This blog has multiple posts about Harbor House in the Mendocino area of California, but it is a current favorite so you, dear reader have to put up with another post about our recent visit.  If you want to see other meals you can click here for one in 2025, 2024, 2023 or 2022.  The setting is spectacular, being on the coast and the drive there through the twisting mountain roads is beautiful.  The Inn, where the restaurant is located, is an old lodge built with redwoods and decorated with abalone shells and Michelin men, as the restaurant has 2 Michelin stars as well as a Michelin Green award for sustainability.  The tasting menu is not my usual in-your-face smack of flavor but instead offers the delicate flavors of ultra fresh and locally sourced ingredients.  Their farm raises many of their herbs and vegetables and local fisherman supply the seafood portions.  Chef Matthew Kammerer forages for sea lettuce and other ingredients and shares the how-to information with his incredible staff.  Unfortunately Chef Kammerer was away this weekend but Chef Sam Miller-Hicok and the team made us two fantastic meals with a good bit of variation from one night to the next.  We were also happy to meet the new Beverage Director Todd Brinkman, Service Director Adam Merchant and superb server Sequoia.  I truly hope that you’ll be able to have a dinner there soon – you will love it.

Set-up

September 11,  2025

 

Each tasting starts with the same two courses, so I won’t repeat those for the second meal.  We varied it by having the first one on the deck one night.  The savory infusion of sea vegetables is a warm deeply flavored nori broth with a golden color.

 

Chilled vegetables from the farm were dressed with their poaching liquid and cow parsnip oil.  The perfectly tender vegetables (some being lightly poached) include tomatoes, cucumber, squash, greens and flowers.  Many are cut into decorative shapes that add to the visual appeal.

 

Raw Albacore from Ft. Bragg was alongside a plate with tomato skin salt and purple daikon seasonings and a bowl of crysanthemum greens in tomato oil. The purple daikon was likened to a wasabi but I found it much more mild.  The tomato relish was quite good on the fish but the slices were divine alone.  The well cooked greens were lovely with a slight essence of tomato.

 

We were invited into the kitchen to eat a tempura Squash blossom topped with sea urchin.  Alongside was  a bowl of lace lichen seasoned with sesame seeds and sesame oil.  The seasoning gave them a nutty flavor.  The super crispy squash blossom was incredible and made even more decadent with the funky sea urchin.  Yum.  Luckily they had a moist towel for cleaning up your hands afterwards.

 

Red abalone was grilled on a skewer and brushed with sour dough sauce and served with a bowl of koshihikari rice and the abalone abductor muscle then sauced with abalone offal and chives.  In addition there were 2 housemade pickles to punctuate the rich dish.  This cooking method really imparted the smokey grilly flavor to the abalone.  I always love this rice dish – it has such great depth.

 

Black cod from Ft. Bragg was brought to the table not quite cooked.  First was the addition of warm dashi broth to the bowl, then turn the hourglass and put the lid on the dish.  Voila, it was perfectly cooked and had a silky delicious texture to mix with basil and eggplant.

 

Confit Butterball potato was beside Tomales Bay oysters and shishito peppers with a separate bowl of miso broth.  The freshly dug potato was amazing.  It was in a sauce made from the oyster trimmings, dashi, olive oil and cucumber.  The tiny Pacific oysters and potato were both cooked to perfection.  The creamy sauce with the potato was extra yummy and then you finished with the clear broth.

 

Seeded sourdough bread was served with cultured sea lettuce butter.  The dense bread contained both flax and sesame seeds.  It had a good crust.

 

The whole Devils Gulch squab was presented first and then taken to the kitchen for carving.  It was plated with tiny corn and sausage made from the leg meat.   The squab breast was juicy and tender and a nice medium rare with crispy skin presented on fava bean purée and reduced jus.  The sausage was extremely juicy and well flavored with celery, blackberry leaves and buckwheat leaf.  On the side was a ball of fried corn silks.

 

The transition course was an herb infused ice made with cucumber and tonic.  Lots of cucumber flavor and a bit of citrus was great with the carbonation of tonic.  Cool and refreshing.

 

A custard with blueberry whip was mixed with cucumber, Makrut lime leaf, verbena` and ice.  The pieces of cucumber were too big and dominated the delicate blueberries here.  You ate this with a spoon to get all the layers but it was not a success in flavor combination.

 

Figleaf bavarios was with a gel of wild rose and sliced stone fruit (white peaches, red plums and candied nectarines).  The custard on the bottom had a light coconut flavor which I think came from the fig leaves.  It was topped with a crystal tuile that was crisp and sweet.  It was nice.

 

Wakame (edible seaweed/kelp) ice cream with honeycomb was topped with bee pollen and fermented honey.  On a separate plate were creamed filled walnut lace cookies.  Both were very good.

 

An infusion of Douglas fir comes with grilled honey and sweet herbs to mix in. It is paired with last treats Candy cap mushroom macaron, Choux filled with grilled miso, Lemon verbena and marigold jelly, Umeboshi caramel, canelé, Jupiter grapes.  Here the caramel is a favorite with all the others fine except I didn’t care for the jelly – it was too strong and the texture was too firm.

 

 

September 12, 2025

 

Raw Albacore belly was plated with charred embers eggplant.  This was a fantastic fish, tender and silky, it was like fish butter.  It matched well with the eggplant.  A huge yum on this one.

 

Chilled abalone had been poached in sake then brushed with vinegar and herbs then topped with cucumber and more alongside koshihkari rice and housemade pickles wrapped in kohlrabi.  The abalone was fantastic and the remaining juice from the dish was terrifec added to the rice bowl.

 

Some courses are worth repeating and this is the case with the Tempura Squash blossom topped with sea urchin and dashi.  Beside was a bowl of lace lichen and dandelion and a bowl of broth made from the squash blossoms and other ingredients.  Excellent all around.

 

Ling cod was slowly grilled with leek and presented with a leek dashi and summer beans.  The fish was perfectly cooked and outstanding with the delicious leeks.

 

Cauliflower mushroom, dried cherry tomatoes and sweet pepper made up the next plate.  The mushrooms were foraged near here, lightly crisped on the edges and served with a barley koji vinaigrette.  This was a fun and very new combination.

 

Seeded sourdough, cultured sea lettuce butter.  See above.  Instead here’s some staff photos.

 

Goat leg was plated with tiny corn.  The nicely rare meat had been smoked and was accented with buckwheat and fava beans and celery root purée.   The silks from the tiny corn were on the side.  The meat was chewier than squab but nicely flavored and a very fun change.

 

Melon infused ice was with tonic for a transition.   It was nice but I liked last night’s combination better.  The melon didn’t have as strong a flavor as the cucumber.

 

Makrut lime leaf, cucumber, passion fruit, lemon balm and verbena made up the first dessert.  There were multiple layers with various tastes of tart, sweet and crisp.  It was hard to get all layers in one spoonful because of the shape of the bowl but worth it when you could.

 

Beeswax bavarois and hyssop was a work of art.  Jupiter grapes, candied hyssop leaf and beeswax custard made a lovely, light and tasty dessert.

 

A slice of ultra fresh and sweet Cantaloupe was next.

 

The infusion tonight was with lemon verbena along with grilled honey and sweet herbs.  It was fine.  A Fruit cornucopia held peaches, plums, jupiter grapes, strawberries and more for a delightful end to another fabulous meal.