Yes, You Should Serve Shrimp Louie at Your Holiday Party. Plus, Other Coastal Classics.
This holiday-ready party menu is a celebration of the riches of the coast.
Thomas J. Story
Fans of Sunset know we have a thing for Nick’s Cove, the restaurant and collection of perfectly weathered little cabins that sit on the shore of achingly beautiful Tomales Bay in West Marin. It’s a perfectly preserved little sliver of the California that time forgot: rolling hills and pasture and inlets and an expanse of water on which you might spy kayakers or small fishing boats and waterfowl and not much else. It’s pretty much the same as it was in 1931 when a Croatian immigrant named Nick Kojich opened a little seafood restaurant in an old herring curing facility and started renting out waterfront cottages by the night and serving shrimp and crab cocktail to road trippers.
Thomas J. Story
One of the most charming outbuildings at Nick’s Cove was the boathouse. Full of antique rods and reels, glass buoys, nets, life jackets, an old piano, a dinghy suspended from the roof, and a wood-burning stove in the corner, it’s where people would bring their trays of oysters and cocktails and eat out over the water. Locals would moor their boats there after making their way across the bay from the docks at Inverness. It was the site of proposals and weddings. It’s also where chef Chris Cosentino of San Francisco restaurants Incanto and Boccalone fame would sit and work on the menu for Nick’s Cove after he was hired as the executive chef to improve the culinary offerings that had evolved, albeit slowly, over the decades since Kojich opened the restaurant. The no-nonsense early years that Nick presided over were followed by a foodie blossoming of sorts in the 1990s, when Bay area restaurateurs Pat Kuleto and Mark Franz bought the place, taking full advantage of the fact that within a hundred miles, you’ve got some of the best food purveyors in the United States: Hog Island Oyster Co., Liberty Ducks, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Cowgirl Creamery, County Line Harvest, and the list goes on.
Thomas J. Story
“This is a very unique environment,” says Cosentino, who just wrapped up his contract and is now working on his next restaurant project. “We’re on the ocean that has oysters, and then we have all our dairy, beef, and produce farms right on the same hill. It doesn’t exist anywhere else, except for in England where it’s all sheep farms. This is a fish house. A fish house is for everybody.” Cosentino has revived the locavore traditions, committing himself to making the restaurant truly of its time and place but also reflective of his upbringing in Rhode Island. He added dishes like Rhode Island and New England chowders, perfected the fish and chips, and dialed in the fish house culinary vernacular. “That boat shack was what drew me in because walking in there felt like I was in my grandfather’s beach house. It looked like that. It felt like that. It was open-stud walls. He had the blown-glass lobster pot buoys. The old fishing equipment. That’s what I grew up with. We’re using what’s here, plus we’re making my grandmother Helen’s bread-and-butter pickles—it has to feel like what it is and have an inkling of where I’m from.”
Thomas J. Story
All was well until the evening of Jan. 7. Patrons and staff were in the restaurant and saw smoke coming from the boat shack. Within seconds, the flames engulfed the structure. By the time the fire department arrived on scene, the building was a charred shell. It was a tragic day for all the people who’d dined in or launched their boats from what was the most picturesque little outcropping of this magical establishment, and the Nick’s Cove Instagram was flooded with condolences and teary posts from families and couples who’d celebrated milestones at the end of that pier. Fortunately, nobody was hurt during the fire, the pier survived, and within months, enough money was raised through private donations to cover the cost of its reconstruction. The plan is to restore it to its former charming glory, complete with glass buoys, vintage fishing equipment, and a piano.
Thomas J. Story
Shortly after the fire, we visited Nick’s Cove, and but for the charred boathouse at the far end of the pier, which was cordoned off, the restaurant and cottages were in full cozy effect: Fishermen bobbed out on the bay, road trippers pulled in for fish and chips, and guests tucked into towers of seafood and cured meats and looked out at that unspoiled view.
Thomas J. Story
The place is all you’d want from a California fish house and more, with thoughtful flourishes and intentional techniques that make the difference between delicious and exceptional food. And that just happens to be the kind of thing you want to serve around the holidays. Cosentino’s smoked black cod dip is rich and herby and nuanced. When served with fried saltines, it’s an over-the-top and indulgent appetizer. The oysters are taken to the next level by a garlicky butter and homemade barbecue sauce. The shrimp Louie is a sweet take on the classic. And the cocktails are crafted to evoke the warming wintery vibes of hunkering down in a cozy cottage by the bay.
Classics from Nick’s Cove to Try at Home
Smoked Black Cod Dip
The creamy combination of black cod, cream cheese, dill, Dijon mustard, and Old Bay is elevated and instantly nostalgic. You can serve it with a crisp celery salad and fried saltines, or if you’re not up for frying, it’s amazing with chips, crackers, or toasted sourdough. Chef Cosentino brines and house-smokes his black cod, but feel free to substitute a high-quality smoked white fish to simplify the recipe.
Fried Saltines
How do you make saltines better? Fry them! It’s a cheffy trick that takes the dip experience over the top.
Celery & Shallot Salad
Dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and garnished with fresh parsley and celery leaves, this simple salad is a bright counterpoint to the luscious Black Cod Dip.
Nick’s Cove Shrimp Louie
Chris Cosentino’s take on the classic Shrimp Louie is the perfect party appetizer and captures the throwback essence of Nick’s Cove. This recipe easily doubles to serve more guests.
Nick’s Cove BBQ Oysters
A dialed-in version of a coastal classic. If you’ve never made your own barbecue sauce before, this is your chance to taste the profound difference between corn syrup supermarket stuff and the real deal, made with good spices and exacting technique.
Delicata Squash with Sage & Malt Vinegar
The naturally sweet squash is seared and roasted to perfection, then finished with a rich brown butter infused with sage and the tang of malt vinegar.
Tomales Tonic
If you aren’t normally a fan of gin & tonics, please try this one, and we promise you will be converted! By making your own tonic syrup, you will impress your friends and never be able to go back to those old gin & tonics that your grandpa loves. Cinchona bark is the natural source of quinine, and you can buy it and then grind it yourself, or simply buy the powder. We suggest purchasing it from Penn Herb Co., which is a great economical source.
Ruby Dove
If you like a Paloma, you’ll love this grapefruit and tequila cocktail that pushes the citrus flavor with a house-made cordial and brings the heat with serrano syrup.
Marshall Manhattan
The Marshall Manhattan is based on a classic Manhattan but easier to drink and warming with winter spices. The sweet vermouth is replaced with the much more flavorful stout reduction. Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout has toasty and warm notes that are perfect for a foggy night at Nick’s Cove.
Search All of Sunset’s Recipes
Keep Reading:
The Latest
Where to Travel This Winter Based on Your Zodiac Sign
