been better or more buttery, and the Rouge et Noir Petite Crème, a soft-ripened Brie-style cheese, was all melty and luscious. But the cheese did not stand alone: also on the plate, membrillo (sweet quince paste), evenly sliced Granny Smith apple, sesame crackers, comb honey, grapes and marcona almonds. What an absolute treat of a plate of cheese.

Further treats included Ribollita ($8 ½), a Tuscan cabbage, onion, and bean soup with sweet, focused flavor, and an Organic Mixed Greens Salad ($9 ), studded with Cypress Hill goat cheese and walnuts, and dressed in a cranberry-orange vinaigrette whose combination of intense fruits with vinegar seemed awkward.

But there was nothing awkward about the Oysters Rockefeller ($14 ½), so named because the dish is so rich. Six fat, perfect (this is prime oyster season), local oysters sit on a bed of rock salt; covered with a mixture of spinach, butter, bread crumbs and seasonings, then broiled.

Entrees started with Grilled Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin ($26 ½), a marvelously tender and tasty piece of pork from a Berkshire pig, which could have been grilled a few minutes longer to get it past rare. These pigs are fussed over, so rare pork is undoubtedly safe these days, but it still makes me uncomfortable when pork is red in the center. With it came a wonderful Himalayan red rice pilaf studded with bits of dried fruits, and the plate was swirled with a cranberry gastrique.

Chef Kaufman's ability to pack flavor into simple dishes shone in his Grilled Chicken Breast ($22 ½). The breast was well seasoned and grilled, done through but still juicy. It sat on a bed of risotto laden with mushrooms and made with a rich broth. Baby artichokes and a sherry-flavored jus completed the plate.

The only misstep of the night was the Linguini with Seafood ($22 ) — not a bad dish, but not a very good one, either. Prince Edward Island mussels seemed tired and overcooked, local squid was chewy, although a pan-seared scallop perched on top of the pasta was delicious. A slightly spicy red broth helped pull the ingredients together, but the overall effect was routine, whereas almost everything else that night was extraordinary.

For desserts, there's a daily fruit crisp, crème brulee, and a chocolate and raspberry molten cake. New York Cheesecake is on the dessert menu, but it's not made in house.

To sum up: A long drive up the coast brings you to some of the best cooking in Sonoma County. Have a designated driver if you plan to drink and drive back, or reserve a room for the night.

Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for the Sonoma Living section. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.