This piece first appeared in the Real Estate Magazine of Mendocino County, Issue 621, Published May 13th, 2011.

Mendocino County is home to some of the world’s most distinctive wines, and no region is more renowned than the Anderson Valley. Only sixteen miles long, this small valley is one of those magical spots on earth in which the elusive prince of Burgundy, Pinot Noir, can flourish. With summer highs upwards of 100° F, and nights and mornings regulated by cool coastal fog, the Anderson Valley produces Pinot Noir unlike anywhere else on the planet – a perfect balance between the earthy, structured wines of Burgundy and the fruit-driven, bright wines that mark the New World style.

Perhaps no other varietal evokes quite the same level of poetry and mysticism as Pinot Noir. The grape perfectly embodies its surroundings in the Anderson Valley: the deep loam of the ancient forests, the wild mushrooms that spring forth at every rain, and the rich wild berries that cover every bush. And few wines are capable of the range Pinot captures – from dark purple wines bleeding with jammy fruit, to ruby-red wines with just a hint of cherry, buried in dirt, meat, and the vegetation of the forest floor. If wine is a religion to many, Pinot Noir is its holiest of holies – and the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival is a jubilee.

Once a year for the past 13 years, winemakers and fans alike have celebrated this small region. Although large compared to its humble beginnings, the Anderson Valley Pinot Fest is nonetheless still an intimate affair, with only 40 wineries participating, and a Grand Tasting that is capped at less than 700 guests.

Winemaker dinners, technical speakers, open houses throughout the Valley, and an atmosphere of appreciation for this noble grape all make this a must-visit event for lovers of the varietal. Tickets sell out quickly, so it’s worth buying as soon as possible – if they are sold out, waiting lists are available. And even if you miss the Grand Tasting, as you’ll see there are plenty of other events to ensure your Pinot craving is fulfilled.

For those who want to delve a bit deeper into the world of Pinot Noir, the technical conferences offer the perfect opportunity. Although they are technical in nature, beginners and the simply curious are welcome. This can be a great way to learn a bit more about what goes on behind the curtain to get wine in your glass. For those in the industry, or those dabbling in amateur or custom-crush winemaking, the technical conference offers an opportunity to mingle with experts in the field, discuss issues with other winemakers, and learn from masters of their craft.

The morning consists of a more serious session, geared more towards professionals, amateur winemakers, and those with a firm footing in the world of technical winemaking. This year, Dr. Linda Bisson, a professor and geneticist in the Maynard A. Amerine Endowed Chair in Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, will be giving a seminar on the impact of yeasts on Pinot Noir. Kelly Maher, a renowned viticulturist out of St. Helena, will be speaking on the importance of vine nutrition. And a winemaking panel, consisting of some of the top winemakers working with Anderson Valley grapes, will be discussing the relative merits of whole-cluster fermentation with Pinot Noir.

The afternoon is focused more towards consumers – even if you’ve never thought about what goes into winemaking, you’re likely to gain some interesting insight during this period. The program begins with a multi-vineyard tasting, with a central focus on the award-winning Ferrington Vineyard, and how the site is differentiated from other sites in the Valley. A number of winemakers who use Ferrington grapes will be taking part in a panel discussion, highlighting the specific attributes of Ferrington fruit and how it translates in the glass. Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible, also speaks in the afternoon. She’ll be using tasting to showcase the Pinot Noir grape, and how it differs from other varietals. This is an excellent opportunity for newcomers to Pinot Noir to unlock some of its mystique, and a chance for Pinotphiles to speak with one of the world’s foremost wine experts about their passion.

The day wraps up with an exploration of Pinot Noir in its lighter incarnation – with speakers from Roederer, Toulouse, and others, tasting and discussing their Rosé wines made from the Pinot Noir grape. If you thought pink wines had to be sweet, this seminar will be an eye-opening experience, as the Rosés of Anderson Valley err on the dry side, showcasing many of the classic characteristics of Pinot Noir.

The Grand Tasting. The main event. This is what it’s all about. Plenty of people don’t know there’s anything more to the Pinot Festival than the Grand Tasting, and for good reason – with more than 40 producers, and a full day of some of the best Pinot Noir in the world, you can easily drive from the Bay Area or beyond and be more than satisfied with everything that happens under the big tent.

