[In front of Duarte's Tavern - photo by Britt.Piehl]I first heard of Duarte's Tavern from my friend, Jen, who recommended it to me when she found out I was doing a photo shoot for a client at Pescadero Beach. We ended up getting our shoot catered and only ventured into the sleepy little town of Pescadero to get tacos at the gas station (yes, and they were delicious). A year later, I caught Duarte's on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Triple D as my former design director called it) and watching Guy devour an abalone sandwich and slurp on fresh artichoke soup inspired me to organize a daytrip on July 3 to this famous outpost.
Duarte's won a James Beard award in 2003. It's unpretentious and stuck in the 1960s. Our first taste of Duarte's was the fresh baked bread, still steaming from the oven. We had to ask for the jam -- strawberry and ollalieberry -- and I could not get enough. Kari had done her research and ordered the 50-50 green chile and artichoke soup while Brittany and I chose to be purists and order the artichoke soup straight up. The soup was delicate and creamy with a few nice bits of artichoke. The 50-50 was nicely seasoned and very tasty. Brittany and I split the abalone sandwich; for $25, the presentation could have been improved. The white bread was very buttery and somewhat limp while the abalone was nicely breaded and had a nice, subtle flavor. The fries seemed dumped on the plate. Kari's cioppino was generous by comparison and it was good, but not the best we had ever had. We concluded that our meal was a once-in-a-lifetime experience ($100+ for lunch!?), but probably not worth coming back for.
Duarte's won a James Beard award in 2003. It's unpretentious and stuck in the 1960s. Our first taste of Duarte's was the fresh baked bread, still steaming from the oven. We had to ask for the jam -- strawberry and ollalieberry -- and I could not get enough. Kari had done her research and ordered the 50-50 green chile and artichoke soup while Brittany and I chose to be purists and order the artichoke soup straight up. The soup was delicate and creamy with a few nice bits of artichoke. The 50-50 was nicely seasoned and very tasty. Brittany and I split the abalone sandwich; for $25, the presentation could have been improved. The white bread was very buttery and somewhat limp while the abalone was nicely breaded and had a nice, subtle flavor. The fries seemed dumped on the plate. Kari's cioppino was generous by comparison and it was good, but not the best we had ever had. We concluded that our meal was a once-in-a-lifetime experience ($100+ for lunch!?), but probably not worth coming back for.
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