Sierra Mar — Restaurant in Gonzales

We were greeted at the driveway by a warm and professional young woman with a clipboard who thoughtfully wished me HBD and directed us to the top of the hill to the valet. We drove up and were met by an employee who made unclear gestures and appeared to be dismayed with us in a way that one would expect if we were strangers trying to park behind him in his own driveway at home. When we could finally hear him, he didn’t offer to valet the car and instead told us to park at the self park below. Okay, sure. We walked up to the first building where two employees were talking. One told us where the restaurant was from there with the general vibe that she was going to be friendly about us interrupting her conversation. It wasn’t rude but it wasn’t welcoming either. We walked up the hill where a lovely, friendly hostess took us to a great table with as perfect of a view as possible with there being some fog. The sommelier took the bottle of wine we brought to decant with no good grace but we didn’t think much about it at the time. The server was great and detailed the courses of the $185/person fixed price menu to us. I ordered their take on the Negroni and it was superb. The sommelier returned. What on earth was happening with the sommelier? She was ignoring my husband and simmering with hostility towards me. It was, by far, the strangest dining experience I have ever had. I tried to make light conversation by asking her if she’d been to the (highly-regarded) winery our bottle came from which was apparently offensive because she said “no” in a fairly disgusted tone and made sure we knew her focus was really European wines. Lol, well didn’t we get big-timed? We smiled. Things did not improve. When she returned to pour more wine I could see her in my peripheral vision staring at me with stone-faced disdain. This happened numerous times. My husband, who is not inclined to notice, noticed. I truly began to wonder if she was mistaking me for someone else because it was unaccountable and baffling. Did she think I was someone who was mean to her in high school? I couldn’t imagine she could be that angry that we brought our own wine. She was going out of her way to be rude. At one point, I was trying to be friendly and she turned around and walked away in the middle of my sentence. The food was very good with the mushroom course being particularly delicious. The sweet corn dessert was also a standout. They put a tasteful candle in it which was a thoughtful gesture. All in all, I would have given it four stars except I really wasn’t expecting or wanting open hostility from a sommelier on my birthday. My husband recounted the experience with his friend who is a restaurateur and Meadowood alumni and he just groaned. The Post Ranch has been mostly cut off from half of California for a while now and perhaps they are going a bit stir-crazy but the reopening of the 1 is now in the near-ish future. I hope they can dig in to the customer experience and realize that, at their price point, every employee interaction with every guest matters if they are going to regain the luster they had when we stayed there...

We went here for dinner a few weeks ago while on a trip to the Monterey/Carmel area.

First, the good.

The views and grounds are exactly as portrayed online. The hotel grounds you go through to get to the restaurant are immaculate and unlike any other resort I've ever seen. You get forest and mountain views as you make your way up a path on a hill to the restaurant, and then the restaurant sits literally on an ocean side cliff. We were worried about our view because Big Sur got pretty foggy by midday, but even with the fog, the view is unreal. On a foggy day, you don't see the water, but you get this surreal view that looks like you're in a plane above the clouds. There's a patio where you can eat, take in the views take pictures, etc.

The service was also great. Our waiter was friendly, took some excellent pictures of us, and attended very well to our needs. I also interacted some with the staff when requesting a nice view over the phone. While there are no bad views here, they gave us a great table. 5 stars there.

Where some stars got lost for us, unfortunately, was the food. I should preface the review with the disclaimer that on the fine dining side, I rarely do "sampling menu" /multiple small course meals. But I also have nothing against this style of menu provided the food is unique and high quality.

I do not remember every course verbatim, but the first thing I'd appreciate is some level of options per course. Aside from dietary restrictions, there are no options at all per course. For example, we were given oysters to start out our meal. While I ate them, I'd have loved some level of choice between a couple of times.

In general, the courses were ... Good. The chicken was very moist. The gazpacho was flavorful, but, again, not my taste, with no option to substitute. The bread and butter was phenomenal. That was the one item that really stood out to both of us. The chicken breast was moist. Again, without remembering each item, all were high quality, and there were some interesting flavor combinations, like a sweet potato and mushroom dish, but I was left wishing for a but of choice, particularly given the price point. Some items also seemed to be more about molecular gastronomy than flavor, such as a dessert featuring some sort of a suspension. Cool presentation, but just good tasting.

Do I regret going? No. The views made for an experience I'll never forget, and the establishment was very gracious. But when we likely return to this area, will I dine here again? Most likely not, unless the menu has changed substantially. You will undoubtedly have an experience unlike anything else here, but in my opinion, the menu is subpar for the price point, and it lacks any choice at all...

We enjoyed room service, breakfast and dinner at Sierra Mar during our stay at Post Ranch Inn for our destination wedding. This was an amazing dining experience in its ‘Alice in Wonderland’ cliffside building surrounded with beautiful glass walls and doors showcasing the Pacific and sunsets that follow.

I’m going to start with the most important and noticeable aspect of dining at Sierra Mar. The service. The service here was impeccable. From acknowledging my wife’s food allergy, congratulating us on our wedding, knowing who we were, constantly seeing to our needs and the genuine excitement to feed us – we’ve been to several fine dining establishments but none as welcoming as Sierra Mar.

Side note: please thank your damn servicers… Each time I thanked someone, they looked at me like I was speaking a different language. Reference Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk please.

You could tell the employees here actually enjoyed what they were doing, and it felt like family. This was also apparent in the delicious dining. Each course was presented wonderfully and consisted of, if not all most fresh ingredients from the garden on the Post Ranch acreage. Our complimentary wedding dinner was superb, fresh, and each dish presented with enthusiasm. The pasta was so good I needed to willfully slow down.

The biggest surprise was our wedding cake. My wife has an allergy to corn, which is much more of a pain than it sounds. Corn is in EVERYTHING. Our event coordinator could not find a bakery to make a corn-free cake. The pastry chef at Sierra Mar agreed to give it a shot. We paid a premium for the cake, but reality blew away expectations. I assumed the cake would be small; she assumed it would be plain. What we got was a work of art that you could tell the baker dumped their heart and soul in. And if they truly did not, I’d LOVE to see something they did. This was a showpiece. Our server was so excited to present our cake you could tell this was special and WE felt special.

Everything about Sierra Mar was five-star. I was worried it would be pretentious, but everyone here made us feel like family. I don’t have enough words to describe how great the dining was, how comfortable we felt and the beauty surrounding...