Dear Brandon,

I’m coming to Cambria to vacation with my last two tupperware containers of black beans.  I have enjoyed a blissful 6 months with my 25lbs bag of black beans.  I named my friend Harold Black Bean.  I’ll be arriving at The Bridge Street Inn around dinner time.  I’m excited to use your famous cast iron collection to cook up Harold.  I also have a special Harold breakfast planned.  I’m concerned about the 10:30AM to 5PM lock out.  Can you recommend a local favorite restaurant where I might enjoy some of Harold Black Beans relatives?

Thank you,

Francisco and Harold Black Bean

Harold likes to go the beach

I write back.

Hello Francisco and Harold Black Bean,

Myself and guest, Melissa, recently went on a black bean bonanza.  To answer your question we went to lunch at Sebastian’s Store and Cafe located 9.1 miles North of Cambria off of Highway 1 near Hearst Castle.  Their black bean burger is EPIC!!!!  That evening we made a black bean pizza followed by Heavous Rancheros for breakfast.  Hope you enjoy the black bean bonanza photo blog.

See you soon,

Brandon

I recommend the black bean burger at Sebastian’s General Store & Cafe in Old San Simeon Village

Sebastian's knows how to compliment a black bean

Black bean burgers at Sebastian's are so large that we probably ate all of Harolds' cousins.

The surrounding area around Sebastian’s provides plenty of different places to digest black beans.

Melissa digests her black beans along the coast.

Brandon digests his black beans in a tree.

After digesting the black bean burger Melissa and I are ready for the black bean pizza dinner.   The below black bean pizza is similar to the lentil pizza that appeared in the blog post My Underwear Matches my Pizza.  Here’s a link to view a description of the black bean pizza toppings.  http://bridgestreetinn.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/my-underwear-matches-my-pizza-at-the-bridge-street-inn/

Brandon gets ready to enjoy his second black bean meal.

Melissa and I had to take a break from the black bean.  We didn’t eat black beans till breakfast.  I dreamed of black beans.

huevos rancheros: black beans, scrambled eggs, cheese, tortilla, veggie chorizo, green sauce.

Melissa gets ready to enjoy her 3rd black bean meal in a row.

Here are a couple of nutritional links about Harold Black Bean.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/238506-black-bean-nutritional-facts/

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4284/2

One of my favorite poems from the book is called The Six Strings.

Las Seis Cuerdas

La guitarra
hace llorar a los suenos.
El sollozo de las almas
perdidas
se escapa por su boca
redonda.
Y como la tarantula
teje una gran estrella
para cazar suspiros,
que flotan en su negro
aljibe de madera.

The Six Strings

The guitar
makes dreams weep.
The sobbing of lost
souls
escapes through its round
mouth.
And like the tarantula
it spins a large star
to trap the sighs
floating in its black,
wooden water tank.

Cast Iron Lentil Pizza: lentils, red peppers, arugula, cream cheese, salsa verde, mozzarella cheese, tapatio

Lentil Pizza with featured vegetable arugula ready to serve.

Fransico De Lovely sits in the kitchen on a stool.  He intently watches me make this evenings dinner, a lentil arugula pizza.

Fransico, “Did you know I’m wearing my arugula green underwear?  My underwear matches the arugula your putting on the pizza.”

Brandon, “No, I didn’t know that about your underwear.”

Fransico, “I like underwear and veggie shopping at the same time.   That’s why I go to Walmart and Target.  I make a game out of it.  I pick out  veggies first then select underwear to match the veggie color.

Example:
Beets = purple briefs
Carrots = orange briefs
Iceberg Lettuce = white briefs
Arugula = green briefs

Where do you buy your veggies?”

Brandon,  “The year round Friday Farmers Market in Cambria!  The best place for a Bridge Street Inn guest to buy local veggies.”

Fransico, “Today is Friday!  Let’s go underwear veggie shopping.”

Brandon, “Oh Fransico, I have some disappointing news.  The farmers market doesn’t sell underwear or lingerie.  The closest box store is located 24 miles away.”

Fransico has a sad look on his face.

Brandon, “I have a fun idea.  Instead of matching your underwear to veggies let’s get creative.  Grab several pairs of preferably clean underwear, to make the matching easy, and we’ll color cordinate underwear to veggies.  Now that sounds like a good way to pass an afternoon under the blue skies of Cambria.”

Brandon and Fransico head to the farmers market.

"Those tomatoes looks so delicious but I don't have yellow underwear!" exclaims Fransico!

Purple beets kind of match these undies.

Dengue Fever at SLO Brew

Dengue Fever brings Indie/Cambodian pop songs to the Central Coast.  I had the pleasure of checking out Dengue Fever at The SLO Brewing Company located in San Luis Obispo 33 miles south of The Bridge Street Inn.

Dengue Fever released their latest album in April of 2011, Cannibal Courtship (Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group).  “Before it was partly Cambodian and partly indie rock,” explains Williams of the band’s evolution. “Now it’s 100 percent both.”

Despite the low audience turnout  Dengue Fever enthusiastically played their new songs and hits off of Venus on Earth.

After the show the Dengue Fever members signed The Bridge Street Inn, Venus on Earth vinyl.  Zac, the guitarist, wrote, “To The Bridge Street Inn, Thanks for rocking with us.”  Thanks Zac!

Here are a 3 Dengue Fever videos that you will enjoy!

