Cuisine:

• Californian

California Market Description:
Patio tables here come with the best sort of accoutrement: a pair of Bushnell binoculars to better see the sea otters, sea lions and other creatures that swim off the Pacific Coast. California Market is the casual of the two Highlands Inn restaurants, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in a relaxed setting---no white tablecloths or chef's tasting menu here. It may sound speculative, but for breakfast we suggest the poached eggs in a pot over fresh asparagus, spinach, ham and stewed tomatoes---a winner. For lunch, warm crab cakes are packed with plump Dungeness meat and come with spicy avocado and microgreen mash. Chunks of crispy salmon and fatty bluenose bass improve otherwise ordinary open-face fish tacos, but they could benefit from more salsa and less zealous dollops of green chili aïoli. Dinner morphs into a more serious affair; salmon is poached in lemon grass, roast duck served with a cherry gastrique. Whatever the hour, you can't go wrong with any one of the desserts from Highlands pastry chef George Fritzsche. He knows how to wield a whisk, trading homemade vanilla ice cream for olive ice cream when the moment strikes.


Be the first one to rate and write a review for this California Market restaurant!