Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sir and Star at the Olema


Sir and Star at the Olema
Had a great experience at the new restaurant, Sir and Star at the Olema. It’s housed in a charming old building in Olema CA. It serves upscale local food. We had a lovely chef’s tasting menu of 7 courses plus a bottle of Thackery Pleiades wine which was quite good. Everything in the menu including the wine is produced locally in Marin county.

Thackery's Pleides Wine

In the late 1800s, when logging was king on the Inverness ridge, Olema was a raunchy little town of card-rooms, saloons and establishments of even less repute. It would never grow bigger though. In 1874, the narrow gauge North Pacific Coast Railroad was laid to the north, bypassing the old stage road and giving rise to what's now Point Reyes Station.

Faux Gras Duck Liver
The old Olema Inn which now houses Sir and Star dates to the area's original Spanish land grantee, Rafael Garcia, who opened the establishment on July 4, 1876 (his son later gambled it away). The town’s name itself stems from a nearby ancient Miwok village called Olemaloke, which roughly translates to“little coyote lake” thus Olema translates as “little coyote.”

Duck Confit
Sir and Stars is fine addition to Marin dining scene. It’s very good; the focus is on local food and wine. All the wines are either made with Marin fruit or made in Marin. The wines currently being offered are very nice. There is also a nice selection of local winemaker Sean Thackery's wines. The old inn from 1876 is painted gray and stripped down to its essence. Would recommend any of the local  dishes: smoked salmon with fingerings and aioli and the halibut poached in butter to the Chef’s Menu on Saturday nights. They serve a well done duck leg confit. We even had an interesting dish of wild sea urchin and local estero oysters alongside cabbage strips. Hmm, so good.

Local Soft Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce
We found the service was good and liked their minimalist Shaker furniture and style. The co-owner, Margaret Grade, was even serving and checking in with diners. This is a singular experience that I can't recommend enough if you are passing through this way. Also, stop by Drakes Bay in Pt. Reyes National Park for oysters pulled from the water and immediately shucked.
Sir and Star at the Olema turned out to be wonderful experience we’ll get back there in the near future.
Highly recommended!
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