Sam's in Half Moon Bay with Falanghina

I don't know if it was a California scene or a Campania scene, but we were luncho-dining on a deck overlooking the ocean, freshest, juiciest, succulent seafood in our plates, washed down by a glass of Campania's native Falanghina white wine, 70 degrees on a brilliant pre-summer day, not one but two weddings unfolding on the beach underneath, kids running around, couples cozying up, and a country band playing live on the side patio, provoking me to make ridiculous moves.

Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay is where it's at!
And if you want to chill like the Californitalianos, come for late lunch and stay for early dinner, and bring your every-day bottle of Falanghina, 'cause that every-day wine of Campania, the coastal region at the front of the boot of Italy, is the ideal complement to wash down fresh seafood, whichever part of the world you happen to be in.


They've got to have the best Lobster rolls in the country. Rated "top 5 sandwiches in America" by NBC's The Today Show, it's just super fresh soft bread, with butter, and lobster. Sweet, soft, just a touch spongy, but by no means rubbery, like morsels of paradise, they disappear in your mouth before you know it!



It seems that every region in Italy has its staple red and white wine. For those next to water, you can be sure, the wine is going to scream seafood. No oak, great acidity, balanced fruit and mineral. These wines don't tend to be great, but for $10-15, they are perfect with crab, shrimp, lobster salads, ceviches, and all kinds of honest-to-goodness fresh seafood cornucopia that we so enjoy here on the Pacific coast! This particular bottle of the 2008 Falanghina from one of the top Campania houses - Feudi di San Gregorio - was consumed in a blink, and beat the pants off the all-too-common Pinot Grigio epidemic that average wine drinkers think is cool. For more info on this wine, check here. Suffice it to say, this vino will not rob your seafood of attention, but it will add its 2 cents worth. And if you ever head to the Bay Area coast, BYOB to Sam's Chowder House on Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay, a place where even a Russian Jew from Ukraine can feel like an Italian in California!

Comments

enochchoi said…
They could toast their bun more and have a larger bun so it held the lobster better

luv the old bay fries!
Julia Galperin said…
I completely concur! The wine was a treat to the palette and went beautifully with the crab louie! Yum!
Do Bianchi said…
is there still that super awesome taco place in Half Moon Bay? That little stretch of coastline is blessed by some fine food and folks...

Tracie P and I like the Falanghina by Feudi di San Gregorio but it's one of the few wines they make that isn't spoofed... sounds like a great pairing... There's still so much great wine to discover from Campania... great photos, too!
eric said…
Mao and I had the same sandwich with a bottle of Leflaive 04 Bourgogne Blanc which was sublime. The views are incredible there...

Like the idea of going with Falaghina...would love to try it myself...

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