Point Reyes offers a lot in the way of natural beauty — wild ocean views, hiking trails filled with Tule elk and beautiful, bundle-up beaches. And it has a lot to offer the food and wine aficionado too, making it a tempting day trip or quick overnight for the hungry and curious.
People have been going to Point Reyes and the Tomales Bay for years for oysters and it's still an important supplier to travelers and restaurants around the Bay Area. Cheese, too, has long been an established local product for Point Reyes, thanks primarily to Cowgirl Creamery, which set up shop in Point Reyes Station years ago, inviting people to come in and see how their cheese was made.
Straus Family Dairy and Creamery, the Marin French Cheese Company, Giacomini Dairy's Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese and Nicasio Valley Farmstead Organic Cheese Company maintain West Marin as a major area for cheese.
Grassfed meat also has ties to the region, most notably via Marin Sun Farms, a ranching outfit for grassfed beef, lamb and goat as well as pasture-raised chickens. BN Ranch in nearby Bolinas is Bill and Nicolette Niman's natural meat company specializing in traditionally produced food, like heritage turkey.
And there are a number of restaurants well worth a drive to the coast, if even just for lunch. Osteria Stellina in downtown Point Reyes Station is a stunning addition to the food scene here, inventive and celebratory of its surroundings, with Hog Island oysters at the raw bar, BN Ranch brisket on the grilled cheese and Star Route Farms' nettles on the pizza.
Here's where to go:
Bovine Bakery: A local hangout and must-stop, Bovine has been serving delicious French-style pastries and coffee for more than 20 years. Proof of its strong place in locals' hearts is the wall of coffee mugs regulars can keep here, at the ready for their regular caffeine fixes. In addition to its own bread (as well as Brickmaiden's), Bovine's morning buns are the best, pizzas, soups and quiche are made for lunch and the bakery tries to make plenty of vegan-only, wheat-free and sugar-free options, too. Open weekdays 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
11315 Highway One, Point Reyes Station, (415) 663-9420, thebovinebakery.wordpress.com
Cowgirl Creamery: Cowgirl is now world-famous, synonymous really for artisan cheese, the brainchild of two former restaurateurs, Peggy Smith and Sue Conley. The latter serves also as board chair for the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), a nonprofit designed to preserve farmland throughout Marin County, particularly farms devoted to dairy products and organic crops. Cowgirl is Point Reyes' epicurean epicenter, showing not only how its cheeses are made but bringing together the best local stuff in one place, from cheese and charcuterie to salads and wine. Sandwiches are custom made. Open Wednesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
80 Fourth St., Point Reyes Station, (415) 663-9335, www.cowgirlcreamery.com
The Fork: A gorgeous place to take tours or cooking classes, The Fork culinary center is on the Giacomini Family Dairy, north of Point Reyes Station, home to Point Reyes Original Blue. It also focuses on teaching visitors about cheese. Check its website for a schedule of classes and demonstrations. Monthly farm tours ($25) occur the third Wednesday of every month at 2 p.m.
(800) 591-6878, www.theforkatpointreyes.com
Marin Sun Farms: The local sustainable meat purveyor, so popular at farmers markets around the Bay Area, runs a butcher shop and lunch joint around the corner from Point Reyes Station's main drag and it's a very worthy place to have lunch or stock up on supplies — including eggs, charcuterie and even beef and chicken stocks — for later. Marin Sun also carries elusive Bolinas producer Sean Thackrey's wines (some can be found at Cowgirl as well), many of them non-vintage, an added bonus. Open for lunch daily noon to 4 p.m.; butcher shop daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
10905 Highway One, Point Reyes Station, (415) 663-8997, www.marinsunfarms.com
Osteria Stellina: Stellina describes its food as Point Reyes Italian and that's exactly what it is - creatively wrought zuppa, pasta and pizza made from local organic ingredients like Drake's Bay oysters, Glaum Ranch organic eggs and County Line chicory salad. The slow-cooked BN Ranch beef tongue with Paradise Valley greens is a wintertime star. So are the handful of grilled cheese choices, made on Brickmaiden sourdough with a slate of cheeses, caramelized onions and/or brisket to add. Main courses in winter tend to focus on stews made from just-caught seafood or pasture-raised beef. The wine list reflects the best of Italy and Northern California, including many local producers, Pey-Marin, Stubbs and Thackrey among them. Open Friday-Wednesday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
11285 Highway One, Point Reyes Station, (415) 663-9988, www.osteriastellina.com
Pey-Marin Vineyards: True to its cool climate, Pey-Marin makes mostly pinot noir and riesling (Marin's first), and through its side label Spicerack, a Sonoma Coast syrah, its philosophy very much guided by natural winegrowing and winemaking methods. A small husband and wife operation, it can't offer tours or winery visits, but does have a tasting room within the Olema Inn where it pours tasting flights daily from noon to 4 p.m.
10,000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Olema, (415) 455-WINE, www.marinwines.com
Virginie Boone is a freelance wine writer based in Sonoma County. She can be reached at virginieboone@yahoo.com.
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