Sea Venture in Pismo Beach, CA

A day of wine tasting inspires your taste buds to rejoice. A day that is celebrating yet another trip around the sun of mine (my birthday) calls for a great meal to go with newly purchased wine.  This celebration calls for an excellent chef in a stunning restaurant with an attentive wait staff and a delectable menu. The Sea Venture in Pismo Beach was our culinary destination for my birthday this year.

If the past, many of my after-work hours has been spent sitting at the Sea Venture watching the waves roll in, surfers float and the sun set. My girlfriends and I meet here for Mai Tai’s, Sunday brunches or just to impress an out of town guest. While the bar boasts one of the most seasoned tapa’s cook (Craig) and amazing bartender (Krista), the restaurant has at its helm one of the best and brightest chefs in the area, Casey Walcott. The entire staff here is one of seasoned professionals that truly enjoy their jobs and provide an unsurpassed dining experience. Simon Kovesdi (Restaurant Manager) has always been the perfect host and has turned a blind eye when our celebratory mood was an octave louder than the rest of the diners. I am a fan.

 

I told Casey to surprise me and bring me what he thought I would enjoy and he was spot on with each and every dish. Because Gary had stopped at the Apple Farm to consume a dozen Christmas cookies on the way to the Sea Venture, we both started with the appetizer. Large Seared Bacon Wrapped Scallops that sat atop of fried Brussels sprouts with a delectable lemon aioli and goat cheese spread around the plate for visual stimulation as well as palate pleasing. The scallops were over a silver dollar in size and perfectly cooked with the essence of the sea shining thru the crispiness of the bacon. We paired the dish with a bottle of crisp Barton Label Blanc y Blanc, a white blend that is a new and delicious offering from Joe Barton of Grey Wolf.

 

Next was the Beef Carpaccio, cut thin and spectacularly prepared resting on mustard vinaigrette and capers dotting the top adding a perfect blending of flavor. Resting beside this heavenly dish was a baby arugula leaves with shaved Parmesan and sprinkling of Black Sea salt to enhance the flavor. This deconstructed dish was pleasing from every perspective that we launched it into our mouths.

The next dish was a subtlety delectable Lobster Vol-en-Vent (French for everything is better between puff pastry). This amazing shell shaped and multi layered tartlet was swollen with sautéed lobster, grilled asparagus and cubes of fingerling potato, it sat upon a cloud of lobster cream sauce and green onions. Every bite was a perfect and rich creating a harmonious experience. We deemed it 50 shades of lobster, liking the cream sauce to bisque and the meat inside tasty morsels of the tail of kings. It was absolute flawlessness.

Our next main course was a large Confit of Pork Osso Bucco. A succulent meat shank from the thighbone cooked for hours in its own fat is a favorite of any food-obsessed creature. Add to it sheared fried beets and carrots all resting on a puree of cauliflower, oven roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, spinach, and a thyme jus can make for a very quiet table. The amalgamation of flavors, textures and sauces made this a most memorable indulgence. We paired this with a Turley Zinfandel and both the wine and the meat were so impressive, we were not sure if we should or could go on eating.

Dessert was a light Apple Crostada tart with Sea Canyon apples baked to a sweetness only known to apple connoisseur with a buttermilk vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Gazing out on to the Christmas tree at the end of the Pismo pier, I was convinced I remain the luckiest girl around.

Surprising everyone, I went for another dessert. It was my birthday after all and there was all this hearty zinfandel wine left and nothing goes better with that than the Chocolate torte. The Sea Ventures version is a dense torte with a scoop of DocBurnstein's chocolate motor oil ice cream, chocolate sauce and chocolate shavings. With the wine, obsession is too soft a word
to describe my fascination with this dessert.

I was so impressed with this meal, I floated all the way home and booked our tickets to celebrate New Year’s Eve at this very spot (dinner has two seating’s one beginning at 5:00pm and one at 7:30pm). You can call for reservations at 805-773-3463. I love the Sea Venture as it is paradise and we are lucky enough to call this kind of heaven our home.

The Sea Venture Resort Restaurant is open Monday thru Thursday from 4:00pm to 9:00pm, Friday and Saturday from 4:00pm to 9:30pm and Sunday from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. They are located at 100 Ocean View Avenue in Pismo Beach just three blocks from the Pismo pier. All the restaurant specials and room information is at www.seaventure.com.