Same breakfast, new location: Cafe les Jumelles, a favorite
off-the-grid West County omelet and hash-brown haunt, has relocated to
Guerneville. Now housed in the former location of Nit’s Thai, the
charmingly ramshackle riverside restaurant is a morning beacon for
locals and weekenders looking to recharge. Huevos rancheros and omelets are top vote-getters, along with the banana split.Don’t expect to eat and run,
however. Here things go at their own pace and everyone knows that
you’ll get your breakfast when you get it. Consider the wait part of
the charm. Café les Jumelles, 15025 River Road, Guerneville,
707-869-9511.
Pairs well with: Armstrong Woods. Strolling through the giant
redwoods brings everything down to size. Come as you are for a brief
jaunt along the Pioneer Trail — no backpacks or boots required.
Heartier hikers can trek along the Pool Ridge Trail, traversing
bubbling streams and climbing several hundred feet to breath-taking
vistas above.
Ah! Hafta tell about my first visit to Les J in its new location in Guerneville….
The night I chose to check them out found me exhausted after most of the week on the road and starved after a day of back-back meetings with no lunch. My prior experience w/ Les J when it was in Monte Rio had been less than stellar and so I approached the visit w/ very low expectations and determined to just be grateful for not having to cook.
What a surprise the experience turned out to be!
First the waiter was charming, attentive and responded warmly to my several requests. Second – the food was actually excellent. I had the three courses for $10.75 (different meal every week night). Third – well, read on – I hope you’ll be as impressed as I was/am…
Course One was a salad that looked like a piece of art – fresh, fresh, fresh baby greens tumbled gently with still warm caramalized julienne of onion, tender marinated bits of fruit, seasoned walnuts (I know I’m leaving something out), mounded high and light and dressed with a startlingly delectable apple cider vinaigrette. Beside the salad, a thinly sliced, piping hot freshly baked mini-loaf of bread about the size of a woman’s fist – crusty on the outside, cloud-like on the inside – and a wee crock of softened butter…
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I had just finished the salad and was wishing I could tip the dish into my face and lick off the remnants of dressing when my waiter appeared with Course Two – described only as linguine with shrimp and rock cod.
Now admittedly I have not had great experience ordering moderately priced pasta in unknown restaurants and so had envisioned this dish as an over-cream-sauced glump of pasta with a speckling of seafood …..WRONG…..
What arrived instead was just the right portion of still hot and perfectly cooked pasta lacing its way through a hefty portion of delicate, brightly seasoned fish, shrimp and fresh, tender, veggies. And not the usual blech blend of common veggies either but baby zucchini, some sort of green, tender/crunchy baby onions, capers and rich, mellow mushrooms…ah… The sauce was light and lemony – no roux, no cream, no nasty melted surprise cheeses……kissed with a grating of parmesan…..mmmmmmmmMMMMMMMM
Oh my! I’m feeling inadequate at description here so let me just say that this dish was so beautifully portioned veggie to fish/shrimp to pasta that I could thoroughly enjoy every morsel without even a moment of nutritional guilt!!
By the end of this course, I was no longer the exhausted, bedraggled thing that had drug itself in out of the rain for a bite to eat but instead a downright spoiled – entitled even – Maven of the Munch and so in an unusual moment of brashness, I asked the waiter if instead of the ice cream dessert that the meal included I might substitute the strawberry shortcake listed on the Specials Board…..
and he said YES. With a wink, he disappeared and this time I did have to wait a bit.
Between you and me though, I think they were actually baking the amazing light, flaky, pastry-like “biscuit”, brewing an entire pot of de-caf just for me and hand-whipping some heavy cream because the few minutes I sat and contemplated the meaning of life as reflected in my next day’s schedule were more than worth it……
The “biscuit” bore no resemblance to anything baking powdery or Pillsburyish but was instead a flaky, tantalizingly almost sweet piece of hot, tender pastry – sliced in thirds – each layer kissed with just the right amount of whipped cream and then **covered** w/ strawberries emascerated in something extraordinary (balsamic vinegar and organic brown sugar? I don’t know but trust me when I say “WHOA”).
The lovely mountain of fruit, pastry and cream was topped with grated candied lemon rind…..MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…My decaf tasted freshly ground and ah, well, you get the idea….
Intrigued? Okay – so here’s the kicker.
Happy as a pig in mud, I whip out my MC to pay the tab and discover that they’re having problems with their phone lines and can’t run my card. After offering to write a check or leave my laptop as collateral while I run down to Safeway to get cash, imagine my amazement when the waiter responds, “Oh – no worries. Here’s your card back. I’ll just put your tag up behind the cash register and when you get a chance, come by and pay it. What’d you say your first name was?”
Believe it or not.
When I stopped in two days later to pay my bill, the wait person on duty asked how my meal had been, thanked me sincerely for coming in so quickly and hoped out loud that they’d see me again soon.
And so they will – because at Les J, Dinner Time Heaven can be had for under $15 AND you will be treated as a truly valued client…..
It is not charming to wait for food because of staff incompetence.
This restaurant closed in Monte Rio because of this problem, and it will close here in Guerneville as soon as someone elses’ money runs out.
Contrast this to Chef Patrick, a great restaurant that is well managed, fairly priced and serves great food in a pleasant environment. Right here in our little town!
Best of luck at the new location, love Rob’s food.
Rumor has it the old Cafe les Jumelles spot is turning Italian.
Good to include the warning that service at Jumelles is leisurely at best.
Wish someone would reopen the Pink
Um, for those of us not from G-town, we have no idea what you’re talking about. Or why you’re so riled up. I think there’s some baagggagge…I though John’s comment was pretty interesting.
John – I think (once again) you do not have your basic facts straight. The article states that Jumelles now occupies the old Nit’s location but, that did not stop your rant now did it? And, what does that have to do with Jumelles. It is your baggage and didn’t you move away somewhere?
If you have something positive to share about Cafe de Jumelles, then please do, otherwise, we have all had enough of your brand of journalism. Goodbye!
John likes to bring up the Sparks drama again and again because he helped stir the pot in the whole shenanigans with his lousy paper. Is that all you can remember about that restaurant that was there for almost five years. The incident happened half a decade ago! Dude, let it rest.
@John – that’s quite a colorful story!
It may be a small space, but it has made its mark over the last decade. Spark’s had a good following as a vegan-vegetarian restaurant until its former owner went bonkers about old fur coats in a vintage clothing store. Her antics forced the new owners to move elsewhere. Ironically, the space was taken over by a burger joint – no, not McDooDoo’s or Burger Klunk – but Bob ‘n’ Boy. Great burgers (and other reasonably priced goodies), and great owner. His untimely death did not immediately close the place, but his life partner just didn’t have his heart in it anymore. While the Boon folks might be a little pricey, the menu is quite good. Add to this the new and much better location of Chef Patrick’s across the street and down the block, G-town is becoming a good place to dine again.