“I’m always looking for a reason to blast some butter in my face, and pumpkin bread is a justification.”

Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip by Scott Clark of Dad’s Luncheonette in Half Moon Bay with Betsy Andrews (Chronicle Books, 2025)

Road-trippers come in two varieties: those who are singularly focused on the destination and those who are all about the journey. In Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip, chef and restaurateur Scott Clark is definitely among the latter. He’s a free spirit who meanders from Half Moon Bay in Northern California along the coast to Santa Barbara County. Along the way, he introduces us to some good stewards of the land and sea: organic farmers, regenerative ranchers and hook-and-line fishermen. Plus, sustainable foragers and hunters.

Describing “California cuisine” as “so fresh and so elevated” and “coming from the ground up,” his recipes illustrate his adventures and, in doing so, present our cuisine in a way that Edible San Fernando Valley magazine readers will appreciate.

When he sails in the Channel Islands, he uses seawater to create Sea-Blanched Broccoli. As his friend dislodges scallops in the caves under the islands and pulls sea urchins and fish from the sea, Clark turns them into Raw Scallops with Citronette and Sea Urchin Cacio e Pepe.

He also includes recipes from his restaurant, Dad’s Luncheonette in Half Moon Bay, like Mac ‘N’ Cheese with Puffed [Wild] Rice Topping.

This is not a highfalutin chef cookbook with glossy photos of picture-perfect dishes. Here, the vibrant photos are like Clark’s trip: realistic with a you-are-here vibe. You want to grab a fork and dig into and tag along on his adventures through the state’s stunning locales.

The book is full of endearing, chatty headnotes that tell stories. Including sentences like, “I’m always looking for a reason to blast some butter in my face, and pumpkin bread is a justification.”

“This book is for cooks and dreamers,” he writes, “full of scratch cooking of a high order.”

All true.

There are teachable techniques and tips that he’s picked up from working in restaurant kitchens, like using warm milk for a smooth bechamel that doesn’t stick to the pot or burn.

Many of the recipes are not for quick weeknight meals. They require thought and pre-prep time, and some have specialty ingredients you’ll have to hunt down (like salted cherry blossoms for the Coastal Kraut).

To Clark’s credit, the recipes are clearly written, helping you confidently tackle new techniques.

Recipes adapted from Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip by Scott Clark with Betsy Andrews, © 2025. Published by Chronicle Books. Photographs © Cheyenne Ellis.

Rockfish Curry

On the boat, the heady scent of this Thai-style green curry fills the cabin and makes everyone go nuts. Firm and flaky yet subtle, Pacific rockfish absorbs all that flavor beautifully, and I love to catch them. They just hang out on a reef and wait for something to make them mad enough to strike, so you can drop some squid on a hook and easily pull up a monster. You never know which you’ll get because there are dozens of types. Bocaccio, Canary, Chilipepper rockfish; Vermilion rockfish, tinted red from eating urchins and shrimp—the diversity is part of the adventure. On the East Coast, black bass or red snapper are good substitutes. Out sailing, we clean the fish ourselves, but to save yourself the trouble, ask your fishmonger to do it for you.

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White Chocolate, Pistachio And Rose Cookies

This recipe came from a mistake. I ordered a bottle of rose water, got delivered a case, and was like, “Man, I have no clue what to do with all this.” Dad’s Luncheonette is a train car, so people expect it to be simple. What’s simpler than cookies? This big-ass, glazed cookie with lime zest pops visually and smells rad. The dough needs to be cold when you bake it so that the butter resolidifies. Otherwise, it spreads in the oven. Do it right and you get a crunchy bottom with a chewy interior. You know the age-old debate: Which cookie is better, crunchy or soft? The answer is both.

These are one of Frost’s favorite road-trip treats. They’re inspired by Curry Leaf, the Indian spot down the street from my house when I lived in San Francisco. They flavored their rice pudding with rose water and lime and covered it in crushed pistachios. It was so good that I riffed on it when I got my excess of rose water and now, two years later, we’re a quarter of the way through the case.

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