Although the tent is large, it’s an intimate event. With more than 40 producers and their assistants, and less than 700 attendees, there is plenty of room to chat and talk one-on-one. One of the things that makes Mendocino County such an incredible wine destination is the opportunity to chat with winemakers and vintners, and the Grand Tasting highlights that sensibility in a focused setting.

Many people find they first truly catch the Pinot bug at the tasting. This event is the perfect storm of a wide range of high-end Pinot Noir, fellow attendees who are passionate and outspoken about the almost mystical beauty of the grape, and individual winemakers who in many cases work the land themselves and take a hands-on approach to every aspect of the winemaking process. These things combine to create an atmosphere in which one can hardly help but fall in love with Pinot Noir.

If you’ve never attended a mid-scale tasting before, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that you’ll be tasting a lot of wine. These are excellent wines, and the winemakers are present, but no one will hold it against you if you spit and pour. Especially if you want to try a large percentage of all the wines present, you’ll need to pace yourself, drink plenty of water, and limit finishing the glass only to your absolute favorites.

You may have your favorite wineries present at the event – Littorai, Breggo, Black Kite, Couloir, or others with a cult following – but make sure to reach beyond the wines you know. There are many hidden gems in the Anderson Valley, and some of the small producers have very limited distribution, making it virtually impossible to find them anywhere else. If you’re with a group, you may want to split up to taste a wider range of wines, and meet occasionally to share notes and direct each other to standouts.

Whatever you do, take your time. It isn’t a race, and there’s no need to try them all. Take advantage of the amazing opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with some of the world’s most talented winemakers – all dedicated to the magic and mystery of one of the most ephemeral grapes in the world. And remember, if you miss anything, don’t panic – there’s always next year.

If you haven’t had your fill of Pinot Noir by the time the Grand Tasting winds down, worry not – Saturday evening there are a spattering of winemaker dinners. Although there are a number of exceptional restaurants in the area, many of which have extensive Mendocino County wine lists, during the Pinot Festival a small handful dedicate themselves completely to the cause of Pinot Noir. This year there are four formal winemaker dinners, including some of the best wineries in the region, paired with some of the best chefs. All four happen Saturday night, so you’ll have to choose just one ¬– not an easy decision!

The Café Beaujolais and the Albion River Inn are the two restaurants hosting winemaker dinners this year. Café Beaujolais will feature wines and winemakers from Baxter, Claudia Springs, and Goldeneye, paired with a six-course meal prepared by Chef David LaMonica. The Albion River Inn features the wines and winemakers of Esterlina, Lazy Creek, and Scharffenberger Cellars, paired with a four-course meal prepared by Chef Stephen Smith.

On the Roederer Estate, local Chef Rocco Hanson is offering a four-course meal, paired with the wines of Foursight, Phillips Hill, and, of course, Roederer Estate. As one would expect from the Valley’s king of sparkling, a sampling of sparkling Pinot will be offered before the meal. Finally, for something a bit more intimate and off the beaten path, Drew Family Cellars and Greenwood Ridge will be at the world-renowned Apple Farm for a smaller-scale meal. The Apple Farm is a locus of local food in the Anderson Valley, located among more than 1700 heirloom apple trees, and a productive garden.

Sunday most visitors are heading home from the festival, but some opt to linger one more morning and afternoon, to visit the properties of the many fantastic winemakers they met the day before. All day Sunday, wineries open their doors to pour special wines, offer hors d’oeuvres, and make their winemakers and vintners available to answer questions or just talk about what makes Anderson Valley so special.

This Sunday the Valley turns into one big party, with different wineries offering up their own take on an open house. Some have a country-style BBQ, with cornbread, chowder, and grilling. Others offer up artisan sausages, made from local products. Still others bring in chefs to prepare dishes specially paired to their wine offerings. A number of wineries, such as Philo Ridge Vineyards, have local musicians playing throughout the day, and it’s not unknown for impromptu dancing to take place.

A number of wineries treat the day as a particularly special event. Wineries such Navarro, Handley Cellars, Foursight, and Drew all open up library selections, allowing visitors to taste through verticals of their wines, giving a glimpse into how the Anderson Valley shifts vintage to vintage. Still others open their private estates and barns to the public – some wineries, such as Baxter, are open for tasting only this single day of the year – creating a more intimate, open way to interact with the winemakers.