Boni's Tacos always has bicycle parking

Despite what the Cambria visitor magazine says about fast food.  Cambria does have fast food.  It’s just fast food Cambria style.

Special thanks to Boni’s Tacos
http://www.bonistacos.com/

Special thanks to Amanda Darling for a little video work.

Music by Brandon Follett
http://www.weirdosmusic.com/

Fast Food Cambria Style received Tripfilms editors pick.  Thanks!

Here’s a link to The Bridge Street Inn website so you too can enjoy fast food Cambria style.
http://bridgestreetinncambria.com/

Beehives overlook the Pacific Ocean along Highway 46

Highway 46 winds it’s way through the southern part of the famous Santa Lucia Mountain Range. Enjoy a pleasant drive on a wide road with plenty of turn offs to enjoy the breath taking views of the Pacific Ocean.

seasonal, sustainable, and locally grown

Our first stop takes us to Nature’s Touch Nursery & Harvest located in Templeton on the East side of the mountain range. Unlike other natural food stores Nature’s Touch welcomes a visitor with planted veggies and fruit trees. Check out the beautiful walk way from the parking lot to the store front entrance. Nature’s Touch has a plethora of delicious food for cooking up a delicious dinner at The Bridge Street Inn.  Not quite sure how to cook or grow vegetables?  Gardening and cooking classes are taught at Nature’s Touch.  A guest can plan their Bridge Street Inn stay to coincide with a Nature’s Touch cooking class. After the class a guest can practice what they learned on Bridge Street Inn’s gas stove/oven and cast iron collection.

Here’s a thought maybe a group of friends would like to sign up for a cooking/gardening class and rent the entire Bridge Street Inn.

Here’s a link to Nature’s Touch classes offerings.
http://www.naturestouchnurseryandharvest.com/index.html

First burrito picnic of 2012

After visiting Nature’s Touch we went to the local Templeton city park. The California Central Coast mild weather makes winter picnicking enjoyable. The local park is located a few blocks from Nature’s Touch. The park has all the amenities for picnicking: tables, bbq’s, and public bathrooms. We cooked up some fabulous burritos. The public bathrooms with their running water and hand blow driers made cleaning the cast iron skillets easy.

Down the road off of Vineyard Drive there’s a small strip mall. Usually we stay away from strip malls but we heard about a local coffee shop called Joebella Coffee Roasters. The coffee shop only serves certified organic and fair trade beans. The coffee is roasted locally in Atascadero. The pour-over coffee lent itself to an enjoyable hour of sipping and card playing. While at the coffee shop the Joebelle Coffee owner, Joe, road up on his bicycle. Amanda, who works at Cambria Coffee Roasters struck up a conversation with him.

Joe: “Tom [Cambria Coffee Roaster owner] has got a devious plan.

Amanda: “What’s that?”

Joe: “Serving good coffee and good customer service.”

Hopefully the Central Coast will develop a reputation similar to it’s wine cousins. People from around the world will travel to this region for its “good coffee and good customer service.”

 We continued our loop on Vineyard Drive. One of our favorite wineries is located on the way back to 46 West. Turley Wine Cellars has a wide selection of old vine zinfandels. For $10 you taste a variety of red wines. Turley is known for using traditional practices such as dry farming, cover crops, and pruning instead of trellising. The tasting room staff are very friendly and knowledgable. Besides enjoying delicious red wine in a beautiful historic setting a patron gets to take home a Turley crystal wine glass.

We celebrate another excellent Bridge Street Inn day adventure with a broccoli omelet.  The broccoli came from Nature’s Touch Nursery & Harvest.

Amanda loves her broccoli omelet

From The Bridge Street Inn today’s adventure 55 miles round trip.

http://dearrabbit.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/dearrabbitsongs

http://veronicaandthementalforeplays.bandcamp.com/album/no-room-for-growth

http://www.weirdosmusic.com/

Here’s a sample of the music.

HEADLINER: Dear Rabbit

http://dearrabbit.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/dearrabbitsongs

Veronica and the Mental Foreplays

http://www.weirdosmusic.com/

http://veronicaandthementalforeplays.bandcamp.com/album/no-room-for-growth

Felonius Hunk

Check out Veronica and the Mental Foreplays at weirdosmusic.com

For this evenings entertainment the bicycle riding French family took over The Bridge Street Inn kitchen.  They had pedaled 52 miles from Big Sur to Cambria.  Despite  being tired from their long day they perform in the kitchen like a well rehearsed TV cooking show.   I am thoroughly entertained by the airy sounds of the French language, the smells of spices simmering in a soup and am drawn into the details of the food adventure they are creating.

I can now join in the water cooler conversation, “No, I didn’t see that episode of Rachel Ray but I did sit down to watch the French Family make squash soup. Oh good cooking question.  The 3 women were wearing biker type pants/shorts and the man was wearing regular loose fitting pants.”

What’s chef Rachel Ray wearing?  CLICK HERE

The French Family are making me laugh

It would have been nice to hear the nutmeg scraping in surround sound

I ask the French Family, "when I press my thumb against this wooden spoon and point it at you, will you stir fast as if you were a TV show?"

The French Family found a bag full artichokes near highway 1

yogurt artichoke dip with thyme, dill, cumin, and celery seed

Already star struck to my surprise the French Family invited me to join them for dinner

Visit the French Family at their B&B L’ auberge de la Filature.