Nine courses,drawn from the tide,served by candlelight.
Vela is a single tasting menu told in nine movements — the morning's catch, the season's first harvest, the last light over the Pacific. One room, two seatings, a point of view that changes with the water.
Est. 2017Nine coursesTwo seatings nightlyBy reservation
Tonight, in nine movements.
Nine courses · optional wine pairing · 2½ hours at the table
Cold Shelf
Santa Barbara urchin, buttermilk, finger lime, kelp oil.
First Light
Day-boat halibut cured in seawater, green almond, sorrel.
Tide Pool
Monterey abalone, brown butter, sea bean, smoked roe.
The Garden Inland
First fava, spring allium, cultured cream, lovage.
Ember
Live-coal Monterey squid, charred leek, black garlic.
Deep Water
Aged rockfish, fennel pollen, saffron mussel broth.
The Ridge
Dry-aged squab, douglas fir, last winter's quince.
Salt & Cream
Coastal sheep's milk, sea salt, wildflower honey.
Last Light
Meyer lemon, olive oil, toasted barley, bay leaf ice.
The menu is rewritten each afternoon. Dietary restrictions are accommodated with notice at booking.
Mara Solene
Chef & Proprietor
Mara Solene grew up on this coast, the daughter of an abalone diver and a baker. She left for a decade of kitchens — Copenhagen, the Basque country, a two-Michelin season on the Sonoma coast — and came back to cook the one place she could not stop thinking about.
Vela is her argument that the most ambitious cooking in California does not need a city. It needs a harbor, a garden, and a room small enough to cook for by name.
- Two Michelin stars — Solene at The Headland, 2014–2016
- Noma, Copenhagen — chef de partie
- James Beard Award — Best Chef: West, 2022
Twenty-six seats, one long window onto the water.
The dining room holds twenty-six. A single banquette runs the length of the glass, so that every table watches the same light leave the Pacific. The pass is open; the kitchen is part of the room. There is no music you will notice and no rush you will feel.
The seats
Counter and banquette, twenty-six in all. The counter watches the kitchen work.
The light
Dinner begins at dusk by design — the first course as the sun meets the water.
The pace
Two and a half hours, unhurried. One seating leaves before the next is welcomed.
The dress
Smart casual. The room is dark and warm; come as you would to a friend's good table.
A pairing built like the menu — coastal, low and slow.
The optional pairing follows the plates the way fog follows the shore: cool-climate, salt-edged, mostly from within a day's drive. Our list leans to small California coastal growers, with detours to the Jura, the Loire, and the Atlantic islands when the dish asks for it.
No wine, no compromise
A considered non-alcoholic pairing — house ferments, pressed juices, cold teas — is offered at the same length and the same care.
Sparkling, méthode ancestrale
Anderson Valley, CAOpens the cold-shelf courses with chalk and sea spray.
Skin-contact Trousseau Gris
Russian River, CACarries the cured fish and the garden plates.
Old-vine Mourvèdre
Contra Costa, CAMeets the ember squid and the deep-water broth.
Late-harvest Riesling
Mosel, GermanyLands softly on salt, cream, and last light.
06 — In Print
- The Michelin GuideTwo Stars · 2021–2024
- The New York Times“The coast on a plate, told without a single wrong note.”
- The World's 50 BestDiscovery List · 2023
- Food & WineRestaurant of the Year · 2022
- San Francisco ChronicleTop 100 Restaurants
Two seatings. One menu. Reserve your evening.
Vela serves Wednesday through Sunday at two seatings a night. Reservations open thirty days ahead and the room is small — we recommend booking early. The full tasting is prepaid at reservation; the wine pairing is chosen at the table.
First Seating
5:30 PM
Dusk service
Begins as the light goes — the early courses meet the sun on the water.
Second Seating
8:30 PM
Candlelit service
The room at full dark, the kitchen at its quietest, the longer evening.
Parties of one to six. Larger gatherings and full buyouts by arrangement with the house.
Hours, address, and the practicalities.
Hours
Wednesday – Sunday
Two seatings · 5:30 PM & 8:30 PM
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Address
411 Mirada Point Road
Half Moon Bay, California 94019
Contact
reservations@vela-tasting.com
+1 650 555 0188
Getting here
Valet on Mirada Point Road
Forty minutes south of San Francisco