After a weekend of tasting and activities, it can be tempting to skip Sunday and head home. For many, the Grand Tasting marks the end of the weekend. If you have the energy, though, I would highly encourage you to take advantage of the open houses. It is this sort of small-town, backwoods hospitality that makes the Anderson Valley such a unique wine destination in the United States, and at no time during the year is it more on display than during the final day of Pinot Fest.

The word Jamaica conjured to my mind images of white-sand beaches, endless sunshine, and natty-dreaded Rastas wandering about to an ever-present Reggae beat. The country I discovered was much more complex than that. Topographically it shocked me – ranging from high mountains shrouded in eternal fog, to desert-like coastline spotted with cacti, to massive rivers and thundering waterfalls. Culturally it defeated my expectations – Rastas rarely seen, my surface impression was rather of a kind, if conflicted, culture which put great stock in honor, integrity, and happiness. I was told time and time again that Jamaicans know how to laugh at themselves, and how to laugh at others. In my six days in the country, I saw no reason to disagree with that assessment.

Of course, like most things, the situation is more nuanced. Although the Jamaicans I met were kind and giving to a fault, Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world: in most United Nations’ reports it falls just behind El Salvador and Honduras. Although the Jamaicans I met were reasonably affluent, educated, and mobile, more than half a million Jamaicans live in poverty. And although the Jamaicans I met were open-minded and compassionate, Jamaica has been described by human rights groups as the most homophobic country on the planet: male homosexuality is punishable by ten years hard labor; homosexuals of both genders are driven from their homes, beaten, raped (in the case of lesbians), and killed; the police have been found complicit in hate crimes on multiple occasions; and Reggae artists such as Buju Banton have lyrics in their songs glorifying the execution and burning of gay men. The problem is wide-spread: a 2008 poll asked “Whether or not you agree with their lifestyle, do you think homosexuals are entitled to the same basic rights and privileges as other people in Jamaica?”, with 26% responding “Yes”, and 70% responding “No.” A more recent poll found an overwhelming 96% of respondents would not support any move to legalize homosexuality.

Had I been as educated as I should have when I arrived in Kingston, my experience of the country may have been very different. As it was, I had a lovely time. I was there for the birds – Jamaica has 28 species of bird found nowhere else on Earth – and they delivered. Over five days we went from one side of the island to the other, and saw 27 of the 28 endemics…

Here I have to stop, and to break the fourth wall. In all honesty, I wanted to write this as a travel-log: to tell you about the amazing places I visited – from coffee farms in the Blue Mountains, to the stark landscape of Hellshire Hills, to the best jerk stands in the world, to those white-sand beaches at Frenchman’s Cove, to beautiful waterfalls – and the kind, friendly people I met who made my trip such a wonderful experience. But I knew that to share that view of tourist Jamaica without sharing a bit of the darker side of the nation would be a disservice to anyone who read this. I knew that there were homophobic strands in Rastafarian (and Jamaican) culture; I knew that there was a machismo culture that led to violence against women; I knew that the laws of the country were on the wrong side of human rights; I knew all of these things, but I didn’t know the full extent of it.

So maybe in the future I will still write about the beauty, wonder, and depth of the Jamaican experience I had. But for right now, we’re going to talk more about homosexuality – about the horrific, day-in and day-out Jamaican experience that thousands of LGBT Jamaicans have.

When Human Rights Watch calls somewhere the most homophobic place on Earth, we should stand up and take note. This is a group that works in Uganda. In Lithuania. In the Gambia. They have seen more than I can ever imagine, and yet the author of the most recent paper on Jamaica’s homosexual situation, Rebecca Schleifer, said the situation there was “the worst any of us has ever seen.”

There are a lot of reasons given for why Jamaicans overwhelmingly seem to hate homosexuals with such a passion. The country, largely as a result of crippling poverty, has become a bastion for conservative, zealous Christian sects. The ideal of ‘Africanism’ holds particular weight in Jamaican culture, and homosexuality is seen as profoundly ‘un-African’. And the nation’s male population are highly invested in their masculinity – sexual promiscuity, extra-marital affairs, and directed sexual violence towards women are all seen as symbols of virility, while homosexual acts are seen as the worst betrayal of masculinity imaginable. And a 60-year-old elder in the Rasta community offered an alternate view in an anonymous interview he gave the Jamaica Observer:

Most commentators on both sides of the cleavage, with what could charitably be described as a misplaced sense of decorum, delicately skirt the issue and refrain from calling a spade a spade. The real reason why the average ‘Jah D’ in Jamaica has this extreme, rational aversion to male homosexuality is not (as a recent overseas writer to one of our dailies said he gleaned from conversation with some Jamaicans) because of ‘fear of the other’, it is not because of Biblical injunction; it is not because of its supposed ‘un-Africanness’ nor the fact that Jamaica is nominally a ‘Christian country’. It is simply that he cannot condone the abandonment of the clean ‘nip and tuck’ of normal heterosexual relations for the unhygienic foray amid waste matter, unfriendly bacteria and toxic germs.

