I wanted to write and tell you that I've become a major fan of the Inn & Restaurant, which is not something I can say about any other such business. I stumbled across your establishment more or less by accident, as the result of a vaguely-defined goal to "drive down the Pacific Coast Highway."

As it turned out, I was passing your establishment right around mid-day, and was feeling hungry, so I stopped for lunch. As I was in no particular hurry, I decided to bypass the café and eat at the restaurant. As I read through the selection, it seemed to me that the menu was typical PCH fare: average food for a premium price. Not a big deal, I thought. This is what I expected, and in fact what I'd had for dinner the previous night at Nepenthe.

Once I'd finished my lunch, however, I felt I'd been undercharged. It seems strange to say it, but I didn't realize it was possible for a club sandwich to obviously be the best I'd ever eaten. After all, it's a common sandwich. How could one be particularly better than another? This one was. So were the stuffed mushroom caps, and the berry tart I convinced myself to have for dessert. Ordinarily, I would never have dessert with lunch... but everything else was so good, I had to try it.

About a week later, I was staying with some friends about three hours from Ragged Point. I was raving about how good the lunch had been-- a week had gone by, and I was still talking about it-- and I convinced them to drive over for dinner. The whole way, I worried to myself that maybe the dinner wouldn't be as good as I had built it up to be, and that I'd have dragged my friends over 200 miles for no good reason.

Of course, I need not have worried. They spent a good deal of the trip back home thanking me for convincing them to go. We all agreed it had been well worth the drive. How many restaurants can claim that they're good enough to warrant six hours on the road, just for dinner? Roger is an absolute genius in the kitchen, and I consider it my great good fortune to have encountered him.

I have since been back to visit many times, despite the distance I must travel to get there. Every time I am in California, I always do my best to arrange things so that I can spend at least one night, and more if at all possible. Between the restaurant and the incredible view from the rooms in the Inn, I can think of no better place to spend time relaxing and enjoying the simple pleasure of being alive.