Eating in Pescadero, CA - Duartes

The family took an outing on Saturday to see where Papa John grew up in Pescadero. The weather was perfect and the stop at Duartes for lunch was scrumptious!

The Espinoza's were a prolific family back in the day and lived in about as many homes as there were children, but these homes were located in some mighty fine countryside. Rolling hills full of green acres, trees, and waterways. What an ideal place to grow up. It was a farming community and the Espinoza family ate off the land and sea, whatever they caught or hunted. Papa John said he and his brother would grab Abalone from the sea rocks at low tide. Just the big ones. They'd pass up the ones that were 6-8 inches across and go for the bigger ones! What a life.

We ate lunch at the old well-known 'Duartes' and had a terrific lunch. I saw the place online at this website and thought the green chili soup sounded heavenly. It was. I mean Outstanding! So creamy, buttery and snappy with the taste of the green chili's. Oh my. The bread was also killer. It came from a local baker down the street from which I bought a hot loaf of Garlic Artichoke bread and an X-tra Sourdough loaf that was also freshly made (still warm) and this was at 3pm in the afternoon! Incredibly good. I put it in the trunk of the car for the ride home and we were smelling the fresh baked goodness all the way. It was intoxicating.

We followed the old stagecoach roads through the hills with occasional views of the Pacific Ocean in between hills. The smell in the air was so aromatic with the windows down. The day was warm enough to heat up all the shrubs and moist dirt and a deep dark earth smell filled the car and our olifactory senses.

It was a day to remember, and I will. It was a real family outing, me and my cousin in the back seat and Papa John and Mum in the front. We laughed, talked, and Papa J shared a huge part of his past with us the whole day. We went from the city to the hills to the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Good food, good drive, perfect family day. Priceless.