This level of distrust and disgust for homosexuality is by no means confined to the older generation, or to Rastas. Violence targeted towards LGBT has increased in the past decades, driven by the growing power of the various posses (gangs) that dominate sectors of the major cities, and the increasingly violent rhetoric of many Dance Hall Reggae artists. This so called ‘Murder Music’ glorifies attacking and often gruesomely killing homosexuals, and revels in their death and dismemberment. Reggae artist Buju Banton is one of the most vocal inciters of violence – and is also one of the nation’s most popular Reggae artists, and a musician who has a high international profile, headlining events such as the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival and Reggae on the River. One of his breakout hits, Boom Bye Bye, is all about killing a ‘batty boy’ (homosexual), including lyrics such as:

(Its like) Boom bye bye
Inna batty bwoy head
Rude bwoy no promote no nasty man
Dem haffi dead
…
(Two man) Hitch up on an rub up on
An lay down inna bed
Hug up on another
Anna feel up leg
Send fi di matic an
Di Uzi instead
Shoot dem no come if we shot dem–

Lyrics like this are not rare in Dance Hall. Some are even more explicit. A Beenie Man song starkly states: “I’m a dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays.”

Nor is the problem one of Reggae’s creation. The posse culture which increasingly drives Reggae is devoutly homophobic. Indeed, artists such as Buju Banton are first and foremost leaders in their posse culture. Banton has been implicated in hate crimes against homosexuals in Jamaica as recently as 2004, allegedly beating a homosexual man nearly to death in a case that was later thrown out by a judge based on insubstantial evidence. The criminal justice system in Jamaica is notoriously weighted against homosexuals. There are hundreds of allegations of police either turning the other way, or actively supporting mob violence against homosexual men. The culture as a whole often also supports this violence – in 2004 a man discovered his teenage son was gay, and attempted to have a mob lynch him while at school.

Although the situation against men is the most visible – male homosexuality is illegal, while female homosexuality is not addressed – violence against lesbians is prevalent as well. As one might expect when a major force behind homophobia is a perceived threat to masculinity, violence towards lesbians often takes a sexual form. Rape is commonly seen not only as a way of punishing female homosexuals for their deviance, but as a way of reasserting one’s own masculinity. This too is addressed in popular culture, with lyrics such as Elephant Man’s, “When you hear a lesbian getting raped / It’s not our fault … Two women in bed / That’s two Sodomites who should be dead.”

The LGBT movement in Jamaica has been visible since 1974, when the Gay Freedom Movement (GFM) was founded by a Jesuit and five Jamaicans. Larry Chang, an editor for the GFM’s newsletter, went on to start the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG), before being granted political asylum in the United States in 2004. J-FLAG operates underground, but its leaders are still targeted for violence. Brian Williamson – the most public figure in J-FLAG – was stabbed and killed in his home in 2004. Police ruled it a botched robbery, but many believe it to have been an intentional hate crime. Rebecca Schleifer, of the Human Rights Watch, arrived on the scene soon after his murder, and found a mob celebrating and laughing over his mutilated corpse. She recalls people shouting out things such as, “That’s what you get for sin,” and “Let’s get them one at a time,” with others singing lines from Buju Banton’s Boom Bye Bye. The next year, Steve Harvey, a public campaigner against HIV/AIDS, was executed the day before World AIDS Day.

HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in Jamaica, with roughly 1.5% of the adult population thought to be infected. Although significant in the heterosexual population due to a culture of promiscuity, early sexual debut, and an aversion to protective measures against STIs, the culture of homophobia has led to a truly staggering problem among the homosexual male population. It’s estimated that more than 20% of homosexual males in the country are infected, having to hide their sexual orientation absolutely, leading to an impossible situation when it comes to education, outreach, and making protective barriers available.

