Scoma’s, Sausalito

We don’t go to Sausalito that often, which is a shame. This scenic Bay town hugs the coast just past the Golden Gate Bridge in southern Marin County. It has magnificent views of San Francisco, Alcatraz and Angel Island, but the town itself offers much for locals and tourists alike. We went recently on a balmy Sunday afternoon with my parents who were visiting from back East. Actually, it was Mom’s idea as we’d never have thought of this. And what a good one it turned out to be!

Downtown Sausalito has many charming shops, wine stores, art galleries, restaurants and bars to entertain almost every kind of taste. We strolled along the main drag, window shopping before admiring the stunning views. By chance, we happened across that famous local guy who seems to spend all of his free time stacking irregularly shaped rocks and pieces of driftwood in tall spires along the beach. I never got his name but he truly is a brilliant, though admittedly eccentric artist.

By then we were all craving some food. Our friend, John, recommended Scoma’s which turned out to be situated right on the water near the rock-stacker guy. The restaurant is on stilts so literally extends into the Bay. Inside it has a traditional look with a lot of natural light. We sat on the balcony outdoors since the weather was so perfect.

The menu at Scoma’s is old-fashioned traditional, too: mostly seafood, pasta, burgers and steak. But unlike many of these tourist-trap places, the food was all excellent with the freshest ingredients.

Breaking our wine-with-everything practice, we started with a round of Hefeweizen brewed locally in Berkeley. Dad was really into the wheat beer, as he stacked our cups for a photo op. Mom abstained with a diet Coke.

We shared the Scoma appetizer sampler: a plate with a crab cake, Cajun shrimp on a bed of arugula and batter-fried calamari tossed in a spicy marinara sauce. Mom had bread with butter as she’s not that into shellfish. She missed out though, as all of it was extremely tasty and flavorful. Hegui also shared a mixed green salad that came simply prepared with a shallot vinaigrette. The vegetables were all crisp and very fresh.

For our mains, Mom tried the artichoke and spinach ravioli; Dad had the fish and chips; Hegui got the linguine con Vongole and I ordered the Bay Area classic, Lazy Man’s Cioppino. Mine was delayed after the waiter brought something else by mistake. Perhaps that’s where the “lazy man” part of the name comes from? I was fine waiting though the others seemed anxious for me. I just sampled all of theirs and enjoyed the afternoon breeze off the Bay.

The ravioli came in a lush tomato sauce that was a bit spicy. I really liked the crisp breading of the fish and chips. My folks weren’t that excited by the fries. They were those thin ones that you often see at French bistros. I liked them. The linguini with vongole was light in its white wine sauce. Yum.

The cioppino was simply marvelous. There were two kinds of fish, two types of shrimp, clams, crab and scallops all in a delightful tomato white wine sauce. Over top was a hearty slice of toasted bread slathered in butter and garlic. The serving was positively enormous. I didn’t think that I could finish though somehow prevailed. Of course, I felt like a whale afterward so we skipped dessert there.

On the walk back to the car we wandered into a candy store and then to an ice cream parlor. Both places were simply irresistible. I had mint chocolate chip in a cone. Wow! What a pig I’m becoming!