Seasonal California Fare and House-milled Sourdough at Coin & Candor (Westlake Village, CA)

The Four Seasons hotel at Westlake Village redid their restaurant and recently opened Coin and Candor. It's a place that you'd likely find me going back to after work for dinner or drinks (on a bit of a splurge). Coin and Candor is a "California brasserie" with executive chef Jose Fernandez, a Barcelona native who's been with the Four Seasons since 2017 (and previously worked for The Peninsula hotels), and executive pastry chef Patrick Fahy, who was head pastry chef at The French Laundry.

The round bar at the center of the dining room looks like a great place to drink, but for my visit I opted to sit outside since it was a beautiful day.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the cocktail menu (sorry), but our cocktails were pretty good.

We started off with some house-milled red fife sourdough that they bake daily, served with organic Strauss creamery butter ($5)

So I didn't really know what the deal was with red fife sourdough, but I had to look it up after because I fell in love with this bread. If I could just come here and eat this bread, I would (I think I could, yes?). So anyway, red fife wheat was the first heritage wheat that was put on the Slow Food Ark of Taste, back in 2003. It was the industry standard in Canada back in the late 19th century. Apparently it pretty much disappeared after the Great Depression but artisan bakers are starting to use it more and more now. Anyway, this bread that's milled in-house and baked fresh daily is amazing.

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The Tasting Room at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village

by: guest blogger @iam_robot

Considering how interest in all things food related has soared in recent years, many hotels have added chef-driven foods, French cooking class, wine tasting, botanical garden tour, and other culinary activities to entice younger epicureans. Surprisingly the Conejo Valley hasn’t caught on to this idea. If you’re like me, I’m sure you have noticed that Westlake Village is not exactly a hotbed for fine wines and farm to table cuisine. Having spent a chunk of my time there, I dreaded the days I can’t find good place where I can sip, nosh and disappear for a few hours.
A couple of weeks ago, I was very fortunate to attend the grand opening of The Tasting Room, located within the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village. Partnering with Malibu Family Wines, The Tasting Room will pour a variety of award-winning Semler and Saddlerock wines. Other notable Malibu Coast and California wineries will also be featured on a rotating basis. I thought the addition of The Tasting Room is brilliant not only because nearby hotels do not have high-end wine shops (let alone tasting space) in their lobby, but also because they have esteemed assortment and probably the best wine flight in the area, with surprisingly fair prices to boot. Wine flight ranges from $15 to $50.
 

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