Primo Pumpkin Risotto at Novo Restaurant and Lounge in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget
For a short recharge vacation, my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I set out from Salinas, California down Highway 101 to San Luis Obispo, California (about 2 hours away).
We stayed at Hotel Cerro by Marriott for its center of downtown location and valet parking option. Both hotel lobby doors let to dining and shopping venues for fashion and gourmet food purchases.
For dinner, we went out the hotel’s back door and crossed the street to arrive at Novo Restaurant, which has creekside dining, a private party cellar room, and indoor seating by a full bar with liquor bottles and chilled wine storage units going all the to the top of the walls to the ceiling.
Novo’s walls are red brick with large, glass ball lights suspended on wars over the bar and seating area. Tubes of glass went through the diameter of the glass ball lights that glowed. The trendy and cool décor reminded me of bars in Brussels, Belgium that feature menus with the best that Europe has to offer for food and beverage including sushi fusion food.
I was very happy with our restaurant even before we had ordered.
We started with eclectic appetizers – the warm chèvre goat cheese board and raw ahi (tuna) nachos for a Hawaiian fusion twist. Laurent and I ordered locally brewed Firestone Walker Belgian blonde ale from Paso Robles, California to go with the appetizers. Florence ordered a Lavender Linen cocktail to sip on throughout the meal.
I like Novo’s warm chèvre board, because it features all savory items. The tray arrives with eight diagonal baguette slices that have been grilled with olive oil. Warm chèvre on warm baguette slices is luscious on a cold, rainy, winter night.
The warm chèvre board also comes with warm, heirloom cherry tomatoes in olive oil. These tomatoes were sweet and meltingly, soft on the tongue. The final treat on the warm chèvre cheese board is a cupful of warmed black olives that taste like they have been dressed with raspberry vinegar. All these contrasting flavors pair well with the low-alcohol Belgian blonde ale from Firestone Walker.
The ahi nachos were for Florence, but she let me taste several cubes of perfectly cut ahi with sautéed scallions and sriracha mayonnaise on house-made crispy tortillas. The nachos tasted great with beer, too.
For our spa dinner, we ordered some choice items – lobster gnocchi pasta for Laurent, filet mignon with mashed potatoes and sautéed carrots for Florence, and pumpkin risotto for me.
The risotto was made with pudgy, round carnaroli rice that had absorbed chicken broth and white wine with Parmesan cheese stirred in at the end of the cooking. Sautéed cubes of baked pumpkin, slices of porcini mushrooms, strands of shiitake mushrooms, and fresh baby lettuce were mixed into the risotto. A handful of pomegranate seeds was scattered on top of the risotto. The flavor was magnificent. I ate everything.
Laurent and Florence were equally happy with their dishes.
For a relaxing and cozy spa meal, Novo Restaurant and Lounge in San Luis Obispo, California is certainly worth a visit to this busy college town.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