So. That’s the situation, in a nutshell. I should say that when I was in the country, I didn’t observe any homophobia. I spoke about the situation with my guides (I was aware enough of the Rasta culture to understand there was at least an undercurrent of homophobia in Jamaica), and they all seemed open-minded, and repelled by the homophobia that was present in the culture – although they down-played it significantly. It wasn’t until I returned home and did my follow-up research that I realized just how bad the situation truly is.

It raises a number of ethical questions for me. Travel writers are not really journalists – not by any stretch of the imagination – and I still see my job as primarily to visit a place, discover the beauty and interesting experiences, and share them with my readers. But a consequence of what I do (if I do it well) is an increase in tourism to wherever I’m writing about. So what is my responsibility to my readers and to myself when the place I am writing about does awful things? The situation in Jamaica is by no means unique, and globally we can look at any number of things outside of homophobia – from violence towards and oppression against women, to totalitarian governments, to child slavery. Every government has corruption. Every set of laws is in some way unjust. And every culture has its intolerance. At the same time, should I promote Jamaica as a destination, rather than a Caribbean nation such as the Bahamas or Aruba that protects LGBT rights? Or should I treat it as I would any destination, but also discuss the darker side of things? That’s the option I’m choosing right now – I will write about my trip, in a lighter, gentler style, but first I will try to do my part to educate about the extreme hardships facing LGBT persons in Jamaica.

So, what can we do? I will be writing to the Jamaican government, letting them know my role as a travel writer, and that their national LGBT policies make me less likely to encourage visitors to go to their country. More than half of GDP and 25% of all jobs in Jamaica are tied to tourism, and the bulk of that tourism comes from North America and Europe. Those countries therefore have the power, and I would say the obligation, to try to swing their economic weight to affect real change.

On a larger scale, I think we all need to be pressuring our respective countries to add to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 to include LGBT persons as a protected class. The situation internationally has actually backslid in recent years, with language in 2010 being stripped out to make it easier for nations to look the other way in the case of LGBT-related executions. The 2008 United Nations Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is exactly what we need. But while we in the West and most of the South America are signatories, the vast majority of the world either signed an opposition document, or refused to sign. Political pressure needs to be brought to bear to ensure the world signs this document.

Until then, Jamaica remains a beautiful, unique, and welcoming (to me) island, plagued by horrible bigotry and violence. I loved my time there, I loved the people I met, and I hope to return – this time with eyes wide open.

This piece first appeared in Rum Bum, published April 23rd, 2010

Imagine a bar where the extensive menu features not a single red or white wine. No shots of tequila, no martinis, no Jägerbombs. Not even a fruit-filled concoction with four types of alcohol, three spices, and a straw. A place where each of the nearly 200 selections is a hoppy batch of fermented goodness. A beer bar.

If you’re lucky, you’ve found one of these elusive spots in your own neighborhood, where the offerings reach beyond the usual massive brands to touch on a range of microbrews, British lagers, Imperial Stouts, and perhaps a Belgian or two. But odds are you haven’t seen anything approaching the obsessive devotion expressed in the more than 150 Belgian-style beers on the menu at Oakland’s The Trappist.

Belgians are the beer of choice for many aficionados. Small batches, wild strains of yeast, the potential for aging, and a penchant for daring taste profiles combine to make them consistently surprising and delicious. Because they fall on the pricier side and can be difficult to find a supplier for, however, most bars have only one or two on their menu. Not so with the Trappist. With between 25 and 30 on tap at any given moment, rotating regularly, and another 100 to 150 by the bottle, this is the ideal place to discover Belgians for the first time, or to indulge your inner beer connoisseur.

Located in Old Oakland, The Trappist occupies a beautiful weathered building that served as a speakeasy during Prohibition. On a Friday or Saturday night the front bar is always bustling, with people traveling from around the Bay Area to sample their new offerings. There is very limited seating at the bar, and most people sit against the back walls on cushioned benches in a brick-lined corridor with high ceilings. The atmosphere is lively, with strangers sharing thoughts on what they’re tasting, and cross-chatter is inevitable.

The back bar is a bit more relaxed, with more individual tables, and an inset nook for those seeking greater privacy. Walking through the rear hallway to arrive at the back bar feels like entering a different establishment entirely, and one can easily imagine being whisked back in time a hundred years to part a curtain or place three well-timed raps on a door to be granted entry into this drinking den.

