Old Edna Deli

There are very few corners of California I have not been to. When I was a kid, family vacations were usually spent driving somewhere in California, whether it was to Mammoth Lakes for a couple weeks, to Carmel for a few days, or all the way up the coast. And as an adult I have traveled quite a bit in California. The only large region I have not been to is the very northeastern part of the state, east of I-5 and north of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

So it's exciting every once in a while to read about a pocket of California that I have not been to. A few months ago I read about the Enda Valley, a small AVA just south of San Luis Obispo, about ten miles inland. Recently, a friend and I went wine tasting there, and before we went to any wineries we stopped for lunch at a deli in the "Old Edna Townsite."

In addition to the deli, the townsite includes an antique store, a bed & breakfast cottage, and several other structures around the property, such as a couple of small shacks with picnic tables, a tree house, and a barn. I am shocked that I have never heard of this place before; it is one of the most charming locations I have seen in California.

For lunch, my friend and I split a pasta salad. I had the "Suprema" sandwich - salami, prosciutto, pepperoncini, basil, provolone, red onion and balsamic vinegar. It was fantastic, although the bread was a bit too cold and too dense. My friend had the "Alma" sandwich - brie, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and black pepper mayo on focaccia. This was also great, even better than my sandwich.

The wineries we went to after lunch were pretty disappointing. They were not bad, but I did not like them anywhere near as much as the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail or the Santa Rita Hills. If I ever go to Edna again I might just spend the whole day at the Old Edna Townsite. It's that enjoyable.