In personal ads, one of the oldest clichés is, “I love long walks on the beach.” The benefits of salt sea air, the implication of romance and the idea of holding hands across the sand are implicit. Of course, on Northern California beaches you won’t be going barefoot, at least not in February, but heading to the coast is still a top choice of lovers throughout the state.
A quiet part of the coast is Tomales Bay, just south of the Sonoma county line. In this sheltered inlet, the big winter winds are unlikely to blow you off your feet the way they can do at Point Reyes. There’s not a lot to see, which is part of its charm. The main attraction is the pristine waterfront location.
And there’s no place better to enjoy it than at Nick’s Cove. Originally opened in the 1930s, it was a ramshackle fish house popular with locals as well as visiting lovers. Eventually, the place closed … but now it’s back. A year and a half ago, entrepreneurs Pat Kuleto and Mark Franz reopened a glorious new Nick’s Cove, after extensive remodeling of the restaurant and the rebuilding of five waterfront cottages.
Nick’s Cove & Cottages occupies a small former fishing village, one of the last remaining settlements on the oceanfront that catered to tourists after the advent of automobiles and good roads. Up to the mid-1900s, it served as a terminus for local fishing and agricultural operations through the restaurant.
Located along the Pacific flyway, adjacent to the Point Reyes National Seashore, and just south of Bodega Bay, Nick’s is surrounded by pristine, protected forestland. The area is also a favorite of equestrians, hikers, birders, cyclists, mushroom foragers, boating enthusiasts, wind surfers, kayakers, picnickers at nearby Miller State Park, and road-trippers of all persuasions.
Today, Nick’s offers an array of aquatic and land-based activities such as kayaking, historical boat tours, crab fishing, fly fishing, culinary tours, moonlight wine tastings, massages, seaweed wraps and yoga sessions. Windsurfing and horseback riding are coordinated through a third party.
Considered a destination getaway, Nick’s Cove and Cottages has 12 luxury, ocean-themed cottages on or near the water. The cottages have a lodge feel, with hand-crafted distressed wood floors, pot-bellied stoves, fireplaces, antiqued marble mosaic floor tiles, copper or porcelain bath tubs and European marble bath tiles with antique furnishings.
Each features an in-room eco-conscious fireplace, high-thread-count linens, hidden flat panel TV, satellite XM radio, and hypoallergenic pillows, and can access in-room spa and massage services. There’s no desk check-in, the bar is stocked with wine, beer and cheese and set up with a basket on the deck all prepped for oystering off private decks.
All the accommodations are within steps of the bar and dining room, where executive chef Franz from the beginning availed himself of the bounty of the nearby fishery for his seafood-centric offerings such as Dungeness crab, Hog Island Oysters and a variety of fish in season. Among the 30 or so other dishes are also sustainably raised steaks, pork, lamb, chicken, Point Reyes blue cheese and other dairy products from the Strauss Dairy right across Highway 1.
On Saturday, Feb. 14, Nick’s will start serving a special, a la carte Valentine’s Day menu at 4 p.m. It will feature items such as Preston Point Oysters with yuzu and wasabi tobiko; potato gnocchi and sherry glazed oysters with osetra caviar; Sonoma Saveurs Foie Gras Torchon with Cara Cara orange reduction and balsamic onions; seared ahi tuna with blood orange and rosemary cannellini beans; Moroccan spiced lamb with lavender and pomegranate; Dungeness crab with avocado and Meyer lemon; and chocolate cinnamon ganache tart.
This menu will be available to visitors as well as guests, as are the open-to-the-public breakfasts that Nick’s instituted just last month. Signature dishes include a prosciutto-and-fried egg sandwich with grated parmigiano reggiano, Redwood Hill goat cheese frittata with caramelized onion and artichoke hearts, and oversized blueberry pancakes with Vermont maple syrup.
Whenever possible, the menu’s fresh fruits and vegetables are gathered from the on-property garden. Guests can also enjoy a variety of unique specialty breakfast cocktails including Nick’s Cove ‘Fog Lifter’ Irish Coffee, White Peach Bellini and Oh So Bloody Mary with Nick’s Cove Secret Spicy Mix and Blaze’s Beans.
In addition to the cottages, Kuleto restored the 30-foot-bar and revamped the open kitchen and the rest of the dining room. He added special touches such as deck railings crafted from old oyster sticks. As much as Kuleto likes to design, he left intact the original large stone fireplace, a glassed-in deck with a retractable awning meant to simulate a furling sale, the original but newly restored marble oyster bar with nautical coiled rope detail and handcrafted red leather bar stools. Other than installing an upright piano that he found in an old church in San Francisco, tin ceilings and vintage-style copper lighting, Kuleto retained most of Nick’s Cove’s memorabilia still in place.
The restaurant is now open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, comfortably seating 130 guests in the indoor/outdoor space. Off the dining room is the Back Porch, which is heated and furnished with custom-made rustic redwood deck chairs and tables. A 400-foot pier extends from the restaurant deck into the bay, providing a phenomenal view of Hog Island.
The island gave a couple of entrepreneurs a great idea for a name. Their very first hand-raised bushel of sweet, succulent Hog Island Oysters soon became a Bay Area legend. From the beginning, Hog Island’s focus has been on selling premium, fresh raised shellfish direct to their customers. Hearty oyster-lovers visit the farm in Marshall to pick up oysters to-go and to picnic and grill oysters on the shores of Tomales Bay. Or you can request a few quarts to take home and enjoy later. Some oysters, some champagne…what could be more romantic?
Nick’s Cove & Cottages
www.nickscove.com
23240 State Route One
Marshall, Calif. 94940
415.663.1033
e-mail: relax@nickscove.com
