Sand Dabs in Sausalito

         I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
         Wastin' time.
                          – Otis Redding

Sitting here pondering where I would like to eat vicariously today, my mind wanders west to America’s Left Coast and to the vibrant and slightly bohemian hillside town of Sausalito.  Jack Kerouac, in his On the Road (1957), refers to Sausalito as "a little fishing village" although it has evolved into something more than that today.  A decade later Otis Redding penned “The Dock of the Bay” in a rented houseboat along Richardson Bay in Sausalito, and although he never mentions the town by name in the song lyrics, those who have been there can’t help but recognize the setting.  Otis would record the song shortly before his death in a plane crash in December 1967.  I love that song, especially the sound of the waves and the seabirds in the background.   I can’t help but think of it every time I am in Sausalito.   Just like humming Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” every time I drive the New Jersey Turnpike.

There is a lot of nostalgia connected with the times I frequented Sausalito in the late 1970s and 1980s when I was out west conducting research at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.  After a long day in the library stacks and blowing dust off of old documents I would return to my hotel to change and then I would head into San Francisco and environs for a good meal and a pleasant evening.  On my weekend breaks I like to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge for a drive along California Route One - the Shoreline Highway – and into the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma.  These trips would always include some time along the Sausalito waterfront promenade with its wonderful views of the bridge and Richardson Bay with San Francisco skyline in the distance.  

There was always one stop that was de rigeur for any trip over the bridge.  Zack’s By the Bay,located at the intersection of Bridgeway and Tunney Street, had been a  popular and some say notorious Sausalito institution since it was opened by Sam Zakessian in 1959.  It was famous for the weekly turtle races organized and announced by the legendary late Bill "Turtle Bill" Sanborn .  His trained stable of nearly 100 turtles won hundred of races at Zack's during its heyday and were three-time world champions and six-time American champs from 1976 to 1981.  There were two other neighborhood bars - The Boathouse onthe other side of the boat ramp and Sarky’s across the street - and together the three were sometime referred to as the “Bridgeway Triangle.”  I always enjoyed stopping in at Zack’s when I was in the neighborhood for one of their marvelous bleu cheese burgers and a couple beers while people watching out on the terrace with its sweeping views of the Bay and beyond.  I always left with a smile on my face, a warm spot in my heart, and a couple of their matchbooks in my pocket.   I still have a couple and they are collector’s items sold on eBay.

Time never stands still.  On my last visit to Sausalito I thought I would drop by my old hangout for a burger and a couple beers.  I was saddened to discover that Zack's had long since disappeared in 1981, replaced by the equally defunct Marguaritaville and Paradise Bay,   The building was still there but now it was an upscale restaurant called Salito’'s Crab House.  The location was still perfect and so Salito’s it would be.  Gone was the funky interior of Zack’s although some memorabilia from that era was still hanging on the walls.  The place looked bright, fresh with a casual ambience.  The large deck overlooking breathtaking Richardson Bay was still there and walking inside the memories came flooding back. The great square bar where I had rest my elbows long ago was still there and my eyes lit up at the addition of a new oyster bar.  I settled in at a table on the deck for a pleasant evening of dining al fresco.

            Two thousand miles, I roam
            Just to make this dock my home

Perusing the menu while enjoying a nice Russian River Pinot Noir and snacking on a fragrant loaf of warm house-made kettle bread served in a cast-iron pan, my eyes focused on a dish I had heard of but had yet to sample.  I ordered the Sand Dab Doré.   The Pacific sand dab is endemic to the northern Pacific Ocean and it is a popular game fish in northern California and found on menus in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco area.  Sand dabs have a delicate, sweet flavor unmatched by any other Pacific flatfish.  Pacific sand dabs are considered a sustainable choice for seafood and can be sauteed, fried, grilled, baked, or boiled.  I had seen it on the menu a couple night before in Pacific Grove but had opted for something else (more on this very soon in a new blogpost).  This time it looked too good to pass up.

And a memorable meal it was.  It is a shame more people have not heard of sand dab as it is very good eating and similar to sole and plaice – just a bit smaller.  Its diet of crustaceans and mollusks give it a rich, buttery, and nutty flavor and a moist texture. My meal that night was simple but delightful.  Two fillets sauteed with fresh herbs and a squeeze of lemon and served with a buttery sauce with capers and paired with seasonal vegetables and another glass of Pinot Noir. They literally melted in my mouth,  

So it was not the old memory reawakened but a new memory to cherish with the hope that my travels will eventually bring me back to Sausalito for another meal at Salito’s and not just this vicarious resurrection of the first time I enjoyed sand dabs.   

            Now I'm just gon' sit, at the dock of the bay
            Watchin' the tide roll away, ooh yeah
            Sittin' on the dock of the bay
            Wastin' time