The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay has long embodied the coastal elegance of Northern California. A stone’s throw from San Francisco but seemingly a world away, the resort is best known for its panoramic ocean views, championship golf courses, and roaring fire pits. On Friday, September 19, it adds another distinction to the list: host of the inaugural Taste of Half Moon Bay, a new food and wine celebration spotlighting the region’s culinary heartbeat.
More than a garden-variety tasting event, Taste of Half Moon Bay is a love letter to the producers, vintners, and purveyors who shape the area’s distinct farm-to-table ethos. From heirloom tomatoes to coastal oysters, the Half Moon Bay region is fertile ground for California’s most flavorful bounty. The evening promises a curated immersion into this terroir, featuring tasting stations, local wine pairings, and the chance to meet the chefs and artisans who keep the peninsula’s food culture thriving. For The Ritz-Carlton, which has long maintained close ties to its agricultural neighbors, the event is both a celebration and an invitation. It’s as much about community as it is cuisine.
Indeed, the setting lends itself to that rare balance of refinement and authenticity. The resort’s sprawling oceanfront lawn, where bagpipers serenade the sunset, will transform into an open-air tasting pavilion. Expect everything from Dungeness crab bites to micro-seasonal produce, all paired with small-batch wines from nearby boutique labels, and local spirits and craft beverages from Half Moon Bay Distillery and small-batch breweries.
But for those who know the property, the event’s deeper allure may lie in the way it complements the resort’s enduring strengths: luxurious hospitality, dramatic natural beauty, and an instinct for pairing experience with place. Whether arriving for the event or extending the evening into a weekend escape, guests can lean into the resort’s many pleasures: sunset walks along the Coastal Trail, spa treatments scented with sea fennel and eucalyptus, or a fireside glass of Pinot as the fog rolls in.
Taste of Half Moon Bay also signals a growing culinary momentum for the region. With its proximity to both Silicon Valley and some of California’s most productive farmland, Half Moon Bay is emerging as a confident player in the state’s food scene. This debut event underscores that shift—gathering top talent and guests under one coastal canopy, with the Pacific as a backdrop and the local harvest as the guest of honor.
Tickets for Taste of Half Moon Bay are available through the resort and are expected to sell quickly. For those seeking a reason to revisit (or discover) one of California’s most dramatic oceanfront resorts, this is it—deliciously timed, undeniably local, and destined to become an annual tradition.
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Photos courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay