The Art of Eat

Novo Restaurant and Lounge
726 Higuera St.
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 543-3986‎

So finally I am reviewing what I consider the best restaurant in San Luis Obispo. I’ve been countless times, and every time, excluding my first meal at Novo under the old management, I loved the food, the ambiance, the wine, and the service. Unfortunately to be the best in San Luis Obispo means competition with the poor likes of Firestone, Thai Palace, and Buona Tavola, and so Novo even with its flaws is still my top choice. I would venture to say that when it comes to preparation of the meal the only restaurant with equally good food is Native Lounge and Restaurant but only when chef Charles A. is preparing which is not a guarantee. But enough about the competition.

Novo is the best restaurant in San Luis Obispo for a number of reasons. In large part, the ambiance is brilliant. The outdoor patio in the back overhangs the creek making it one of the most romantic places to dine in all of San Luis Obispo and only the closed Grappolo had a patio worth comparing. Novo’s interior dining room is chic and trendy with a wine bar at both front and back and late at night fills with better dressed patrons than the usual San Luis haunt although I’ve never considered Novo a lounge like its name would lead you to believe. The service at Novo is hands down the best in San Luis Obispo with the best service coming usually from the male waiters who are perky, attentive, and chatty.

Where Novo falls down a little is the menu. A little more than half of Novo’s food is fantastic and, besides Native, is unparalleled in San Luis Obispo. Half the menu is a selection of traditional tapas dishes including meats and cheeses which are amazingly well done, but the other half of the menu is a selection of Pan-Asian inspired fusion dishes which are lacking in flavour and skill in preparation. The dishes are of the trendy small plate variety, with a couple daily specials and a soup du jour, although I’ve never ordered one of the entree dishes since I love a good variety. Almost everyone I know that’s eaten at Novo loves their Lobster Bisque although it’s a bit too thin for my liking. My personal favourites include their Roast Quail, Lavender Lamb Chops, Moroccan Lamb Mechoui, Chevre, and Shepherd’s Plate, and the best special I’ve ever ordered was a tuna tartar taco salad that was literally a small mountain - unusual since their usual dishes are very small. Of the dishes I didn’t like the ones that stood out the most are the Spring Rolls, Singapore Chicken Satay, Lettuce Wraps, and Roast Duck Breast which had no flavour at all and was only saved by the Penang curry accompanying.

What Novo misses in lounge ambiance, mainly a dj, loud music, dark lighting, and lounge chairs, it makes up in sheer variety of alcoholic beverages. Novo doesn’t have a fancy bartender that makes tropical concoctions that’ll knock you off your feet like Blue, but Novo has a wine list that’ll take a half hour to read through and a beer menu as large as Spike’s, the beer bar down the street. Novo stays open Friday and Saturday nights till midnight as a Wine and Beer bar and is one of the better places to go if you’re fashionable and have money to burn. Of the wine’s I’ve tried at Novo all were excellent with a wide variety from the Central Coast and almost equally wide variety from all over the world. Novo’s beer prices are pretty reasonable, but the wine prices are a bit high with a $10-15 markup per bottle from retail price and almost nothing in the upper $20s. A word of advice though, with such a large wine selection to choose from perhaps check out the bottle you’d like to try before going since the staff generally haven’t tried all the selection and may not be very helpful in recommendations.

As I mentioned countless times, Novo is the best restaurant in San Luis Obispo in terms of food, drink, ambiance, and service. The biggest draw backs are the cost and Asian menu selections, but if you’re willing to spend and know what to order it’s a very rewarding experience. If you’re a big drinker expect the tab to be in the $50-60 range after a meal, but I’ll say for the last time, it’s a price that’s worth it in this town.

Native Lounge
1023 Chorro St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 547-5544‎

A little over a year ago the overpriced and unnoteworthy Mission Grill was replaced by Native Lounge, a trendy big city club that set a new bar for classy drinking in an otherwise average small college town. Native stripped the old wood decor in favour of glass sliding walls and a shiny silver bar. The dining room was replaced with a good sized dance floor, and the tables were replaced with modern sectionals for reclining and tiny drink tables to hold the small plates and mojitos. It was shaping up to be the best thing that ever happened to San Luis Obispo’s nightlife, and for a time it was.

Native operates as a restaurant during the afternoon and early evening until about 9 when the music picks up and it reorients itself as a lounge. After about 10:30 on weekend nights it reverts to more of a bar and club with mostly upper classmen and sophisticates from the Bay area or Los Angeles that enjoy a collared shirt requirement and a $5 cover charge. I first heard of Native soon after I turned 21 when the head chef Charles A. came into the olive oil store I worked at on repeated Farmer’s Market nights. We got to talking food and olive oil and inevitably he invited me to try out the restaurant. He explained that the restaurant had a tiny fridge capacity and he used the Farmer’s market to stock up on fresh local produce and a bottle of olive oil for every weekend. Local food freshly procured! I set a date and a few days later there I was with 6 of my friends. Charles A. is the best chef in San Luis Obispo, and when he’s preparing the meals there is no better restaurant in the town. Unfortunately, most often he isn’t preparing the meals and the food is just so so and I picked up the habit of going only if I know he is working. But when he is cooking it’s as good as any restaurant in any big city.

Native has the trendy small plate envisionment of food which allows for maximum sampling (a plus) and maximum cost (a negative). To start, I picked out the Armenian special, since Charles A. is Armenian I figured he’d be able to do a good job with this one, Parmesan and White Truffle Fries, and Baby Purple Artichoke Hearts served Crispy. All of these plates were absolutely bursting with flavour. Since truffle is my favourite flavour, of course the fries were stupendous and one order of those was enough to go around and then some. The artichoke hearts were the most unusual dish, but I have to admit easily as my favourite of the night. Sadly they no longer serve the artichoke hearts at the moment but hopefully I’ll persuade a comeback for it. For the entree small plates we got a wide assortment: Duck Confit empenadas, Meatloaf Sliders, Ostrich medallions on black rice with a sweet spicy sauce, Kimchi Chicken Wraps, and the fantastic Tuna Tartare tacos with Avocado Tempura. The Tuna Tacos were the best of the entrees and the avocado was so surprisingly good I don’t understand why more restaurants don’t do it. The Ostrich was cooked just right and spicy enough even for a chili fiend like myself. I was most unimpressed by the Meatloaf sliders, and the Duck empanadas were a little sparing on the duck although still delicious. For dessert Charles brought out Petron Chocolate Expresso Granites which were sweet, sexy, and the best way to end a meal.

Then there are the drinks. Native like most clubs and restaurants makes most of its money from the drink menu and do they have some fantastic drinks. All the mojitos are first rate, I tried a strawberry mojito and it ws stunning. My favourite drinks they offer are made with Dry sodas and the rhubarb soda based drink is as good as any classy club’s. And lest I forget, Native has a hibiscus champagne with a whole edible flower that’s to die for. The negative is the drinks are small and expensive so bring a big wallet if you’re planning on drinking a lot because they are dear.

Native was fun for a long time bringing big city djs to a town devoid of good club music. After establishing a good name for themselves, Native hired some local djs that unfortunately had the effect of ruining the good music and replacing it with crap top 40 hip-hop and R&B hits that play at every other bar in town. Now I primarily go for the food and only return on friends’ requests during my downtown sojourns. On occasion they bring in out of town djs and those are always parties worth attending. More information on special nights can be found at their website.