LITTLE RIVER INN: COASTAL COMFORTS, ‘INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE' AND FINE WINE
 |
Wine Love! |
|
|
SGB Services, Publisher |
Passion.Wine.Lifestyle |
Home GUEST CONTRIBUTORS |
The WINE WRITER: George Medovoy LITTLE RIVER INN: COASTAL COMFORTS, ‘INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE' AND FINE WINE LITTLE RIVER -- We first met Mel McKinney 'Where There's Smoke..' We mean that quite literally because, you see, "Where There's Smoke.." is McKinney's snug little cigar shop, located next to the nine-hole golf course and lighted tennis courts here at Little River Inn. When he's not fly fishing, writing, sampling Mendocino wines, or playing "Happy Birthday" on his trumpet for guests celebrating birthdays in the inn's dining room, McKinney can usually be found next to the walk-in humidor in "Where There's Smoke..," offering premium domestics and favorites from places like the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. "Where There's Smoke.." is a more recent addition to Little River Inn, a first-class, family-run coastal tradition ever since Ole and Cora Hervilla -- McKinney's father- and mother-in-law -- opened the comfortable lodge back in 1939. That was the beginning of over half a century of hospitality in an unforgetable setting of mighty ocean and romantic sunsets, fine food..and many a night of unequaled camaraderie at the bar, presided over in those early days by the unflappable Ole Hervilla, who arrived in America as a child from Finland. McKinney and his wife Susan -- Ole and Cora's daughter -- now manage the inn with Susan's brother Danny and a host of other family members and long-time employees.Like so many getaway encounters we've experienced, this one, too, yielded the pleasantly unexpected. McKinney, it turns out, has written a fascinating book -- the subject of which is..cigars. But before the cigars, more about the wonderful old inn behind the white picket fence.Little River Inn sits on a hillside on the edge of Highway 1, up the road from Van Damme State Park and two miles south of the art galleries and cafes of the New England-like village of Mendocino village. Ever since Ole Hervilla tended bar and Cora served up the inn's famous abalone dinners, people have been charmed by pleasant atmosphere of the inn.And the tradition lives on..in a setting rich in history and anecdote. Take the bar, for instance, with its bird's-eye view of the ocean. Once there was a jukebox inside to entertain guests --but now the only reminder is an old 78 hanging on the wall, "All This and Heaven, Too," featuring baritone Dick Todd on the Bluebird label. There are, of course, more recent tales to tell. In his souvenir book about the history of the inn, McKinney wrote of the time comedian Jonathan Winters put on a hilarious one-night stand here.Winters was filming "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" in Mendocino and, during a break in the filming, "conducted a three-hour, non-stop monologue..that had people literally rolling on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. Guests fortunate enough to be at Little River Inn that night will never forget it."Hollywood discovered Little River Inn in 1939, when the roads weren't so good..and actress Myrna Loy and her husband happened to be driving up the coast. Since that time, the inn has drawn the casts and crews of many films made near here, beginning with actress Joan Fontaine of "Frenchman's Creek" fame in 1943.And what a tale that is. Fontaine, it seems, preferred caviar, champagne, and filet mignon --not easy things to get during World War II -- to Little River Inn's menu at the time.As McKinney wrote, Ole dutifully went over Fontaine's list with the film company's location manager, who decided to send someone to San Francisco for the items -- but not without telling Ole to charge her double "to teach her a lesson." "When presented with her bill," wrote McKinney, "she called Ole names even he did not recognize. Paramount Studios and (location manager) Sid Street paid the bill." Other famous guests? Well, there was Jane Wyman, star of the 1947 film "Johnny Belinda," and James Dean, who came here in 1954 during the filming of "East of Eden" -- and was chided by Ole to keep his feet off the dining room table. On Wyman's visit, her husband Ronald Reagan got down on the floor and showed everyone his old football moves. Wyman also persuaded Ole to let her tend bar one night, but she knew very little about making change and simply put everyone's large bills into the cash register. Lucky Ole -- he netted $900 in bar receipts that night! Ole is now in his 80's and no longer tends bar, though he does make it in every morning for breakfast.
**** And now back to the cigars you've been waiting for. McKinney opened "Where There's Smoke.." in reaction to yuppiedom's sudden discovery of fine smokes. Where once good cigars were nothing out of the ordinary, he noted, they suddenly were in short supply and more expensive after being discovered by yuppies driving flashy BMW's."Guys like me whose lives centered around trout streams and who took our cigars for granted," said the former Oakland defense attorney, "now suddenly found our world smaller and less providing." So the ever-resourceful McKinney simply opened his own cigar shop, a little gem crowded with assorted collectibles on smoking that he and his wife Susan have picked up at flea markets, and a number of first-edition Hemingways they've discovered along the way. McKinney's book, titled, appropriately enough, "Where There's Smoke," follows a trail of deceit and intrigue, revolutionaries and Cuban ex-patriots -- all the stuff worthy of good conversation over an H. Upmann or a Partagas cigar that you can buy in his shop.Published by St. Martin's Press, his novel is a fictionalized treatment of a little-known story involving President John F. Kennedy. The night before declaring the blockade of Cuba, the cigar-loving Kennedy directed his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, to round up all the Cuban cigars he could find in and around Washington. International politics is one thing, cigars another -- so Salinger managed to get JFK about 1,000 Cuban cigars. Meanwhile, back at Little River Inn, don't expect regular hours at "Where There's Smoke.." "The shop's hours are literally 'now and then,'" said McKinney. "If there's fishing to be done, or I'm chained to my writing desk, our front desk staff..has a key to the shop and are happy to open it upon request." But first enjoy a Little River Inn breakfast, maybe choosing a serving of "Ole's Swedish Pancakes" -- they're based on his mother's recipe and served with local ollallieberrie jam. You could try them in the cozy dining room, or call for room service on those misty mornings when the crackling fireplace and your warm bed are enough to keep you inside. One morning, as the fog hung over the coast and a hungry seagull alighted on our balcony, we spotted a lone waiter crossing the grounds, carrying aloft a welcome breakfast.Ah..the simple pleasures of life along the Mendocino coast. FINE FOOD AND FINE WINES One of the best things about Little River Inn is its menu, with dinners and Sunday brunch making for memorable gastronomical moments. The menu is filled with tantalizing items, like fresh seafood caught by fishermen operating out of Noyo Harbor, and lettuces and vegetables picked fresh from the garden. A favorite for years has been the Pepper Steak rolled in cracked peppercorns and finished with a brandy and pink peppercorn beef essence. To accompany your meals, Little River Inn serves some wonderful wines, with a preference for Mendocino County wines, of course, especially those from the nearby Anderson Valley, where the Navarro River runs alongside a stretch of rural Highway 128 that is hidden in the trees.Naturally, by following Highway 128, you can enjoy an opportunity to stop at some of the Anderson Valley wineries and sample some of the superb pinot noirs and zinfandels. Little River Inn does an in-house wine tasting once a month, which McKinney amusingly calls "another difficult part of my job."Anderson Valley Wineries along Highway 128 include:
For information on Little River Inn, call 1-800-INN LOVE, or visit www.littleriverinn.com. The inn also has a golf pro shop and driving range.
|
