Cambria Is The Ideal Stop On California’s Central Coast

On a night in early December known as Hospitality Night, the owners of the various stores and restaurants in Cambria set up stands to give out food to passersby: tacos, pizza, homemade cookies and soup. And while everyone is snacking, they’re talking: locals exchanging local or family news while visitors listen in. It’s a snapshot of this friendly, charming town that seems to typify old fashioned in the best possible way. But that’s not its only attraction. There’s also the physical setting (which fortunately didn’t sustain the damage that nearby areas did in California’s recent storms) plus vineyards, fine restaurants, a famous castle and seals who congregate just up the road.

For many people doing the world renowned coastal drive down Highway 1, a stop in Cambria is usually to take in the scenery surrounding Moonstone Beach, one of the state’s best beaches, known for its assortment of jasper and agate worn smooth by the waves strewn along the sand and waves crashing against boulders just offshore. The two mile boardwalk above it on the bluffs allows sights of whales and otters swimming by.

Because those views are so much in demand, a raft of restaurants and small hotels have sprung up on the road bordering that beach with the three year old White Water, a 25 room composite of two pre-existing inns the newest and most stylish, but in a relaxed, almost Scandinavian way. The rooms were created by Los Angeles designer Nina Freudenberger, known for residential designs in a beachy, coastal California style using natural materials, neutral palettes, subtle textures and details and a mix of vintage and contemporary furnishings created by independent artisans. Most have views of the water and fireplaces; all receive a continental breakfast in a basket left on the ledge outside the room in the morning.

There’s no restaurant at White Water but there doesn’t need to be with so many seafood spots in walking distance along Moonstone Beach Drive and others a mile/mile and a half away along Main Street in town. The family run Linn’s, a mainstay since opening in 1989, specializes in perfectly executed comfort food such as sourdough French toast stuffed with mascarpone and flavored with cinnamon and vanilla for breakfast, Dungeness crab melts or the ultimate blue cheeseburger with Hearst Ranch’s grass fed beef for lunch and French cut pork chops with flame grilled Fuji apples and California chutney or red wine braised pot roast for dinner. Essential desserts are any produced with olallieberries, a hybrid of blackberry, loganberry and youngberry created on the family farm and served in pies, cream puffs, hot fudge sundaes, cheesecake, bread pudding and layer cake.

Down the street, Madeline’s which has a wine cellar of its own boutique wines, offers a more sophisticated, global approach with a menu including Green Lip mussels in a lemon, saffron beurre blanc, Cassoulet, truffle risotto and Louisiana shrimp creole. Robin’s around the corner spans the globe even more with Moroccan braised lamb shank, the Brazilian seafood stew Moqueca, Thai Green Chicken coconut curry and the north Indian lamb curry Roghan Josh along with more local flavors such as pan seared Skuna Bay salmon.

With Cambria as a base, there are activities worth experiencing minutes away. Vineyards such as Adelaida Vineyards & Winery and Hearst Ranch Winery are among the vineyards situated in the hillsides along route 46 from the coast to Paso Robles. Hearst Ranch Winery also has a tasting room across from the famous Hearst Castle, nine miles north of Cambria in San Simeon. Following the nearly yearlong repair of the road leading to it, media magnate William Randolph Hearst’s 165 room hilltop castle reopened for tours last May.

Seven miles north of San Simeon, the Piedras Blancas rookery is the home of elephant seals with activity all year following the cycle from the arrival of females to give birth to adult seals returning to the ocean, leaving the younger ones on shore, mating (which, appropriately, peaks around Valentine’s Day), molting and other arrivals and departures. Visitors are kept at a safe distance, the viewing area is available every day and the seals are utterly enchanting.