Insider guide to Fort Bragg: 20-plus delicious reasons to go there now — Part 1

May 23, 6:59 PMSF Culinary Travel ExaminerWanda Hennig

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Susan Lightfoot and Noyo Food Forest veggies. 

Could this Mendocino County outpost be Northern California wine country's new culinary hot spot?

Fort Bragg a hotbed of conscious creatives and sustainable agriculture activists? That wasn’t how I remembered it from previous visits. Good camping, yes, at the MacKerricher State Park three miles north on Highway 1; and the legendary Glass Beach that’s more interesting to read about than to visit; and unmemorable meals in the quaint harbor with its resident population of sealions (pictured below); and Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout at the North Coast Brewing Company.

But now a foodie friend was telling me about their active Slow Food group and saying things like, “I went to Italy and saw what they were doing with agritourism in Tuscany and thought, there’s nothing they’re doing there that we can’t do in Fort Bragg.”

So it was that I accepted the invitation of Julie Conway, co-leader of Slow Food Mendocino County and the source of the Tuscany quote, to come see for myself. On a recent Friday, a couple of friends and I set off on a slow drive (of around three hours) north from San Francisco (through Sonoma County and into Mendocino County’s wonderfully scenic Anderson Valley, then up the rugged Mendocino coast). The idea was to join Conway on a jaunt to see what awaits the culinary traveler who is interested in more than Alexander Valley wine tasting and the touristy village of Mendocino when heading north for a day, a weekend or longer.

Fort Bragg, traditionally a lumber mill town, is in transition, Conway confirmed. Transitioning into what? “Everybody eats food and food brings people together,” she says, explaining the groundswell energy among a growing number of community activists committed to putting Fort Bragg on the map as a foodie destination.

Ten delicious reasons to go right now.

1. Noyo Food Forest.

This nonprofit takes vacant lots and shows people how to landscape them with herbs, vegetables and edible flowers, interspersed with native plants.

Go check out the garden at the Grey Whale Inn on N. Main Street which, when we were there, was a vision of color and texture featuring chamomile, rue, calendulas, bronze fennel, parsley, California poppies (not edible) and more. Susan Lightfoot is executive director of the Noyo Food Forest.

Their biggest win to date has seen them turn several acres of school district property, previously strewn with trash and junk and adjoining Fort Bragg High School, into a thriving model garden sprouting abundant seasonal produce. They’ve trained about 1,000 students on the hows and whys of growing and eating fresh and local produce. Their farm-to-school program has the kids eating healthy in the school cafeteria.

They sell at the Fort Bragg farmers market (Wednesday afternoon). And Friday is volunteer day, when visitors are welcome to sign up and go plant, learn — and purchase some produce.

2. Fort Bragg harbor is still a commercial fishing harbor although, with the ban on catching salmon, now in its third year, the industry is like the one that got away. But for the visitor, there are still the party boats and good sports fishing. Take your catch and cook it at home or go buy fish directly from the boats.

Boat trips are weather and season dependent so check and book in advance. While in the harbor, go try something with fish at quirky local favorites Cap'n Flints Restaurant, 32250 N. Harbor Dr. or Carine’s Seafood Grotto at 32430 N. Harbor Drive.

Continued in 20-plus delicious reasons to go there now Part 2 and Part 3.

Photos by Wanda Hennig

Coming Up: Part 2 on how this funky Northern California town is moving out of the pantry onto the culinary tourism platter.