• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Big Sur Bakery   (Photo: Courtesy of Big Sur Bakery)

Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant, a half-mile north of Ventana, offers glorious Meyer-lemon bars and jelly doughnuts, plus a constantly changing menu featuring dishes like oven-roasted oysters and wild salmon with succotash. The brunch options, including nine-grain pancakes smothered in strawberries, are pretty inventive too.

For more formal dining, it’s usually a coin toss between the Sierra Mar at Post Ranch and Cielo at Ventana. However, with Sierra Mar’s panoramic dining room closed for remodeling through August 2007, stick to Cielo. Request a table on the outdoor terrace with its gorgeous Pacific views, and try out the mole-covered enchiladas and fresh guacamole.

The five-year-old Big Sur Roadhouse is the place to go for casual dining. The main room is adorned with local artwork and a corner fireplace, and the Latin-influenced menu goes easy on the wallet (most entrées are under $20—a rarity in Big Sur).

May 16, 2007 issue of New York Magazine