Photo Plates

A Meal at Terrapin Creek in Bodega Bay, Illustrated

http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/upload/2012/05/terrapin-creek-restaurant-bodega-bay-photos-menu/20120501_terrapin_190x190.jpg
A Monterey Bay sardine appetizer, with radish and avocado.

Yesterday, Grub Street brought you this feature, now an annual thing, for which we sought out destination restaurants and taco shacks and whathaveyou around the country, with one for every state and two for California. For those of you in the Bay Area looking for a less ambitious road trip that still feels like a journey deep into the countryside, we’d recommend checking out our NorCal pick, Terrapin Creek, the little restaurant in Bodega Bay, just off of Route 1, which snagged a Michelin star last year for their excellent food. Today, we bring you a closer look at the food as it looks on the menu right now.

The food is all skillfully prepared, fresh, and flavorful, and if you know the area you’ll know that there’s not a ton of great food on that stretch of Route 1. At Terrapin Creek you’ll find things like delicate, expertly seared scallops with parsnips and a bacon vinaigrette; a light, cream-free soup of celery and leek with lemon oil; and a tender and amazing veal osso bucco of a sort that a Michelin inspector would deem worthy of a stop.

Also, the town of Bodega Bay is where Alfred Hitchcock shot much of The Birds, so fans might want to consider stopping off first to take a picture, doing their best Tippi Hedron pose, outside the iconic Potter Schoolhouse.

Earlier: 50 State Dinners, 2012: Food Pilgrimages You Must Make This Summer
Regarding Terrapin Creek Café, This Year’s Michelin-Star Sleeper

This was a light and delicious celery soup with a potato and puréed-leek base, garnished with lemon oil and sourdough croutons.
A terrific preparation of scallops with a creamy parsnip purée, a bacon vinaigrette, and shaved apple and fennel.
The salad is a mix of black trumpet mushrooms, arugula, Estero Gold cheese, hazelnuts, truffle and a Banyuls vinaigrette.
The panko-breaded fillets were dressed with a light vinaigrette and served atop shaved radish, avocado, and Napa cabbage.
Served with green lentils, roasted green garlic, spinach, smoked bacon, and chicken jus.
An Asian-inspired preparation with roasted sunchokes, Nebrodini mushrooms, baby bok choy, dashi and soy broth.
This is a rich, incredibly tender dish with cipollini onions, roasted pioppini mushrooms, natural jus, and served with creamed spinach.
A truly excellent steak served with a salsa verde, whipped potatoes, sautéed broccolini and mushrooms, and soy-onion jus.
The desserts were nothing extraordinary, but nevertheless excellently made. This fluffy and perfect crème fraiche cheesecake with raspberry purée hit the spot.
It’s almost molten, and it’s delicious, and it’s garnished with a bunch of mocha sauce. What do you want. It’s great.
A Meal at Terrapin Creek in Bodega Bay, Illustrated