To celebrate Adrienne’s birthday, four of us gals ventured 45 minutes southwest to The Moss Beach Distillery. MBD came recommended to me from a wise SF native currently residing in NYC; she claimed this restaurant is her top priority when she is back in town (I love tips like that). Half Moon Bay may be less than an hour away, but the rural and serene atmosphere makes it feel more like a few million miles away. We dropped our cars at the hotel and made our way to the cliff-side spot known for its ghost named Kate. I cried “Bull S&*%” each and every time one of the waiters or owner told us of a personal encounter with Kate but, admittedly, was pretty entertained to see adults passionately speak of possessed silverware or subliminal messages from the resident spirit.

Enough about ghosts, time for true stories: Moss Beach is tucked away on a cliff over-looking the bay. One can sit inside next to a window to enjoy the view or on a patio outside, where they provide blankets and fireplaces to combat the perpetual fog. If it weren’t 40 and misty, I might have been game to do the outdoor thing.

The menu could have been written for me: burgers, fish’n’chips, sliders, crispy fish tacos, fried calamari, salmon club, coast sliders. We split the fried calamari to start, which was solid but I have seen better (only red sauce option, bordering on lukewarm). It was painstaking, but I finally decided on the slider trio: bacon-cheddar, jack cheese-grilled onion, gruyere-sautéed mushroom. I am not exaggerating when I say the first bite nearly took my breath away. The beef was perfectly rare (a few drops of blood), the mini-brioche rolls soft and sweet, and the toppings paired to perfection. It helped that I hadn’t had a burger in several weeks, which made the victory all the more sweet.

Not wanting to risk rapid weight loss, we ordered the flourless chocolate cake and banana-marshmallow samosas for dessert. The cake tasted more like a dense brownie, which was fine with me. The samosas – fried bananas, chocolate, and marshmallows deep fried in pastry dough – went down just right with the warm chocolate dipping sauce.

Topping off the excellent meal, the restaurant had wonderful customer service. One gets the sense the waiters have been there for years and treat you like an old friend. They brought Adrienne an ice-cream sundae (yes, we had three desserts) and sang Happy Birthday. The manager stopped by to make sure we were happy. They also offer a free shuttle service to any of the nearby hotels, which we readily accepted after toasting Adrienne's entry into drinking age. Oh, to be 21 again!