The beers on tap are separated between the front and back bars, with the front bar having the wider selection. In practice, however, servers are generally happy to bring beers from either side to your table. The food options are limited – a cheese plate, some meats, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and nuts – but for those looking for a more robust meal, there’s a wonderful tapas restaurant next door, with food that can be brought in to enjoy with the beer.

The décor is simple, the menu sparse, and the staff sometimes languorous, but that’s because The Trappist is ultimately about one thing only: Belgian beer. And in that area it truly excels. The “beer baristas” are beyond knowledgeable, and ready to help patrons choose a brew to meet their tastes, or to stretch their palates in new and exciting directions.

With so many wonderful options for beer in the Bay Area, it would be impossible to single out one as the best – but for Belgian-style ales, there can be no doubt The Trappist is king. So the next time you’re craving a Witbier, an Abbey-style, a Saison, or a Lambic, pay a visit to The Trappist, and raise a glass to your health. Or, as the Belgians say, “Op uw gezondheid.”

This is a much more complete version of my 2010 grape harvest tilt-shift time-lapse video. I’ve integrated footage from three different harvests: a dawn harvest at Jim Ball, a dawn harvest at Yorkville Cellars, and a late-night harvest at Claudia Springs. I took about 6000 still images over those three days, and this video represents 3,570 distinct photos. They’ve all been altered in Photoshop to give them the tilt-shift effect (contrast increased, saturation increased, and a lens blur applied).

This is still very much a work-in-progress, and you can tell by the glitches in this video. Some little jostles of the camera, some flicker on some segments (where I forgot to manually white balance), etc. The ‘story’ also isn’t complete. I didn’t really shoot everything I needed to. I need to get more actual harvesting, and I hope to do some filming of pruning, bottling, labeling, etc., so that I end up with an arc that goes from pruning all the way through a finished bottle of wine. What I really need is for a winery to hire me to do a great video of their entire operation, as a promotional piece, so that I can dedicate the time I want to to this silly hobby.

I’m also thinking about other things that will lend themselves to this form, and would love suggestions. Fishing/crabbing in Noyo Harbor makes a lot of sense to me, as does the Skunk Train, and maybe the Boonville Fair or a rodeo. There must be other things going on in the county that would look great as miniatures, though. So please give me your suggestions!

Here’s the movie:

So I’m playing around with doing more tilt-shift time lapse work. I shot a lot of photos during this year’s crush, of everything from people harvesting grapes, to bins being moved around, to the crush itself. I’m going to work my way through that footage, and use it as a learning experience to get better at the post-production, and to better understand what I’m looking for when setting up shots.

This is a minute long video (no sound) test. It’s bins being loaded and moved at Yorkville Cellars, and I think it looks decent. I missed the focal point a bit, and I might try tweaking it some (it takes about ten hours on my computer to process a minute worth of photos, so it’s a big commitment to make a small change). This makes me want to get a desktop just for photo/video processing.

I’d love suggestions if people have them of things I should shoot for future ones of these – I’m excited to do some shots of Noyo Harbor with the ships coming in and unloading the catch, and some of the Skunk Train. Generally, things that look best are vehicles and lots of movement, and I need to be able to get a fairly high up vantage point. Ideas?

I continue to be impressed by the food here. I had a delicious bisque, that was warm and hearty, and exactly what the raging storm outside called for. The fish and crab cakes were both good – I found the mango salsa a bit too fruity, without the acid to really bring out either the fish or crab, but all in all it was on a par with the nicer food in the area. Doreen brought a piece of cheesecake, her recipe on the menu, and it stole the show for me. It’s been years since I’ve had cheesecake, but I’m still comfortable saying this was one of the best pieces I’ve ever had. Incredibly tart, with a nice creamy texture, and well layered.

What makes this place for me, though, is the atmosphere. The food is good, and I trust it will only continue to improve as the chef gets his footing, but the ambiance is officially my favorite on the coast. It has the feel of an Old World pub – cozy but not too cramped, high ceilings, a beautiful bar – one of the best views in the area, and is in the middle of one of the few real towns left in the county. I was here during a raging storm, and while I sat enjoying my meal, an assortment of local Westporters made their way in for a pint or a bite. People talked from table to table, everyone knew everyone else’s name, and I felt at home immediately.

That’s what makes a restaurant a real find, and that’s why I’ll keep making the long drive to Westport to enjoy this place.